Fast Flight Plus... how many strands?

[Josh]

I am new to the whole Fast Flight string material, Just ordered some from 3 Rivers... How many strands do you usually use for a 45-55 lb bow?  I have been making 14 strand B-50 dacron strings forever and was wondering what the conversion was to fast flight for a durable string that I don't have to worry about breaking from every day shooting.  Thanks in advance for responding!  -josh

[Gordon]

I use 12 strands of FF+ for my strings and have never had a problem.

[Josh]

cool thank you, Gordon.    Can you tell a significant difference from it and Dacron? 

[JW_Halverson]

Use minimum 4X the draw weight of the bow.  What is the tensile strength of FF?  If it is 50 lbs, then a 50 lb bow uses 4 strands minimum.

With Dacron B50, I am using 8 strands for a 50 lb bow and having to double serve the arrow nock area so that it doesn't slice thru my fingers!  I've never had a single strand of it fail in a bowstring.  Remember, when you start adding weight to the bowstring, performance suffers.  FF is supposed to be stronger than Dacron, 12 strands would be overkill in my opinion. 

But then, I think FF on wood bows is overkill period.  I'm too cheap to gain 4-5 fps for four times the price of Dacron. 

[PEARL DRUMS]

I use 8 strands under 50#'s and 10 for anything over that. I use D10 D97 though. I personally notice a huge difference all the way around. Much more than just speed. In the big picture the cost is ZERO. How many string a year do you build? I spend about $50 a year on ff string material and make lots and lots of bows. So I spend $50 on the good stuff rather than $18 on B50. I wont miss that $2.66 per month  and neither will you if you try it once.

[Josh]

...I was of that mindset too JW but I think you get more string per roll of Fast Flight than you do Dacron so it isn't as bad as you'd think.. 

[Josh]

I know that a roll of Dacron is 1182 feet, still trying to find how many feet per roll of Fast Flight.

[Del the cat]

I'm using Angel Majesty 10 strands for just about everything.
I pad it out with an extra strand or two at loops and serving, (I do continuous loops strings)
Del

[PEARL DRUMS]

I pad mine as well. 2 strands of B50 per bundle. It protects the string from the bow.

[Gordon]

Can you tell a significant difference from it and Dacron?

H*ll yes I can tell the difference. My bows feel downright sluggish with B50 strings. I also have a terrible problem with the string slapping my wrist with B50. I don't have that problem at all with FF.

[okie64]

I use 12 strands of fast flight and double serve to keep finger pinch down. I can tell a big difference in fast flight and b-50, less handshock, no wrist slap and better cast. It would be hard for me to go back to shooting b-50 again.

[Josh]

Can you tell a significant difference from it and Dacron?

H*ll yes I can tell the difference. My bows feel downright sluggish with B50 strings. I also have a terrible problem with the string slapping my wrist with B50. I don't have that problem at all with FF.

cool thanks Gordon!  I have that problem with the string slapping my arm usually at the base of my thumb on my bow hand with longer bows (>68" NtN) and was told it was from the stretch of the B50 string... Good to know it won't happen with my Fast Flight strings. 

[DQ]

I've been using 10 or 12 strands of D-97 and serving with .025 serving material.  Ends up about the same diameter as a 14 strand B-50 string.  I also pad the loops with B-50.  I don't care much about arrow speed. The difference is in less vibration (and handshock) in the bow.  D-97 really tames a rough feeling bow.

[Badger]

   You could get by with 4 strands on a 60# bow but it would pinch your fingers. I use 10 and serve the string most of the time. I also sometimes use 4 strands fast flight and 6 strands linen for a safe but more comfortable on the fingers string. Both are white so it looks like linen string.

[PatM]

Steve ,
Not that someone would show up at the salt flats with a "mostly linen" string based on that info.