Give us your Favorite String Material and why!

[dbb]

Got some b50 in a sale a couple of years ago but the only thing i use it for is tillering strings and sewing leather.
For strings i like 452x trophy,it makes an unusually silent string.But all dynemaa/spectra i have tried are good

[Marc St Louis]

If I could get high quality linen easily I would probably use that most of the time but it's hard to find.

[paoliguy]

I found some waxed linen at a hooby store that was sold for making necklaces. It made some surprisingly good bowstring. BUt I usually use BCY55 because I have about 2 miles of the stuff and I am also cheap!

[BOWMAN53]

D 97 (Dyna Flight 97) is what I like because of it's lack of stretch and small diameter.  It is also very strong.

yup yup

[George Tsoukalas]

Oh ya, PD. How about broken nocks and broken string loops caused by FF.
There's no way I'd put another FF or one of its variants on one of my selfies.
I'll take that back. There are 2 chances FF will end up on one of my bows...slim and none.

I won't even tiller with it.
I should have learned to make strings from natural materials years ago. I don't feel like it now. B 50 works too well.
Jawge

[osage outlaw]

I found some waxed linen at a hooby store that was sold for making necklaces. It made some surprisingly good bowstring. BUt I usually use BCY55 because I have about 2 miles of the stuff and I am also cheap!

They were selling the 1/4# spools of B-55 for $5 each at the Classic.

[missilemaster]

D-97 all the way, I'll never go back to B50.  I use 8-10 strands for my 45-50# bows=FAST!   The best thing I ever did was make a 14 strand tillering string out of it.  That was the end of my tips spliting because now I go right from floor tiller to brace with no stretch.

[PatM]

Oh ya, PD. How about broken nocks and broken string loops caused by FF.
There's no way I'd put another FF or one of its variants on one of my selfies.
I'll take that back. There are 2 chances FF will end up on one of my bows...slim and none.

I won't even tiller with it.
I should have learned to make strings from natural materials years ago. I don't feel like it now. B 50 works too well.
Jawge

 What about those two things that I have never seen happen?
 The failure you had was probably from before you knew how to make nocks properly.

[missilemaster]

I should add that I build up the loops with 4 strands of b50 on my 8 strand strings.

[paulsemp]

Always used b 50 until I saw fast flight in person last year. I believe I have 452 X. Bought an eighth pound spool last year and still have plenty. I will never use b 50 again. At Marshall last year I made a rawhide string for a bow I made there and I know that raw hide stretch is less than b 50. The rawhide broke after 50 shots but that is not the point B50 hater right here and proud of it

[toomanyknots]

My opinion: b50 is like rubber. I like it for stitching some things, like leather handles once and a while. When you pluck a bow with a b50 string you can hear the rubbery b50 soaking up the energy. When you use a low stetch material you can tell it is shooting energy off of it because it doesn't stretch, makes a higher sharper pitch. I can anyway, as half-retarded as that sounds. It is cheap though, so I guess I can't complain too much, . I do like linen, it is just a fun material to use. I like making 3 plys of linen, they feel so good in your hand with no serving. And look sharp on a bow. Good performance too, low stretch. I use ff most of all though.

[George Tsoukalas]

Pat, that happened a few years ago. I don't want to dissuade anyone from using FF or whatever it is called. I was just answering, toomanyknots.  Jawge

[bubbles]

I've found a decent source for linen at a place called John Neal Books.  They have spools of unbleached UK linen in all different sizes. The 18/3 makes a good string  for my 50# bow that has lasted quite a while so far. I have also got the 35/3 but have yet to make a string from it as it seems it would take a while with all those strands.

[kleinpm]

I think my favorite is sinew. There is just something about a sinew string on a short bow that seems right.

I use FF most of the time.

I will never use B-50 again.

Patrick

[tipi stuff]

Add me to the sinew list with Patrick. It's old time, and just has a comfy feel to it.  Curtis