Back to B-50

[DCM]

No, I make my own strings.  LOL.  It's about the most fundamental skill an archer can have, beyond fletching.  But I have seen strings with too much twist, which will tend to be more elastic than others.  I try to have 3 twist per inch or more in the loops, less in the body of the string.  And if not pre-stretched they will sure creep a lot initially as you say.  B50 certainly more than others.  So much so a (smart) string maker has to take this into account, making the string shorter and stretching it to fit the application.  But I'm talking about stretch not creep.  You can stretch the creep out, but not the stretch.  Poor choice of words, I admit.  LOL  I don't think Bobby can change the working properties of the material with contruction.  That FF et. al. are superior in every measurable attribute is well understood, published, and as far as I can tell not in dispute here.

[stagetek]

My Predator came with a D-97 FF. I shot about a dozen arrows out of it, took it off and threw it away. My first and last experience with FF. Always shot with B-50, always will.

[KentuckyTJ]

Limbs are made different as well and some are much softer than others. My Blacktail has real soft limbs. When you bang on the riser the limbs wobble.  My Black Widow and Whisperstiks have much stiffer limbs. All four bows are within two pounds of each other.  I would think the softer the limb the more vibration that would be produced during the shot.

[BobT]

I only own one bow that is FF compatible and I sold the limbs. I guess I'm stuck with B50. I think it is just more of a nostalgia thing with me, I would probably try linen if I knew where to get it.

Bob

[LBR]

Not doubting the quality of Bobby's strings (actually never saw one as far as I know), but it doesn't matter how well made it is, dacron (B-50 and B-500) stretches--that's a simple fact.

With my jig, I pre-stretch the strings under 250-300 lbs of torque (I've broken 10-strand dacron strings on my jig).  No matter how much you pre-stretch, it will retract--even Dynaflight, 8125, and 450+ have some elasticity, although it's nowhere near as much as dacron.

DCM, other than using it for old bows, dacron is good for padding the loops on the newer materials--seems to help quieten limb slap a little.

I also think you nailed it about tuning--I know I've been guilty of swapping strings and not taking the time to tune it properly, and then get aggravated when it was noisy.  Takes a little effort on our part.

Draw weight, leaving it on the bow or unstringing, temperature (the hotter it gets, the more it will stretch), number of strands in the string, etc. all have an effect  Pre-stretching does help a lot, but it won't keep dacron from stretching.

Almost forgot--Bill, I have tried an endless loop dacron on my recurve, trying to get a fishing arrow to fly better (I make endless strings as well as flemish).  I still prefer flemish Dynaflight.  :D  

Chad

[KentuckyTJ]

Bill, I was getting some string slap and twang out of my blacktail.  This is magnified by my light arrow weight (401 grains).  I read your post and ordered a D-50 from Norm at Blacktail.  The string came today and I've already got the silencers in it and have shot it a couple rounds today.  After getting the brace height just right I have no string slap and it's whisper quiet.  Thanks for the post.

T.J.

[Steelhead]

Some bows will just plain shoot quieter with B-50 and shoot softer.I use all sting types and am not prejudiced toward any material.I just shoot what works best for me on a given bow.

i have been testing a recurve for about a week and tried 4 different low stretch strings on it and was not at all happy with the noise on it.I would not have hunted with the bow thats for sure.I played with knock point,brace hieght over a large range,various string silencers and various placements on the string.Felt in the string grooves and bow hush wrapped on the end of string.heavy arrows etc.etc.It wasnt happening. I got an old 15 st. B-50 out and put some cat whikers on it and walla it was very quiet and had good shooting manners.I enjoyed shooting it!I would hunt with this bow now.But would be very uncomfortable hunting with it with any FF type string.

Thier are times when B-50 is the ticket and times when one of the other options would be better.

[JCJ]

I think the fast-flight strings are great on a longbow but I've never been able to get any recurve quiet ,at least to what I think is quiet, with such strings.

[KentuckyTJ]

JCJ, I have two Whisperstiks recurves that have a TS+ FF on them both and they are well..."whisper" quiet.  I think a lot of it has to do with the design of the bow and arrow weight.

[scriv]

I switched from an endless B50 on my FITA bow to a endless FF string.  I run no silencers obviously, and I could not believe how much quieter/smoother the bow became.  Just goes to show-you never know untilo you try.