When it comes to recurves...how quiet?

[twostrings]

Hey all, after shooting my recurve exclusively for the past year, I picked up my long bow just for fun and realized how quiet it was in comparison to my recurve. Is it possible to get a recurve that quiet? or will it always be louder?

mh

[Doug in MN]

Not sure what your specs are. I have an RER static limb recurve 60" 60# at my 30" draw, the bow was always pretty quiet but not silent.

Tried the Bow Hush, the product is as advertised give it a try, you will be very happy.

DD

[jhg]

I have a Damon Howatt hunter with D-50, padded loops and catwhiskers and it is almost silent. Really. The only longbows I have shot as quiet were ones someone had spent some time tuning and with some type of string silencers.

Joshua

[Orion]

Recurves can be made fairly quiet, but probably not as quiet as most longbows.  It's the nature of the beast.  The string has two major contact points on the recurved portion of the bow limb tips. The sound of the string slapping against the limbs at the shot can be reduced, but it can't be entirely eliminated.

[JRY309]

My 2008 Martin Hunter is pretty quiet,I have a D97 8 strand padded loop with bow hush and wool puffs.I had a BW SAV with bow hush and hush puppies and it was quiet.I would get comments on how quiet it was from other shooters.

[GraniteStater]

Jumping on the Damon Howatt Hunter train.  I have one with cat whiskers and limb savers and it makes no noise at all.  Everything is muted.

[Burnsie]

I've got my Fox High Seirra almost dead quiet,  just a very low dull thud noise. I use Bow Hush, Hush Puppies at the 3rds and a set of string leeches at the 1/4s.  Shooting a heavy arrow really helps too.

[bmfer]

I have a 55# Hoyt Dorado, when I got it, I thought it was horribly loud, but I had already paid when I ordered it. It took Limbsavers, moleskin between the limbs and riser, and felt on the limb tips. It was better, but still not great. I started shooting HEAVY arrows, about 620 grn, and that helped too. It still had some hand shock and noise. I remembered a compound bow product used to tame down compound bowstrings, called STS, and how well it worked on them, and tried one. Not what many here would consider Traditional, but man, its just short of silent now!

[Gerry]

If you tune it right and use a reasonable string, arrow weight, and silencers you can get them very quiet.  I have owned a Paxton Talon and Great Northerns that were as quiet as any bow out there.  I did own one or two that were not really quiet but had an after shot vibration - big name bow and no matter what I did it was not as quiet as I wanted.

[sagebrush]

Brace height can also make a big difference. Gary

[Steel]

Most of my longbows are quieter than my recurves and I have 19 2009 or newer production Big name bows right now. I have wood core,foam core, carbon foam core,wood core/carbon limbed bows. I have two recurves that shoot as quiet as my average longbow a carbon/foam core Cheyenne and a Shawnee Recurve foam core limbs.Other than that my average recurve isn't bad they just aren't as quiet as my best longbows.

[jackdaw]

my buddy brian just recently put a d-97 14 strand fast flight  srting with "woolie whispers"at the quarters on his 49# ed holcomb 59' bear kodiak repro...that bow is AMAZINGLY quiet! rivals any longbow I've ever heard. going to try the woolie whispers on my bow....no audible string slap...it's kinda' freaky....oh, he also shoots split finger...which helps.....john

[Hot Hap]

I set-up/tune mine in the basement. When you get them quiet in that echo chamber and take them outside, it's the sound of silence. Hap

[Dave Bowers]

I usually use cat whiskers or beaver balls. But I recently did some testing with the new mathews monkey tails. And with a total of 4 in different positions made my recurve whisper quit. i was really impressed, so i kept them on the string to hunt with this year.

[SL]

A good clean release will make a bis difference in the noise you hear also. Ive never heard a quiet bow with a bad release.
SL

[JCJ]

Some recurve designs seem easier to make quiet. Of the modern recurves I have found the Predator real easy to quiet with just a single set of catwiskers. The Predator is a very efficient design and I have often wondered if that in itself might be the reason it is easier to quiet down. I've had two of the RER static tip recurves and they are inherently a quiet design too. None have been as quiet as my Hill style longbows. And as the above poster said a good clean release makes a big difference in noise.

[Earthdog]

I shoot a Dorado with Trad Tech limbs,was very noisy when I first put it togeather.
Today it's as quite as my longbows.
The two biggist points after the basics were brace hight and my release.
The string contact on the limb tips actualy doesn't make anywhere near the noise most folksa belive.

[Jim Wright]

I have owned 2 Dan Toelke recurves, a 1 pc. Chinook and a 3 pc. "S.L." take-down which has recently been replaced by the new Curlew 3 pc. In addition I have heard and shot a number of other high end recurves belonging to other 3d shooters and am no longer surprised by the fact that some of the most expensive ones are also the very noisiest. I will say that like his Longbows, every Toelke recurve I have heard shot was quiet and that mine with B50 Dacron strings and "cat whiskers" trimmed down to less than half the original diameter shooting arrows in the 10 to 12 grains per pound range were as quiet as any recurve I've ever heard and this was confirmed for me on numerous occasions by other shooters.

[David McLendon]

Limb slap is a major culprit in recurves, I pad with the rug side of heavy duty velcro and replace it periodically. A lower strand count string is a lot quieter than a 12-14 strand, whether or not you are looking for performance increase they are a lot quieter and will cut down on the amount of silencing material that you need to get the job done. And the heavier the arrow the quieter the bow which in combination with a low strand string will give some overall performance improvement but we ain't going there here.

[Doug in MN]

I am going to add a comment on a new bow, new to me today.

The bow is a Great Northern Super Ghost 60" AND 50# at 28".

This is the first one I have owned, played with a B-50 string and no silencers very quiet I was very suprised.

Made up a puff yarn/wool silencer even better.

Then I made up a mixed Yarn/Wool and Rubber leg silencer, the rubber legs come from fishing supply store.

The bow is dead silent and as quiet as any of my longbows.

Now here is the question; is it because of the limb design of the bow?

Oh and the bow is quick as well, I am shooting 2018's that are weighing at 570 grains.

Draw to 30"

DD