Hill bows and D97

[LongStick64]

I'm getting my first Hill form Craig in about 10 or so days and I was wondering if they accept D97 bowstings ??? I know my Morrison Cheyenne's love the string from SBD. Thinking about getting one for the Hill.

[stabow]

I have D97 on all my Hills.Craig doesn’t recommend fast flight but like I said it’s on 6 or 7 of my bows and hasn't hurt anything yet......stabow

[frank bullitt]

Well, I have heard also from other Hill shooters, not recommended by Craig. I respect him for his feelings. I feel "any" longbow can handle the high performance materials.

I have folks who shoot 450+, F.F. and dynaflight, up to 100 lbs.

My experience is, it makes for a gentler shot, and seems a little less likely to tourque the shot, and a heavier arrow with good performance for hunting.

[GingivitisKahn]

Mine seems to like this:

 http://tinyurl.com/ycgbnp9

[JRY309]

I shoot D97 on my Hill's,they have tip overlays on my Hill's.Been shooting them for years with no problems.I feel the thinner limbs on recurves are more susceptible to be damaged by the low stretch strings.Longbow limbs are thicker,D97 on my Hill's have less handshock and are quieter then when I had dacron on them.

[Orion]

I use D-97 on my Hills as well.  Considerably Improves their performance over dacron and reduces hand shock.  I make my own strings and pad the loops.   When I ordered my bows from Craig, I requested fast flite material, and he did deliver those types of strings.  However, the loops were not padded and the material was very thin.  Though I doubt they would damage the bows, due to the potential for the very thin loops to cut into the nock areas, I did not use them, but use my own instead.

[NomadArcher]

I use a 6 strand 450 plus without padded loops. I have not seen any wear on my nocks.

[far rider]

I ask Craig about this recently, and what he told me is that they will handle it, however, his view of it is that it shortens the bow's life. Under normal circumstances a bow has "X" number of draws in it, what FF string does is cut down on that considerably.

[LongStick64]

Ok so I'll stay with B-50, what strand count for a 50lb bow, 16?

[Orion]

Nomad Archer, you're braver than I.  

Far rider, if true, and there's no research that backs it up, that probably means that your bow will have enough draws in it to last until you're 175 years old if you use fast flite.  But it may last to 180 years old if you use dacron.    

Longstick, 12 or 14 strands of B-50 is sufficient for a 50# hill.

[moebow]

Longstick,  14 strands will be plenty for 50#

[SpankyNeal]

D97 on all of mine for 1000's of shots - no issues at all, quieter than B50, and much reduced handshock. I won't use anything else on my Hills!

[Greg Skinner]

Another vote for DF97.  I use 8 strands on 57# - never shot better - quiet, smooth, no shock.

[straitera]

I have a Hill w/D-97. It is awesome. I've never used anything other than dacron before. I'm nervous about the compatability; however, no visible wear yet. I do not have silencers & the string is very noisy comparatively. Easy enough to fix.

[LongStick64]

Anyone recommend a good B50 string maker.

[far rider]

Hmmm....not sure where the research exists that shows a 145 year old bow that has been shot with D-97 "    " oh well, just sharing what Craig told me, nothing less, nothing more.

[SteveL]

Before I bought my first hill, it's been at least 10 years since, I exchanged an email with with Mr. Ekin on this exact subject.

He stated that fast flight, d97, etc. was OK but would shorten the life of the bow and preferred B50. I couldn't nail him down to any exactness in how much it would shorten a bows life. If it does shorten the life of any of his bows I haven't seen it. I've probably shot my first hill 50,000 times  over the last 10 years with nary a problem.

Since I've never seen nor heard of a failure of hill bow I use the non stretchy exclusively.

The are a couple of advantages to the D97, etc. There will be less of a thump in the hand and far less wrist slap. I believe Dan Quillian wrote an article in "Instinctive Archer" on these advantages. My experience supports his point of view.

The B50 string from Mr. Ekin is as well made as any.

Good luck and remember to have fun!