Finally Made My Widow Quiet!

[bicster]

I have tried all kinds of methods to make my Black Widow recurve quiet. Although some things helped, nothing made me satisfied. Here is a listing of what I tried:
1) Skinny String - Nope
2) 50/50 string with B50 and  D97 - helped but not quiet enough
3) Sticktamers - Nope
4) Different silencers and different positions - Only catwhiskers made a difference
5) Serving the string with yarn where the string contacts the limbs - Made a difference but not quiet enough
6) Calf hair under the limbs where the string contacts the limbs - Nope
7) B50 string - YES!!! A B50 string made a huge difference. I can't believe all it took to make this bow quiet enough to hunt was a B50 string.

I know many of you have struggled with this and as you can see I have too. I thought I would share this information with everyone else.

[Lefty]

How heavy of an arrow do you shoot and did you try adjusting your brace height?  I have own quite a few different Widow bows over the years and have never had a bow I couldn't get quiet.  Now I do shoot 550-600 grain arrows for 50 lb bows, adjust serving size for good nock fit, adjust brace height to find the sweet spot, and use wool puffs for silencers.  But that is all other than the normal tune arrows to bow and try to make as clean a release as possible.  I shoot D97 12-14 strand strings on them all.  
  All that really matters though, is that you are happy with the way it is shooting.  Confidence in one's equipment is a very important thing, so congrats and good luck this fall with it!

[GWV]

Good deal Bic.  Might give it a try on mine.

[WidowEater]

The two MAIIIs I had were pretty quiet too.

It helps with a 650 gr arrow out of a 50 lb bow.

[bicster]

The bow is 50@28. My draw length is 27". My arrows are 485 grains. I tried adjusting the brace height too. I was always able to shoot it well but I could never get past the noise level.

[KAZ]

Bicster,
I just got my new 54" Black Widow KB, 53lbs @28" shooting about 550 grain arrows and it is absolutely quiet & dead in the hand... Using the stock Fast Flight string, one set of the stock spider silencers @ 9" from the loop/string intersection ends and one set of woolie whispers @ 14" from loop/string intersection. Bow could not be smoother, quieter, or less vibration.... I'm sorry to hear yours was finicky, but thought my setup might help others as well... I just used the recommendations that came in the owners manual for the spacing and figured the spiders & the woolie whispers might attack different frequencies.... My post is intended to be helpful, not divisive. I know every bow is a little different... :-)

KAZ

[Josh Perdue]

Awesome bic

[Rick Butler]

I have b-50 on my 2 Widows as well.  Tried everything else and just could'nt get it where I wanted.

[LBR]

A buddy of mine got a new one last year.  With the factory string, it was a bit loud.  We put a 12 strand Dynaflight '97 (loops padded to 18) flemish string on it, adjusted the brace, put some cat whiskers on, adjusted those a bit, and it was so quiet it really surprised me--as quiet as any recurve I've been around, quieter than most.  Didn't have to shoot super heavy arrows either, but we made sure the nocks didn't fit too tight (or too loose).

Chad

[LBR]

[Rick Richard]

I think BW's are well made bows and the Widow boys are exctional with their service and support to the customers.  However,with that said I have owned two different models and both of them have been noisier than I could accept.  I also tried the various methods of quieting the bow with not much affect.

[ripforce56]

My neighbor has one and he is having trouble quieting his down as well, changing strings did make a big differance!

[Dan Adair]

There's a lot of guys from Idaho that I see on the 3D scene shooting Widows.  I've never heard one that I would say was quiet.

Schafer's can be a bear sometimes too, in all fairness.  On them, I usually vel-cro under the limbs where the string contacts, and split cat whiskers in half and do 4 that way on a string.  It works...

[Dan Adair]

It would be interesting to see a test on string materials over a chronograph, and also a decibel test.

[LBR]

It would be interesting to see a test on string materials over a chronograph, and also a decibel test.  

Ken Beck put a challenge that lasted a year to see if anyone could provide a string that was...2 fps, I think, faster than the 14 strand Dynflight '97 string they provide with their bows.  Nobody accepted, even though they could have won a free custom BW.  I've heard there were some specifications that were "deal breakers", but I've never been told all the specifics.  

A decibel test would be interesting, but it would require a lot of set-up to eliminate variables.  Tuning, silencer type, silencer placement, your release, nock fit, arrow weight, etc. etc. etc. all affect noise.  It would be a big undertaking to do it right.

Chad

[Crash]

I think that the new shorter riser versions are quieter than the longer risers, in my opinion.  Black Widows also seem to be louder to the shooter than some other bows.  I have a PCHX and it seemed just a touch loud to me until I was standing next to my Dad as he shot it.  I could barely hear it and I was only a few feet away.

[Dan Adair]

Chad,

Thats exactly why I haven't done it  :D

I know for a fact that B50 and Dacron are quieter, and not too much slower.  But the constant dinking with brace height is a deal breaker for me.

[D.T.]

Im with Crash on this one. Its one thing standing behind the bow and another being beside it.

[JRY309]

My Black Widow SAV,I made a padded loop D97 8 strand with bow hush and hush puppies.I would get comments on how quiet it was.For me a low stretch HMPE string on all my bows,just not a fan of dacron.

[bicster]

My love affair with this bow has been rekindled. It shoots great, it is quiet, and now it shoots the same wood arrows I use for my longbows.
Win! Win! Win!