Stringing Question

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I noticed at the end of the Masters of the Barebow DVD, the part where are they are showing bloopers and such. A couple of the guys string their bows by pressing it on the ground and just sliding the string into the nock. It looks like it takes em like half a second. Isn't this bad for the bow? I'm not trying to be a know it all, but if this is safe, by all means I will start doing it. I always take my bow strung before I leave the house. Taking it out unstrung then stringing this way would be much easier for me, due to space reasons. Anyone seen what I am talking about?

[Woodduck]

I don't have but one, 'kinda' good eye; so I use my stringer.

Ben Graham, of Hummingbird bows made me a longbow and he said it didn't need a stringer. He said he had 'tried' to twist one but couldn't.
He recommended them for his recurves, however.
That was about 8 years ago and he may say differently now, I don't know.

He had a nice ankle strap, stringer that was as easy as not using one.
I like that type stringer. It was like a dog collar with an extra loop for the bottom limb tip to fit in; and you just used the step-through method.
Some of my lighter tipped deflex-reflex longbows that I shoot now; I use the stringer the bowyer recommends.

Play safe! You only have two eyes...

[Shakes.602]

I Agree, let others Do as They Want, but there is no Sense putting Yourself in a Position where Getting Hurt Is Truly Possible.
    Stringers are Cheap Insurance, but thats just My Opinion.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Ok thanks guys. I just wanted a few opinions on this, because it was interesting to see. Justin

[Smokebubble]

I wonder if there is any possibility of damaging a bow with a stringer?

[Shakes.602]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm............Good Question there SmokeBubble. We will have to see what kind of Answers the "GURUs" of the TradGang Family have to say!

[42WLA]

I use a stringer on my 58" Red Wing Hunter recurve but on my 70" HH Big 5 I step through. On the Howard Hill I could not twist a limb even in a vice.

[Elk Chaser]

I have seem it both ways , last year I was hunting with a guy the strung and unstrung the bow every time he went to hunt or shoot for fun, say 4-5 times each day.  
Never used a stringer, he was a amateur Bowyer.
all other strung the bow on the first day and unstrund in the last day of the trip.
I guess its personal preferance
P.S I am using a stringer like the old EYE BALLS

[Shovelbuck]

Personally, stringers make me nervous. The thought of it breaking while using it is very unsettling. I've heard the stories about people getting hurt using the push pull method but can't even begin to see how that could happen. I've been using push/pull for about 40 years and don't plan on changing.

[JL]

I personally witnessed a limb letting go on a curve while a fella was doing the step thru method. The limb flipped up and ripped one very nasty jagged cut across his forehead. He left the range that day in a ambulance...

I know limbs on LB's are more stout and less prone to twisting. I shoot curves myself and never felt unsure of using a stringer. On the other hand, back in the day, while using the step thru method (before the incident) I often felt unsure if I always had the string loops seated in the grooves correctly. I have also used the push/pull method on lighter weight bows in the past. Of the two, the push/pull method seems more controlled, if familiar with how to do it and done correctly.

Stringers are cheap and I have several (house,truck,pack,ect) around. Now in my more "experianced" years, I use a stringer all the time. The risk of damage to the bow or the chance to permently disfiguring yourself seriously outweight the idea to not use a good stringer, in my opinion.

Not a sermon, just a thought...

JL

[Kingstaken]

Strigners are like an insurance policy.
Walked into a range a number of years ago. Alot of comotion going on.
A guy was unstringing his recurve, where he had the bottom limb on the ground against his foot and recurve tip facing him. Doing the typical pull handle and puch out tip routine, the top limb slipped thru the string as it is suppose to but so quickly he was unable to control it that it when it came back it penetrated thru his eye glasses and blew out his eye. Left a big puddle of fluids on the ground.
I've seen so many recurve shooters unstring this way and I simply don't know why.
Maybe for smaller length and lighter weight recurves, noone thinks it's a prblem.

At the very least, wrap the bottom limb around your leg so the top limb pushes away from you.

[the Ferret]

Coldsteel what kind of bow are you shooting?

Push pull is not very easy with a recurve, but for a straight end longbow or self bow it's so easy and fast. Takes all of a second or two. I use a stringer for a recurve, but on all my selfbows and longbows it's push pull only..

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I'm shooting a northern mist whisper longbow.

[Tim Fishell]

Justin, I always used the push pull method on that bow.  The limbs are so narrow and very stout so twisting is close to impossible.  I always liked this method better cause I never had to worry about forgetting my stringer.  Now on bows like the Bob Lee or my other recurves where the limbs are wide and narrow where twisting could be an issue I always use a stringer.  I learned this from Ron LaClair when I bought one of his bows and he always uses the push pull.

Tim

[Orion]

Push/pull works pretty easy on moderate weight longbows and hybrids.  Not as easy on recurves.  It's more difficult to unstring any of these with the push pull method.  Very easy for the limb to slip out of your hand while you're trying to remove the string from the nock groove with your fingers.  When that happens, it comes back and hits you in the head, eye, whatever.  Step through method works well for longbows, but pretty easy to twist a limb with recurves.  Never hurt myself using these methods, but have seen guys who did.  I use them only when I've forgotten or lost my stringer.

[Jake H]

Push-pull is the, dare I say, traditional means of stringing straight limbed bows.  It's depicted in medieval woodcut illustrations (as is the over the shoulder method used on very heavy warbows)

It shouldn't harm the bow if done right (any more than any other method can harm the bow), but as others have noted... do not look directly at the limb tip with your remaining eye.    

Sure, the odds are small and many MANY archers use it every day, but since I only have two eyes I'm not going to roll the dice.  I'll stick with my stringer.

Jake
(who wishes he was braver because push-pull is so quick and looks so much cooler than bending over like a dog with a football to use a stringer)

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I tried the push pull method, and I honestly have to say I felt safer doing it that way that with a stringer. I always have worries of one of the ends of the stringer slipping off, or the cord breaking.

[DarkeGreen]

I would guess you could loose both eyes with a stringer if the bow broke in the right place. You would have two sharp jagged sticks coming at your face. Truth be told there probably isn't a totally safe way to string one.

Maybe I'll just leave my bow strung.  

[Jake H]

Hey Coldsteel,

First, there's nothing wrong with push-pull (as you might have gathered from my last sig line, I apreciate the method for what it is)

Everyone worries about the stringer slipping in the same way that everyone worries about having left the stove on.  It's the product of an active and cautious imagination more than a real concern.

I DO understand your discomfort (because I usually check my stringer 6 times before I pull up on the bow ) .  However, if you think about it, that's far less likely than losing control of a push-pull unstrining.

Moreover, if a stringer fails... oops.  At worst your bow might break.  Buy a new one.

If push-pull fails you might get nicknamed 'Winky'.   Steve Austin (the action hero not the wrestler) aside, you can't buy a new eye.

Jake
(who thinks the risk of BOTH is overstated, but is going to err on the side of caution in this case.)

[Smokebubble]

I asked the question because a friend told me that he broke the limbs of his old bear by trying to string it with a stringer (tip/tip style). Could this be a danger? I used the step through method with a sling arround one limb, but since my new predator arrived i'm scared of twisting the limbs!