"Skinny Strings"

[Breeze430]

Am considering trying a "skinny string". Am I'm gonna gain much from a hunting distance perspective? I'm good to 27, 28 yards hunting. Weight wise, I shoot between 60 or 66lbs depending on which bow I'm shooting. Are they worth a try?

[BOWMARKS]

I went to one ,I think the skiny string caused my fingers to start to caullous and hurt like heck.  Went back to a 14 strand and I am good to go.      

[JamesKerr]

I don't care for a fast flight string less than 12 strands. While you will get a faster arrow and have plenty of tensile strength, I like to have a bit of "comfort zone" in my setup. I know with my 16 strand string if a strand or two gets cut while out hunting I still have plenty of strength left in my string.

[cjgregory]

I use a "skinny" string.  Yes they are worth it depending on who you are.  I do not use D97 as they continue to stretch and seem to never stop.  I use UltraCam.  After the first 50 shots or so its done stretching.

It doesn't effect my fingers because I double wrap my serving so its about the same as when using 14 strands.

My actual chronograph readings, from B50 to 8 or 10 strand Ultracam is a 20 fps increase as an average out of my Silvertip.

[fnshtr]

I accidently posted on your duplicate thread, sorry. I would recommend an SBD skinny string (sponsors here). I did not have negative issues with release (sore fingers) as my string is served to the normal size.

While not noticing any appreciable difference in arrow trajectory... it is definitely quieter. My BW PSA III had limb savers and the string was padded PLUS two beaver hide silencers... I ordered my string with the puff ball silencers, took off the padding and limb savers and have a much quieter bow.

A quieter bow MAY not spook game as quickly. (Haven't hunted with the new string yet.)

Good luck!

[Breeze430]

20 fps??? Cuz that is a bunch...I'm already using fast flyte. So 10 fps maybe? Quieter though makes me think..

[Covey]

I had oliverstacy (Josh) make me a 10 strand string and I was shocked at the differance. I'm not a speed freak but there was a noticeable speed increase. It was enough of a differance that I have to shoot stiffer arrows!

Jason

[m midd]

I like skinnys on my lighter bows but prefer 14-16 on my 63# hunting bow. I tried a skinny on it but it hurt mt fingers but it was quiter and faster

[grayfeather]

I have  6 strand from A&H, they help most with low weight say 40# and a long draw length 31. I have a 27" draw length and shoot a 48# longbow.The 6 strand increased my speed by 5 ft persecond,over a 12 strand.A&h does not recomend using their 6 strand on bows over 53#.I like it ,it is quiet and helps my shooting .There is always 8 and 10 strand,Also my 12 strand is a little softer on the bow hand.

[WESTBROOK]

They can make a bow quieter, reduce hand shock, yup they are a little quicker.

I hate Dacron so thats not an option.

Eric

[SaltyDawg]

From Dacron to a standard FF is usually an average of about 8 fps. From a standard FF to a skinny FF (if it is built properly) will usually give an average of another 8 fps boost.

Of course all that depends on how well the bow & archer function together. As cj stated, he gets even more of a boost, but that's because he & his setup are in tune, and in tune with one another.

If a skinny FF string is biting your fingers, then it wasn't built properly. I build up the center serving on my strings to fit the nocks I use, which is normally equivalent in size to a 14 -16 strand string.

Rick

[SaltyDawg]

Oh, and P.S.

One of the foremost mistakes folks make when switching to a skinny FF string, is they try to use the same arrow.

99.9% of the time, you will need a much heavier spine shaft, and if you don't realize that, and work with it, then a skinny string isn't going to benefit you at all.

Rick

[TxAg]

Can someone explain the "quieter"?

I've had the opposite experience. Of course, my experiences are limited to only 3 or 4 bows....all Toelke Whips 62-64" long. They come with a 12 strand ff, but i've tried some 8 strands and there was definitely more noise and some handshock that wasnt there qith the12 strand.

[AWPForester]

I really like the sbd strings.  They are super quiet and if you are already shoting fast flight you won'e see a hugh difference in speed.  If you sre shooting dacron the speed difference will be like a tank versus a porsche in a quarter mir drag race.

But in all instances on all bows I have expierenced them on, they quietened them dramatically, regardless of string choices.

