12 or 14 strand ???

[hs6181]

dacron, 56" string length, marked 45#@28

I draw 29, should I be using a 14 strand because of the small gain in weight?

[d. ward]

Hey Harold,I think the old string chart,listed 12 strand up to 50#'s...I use 12 strand on my 55# hunting bow.bowdoc

[hs6181]

Thanks bowdoc, I'm trying to get the most out of the lower weight. It has a 55 1/2 inch 16 strand on it right now. I figure replacing that should help with my arrow selection, nothing was shooting like I expected.

[d. ward]

I had to chrony some bows awhile back for a customer.And testing the bows we also tested several strings.Larry Hatfield at Howatt had mentioned to me once to give different strings a try....We were haveing a little fun and testing about 12 different Kodiaks....I made a 60" 10 strand string,which fits most all my Kodiaks..But anyhow the 10 strand really made a lot of difference in the speed.I used the 10 strand on a 1962 Bear Kodiak 50#,I also used a fiberglass arrow (micro flight #7)with a 65 grain tip....It was 182 ft per.with a 16 strand and 190 ft per.with the 10 strand....But the light arrow and thin string (no string silincers)made the bow pretty load,and somewhat squirrly.I did add 4 strands to the loops for extra padding.Keep me posted,bowdoc

[Falk]

Six strands of B-50 should be perfectly save for your draw weight. Everything above that is personal taste and tuning. I would try 10-12 though ...

[Jeremy]

I use 12 strands and pad the loops to 14.

[JRY309]

I use 12 srands on bows below 50# and 14 or 15 strands on bows 50# to 65#.

[hs6181]

Thanks for all the info guys. The extra 8fps would be nice but I want to keep it steady and quite. I'll get a 12 strand flemish from Chad and try to find a plain 12 strand real quick around here somewhere.

I read the hunter was the budget kodiak but the riser is stiffer than a SK riser. With the stiff riser and extra inch of draw I get from the lighter weight I think it shoots better and just as hard as the heavier SK I had.

[Orion]

Bowdoc's numbers are interesting.  Going to fewer strands lightens the string, which should increase speed a little, but it also increases stretch, with dacron at least,which would decrease speed a little.  I always thought it was pretty much a wash.  Apparently not.

[akbowbender]

I guess I really need to scale down my b-50 strings. I use 16 strand on my 51 # Predator. When I could pull my 70# Groves, I used 18 strand. I guess this is just a carry over from when I used endless loop strings and I wanted some extra insurance in the loops.

[Fr33lancer]

Would this go for endless loop as well?

Thanks

[TonyW]

"On bowstrings, I really don’t know how many strands or what type of material is in it. I take strings out-of-stock, and I like strings 15 or 20 pounds heavier than the bow. And the reason for that is two-fold. One, is that the heavier string, while it does cut arrow velocity somewhat, also deadens the sing of the string as the arrow is shot. It also adds a little safety margin when you’re hunting if you tear a few strands on a sharp rock or against a rough tree. You still have a margin of safety and can at least continue to hunt for that day."

Fred Bear
Feb. 10, 1970
 http://www.bowhunting.net/artman/publish/PapaBearChap42.shtml

[buckshot95]

i would use 12 strand and 14 if over 50# and 60# 16 strand

[heydeerman]

10-12 strands. B-50 is stronger than most people think. It's pretty tough stuff. I made a few 6 and 8 strand TS1 plus strings that worked pretty well.

[d. ward]

6-8 ft per.was great but my bow sounded like a 22 stinger going off.The arrow weight I believe was 385 a bit to light...For hunting I prefer about 10 grains per.# of draw weight...and a bit heavier string 12-16...Little slower but maybe a bit more forgiving ?? bowdoc