Fast flight vs Dacron

[Stone Knife]

Is there a real advantage to fast flight strings ? I was told that they will take half the life out of your bow, the bow in question will be a recurve that is setup for either 54" 46# @ 28" what are the pros and cons.

[JBiorn]

Been shooting a fast-flight string on an old(1972ish)Browning Wasp recurve for ohhhroughly 10 years and I have yet to see any troubles----'cept it's a bit noisy. I am going to a flemish string with it just for that reason.

 Jeff

[bowdude]

Hehhehe hoo ho huu uhhuhuhu.  Here we go again.

[Stone Knife]

Is this a bad subject  

[bowdude]

Nope - but just like the 90 year old that has smoked since they were 15.  There aint nothin wrong with it.

[The Whittler]

I have bought 2 custom bows over the past few years. Both came with dacron and both had hand shock, not bad but you knew it.

They can be shot with FF (I asked the bowyers) and so I replaced with FF, and no more hand shock. That alone is good enough for me. Alan

[George D. Stout]

I've been shooting dacron since 1965 and see no need to change.  I've also yet to notice hand shock in any bow because of the string material. Hey but I'm old and don't know any better  

[Sneakypete]

George, and others with experience not just opinions -- I was recently told by a bowyer I respect that ff will not harm wood bows, whether self or wood lams, which I mostly build. I would think otherwise, since it has less stretch, thus imparts or allows more of the shock of each shot to be absorbed by the bow. But I swear, ff makes a lot more difference in speed and all-around shooting satisfaction on my wood bows than I notice on my custom glass bows. I've always used B50 and been happy with it. I'm just curious. Again, the quetion to those who know is: will ff harm all wood bows? Thanks for your advice.

[mighty mouse]

bowdude... that's a PERFECT analogy!  


 my opinion.....FF will always be harder on a bow than dacron....period. it depends on how well the bow is built when determining wether it will damage it or not. how it feels is a matter of personal opinion.

[JimmyC]

I like the way dacron FEELS.  To me it's softer on my fingers and easier/more comfortable to hold at anchor.  ...But that is just my purely subjective opinion.  I also have no problem getting dacron quiet, especially on recurves.  I run dacron on all my bows currently after experimenting with various ff type strings(liked TS-1 the best)

Obviously, low stretch strings have very real technological advantages, namely durability and a extra efficiency.  But hey, dacron isn't exactly kite string.

[SteveMcD]

I prefer Dacron. Yes, it stretches, but so what, just twist it up to the correct nock and brace height when you have to. I like making my own dacron strings too. If you prefer fastflight but worry about your bow, if you make your own fastflight strings take about 7 or 8 pieces of dacron about several inches long and weave it into the string loops. This will help with any wear or stress on your bow. Look at it this way. Dacron is to Fastflight what standard clothes line rope is to fishing line.. wrap a clothes line rope around your hand and it tightens up, wrap fishing line around your hand and it cuts into your flesh. Get the picture. Bowdude...    that was classic!

[bm22]

i like fastflight. i like the feel of it drawing and a crisp shock and release.
the way i look at it, fast flight will give you an average of 7 fps faster, i chrono my bow and i can ad 50 grains of arrow and only loose 4-5 fps. so i could at about 75 grains more, shoot the same speed and be quieter than dacron "because of the heavier arrow" get better penetration "because of the heavier arrow"
to me using fast flight only makes sense, win win win.

[Bjorn]

I like DF 97 and 8125 much better than FF or Dacron; but the main thing is to make sure the string is well made-whatever the material. That being said I only use Dacron on my vintage collector bows.

[flatbowMB]

Bjorn,

Please expand.  What material(s)is(are) DF 97 and 8125 made of?  Also, what are characteristics of these strings as compared to FF or Dacron?

bm22 brings up a very good point about FF allowing you to use a heavier arrow to help minimize the extra noise that a FF string would otherwise create, while still having at least as much arrow speed as a dacron string with a lighter arrow.

Also keep in mind also that going to FF may require substantially stiffer spined arrows than dacron will.

As for feel on the fingers, that can be manipulated with different serving materials and shooting gloves.

[Brian Krebs]

I bought like 500 11/32 nocks; and I found out that fast flight is a lot smaller than B50 when the nock came off of my fingers on release.
 My bow survived; but I was lucky!!
My bow shoots faster and crisper with a fast flight string; with smaller nocks-- but its harder on my fingers.
 I shoot two fingers; and WWAAAAA - it hurts when I shoot a lot.
 One factor that is good about my 18 strand flemish B50- is that if I do somehow hit the string with a sharp object... like a broadhead..I have a better chance of the string surviving.
  I do that about once a decade; but when it happens- when your hunting and getting ready to draw on a big whatever- and see you have two or three broken strands.... I like the B-50 better.
  I do not claim any of the above to be logical.
Its just the way it is...

[Jeremy]

The original FF and B-50 are both made by Brownell (right down the road from me).  regular FF is no longer made.... now it's FF+ and is made from Dynemma.  TS-1+ (what I like) is a newer generation low-stretch material made from HMPE.
D97 is made by BCY fibers (just UP the road from me) and is made from dynemma as well.

The newer generation of low-stretch material feel less harsh than the original FF.  All of them are made from dynemma, HMPE, vectran or a combination of the three.

Brian, why don't you just serve the string to fit your nocks?  I'm still using the same nocks as when I used B50, 'course I wasn't using a 18 strand string!

I'd use the low-stretch material even if it wasn't faster than dacron.  I can brace my selfbows low and not get slapped on my wrist (notice I didn't say forarm!).  I hardly ever have to mess with my brace height, every glass lam longbow I've ever put it on was quieter with the low-stretch material than with dacron (my recurve was a different story) and the bow feels better to me after the release.  Add into the mix that the newer stuff is more resistant to cuts and abrasion in the field and it's the perfect material (for me).

[madness522]

Brian, you can always double serve your string if you get the right combo of serving sizes to match your nocks.  Double serving will also not be as harsh on your fingers.  I have several B50 strings that are double served at the finger contact point just because I like the way that feels.

[bowdude]

Like I said in a previous thread.  
If you ever have a nock split from whatever reason.  Wear, cold, hitting them with another arrow and not notice.  Never slap arrows?  Have the glue come undone, etc.  
It is that one in a thousand shots that may go wrong and you basically dry fire your bow, that you will wish you had B-50 on that baby.

[BCD]

FF is far superior IMO, faster more quiet, less hand shock,etc. Besides, I only shoot about 50 lbs these days after several neck and shoulder surgeries and I can use all the extra speed and power I can get.

[Brian Krebs]

I will try that - thanks.