Back to good ol' B-50

[Bob B.]

I guess I am not in the norm, but I am loving going back to the good ol' B-50.  It is not as fast, no question, and brace height seems to be more sensitive - especially in warm weather, I need to check it after a while - but it just is so much quieter ( at least on my bows).  I do not need silencers, the tone is lower, but the decibels tell the story - SOOO much quieter.  I reckon most folks are different, but for my Osage Royale or my Steen bow (both ASL bows) the hand shock is not an issue, they are super quiet, easy on the fingers and I still get very good performance.

Anybody else shooting the old dacron stuff?

Bob.

[ron w]

I tend to agree.......

[kat]

I just picked up a new bow, and naturally made a new string for it. It didn't shoot bad, but was a bit noisey. After playing with the brace height some, I decided to go with a Dacron string. Voila! much more to my liking. It is the only bow I have that worked out that way, but if it works.....

[Gordon Jabben]

Agree also.

[woodchucker]

Never really understood the whole "super string" deal...??
B-50 always worked fine for me!

[Pine]

I don't like the super duper string material either .
I like the feel of the Dacron .

[SELFBOW19953]

Making a B50 string is usually the first thing I do when I get a bow, for that very reason.

[deaddoc4444]

B-50 Works fine for me also !  I dont mind giving up a bit of velocity for all the other virtues !  YEa you have to check brace height  on occasion  SO WHAT

[vintage-bears]

I agree as well.
A quiet bow is paramount.

[Pat B]

B-50 is all I ever use.

[myshootinstinks]

Nothing wrong w/ B-50. I'm not real fussy about it one way or the other but if all they made was B-50 it would be okay with me.

[monterey]

If I run out of B50 before I die, I might try B55.  Or, maybe not!  

[Bldtrailer]

I find b-55 just as silent but with less creep

[damascusdave]

I have one Dacron string with braided loops which makes the stretch factor far less important...the quietest string I have is a combination of B50 and 8125g...my low stretch strings are plenty quiet and I would not want to give up the performance increase they provide

DDave

[Pat B]

I've also used B-55. It is slightly smaller diameter but I've mixed it with B-50(for color difference)with no ill effects.
 I pre-stretch strings when I make them by hooking the loop over a nail, waxing the string well and vigorously rubbing the wax in with a piece of soft leather. The heat generated by the rubdown not only melts the wax, helping it penetrate the string but also helps stretch the string. Once I've braced the bow for the first time I will lay the bow across my knees and push out on the limb tips, stretching the string more. Once a string is broken in I rarely have to make adjustments to its length. I also tie a bowyers knot to the bottom of the string.

[two4hooking]

Yup, big fat B50 strings on my ASls.  No silencers needed.

[LBR]

Never really understood the whole "super string" deal...??
B-50 always worked fine for me!

There are no real "super" strings.  Some materials are just more consistent, more stable, and more durable than others.  Polyester is the lowest on the scale for these characteristics, B-50 is the worst of the two polyester (Dacron) materials.

How the string is made can make a huge difference--as much as the material.  A really lousy string can be made from the best material, and a decent string can be made from Dacron.

Bow noise is more a matter of bow design, tuning, and how the string is made...much moreso than the string material.  I put silencers on everything regardless.  Really don't know if it matters, but it makes me feel better even on my whisper quiet selfbows.  Over the years I've gotten tons of comments at tournaments over how quiet my bows are...they always have some sort of HMPE or HMPE blend string on them.

We all upgrade in one way or another, even with strings.  If not, everyone would be using squirrel hide, sinew, stinging nettle fiber, etc. for their strings.  Countless critters have been killed with strings made from those materials, but how many still use them at all, much less exclusively?

I'm on the other side of the fence.  It's a lot tougher, lot less stretch/creep (much more stable), I can make it just as quiet on my bows (if not quieter--critters don't seem to be able to tell a difference), my bows are made to accept it and are shooting just fine after years and years of using it...why wouldn't I use it?

[redfish]

I recently got two rolls of B-55 and have been making 12 strand flemish strings for my bows.They shoot good and quiet without silencers.

[Mudd]

Yup! Mine aren't fancy since I twist up my own but I like it. I try to remember to pre-stretch them before putting them on the bow.

God bless,Mudd

[Msturm]

I use B50 too. but thats because It is all I have on hand and I am cheap.