There are quite a few different string materials in the low stretch materials.For D97 I have been shooting 8 strands for 58# and under.I shoot 12 strand D97 for my bows heavier then that.A 12 strand D97 is strong enough for up to a 100# bow,I've shot that on 75# and 83# bows.I shoot some 450+ also and use 6 strands on bows 60# and under,I shoot 8 strand 450+ on bows over 60#.I do pad my loop ends,I'll use B50 or the same string material I'm using.I pad the loops to make them a larger diameter to fill the string grooves better,which I feel helps to make a quieter string.I'll add 3-4 extra strands in each bundle depending on what strand string I'm making.