fastflight for selfbows?

[Echatham]

been thinking i wanna try something other than b-50 on my selfbows... just to see if i like it, but, as is usually the case when i get to wantin somethin... im overwhelmed by choices.  for you guys that use some sort of fastflight on your organic bows, what do you prefer and why?

(before anybody warns me, im going to pad the loops with b50 and use horn tip overlays)

[Pat B]

I use only B-50 on my selfbows but I have two osage selfbows made by Dano(Dan Grens), both have FF strings and neither have overlays. I think wood bows handle FF type string well because they have give.

[mwosborn]

D-97   Because I had some to try.  Works fine.  Seems to be a bit quicker than B50 (but that could be my imagination too) Haven't tried any of the other FF material.

[Walt Francis]

I use Astro Flight on most of my selfbows.

[blacktailchaser]

for so reason most guys out west use ff..i dont..i like b-50 and i dont need tip overlays its soft material..i really think each to there own..in fact the only down fall that i see about b-50 is that it will streach..so,i just pre streach the string...

[PEARL DRUMS]

I use 452x, D97 & D10 on everything including a bunch of wood bows. The durability of FF cant be compared to B50. FF string will literally last thousands of shots per year for many years, matter fact ive yet to wear one out. B50 wont touch that amount of use no matter how well you take care of it.

[Echatham]

Pearldrums out of those three is there one you like better? and whats the difference? does one make a fatter/skinnier string? im gonna by two spools of something, just not sure what.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I like them all the same Eric. I have the 452x only becasue I walked by a booth and seen a ridiculously low sticker on it, I grabbed it. I cant tell a difference between 10 and 97. Both seem to feel the same, shoot the same and are about the same size from what my eyes can see. 10 might be a fuzz smaller?

[Echatham]

cool, thanks man.

[LittleBen]

I'm with PD. I have literally not been able to wear out a FF string. I've been using 8125, nto for any particular reason except it was recommended to me.

I have one bow which is ERC (so very soft wood) no tip overlays, just pin nocks, and aroun 50#@28", been shooting for years with a FF string. The nock grooves have marks from the string but who cares.

I think because wood absorbs vibration better than FG, it's actually much more suitable to FF.

I find many of my wood bows are nearly silent ... not so for my glass ones.

[Pat B]

I've been building and shooting selfbows for almost 30 years and have only used B-50. I have never had a string break and some of my bows have had 10,00 shots or more. Like Blacktailchaser I pre-stretch the strings I make and once shot in I rarely have to adjust the string.
 To me the extra cost of FF is not wirth the few FPS one might get from using FF and I have no complaints about he durability of B-50.

[Eric Krewson]

Unfortunately, I have the kind of arm configuration that lets the bow string find it with amazing regularity. I have to wear an arm guard or else.

B-50 keeps going after the shot because of the stretch and really works my bow arm over. DF-97, being low stretch, stops short of my arm most of the time.

Performance wise I don't see much difference at my short draw length but my forarm definitely knows the difference.

[Art B]

It's not just the added FPS Pat. Low stretch strings will take a lot of bounce out of these bow. Makes for a more pleasurable shooter. Add a few strands of B-50/55 to the string and makes for a super quiet hunter also..........Art

[LittleBen]

I'm with Art on that. I also find the bow tends to tune better at a lower brace height, and still not get arm contact as Eric mentioned.

Someone had made a comment on here a while back that a FF string doesn't really cost more because the spool holds more length/lb. I haven't bothered todo the calculation. I figured out when I bought the 8125 that it woudl cost about $2 per string plus the cost of setrving. So say maybe $3.

I can live with $3/string.

[Art B]

I don't know about the rest of you fellows, but the one thing that I've noticed with the Dacron strings, is better accuracy. Dang those trade-offs anyhow  :mad: .

[Pete W]

Originally posted by Art B:
I don't know about the rest of you fellows, but the one thing that I've noticed with the Dacron strings, is better accuracy. Dang those trade-offs anyhow   :mad:  .

Better accuracy?? Me thinks you didn't tune  to the modern string .

[Tom Leemans]

When I have my 'druthers I prefer 450 plus. Feels like dacron but doesn't stretch and shoots pretty much like FF. I have a 450+ string that's going on 15 years old now! Good thing it's so tough because it costs like gold! I have one of Dano's bows too and it has FF. I think if you pad the loops with a few extra strands and get your nock grooves nice and round, you'll be o.k.

[Art B]

Better accuracy for myself Pete. But I'm into mix strings myself, way modern then many today.  

[Art B]

Bows are funny. You can use one type string and the bow will be super quiet. On another bow, the same type string can be very disappointing as far as sound goes. I've since starting using a dampening system of Dacron with the FF material, and I've yet, after four years of use, found a bow that it isn't super quiet on. But my experience is only with selfbows. But logic says it'll do fine on glass bows also........Art

[Bob at Work]

100% 450+ here for as long as I remember...selfbows and glassbows... soft and tames a bow for me.