School me on strings

cburns17

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Jan 6, 2013
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Wasatch Mtns
Got my bow about a year and a half ago, and it had a new string. It's definitely time for a new one. Is there any particular string out there that stands out from the crowd in terms of performance and durability?
 

Whisky

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Dec 25, 2012
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Winners Choice and Vapor Trail are probably your most well known. And they are both good companies with good products.

I may try First String on my next bow however. I hear their premium strings are awesome. But I think a guy pays for them!!! Haven't got prices yet.
 

DWarcher

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Jul 28, 2012
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I started shooting XXCustom strings (both 8190 and 452X) last year and have been VERY impressed with the quality of David's products.
 
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Hope J-Daddy don't mind, but I'm quoting his reason for his string selection to this thread...
Now as far as John's Customs strings....Over the years I've shot A LOT of strings from A LOT of builders...From small builders at local shops to the big guys like Winners Choice & Vapor Trail..I started shooting John's strings back in 2008 and have been with him ever since. IMHO he builds the best you can get, he's very precise on his lengths, he stretches everything so there's no creep and his serving is second to none...Serving quality and precise lengths are what seperates the good builders from the great builders. As far as the 8190 material goes, I've shot it on a few bows since the 8190 hit the market and I really like it...Very little stretch in it, a lot like 452x, but it fuzzs less than 452x...So with less fuzz you don't have to wax it as much, less wax equals less build up in/on the strings...Excessive wax adds weight to the string so you lose performance over time and wax holds dirt and that leads to strings that look nasty over time and can also lead to more wear on the strings with all the dirt that gets in them. I've shot most all of the string materials on the market, I've been happy with 8190 so far...John really likes it too, he gets less stretch out of it and better speeds.

I know that I need new strings this year and may give these a shot as well! How are you supposed to measure your appropriate string length?

Mike
 

Ethan S.

Lil-Rokslider
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Sep 3, 2012
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I had some strings made for my Turbo awhile back and they were made from 452x. When I went to shoot the bow it was noticeably louder than it was with the factory strings. Has anyone else noticed differences in noise levels between different string material? Is 8190 quiter that the 452x?
 

Whisky

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Hope J-Daddy don't mind, but I'm quoting his reason for his string selection to this thread...


I know that I need new strings this year and may give these a shot as well! How are you supposed to measure your appropriate string length?

Mike

It should be somewhere on a spec sheet for your bow, on the manufacturers website or possibly in your owners manual. I think what J-Daddy is saying is if you order a 91 5/8 string length for example, you will get 91 5/8. Where as some other guys are not as accurate. If you get too long or two short you run into problems obviously.
 

J-Daddy

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I don't mind you guys quoting my post on the other thread....
There are some things a person needs to look at with strings...And I'll probably get burned at the cross by saying this before it's all over with....
Everyone uses the same materials these days, pretty much everyone that builds strings use either materials from BCY or Brownell...8190 is the newest material and probably 99% of the builders are using it to some extent now...So you can't just say "Use this guy/company because they use 8190"...The difference in string builders IS NOT MATERIAL!!!! The difference is quality and attention to detail.
I've ordered strings from guys and out of the package they looked good and were built with the same material every builder uses....But when I installed them I soon figured out that the lengths were off...Now granted some were not off by a lot, 1/8"-1/4" range, but that's still extra work when it comes to setting a bow up. You have to twist stuff up and keep messing with it to get the lengths right. The 2nd part that makes a great set of strings is serving quality, both materials & tightness...
Halo serving is widely regarded as the best end servings and what I prefer...Other servings will work, but Halo holds up better over time and lays down really tight. The main thing is getting them TIGHT when putting the serving on and that's where most builders drop the ball. Cams today are hard on end servings, they have a lot of sharp bends in the tracks and lobes and that pulls serving apart over time.
Now with all that being said, I have shot Winners Choice & Vapor Trail a lot in the past "the 2 big dogs in strings" and I've had issues with their lengths...Not by a lot but by some and it cost me some extra work...And more twists in a string can rob you of some performance and if the lengths are long "which most are" and you have to add twists to get them shortened up you lose a little speed in the long run.
One other thing to add is that some "not many, but some" of the custom builders have their OWN lengths they use on string/cables...Just for example, if a bow calls for say a 58 1/4" string they might have found out that they pick up 10fps and a more correct draw length if they use say 58 1/8" on the string...Not many of them have this perfected but a few do "my builder does"...My builder does this on a number of bows and you always see performance gains from it.
 
