Back to good ol' B-50

[SteveB]

Agree with LBR.
And if I have a bow that needs B50/55 to behave and be quiet, I get rid of it.

[ron w]

There are bows that are older and need B-50. This can go on for ever.......if you like B-50, seems many do, use it. If you don't, use the modern string material. It's just a matter of your personal choice. The gain in speed with the new stuff......at 12-18 yards......it don't matter.

I can manage to make fairly good B 50 strings, but I cannot even approach what Chad does, so most of my bows have his strings on them.

[nineworlds9]

Y'all sure you don't all have Lyme disease??

Just kiddin! To each their own.  

I for one will only use B50 or 55 on vintage laminated bows that lack tip reinforcement and/or may have glue lines or laminates that won't handle the low stretch.

The original no stretch material was linen used on English warbows in medieval times.  A well made linen string wetted down is quite a great bow string.  

I have not shot one single bow of any design or construction that did not benefit from a well made and not overly twisted up modern material such as Fury, Rhino, BCY-X, 8125 or 8190.  

The cut and abrasion resistance alone is enough to warrant it IMHO

[SC Bowhunter]

I make my own endless loop strings.
Both B55 and bcy-x.
I prestretch the B55 at 140# overnight.
I rarely have to adjust brace height with them.
The B55 is waaaayyy quieter on both of my recurves over the bcy-x strings and to tell you the truth I really don't see much speed difference between the two.

[sticks&stringz]

has anyone ever tried a flemish twist with half b50/b55 and a high performance string material?

[mgf]

I'd be perfectly happy with a self bow and sinew string as long as I could hit what I was shooting at.

I still have a bunch of b-50 so I use it. If I miss it isn't because of the b-50. LOL

[frassettor]

I just got one in last week for my JD berry

[iohkus]

I just put a FT B55 on a Howatt Hi-Speed that I refinished. What a SHOCK at the first shot!! This has to be THE quietest bow I have ever shot,(Well excluding a selfbow of someone elses that is)  and without ANY string silencers! Shooting 400 FMJs with a 12 strand string. Bow is probably a little over 40# at my draw length.

[Mike Mecredy]

I use it on my Ben Pearson, and self bows. It's been around a longtime that's for sure.

[ron w]

I have mixed string material, Mike Treadway told me to try it so I did. I used 452 and B-50, 5 strands of 452 and 3 of B-50. Instead of padding the loops you pad the whole string. Seems to work well and my nocks fit perfect. Seems to be quiet with just wool puffs and a heavy arrow. 45# bow with a 550 gr arrow.

[JRY309]

For me I am not a fan of dacron,only have it on a couple of older vintage bows I rarely shoot.I have been making my own strings for my bows for over 20+ years.I've had over 50+ bows over the years.I much prefer a low stretch type string,I've used many different ones.I find them so much better then a dacron.It just feels better and I don't use it for any speed or performance increase that may come from it.

[PaulDeadringer29]

So many keep bringing up the fps gains between the two materials. I could care less about that...I like the modern materials for the lack of stretch and less vibration.

[LBR]

Old bows are a different story.  I only use B-55 on those...I just rarely shoot one.

Again, it's not about speed.  If 2-4 fps was "make or break" for me, I'd choose a different weapon.  Consistency, stability, durability.  Those are a big deal, to me anyway.

Not long ago I made a string for a guy I've known for a long time, but never had a chance to hunt or shoot with (we live way apart).  He was die-hard Dacron--nothing else was quiet to him, especially on a particular bow he was shooting.  I sent him a BCY-X string, just to try it.  He's converted.

[Yewbender]

It's B50 only for my ASL's.

[stagetek]

I shoot B-50 or 55 on all my older bows. But I  have no problem getting D-97 quiet on the newer ones. I like the "feel" of it better as well. Nothing wrong with B-50, but there are good alternatives out there.

[Red Beastmaster]

I let the bow decide what it likes. Half my bows have B-50.

[monterey]

On the idea of mixing materials, I'm a B50 guy and don't know much about the low stretch low creep materials, but...  One thing I've learned that must be watched carefully in making a string is to maintain equal tension on all the strands.  So, going one step further in my possibly flawed thinking, mixing materials with different creep rates could very quickly result in the very low creep material material stretching, albeit very little, and gradually imparting that rebounding stretch into the other material as permanent creep and eventually a string wherein the work is being done by the low creep material with the other along for the ride  adding unnecessary weight to the string?

Hope you can sort out what I'm trying to say.      :confused:

[LBR]

Monterey, you are spot on.  As long as you use enough strands of the stronger material, it should work fine.  Mike Treadaway has been doing it for years and likes the results (he's nuts about quiet).  what it amounts to is you are making a string with the silencer built in.

Well, I don't own an ASL or any vintage bows that require dacron, so I'm in LBR's camp on this issue. I use D97 on all my bows, even my selfbows. I read that there are some newer, "better" materials out there to choose from now, but I have the recipe all figured out with the D97, so I stick with it.

Bisch