brace height

[bradsmith2010]

  ok I usually brace to bow as low as possible to get good arrow flight,, or the sweet spot shooting through a chrono,,
   this last year I was shooting quite a bit,,,, and had a bow that I braced higher than normal,,
it seemed more forgiving with arrow spine and I had less string slap,, in my mind I was stressing the limbs more to achieve that,, was it worth the tradeoff,, im not sure,, but was thinking of making a bow a bit longer than conventional for my draw,, to be able to brace it higher without straining the limbs,, thoughts???

[Pat B]

I usually use my fistmele for brace height on most of the bows I build but sometimes slightly higher to clear fletching.

[Pappy]

I usually brace mine between 5 1/2 and 6 inches, seem to be optimal for me as far as arrow flight/speed and string slap but I know several that brace them higher and have seen no real bad effects from it. I know on the glass bows I use to shoot i always went with the top end of the brace , it was smoother /quieter and move forgiving, lower had more noise , not as forgiving in arrow spline but faster, all about trade off I guess.
 Pappy

[Marc St Louis]

It depends a bit for me but at least high enough to clear the fletching on the arrows

[BowEd]

To the point of good clean arrow flight.That usually for me is around 5 and 1/2" to belly of handle.Too low and the arrow nock is on the string yet as it's paradoxing making it kick bad.
After tuning my shoot shafts I've gone as short as 3" fletching,but usually 4" so fletching is always cleared.

[Happy Grandpa]

Here is an interesting page on brace height by Bob Lee bows. These are fiberglass bows but still an interesting page.
https://bobleebows.com/brace-height-fistmele-settings/

[Selfbowman]

About 6” for me. A tad lower for flight.

[Kidder]

It makes sense that higher braces bows will be more forgiving - the angle of the arrow to the rest is reduced thereby reducing the paradox. What I’ve also heard anecdotally as well is that with woods prone to violent explosion like ERC it’s actually easier on them to brace a little higher. Anyone have thoughts on that and why it is, if so?

[bownarra]

Higher brace decreases arrow speed but makes the bow less spine sensitive. Gain here....lose there! Speed or accuracy or a combination....up to you
Leaving your arrows 5 or 6 inches long will have the same effect on spine sensitivity though.....you then lose your arrow speed as the shaft weighs more.....gain here.....lose there.....
Basically experiment until you find what you like.

[bassman211]

No lower than 6, and up to 6 3/8 inches on some bows except for horse bows. Speed is a non issue for most hunters.  Quiet counts if you are hunter.  Speed, and distance counts it you are a flight shooter. Just play with brace, and find out what  works best for you over all.

[neuse]

Does everyone measure from the lowest part of the grip?

Which would be a different measurment from a flat grip.

[Selfbowman]

I do . But that’s another can of worms.🤠

[Will B]

I measure brace height from the throat (lowest part) of the grip and usually brace my bows at 6” to 6-1/2”. I shoot 5” shield cut fletching so with this brace height the feathers are not touching the bow at brace. Any less brace and I seem to get some wrist slap.

[Selfbowman]

I measure brace height from the throat (lowest part) of the grip and usually brace my bows at 6” to 6-1/2”. I shoot 5” shield cut fletching so with this brace height the feathers are not touching the bow at brace. Any less brace and I seem to get some wrist slap.
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I do the same with my 5” fletchings .

[bownarra]

No lower than 6, and up to 6 3/8 inches on some bows except for horse bows. Speed is a non issue for most hunters.  Quiet counts if you are hunter.  Speed, and distance counts it you are a flight shooter. Just play with brace, and find out what  works best for you over all.

Why not go for speed and low noise totally possible. In fact a fast bow with no vibration(loss of efficiency) will be quiet too. Thin strings will make a big difference to bow noise. Of course accuracy is a whole bunch easier when you don't have to account for excessive drop. When trying to hit a spot.....speed is a huge factor in vertical accuracy....same deal as I was saying about stacking/energy storage.