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J-Daddy

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Oh and about the lengths, most all string builders have those lengths on hand....If nothing else you/they can always call the company and get the lengths for the string/cables...Only issue might be on a really old bow where the company is no longer in business.
The way I look at it is your better off letting the builder get the lengths, that way if they aint right it's his fault and not yours....If you tell him a number that's wrong your stuck buying another string...If he screws it up that's his fault.
 

Whisky

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One other thing to add is that some "not many, but some" of the custom builders have their OWN lengths they use on string/cables...Just for example, if a bow calls for say a 58 1/4" string they might have found out that they pick up 10fps and a more correct draw length if they use say 58 1/8" on the string...Not many of them have this perfected but a few do "my builder does"...My builder does this on a number of bows and you always see performance gains from it.

Interesting.....I may have to give him a try. Do you have pricing and contact info for him?

Thanks
 

J-Daddy

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John's Customs

Interesting.....I may have to give him a try. Do you have pricing and contact info for him?

Thanks

Pricing depends on the bow and the amount of serving on the cables....Roller guard bows have a LOT more serving so they always cost more. I'll be honest with you, he's not the cheapest around but there's a reason behind that...The guys that use his strings will pay more for his work, you can find plenty of guys building strings in the $40-$45 range on Archerytalk, where you'll probably be more in the $75-$85 range on his....His quality & attention to detail justifies his higher price tags.
If you need his contact info drop me a PM and I'll get it to you...
 

J-Daddy

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Feb 27, 2012
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The other thing that I forgot is speed nocks, some builders don't put the nocks on their strings....You lose some speed because of that if you don't have them "or if you don't have the right number in the right spot"...My guy always puts them on.
For some reason a few people seem to be opposed to running speed nocks, never made sense to me, they don't make it any louder and you can gain anywhere from 5 to 10fps by using them...I'll gladly take the speed gains.
 

garrickt

Lil-Rokslider
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Mar 6, 2012
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Yep, J-Daddy is right in the money. I personally use Halo on all of the cables I build as a standard, I still use BCY 3d on shooting strings. The reason I do this is because in order to keep Halo from separating it needs to be served pretty tight. This can (not always) lead to the string wanting to twist a little more creating a little peep rotation. With the 3d I get absolutely no peep rotation and still keep the servings nice and tight because the bends in the cam tend to be less on the string than the cables. I will do Halo on a string but charge a little more for it simply because I like to spend a little more time on it to make sure it is laid down as to not encourage peep rotation.
Another materiel nobody mentioned was Brownell xs2 which I an really liking. I am getting a few more fps out of it on most bows and am impressed with how it is holding up on my set-ups and I have also been getting good feedback from some of the guys I have shooting it. I am building my color options with it but have about 12 in stock.

Check out my website www.bluffcountrybowstrings.com for a little more info about my strings, it's nothing fancy but it does the job for now :). I also just became a sponsor on Rokslide and am happy to answer any questions.
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2012
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Yep, I know Tom and he builds really good strings as well...Heck of a good dude too.

You are right he is a great guy! I live right here near him and it has been a pleasure having him work on my bow. I know that everytime I leave there my bow is shooting it's absolute best. I can't say enough about him, great guy for sure.
 

rhendrix

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Aug 6, 2012
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When should you change out your cables? I need a new string and thought I'd get new cables as well, just don't know if it's necessary.
 

Whisky

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Dec 25, 2012
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It all depends on how much you shoot, abuse, etc. I tend to think strings every year, cables every other year ought to be a good guideline....But it depends...I also don't shoot year round like I should be. Hope to change my practice habits here this Winter once I get the new bow set up.
 
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