I have always used B50 on my Howard Hill Cheetah, but I would now like to try a different/modern string material. The bow is [email protected]" and I currently twist up a 16-strand flemish string. I would like a material that stretches less, reduces vibration and adds a few fps. Any suggestions?

try 18 strand BCY-X... I have changed ALL my bows over to it, and notice an improvement in over all performance.

I even have it on a 1961 Bear Alaskan with no ill effects.

Yes +1 for 16-20 strand bcy-x. Im shooting 9.2 gpp and its like a whisper. Better than 8125 and 8125g for sure.

18 strand with .19 halo gives good knock fit out of easton and gold tips.

If you want to do those things you need an endless string made for a low stretch material. Made with a minimum number of strands in the body.

No need for 16-20 strand strings of any low stretch material, or Dacron for that matter. Increase stands in the loops to fill the nocks. Increase the the serving thick ness only where needed to fit your arrow nocks. You don't more than 10 strnads even of B-50 or B-55 for a bow of that draw weight.

I use 12 strands Brownell's Rhino.

First of all OP has a hill style bow. To me thats a firmly traditional looking bow. Anything other than flemish twist would look out of place on such a bow.

Now for strand count. I shoot 12 strand BCY - X on my 44lb longbow. Came with the bow from the bowyer and its amazing. No padded ends, just simply not needed. Pretty sure center serving is .24 halo.

That being said I would only consider a minimum of 16 strands for a 52lb hill bow. Why? Well it has nothing to do with string strength. One strand will hold it. Its about hand shock, loop thickness, transfer of shock to the bow limbs. etc etc.

You want a hot rod string - 16 strands with .21 or .24 halo center serving depending on how you like your knocks to clip. That will look amazing on your bow OP and it will have good manners, be smoking fast, and last long time.

The number of strands in a string has absolutely nothing to do with handshock....at all. It was mentioned that loops should be reinforced to fill the nocks. Strand count has nothing to do with a significant change in shock to the bow. Added stands, read weight, in a string can actually INCREASE perceived handshock in a bow.

What a string looks like is of -0- importance to me. And beleive it or not, the Flemish string isn't the most traditional method of making strings. Folks only think it is, and therefore it's the most popular.

Lol! I knew the OP would get as many different opinions on this as there are Leatherwallers:-) Honestly, I seriously doubt most of us could shoot/feel the difference between most low stretch materials. Some allow a lower strand count. Some are easier to work with. Some are crazy expensive. Just pick one and build to the diameter you need based on the manufacturer's recommendations. Keep in mind that not all low stretch materials can make the super low strand count strings w/o stretching.

450 Plus ? Has anyone tried it.

Funny thing, I just finished twisting up a string of 452X, 5minutes ago. It's on the bow, doing what ever this material does. I am planning on shooting it in a hour or so. It's an experiment, 28 strands on a 50# Hill, with about 3 twists per inch.

450+ is one of my favorites. It's discontinued but you can still get it at some sites. 452x is the newest incarnation of it. I have yet to try it, but aim sure it's good stuff.

If you're looking for 450 you MAY be able to get some direct from the BCY folks. Nice people by the way.

Kustom King also has it on clearance.

This from Nate Steen got my curiosity going:

I have shot b50 for just about forever it seems, however....

I tried FF skinny strings back in the 90's and didn't like the noise, etc and possible bow failure so I went back to b50. But when Peter Stecher came out to Idaho to hunt back in '06, he got me thinking about FF on my longbows, but not in the traditional uses of less strands, but in thick FF strings. So I started tinkering with d97 and 18 strands, then 20, then 22, then 24 strands....the thicker the string, the better the bow shot, the less noise, the less shock.....

I though it was the ticket...but then I tried 452x.....WoW! I do not like skinny strings at all, and I think that having to pad the loops is a pain. I make my strings of low stretch material to mimick the thickness of my b50 strings....30 strands of 452x imitates the feel of my 16 strand b50 when knocking the arrow and gripping the string. The feeling of the string when pulling the bow feels like b50...but at the shot it is better in my opinion. The string makes a little higher pitched noise to my naked ear when shooting, but when I record the noise to play back, the 452x makes no louder noise than b50...they sound exactly the same when replayed on my phone speaker. benefits of 452x? lower stretch, so that even though my string still strikes my wrist at the exact same place on my armguard as b50, the arrows need to be stiffer to shoot well, showing that more energy is being imparted to the arrow. And my belief is that if more energy is being imparted to the arrow, then less energy is being absorbed by the longbow, and hereby less handshock without having to go to a heavier arrow. I believe that the 452x puts LESS stress on the bow from the shock and aftershocks placed on the bow after the arrow is away and the bow is recoiling because there is less shock to begin with. This less shock would hereby result in a longer lasting bow imho. The thick string means I don't need to pad the loops. The thick string wears forever, I'm constantly wearing out serving on the same string.

Any of the High Performance materials out there will work just fine. Everyone on here has "their" preferences of material whether from BCY or Brownell. No matter what you try, you will notice a difference in the feel of your bow upon release and a improvement in performance. There may be a increase in sound upon the release of the string depending on how tight your arrow nock fits your string and how clean your release is. I have shot High Performance strings without silencers on D style bows and had them very quiet. How many strands in a string will depend upon the thickness of the material itself. For instance BCY D97 you will use 12-14 strands for a standard size string (non skinny) with 0.18 or 0.20 center serving, on the other hand BCY X you will use 18-20 strands for a standard size string and 0.24-0.26 serving. If you don't make your own strings, or if you don't know if you want to invest in a particular material till you try one out, there are a number of String Makers out there that can make a strings for you out of a materials you want to try. You will see some tell you that you need skinny strings and that is up to you, the standard size works really well also. For that matter me personally I like standard size strings but that is me. That is one of the things with strings, you will find what YOU and your bow likes. You may even find after trying High Performance strings you may just prefer the Dacron you have shot for years, some on here do. DANNY

BCY-X

Thanks everyone! I knew there would be a lot of suggestions. You all have given me good food for thought as my last two spools of B50 wind down. I do twist my own strings and I do want to stay with the Flemish twist as I like the look on my bows. Once again, thanks everyone!

xs2 is great.

Get ready for sticker shock when you see the price difference between the various FF varieties and B-50. The time-tested B-50 might not seem to be so bad after all.

If it ain't broke...

TS-1 for me

I like 450 plus.

12 strands of Rhino .024 halo for classic nicks. I stretch these at least 2" for best performance. There is a factor that Rick Barber has shared with me. All I can say is stretch the heck out of them. Rooty

The new material is thinner, you can use less strands, so the spools render more strings. It's probably a wash as to cost when all is said and done. Your strings will last longer too and not cut as quickly as B-50. Lots of reasons to go with newer material, and that's not even talking performance gains. It may not be broke, but sometimes a change is a nice thing.

I use 12 strands of D-97 padded tho 16 strands in the loops for my Hills in your weight range.

1997 for D97. They have come along way since. Rooty

Who makes and sells these low stretch and padded loop stings would like to try one.

"I make my strings of low stretch material to mimick the thickness of my b50 strings....30 strands of 452x imitates the feel of my 16 strand b50 when knocking the arrow and gripping the string. The feeling of the string when pulling the bow feels like b50...but at the shot it is better in my opinion." - unhinged

Sounds like you are "unconventional" and could be on to something. Anyone else find this interesting?

"I'm constantly wearing out serving on the same string." - unhinged

I use spectra serving on my B50 strings and usually reuse the old serving on my new strings.

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