Weed eater string to increase arrow weight

[Billy Goat]

Funny, that article was about me and what I did to hunt Musk Ox the second time I went after them. It worked well... View attachment 274504

Curious why you opted for the weed eater line over tubes? Is it location and it might take a month to get the tubes?

Seems like it might just be Alaskan resourcefulness.

Do you remember the rest of the details of your archery setup?

 

[OR Archer]

3 pages of arguing over someone’s choice in an arrow build

 

[Nick Muche]

Curious why you opted for the weed eater line over tubes? Is it location and it might take a month to get the tubes?

Seems like it might just be Alaskan resourcefulness.

Do you remember the rest of the details of your archery setup?

I decided to use the weedeater line for a few reasons. One, it was on hand and like you said, it takes forever to get anything up here especially on short notice. I built those arrows about two weeks before we left. The year prior, I shot a two blade, fixed head and blew right through a musk ox and when they are in groups that could be dangerous in that another bull could be struck by the arrow. So the second time I went, I wanted to use a mechanical to avoid a pass thru, which required me to get a much heavier arrow for initial penetration. The arrow you see in the article was a small diameter Gold Tip Kinetic, and only allowed me to put 3 strands of line in them. So I switched to a Gold Tip Pro Hunter, which allowed me to get 5 strands in and that arrow ended up weighing closer to 650 grains. The key to using weedeater line is to be sure you pack the line in there tight so that it doesn't move around in flight.

I am sure there are better ways to add weight, this is just what I did.

Anyhow, I shot the arrows a lot, out to 60 yards, with no issues. My bull was at about 25 yards and the mechanical led arrow got about 24" of penetration, the bull went 60 yards and fell over. 63lb Hoyt Nitrum 34.

 

[Page Master]

I decided to use the weedeater line for a few reasons. One, it was on hand and like you said, it takes forever to get anything up here especially on short notice. I built those arrows about two weeks before we left. The year prior, I shot a two blade, fixed head and blew right through a musk ox and when they are in groups that could be dangerous in that another bull could be struck by the arrow. So the second time I went, I wanted to use a mechanical to avoid a pass thru, which required me to get a much heavier arrow for initial penetration. The arrow you see in the article was a small diameter Gold Tip Kinetic, and only allowed me to put 3 strands of line in them. So I switched to a Gold Tip Pro Hunter, which allowed me to get 5 strands in and that arrow ended up weighing closer to 650 grains. The key to using weedeater line is to be sure you pack the line in there tight so that it doesn't move around in flight.

I am sure there are better ways to add weight, this is just what I did.

Anyhow, I shot the arrows a lot, out to 60 yards, with no issues. My bull was at about 25 yards and the mechanical led arrow got about 24" of penetration, the bull went 60 yards and fell over. 63lb Hoyt Nitrum 34.

When I did mine I hot glued both ends of a braid. One end against the insert and one into the nock. Kept it stationary.

 

[Billy Goat]

I decided to use the weedeater line for a few reasons. One, it was on hand and like you said, it takes forever to get anything up here especially on short notice. I built those arrows about two weeks before we left. The year prior, I shot a two blade, fixed head and blew right through a musk ox and when they are in groups that could be dangerous in that another bull could be struck by the arrow. So the second time I went, I wanted to use a mechanical to avoid a pass thru, which required me to get a much heavier arrow for initial penetration. The arrow you see in the article was a small diameter Gold Tip Kinetic, and only allowed me to put 3 strands of line in them. So I switched to a Gold Tip Pro Hunter, which allowed me to get 5 strands in and that arrow ended up weighing closer to 650 grains. The key to using weedeater line is to be sure you pack the line in there tight so that it doesn't move around in flight.

I am sure there are better ways to add weight, this is just what I did.

Anyhow, I shot the arrows a lot, out to 60 yards, with no issues. My bull was at about 25 yards and the mechanical led arrow got about 24" of penetration, the bull went 60 yards and fell over. 63lb Hoyt Nitrum 34.

I kinda wondered about the penetration, or lack of from your picture. But you brought up a point I didn't consider. The habits of Musk Ox definitely lead to different considerations than I would normally have.


I never had a bit of issue with how you added weight, it's an old trick. Just for me it would be as easy to use a weight tube as anything else.

I did glue smaller diameter arrows into larger diameter arrows years ago. Made an arrow that would shoot thru the steel deer at a shoot. Think it was around 800 grains finished if I remember correctly.

 

[awildswanger]

lol Day Made, I am not afraid to pay for products if my needs determine I need it. Louie Simmons said it best "It doesn't pay to be strong in the wrong areas" and the more I read; the more I feel like some folks simply don't know what they don't know. Now if you'll excuse me I am going to go answer more questions on Spine and FOC.....

Louie is most certainly the G.O.A.T.

 

[BTShooter]

When I was in competition, I would use my arrow scale to weigh every arrow and dremel to grind a bit off the back of each point to get them all within what I wanted. It was very anal but still seems a lot easier than messing with trimmer string.

 

[Rob5589]

When I was in competition, I would use my arrow scale to weigh every arrow and dremel to grind a bit off the back of each point to get them all within what I wanted. It was very anal but still seems a lot easier than messing with trimmer string.

