My .02 is that if I'm stringing something like a laminated recurve, I'll use a stringer that is designed for it. I know for a fact that years of stepping through will twist a limb on a glass recurve. Seen it too many times. Push/pulling a glass recurve can be a good way to break a limb tip. On my longbows, I push/pull. I'm always careful to protect the limb tip when I do. I have a longbow stringer just in case, but I rarely touch it. If I can't push/pull it, it's probably too heavy for me to shoot anyway. Now if we get into warbow territory, I'm going to go ahead and put in the extra string grooves and use a long string as a stringer, then get out the ibuprofen and take a few, so they kick in by the time I'm done shooting.