[LimBender]

20 fps?        I think it makes a small difference in speed if you are going from a ff to a smaller ff string.  If a small difference matters to you, then try it out - only costs you about $20.  If you like what you are shooting probably not worth changing unless its time for a new string.  If you don't like it, then you have a lighter packing back-up string.    :D  

I second Ultra-Cam cause it seems quiet and doesn't have many stretching issues.  I feel confident with 8 strand pulling about 52.  

TxAg - I can't wrap my mind around why it would be quieter - although I can see a different pitch like a guitar string (higher frequency).  I wonder if any UT grads would know.    

[eflanders]

Not all bows will benefit from a "skinny string" and not all shooters prefer them even if they do improve the "performance" of their bow.  This is the main reason why we offer several different string choices.  Of course you will never know if you will like one if you don't try one of the "performance" strings.  

So here's an offer for you:  Because the only way to know if you like a performance string is to try one, order one from us and if you don't like it, I will refund all of your money or make you a new "standard" string to replace the performance string with and I'll cover the postage to send you the replacement string should you not like the performance (skinny) string!  Ok?

[Bjorn]

That is quite an offer............if I weren't already a skinny string user I'd definitely take you up on that!

[TxAg]

Originally posted by LimBender:
20 fps?         I think it makes a small difference in speed if you are going from a ff to a smaller ff string.  If a small difference matters to you, then try it out - only costs you about $20.  If you like what you are shooting probably not worth changing unless its time for a new string.  If you don't like it, then you have a lighter packing back-up string.     :D    

I second Ultra-Cam cause it seems quiet and doesn't have many stretching issues.  I feel confident with 8 strand pulling about 52.  

TxAg - I can't wrap my mind around why it would be quieter - although I can see a different pitch like a guitar string (higher frequency).  I wonder if any UT grads would know.      

Haha, the only ones I know only duck hunt.

[LBR]

There you go--a definate "maybe".

How much you gain, if anything, depends on a ton of variables, including the bow, tuning, etc.

Ken Beck did a challenge--basically offered a free BW bow to anyone who could show a minimal speed gain (2 or 3 fps I think) by changing the string from their standard 14 strand Dynaflight '97.  If you took the challenge and failed, you had to buy a BW at regular retail cost.  As best I could find out, nobody took the challenge--that speaks for itself IMO.  Might be some threads on that here if you look.

Quiet is a relative term, as is "skinny".  I've never had to go to extremes to get a bow quiet--just takes some tuning know-how and some tinkering.

Being the in the string business, I pay a LOT of attention to who is shooting what, especially at the big tournaments like the IBO Traditional Worlds, and I watch some Olympic shooting on YouTube.  I see the winning shooters with moderate, even "fat" strings--at least that's what I've noticed. The strings that Fred Bear, Ben Pearson, Howard Hill, etc. used for amazing shots and lots of dead animals were quite "fat" by today's standards.

That being said, if you are really curious, try one.  I've tinkered with several different materials and strand counts, and personally haven't found any benefits to going with a tiny string/low strand count string on the bows I shoot.  I do think you will gain more, performance-wise, with a lighter string on lighter draw weight bows...but I've never seen anything close to what others have gotten...maybe 2-4 fps.  

A few strands of string material just doesn't weigh that much--especially after building up the serving area--and that's where any performance gain comes from.

But again, it's a reasonably cheap experiment--give it a whirl and see what your results are.

Chad

[S C Mercer]

I have only used SBD bowstrings on all my bows for the last 2 years.  Its and 8 strand string, double served to fit an Easton X nock and the loops are padded to 16 strands.  These strings have performed flawlessly for me in every situation I have used them in.  From hunting to 3D tournaments they really are worth the $20 they cost.  They last a very long time and the way they quiet down a bow really has to be heard to be appreciated.   I had been using 14 strand D97 bowstrings prior to switching to SBD strings and the sound the bow made at the shot was incredible.  Some bows just couldn't be quieted with the D97.  Especially the recurves.  With the SBD D10 string, the bow is barely audible when shot.   This is with only 2 cat whisker type string silencers on the bow string.   The bows are shooting a 10GPP arrow 190+ FPS (52#@29" drawn a true 29").   Well worth the $ in IMHO.   ~Steve