Adding trimmer line was to increase overall weight

 

[BTShooter]

Adding trimmer line was to increase overall weight

Correct, but you just use an even heavier point, then grind it down. For comp, I weighed every point, insert, nock & fetched shaft so my weights didn't vary more than a half grain total. Took about an extra hour or so in arrow building, but was worth it.

 

[Nick Muche]

lol

 

[Rob5589]

Correct, but you just use an even heavier point, then grind it down. For comp, I weighed every point, insert, nock & fetched shaft so my weights didn't vary more than a half grain total. Took about an extra hour or so in arrow building, but was worth it.

You can but, adding weight to the front changes the dynamic spine. When guys were doing this, they were looking to have a heavier completed arrow. When carbons came out they were much lighter than guys were used to. This was a way to bring up total arrow weight.

 

[Billy Goat]

You can but, adding weight to the front changes the dynamic spine. When guys were doing this, they were looking to have a heavier completed arrow. When carbons came out they were much lighter than guys were used to. This was a way to bring up total arrow weight.

It's alright, I think he hit his 10 posts now.

 

[BTShooter]

It's alright, I think he hit his 10 posts now.

Well, that's just rude. Yes, I hit 10 posts. Yes, I'm new to this forum. I've also been shooting in competition archery for over 30 years. Anything else you'd like to assume or is everyone in this forum rude to new folks?

 

[Billy Goat]

Well, that's just rude. Yes, I hit 10 posts. Yes, I'm new to this forum. I've also been shooting in competition archery for over 30 years. Anything else you'd like to assume or is everyone in this forum rude to new folks?

Well you have been around 4 weeks now, you could have contributed some on other posts to help get you to the threshold for posting in the classifieds. It just gets obvious when someone is trying to buy something. Sorry if that ruffled your feathers, I don't feel like it takes particularly thick skin to survive here, but maybe I'm wrong. I can come across rude, I really just try to be a smart ass.


Perhaps you would like to elaborate on ways you got your arrow weight up without just throwing a big heavy target point on. Or you can join the other side of the argument and tell everyone how it doesn't work and how it's an asinine idea.


Welcome.

 

[BTShooter]

Well you have been around 4 weeks now, you could have contributed some on other posts to help get you to the threshold for posting in the classifieds. It just gets obvious when someone is trying to buy something. Sorry if that ruffled your feathers, I don't feel like it takes particularly thick skin to survive here, but maybe I'm wrong. I can come across rude, I really just try to be a smart ass.


Perhaps you would like to elaborate on ways you got your arrow weight up without just throwing a big heavy target point on. Or you can join the other side of the argument and tell everyone how it doesn't work and how it's an asinine idea.


Welcome.

Ok, smart-asses I can deal with. Especially ones that try back yard hacks to get arrow weight up instead of choosing the right shaft to begin with. Anything added to the arrow, regardless of location, will change the arrow dynamics. Trimmer line, by the way, will work as a tiny shock absorber in the shaft since it will flex and vibrate. Maybe not much, but it will. This all consumes energy that should be directed downrange instead of being lost in the shaft. Outside of a heavier gpi shaft (or maybe slightly longer shaft), tip/insert weight is the way to go. May even gain some precision out of it as a lot of folks never check their arrow balance in the 1st place.

 

[Rob5589]

Ok, smart-asses I can deal with. Especially ones that try back yard hacks to get arrow weight up instead of choosing the right shaft to begin with. Anything added to the arrow, regardless of location, will change the arrow dynamics. Trimmer line, by the way, will work as a tiny shock absorber in the shaft since it will flex and vibrate. Maybe not much, but it will. This all consumes energy that should be directed downrange instead of being lost in the shaft. Outside of a heavier gpi shaft (or maybe slightly longer shaft), tip/insert weight is the way to go. May even gain some precision out of it as a lot of folks never check their arrow balance in the 1st place.

30+ years of archery you can remember carbons coming on the scene and how light they were compared to what we were shooting at the time. Adding trimmer line to increase weight was a hunters "hack," probably not comp shooters. Later on manufacturers made weight tubes to increase overall weight. Now we have carbons with heavier gpi and a great understanding of carbon shafts. Back in the early 90's not so much.

 

[BTShooter]

30+ years of archery you can remember carbons coming on the scene and how light they were compared to what we were shooting at the time. Adding trimmer line to increase weight was a hunters "hack," probably not comp shooters. Later on manufacturers made weight tubes to increase overall weight. Now we have carbons with heavier gpi and a great understanding of carbon shafts. Back in the early 90's not so much.

Yep, I was around when carbons 1st came out, they were geared more for comp shooters than hunters because they were so light. I still used aluminum for a a while because I couldn't afford to run 2 different setups for comp and hunting. Carbons weren't quite as durable then as they are now either. Never had an issue getting the good old XX78s up to whatever weight I needed.

 

[Page Master]

Yep, I was around when carbons 1st came out, they were geared more for comp shooters than hunters because they were so light. I still used aluminum for a a while because I couldn't afford to run 2 different setups for comp and hunting. Carbons weren't quite as durable then as they are now either. Never had an issue getting the good old XX78s up to whatever weight I needed.

You do what have to do in Alaska. Can't next day ship different shafts/tips from LAS to Wasilla

 

[BTShooter]

You do what have to do in Alaska. Can't next day ship different shafts/tips from LAS to Wasilla

That's a really good point I hadn't considered!