Almost all bows that you buy will come with a bowstring ready made for that bow. If however your string is now broken, you made your own bow, or you’re just ready for an upgrade you need to know a little bit about bowstrings to know what it is you need for your bow and your situation.
The first thing to know is that the listed length of your new string should be the same as the length of your bow. Bowstring length is pretty much always listed by the length of bow it’s made to fit on, but in reality, the string is typically a little shorter than the bow (if it were the same length your bow wouldn’t be so much of a “bow” and would be more of a strung stick). So if you get your new bowstring and you measure it and come to find that it’s shorter than your bow, don’t worry, it’s designed to be that way. More often than not you can request an appropriate length string from string makers and they’ll make sure it fits your bow.
Once you know what length you need your new string to be, you want to decide on a style. There are two major styles of strings, Flemish-twist, and endless-loop. For crossbows and compound bows, you are going to want to go with endless-loop strings more often than not. While it is possible to use the other style of strings on these types of bow, the endless-loop style can be made to a more exact specification so you’re guaranteed a good fit on your bow without the need to adjust the length of the string with twisting or untwisting. If on the other hand, you have a more traditional style bow (basically anything that you don’t need a bow press to string and unstring) you will be just as well served with a Flemish twist string as you would with an endless loop string. In this case, the choice becomes based more on what you’re doing with your bow rather than on necessity. As a general rule of thumb an endless loop string will usually clock arrow speeds just a little faster than a Flemish twist string, however, a Flemish twist string will usually be just a little quieter than an endless loop string. These differences are the result of different construction methods and ultimately the differences are so minor, that they won’t make a really noticeable difference. If you aren’t sure which way to go, a good rule of thumb is to use and endless loop string for target, field, and maybe 3D archery as for these extra sound doesn't matter and use Flemish-twist for bow hunting, bow fishing, and maybe 3D archery as these endeavors benefit from the quieter string and allow you to practice with what you will be using on your hunts.
Next, you want to consider the number of bundles you want in your new string. Strings come in two and three bundle varieties with only minor differences between the two. Mostly the choice comes down to aesthetics; if you want two colors in your string than two bundles will be fine, but if you must have that third color in your string then three bundles are for you. The only performance-based reason to go with three bundles is if your string is going to need more than 14 strands (which is determined by the material being used and the weight of your bow). Having 14 strands in your string means that you’ll have 7 strands per bundle in a two bundle string which is perfect (6 working strands with 1 core strand to maintain static friction). For every strand in a bundle past the seventh you get more and more core strands that weigh the string down, but don’t actually do any work, slowing your bowstring. That’s why it’s best, past 14 strands, to go with a three bundle string as it resolves this problem by splitting up the strands allowing you to go as high as 21 strands without encountering the same problem again which for nearly all bows will be more than strong enough. If you’re not sure of the number of strands you’ll need, talk to your string maker and they can tell you and help you decide on how many bundles your string needs to be.
Next, you want to decide on the number of loops. Most archers know that you’re going to need two loops to string your bow, but both loops don’t necessarily need to be woven style loops. Unfortunately, endless loops can’t be constructed with a single loop, but a Flemish twist string can have either two loops or a single loop and a bowyer’s knot (also known as a timber hitch) at the other end. The advantage to this style of string is that the length of the string can be adjusted to fit several size bows, rather than being suited for only a small number of bows in a small size range. This is great for those who use multiple bows and don’t want to buy a string for each. It’s also good as a backup string in case your bows primary string breaks during a trip and you can’t get a custom made replacement right away. There is a small chance that the knot could slip a little however which requires readjustment to fit the string to the bow appropriately again. Never-the-less, the adjustable nature of the string makes it extremely useful and exceptionally versatile.
You’ll also need to decide on the type of material you want to have your string made out of. If you’re using a traditional style bow and you’re not sure if it’s safe for higher end materials (the bow maker will usually let you know when you buy the bow) than you should have your string made with Dacron or natural materials (more on those later). There are two types currently, B-50 which is a slightly older, but still relevant material and B-55 which is a more updated version of the old B-50 from a different manufacturer. Both are safe on any bow because they naturally allow for a bit of stretch softening the blow to the bow limbs on each shot with B-50 being moderately stretchier than B-55. While stretchiness lessens the impact on your bow limbs, it also reduces arrow speeds so you’ll want to balance this based on the needs of your bow. If you know that your traditional style bow is safe for better materials your best option is Fast Flight Plus (there is an old version called Fast Flight, but it has been replaced by the new Fast Flight Plus which is just as safe and better in every way). Fast Flight strings increase arrow speed but tend to “saw” into your string grooves (hence the need to know if the bow is designed to take this punishment). Typically any bow with solid tip overlays (bone, fiberglass, or dense hardwoods for example) will be safe for Fast Flight strings. If you’re not using a traditional bow (basically any bow aside from wooden bows) than any of the other string materials will be a good option for you. There are a lot to choose from so I’ll talk about each of those more in later articles. Also, a quick note on natural material strings if you wish to go full traditional; there are three materials in this category that stand above the rest. Hemp and Irish shoemaker’s linen are basically on par with one another, regular linen (or flax) is just a step down from these two and silk is just a step down from regular linen. Other natural materials can be used, but these are the three best and all are safe for any kind of bow.
Now that you have all the information you’ll need you can make the best decision about what kind of string to get to improve your archery experience.
Research for this article was conducted at the following sites:
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