B50... why on earth do you guys use it?

[SLIMBOB]

Fastflite's worth the few extra dollars.  I have a friend who will not use anything but sinew strings.  Period.  No plastic man made crap on his bows.  He does however recognize that my strings are, performance wise, way better in most every way measurable.  No argument.  If you are gonna use space age string material, might as well use the lightest, strongest, lowest stretch material available IMO.

[toomanyknots]

Like I said, "look at the way you make strings", 24 strands, thats a rope, 14 would have been adequate but I would have gone with 16 just to be on the safe side.

So you think using 14 strands instead of 24 on a 110# bow would somehow reduce stretch? When it was overbuilt with the purpose or reducing said stretch in the first place? I fail to follow your logic.

[toomanyknots]

Mr. Pearl, where do you get DF-97 for 18 bucks? I have never found it for less than $27 for 1/4# spool.

Eric the last two rolls came from Larry at Lost Nation, they were archery show prices. Most any vendors will have sales at shows, thats when I jump on it. I think 3 Rivers is under $27 a spool. Honestly, even if it costs me $25 a year more to use it, I would. I have made hundred and hundreds of strings now, I started in the mid 90's and even supplied a sporting goods store. I hope I have it figured out by now and that my taste for fast flight isnt a result of not knowing how to make a good string from B50.

3 rivers sells it for 25.00 or so for a spool, but it is only 1/8# spool, not a 1/4#. That might be where the confusion originating. 

[bubby]

I use b-50 and b-55, the latter does stretch less, but i'm getting some d97 shortly and we'll see what we see, only shot one bow with a linen string, came on a trade bow a couple years ago, broke after about 40 shots, not shure why, it was a endless loop, Bub

[TRACY]

B-50 flemish twist strings have filled the freezer several times over the last 25 years

If it ain't broke don't fix it. Shoot whatever string material you enjoy

One of these days I'll use sinew or some other natural fiber to complete my primitive quest.


Tracy

[osage outlaw]

I recently switched to FF from B-50.  I haven't noticed a huge difference.  I think I will end up saving money even though FF is more expensive.  I didn't have a stretching problem with the B-50.  I made the strings a little short and stretched them over night under a lot of tension on my endless loop jig.  I have heavy metal shelf brackets with a 45 degree support on my jig.  I would tighten them down until the metal started to bend.  I would imagine it was quite a bit more tension than being on a bow.  After that I never had a problem with them stretching.

[JW_Halverson]

Like I said, "look at the way you make strings", 24 strands, thats a rope, 14 would have been adequate but I would have gone with 16 just to be on the safe side.

24 strands of B-50?  Rope?  More like a naval ship hawser!     That's 2,700 lbs of breaking strength when all you really need is 4 times the draw weight.  But then, some of you jokers in here pull some mighty heavy bows, too.  I'm a wimp. 

I've been getting away with 8 strands of B50 on bows up to 50 lbs of draw weight.  Yeah, it's initially pretty stretchy, but they do shoot-in pretty quick.  Mind, I do have to double serve the area where I nock my arrows in order to not cut thru my glove, 8 strands is pretty thin.  When I make strings for others, I do bump it to 10 strands and sometimes 12 depending on what they want. 

I've shot some FF on my bows and just didn't notice any difference.  So, I have allowed myself to take the cheaper route. 

A couple of people have said they go with B50 because it's "good enough".  I guess I'm in that camp too.  There comes a point I just don't wanna go down the path of chasing every spare FPS out of my arrows.  If I was worried about this I'd chick the wood and buy a Matthews 4 Wheel Drive GPS Enabled compound running prorietary software based on Linux++ and 8K Terrabytes of memory.   

It's a personal choice, and personally I find the FF outa my price range.  When I get into making flight bows, I will certainly revisit this chain of logic, you betcha!

[H Rhodes]

I feel a little like JW, which is sort of a scary feeling....   I started out with B50 and have never found a reason to change.  I go 10 strands on bows under 45lbs and 12 on the heavier ones.  I don't usually build anything heavier than 55lbs and haven't noticed any problems.  I make endless loops or twisted strings, depending on how the mood strikes me.  I think I actually favor the endless loop strings.  To each his own.  I am naturally cheap and started buying the B50 to save a buck.  The meat in the freezer tells me it's still working.  I just ordered some more B-50 tonight.

[twilightandmist]

I am fully aware that i am probably going to get ribbed for this one, but ive been using these for the past year with no stretch, breakage, cast loss, or any other problems. this is the string for my 95# English Longbow. It is made from reverse twisted mason line, often marketed as nylon kite string. dirt cheap, light, and absolutely effective. before you attack me for it, give it a chance, try it out. it wont disappoint, and its cheaper than all of what you guys are using.

[JW_Halverson]

No thanks, buddy!  I'm a wimp, remember!  No 90 lb bows for me!   

[_Jon_]

When Pappy and Gary Davis have decided that Fast Flight is the way to go, I just have to tend to agree.

I've made many many strings over the years.  I started out with B50, and then decided to hit the D-10 and D97 for a change of pace and to test them out. 

In my opinion there is no comparison.  One is functional.  The other is light years better.   Cast, hand shock, and how the bow functions all dictate what works best.

All my bows have Fast Flight.  If someone uses 5-50 that's cool with me.  Each of us has an opinion, and that's what makes the world a better place.

[Roy]

Why B-50 you ask, Toomanyknots?

Well because this is the Primitive Archer site.

I thought we did it the hard way here. Well at least I still do, I love B-50.

If I want a high Tech string material, I'll go out and buy a compound bow.

Or I'll start making glass bows.

Just cracks me up when guys make bows from wood, then they have to put high tech super duper fast flight strings on them.

Why ya all do that? If ya want a really fast stick bow, build a glass bow:)

[Weylin]

What's not high tech about B-50? It's just as high tech as FF it's just not as good at doing it's job.

[Josh B]

Quick and simple answer- I'm cheap and b-50 works for me.  Josh

[toomanyknots]

I am fully aware that i am probably going to get ribbed for this one, but ive been using these for the past year with no stretch, breakage, cast loss, or any other problems. this is the string for my 95# English Longbow. It is made from reverse twisted mason line, often marketed as nylon kite string. dirt cheap, light, and absolutely effective. before you attack me for it, give it a chance, try it out. it wont disappoint, and its cheaper than all of what you guys are using.

I will see your mason line string twilightandmist, and raise you a nettle string... 

Why B-50 you ask, Toomanyknots?

Well because this is the Primitive Archer site.

I thought we did it the hard way here. Well at least I still do, I love B-50.

If I want a high Tech string material, I'll go out and buy a compound bow.

Or I'll start making glass bows.

Just cracks me up when guys make bows from wood, then they have to put high tech super duper fast flight strings on them.

Tell me whats high tech about a nettle string? If anything it is alot less high tech than b50, and will perform 1000 times better as bowstring material. The best bowstrings I have ever made were of straight nettle fiber, simply twisted together slightly and lightly glued with hide glue. No stretch at all, not even any settling in, and when compared a flemish twist style linen string, there was a very noticeable difference in performance.