My first recurve has catwhiskers zip tied to the string. Is this a normal practice? When shooting it the bottom zip tie broke and no more catwhisker. Probably old zip tie. But do I need to do this? Should I use some other type of silencer?

Never heard of the technique but guess if it works why not.

It is for me. Rooty

I've seen it done that way,its quick and easy.I prefer to tie my cat whiskers on,I tie them on tightly.I use a low stretch string material because it is so much stronger then tying them on with a dacron string.Dacron breaks too easily trying to get it tight enough.I think it looks better then a plastic zip tie,cleaner look and try to use the same color string as the whiskers.

Works but is not as attractive as using serving. Do a YouTube search there are some helpful videos.

Robertson bows come with zip tied cat whiskers on them.

I did it for a while but eventually you will see that the whiskers will all shift to one side and the rough inner side of the zip tie will be in contact with the bowstring. This always caused wear . I served them on for a while too. Now I just slip them in between my two string bundles and tie a simple square knot. Not as attractive but it works and I don't worry about the string being cut anymore.

I have been doing it for as long as I have used them. Same thing on my compounds too. Never any issues after thousands and thousands of shots over years and years and bows to bows.

If you learn how to tie them in it looks a whole lot better and if you cut them in half and double them up they puff out and look like a ball when you cinch up tight.

I switched over from Musk Ox that were expensive just liked them more than cheap yarn that looks like a raccoon tail on the string.

The Cat whiskers look clean and take care of silencing the rest of the way.

Hi Jason, I do not like the performance of the zip tied cat whiskers either, or, for that matter, how it looks as well. I tie similar to pointer, except after I get them between the middle of the bundles, I string the bow, and I have to get someone to help Me, while they hold the cat whiskers stretched apart, bow strung, I take some dental floss, and criss cross back and forth around string and whiskers. When I am done I snip the floss clean and close to the c.w. and hit it with a dab of super glue. leave the strung bow over night then trim the c.w. to desired length. It looks real clean and neat, and they will NOT move. Hope this might help You out Jason, Brian....

Makes it easy to find the sweet spot but once I do I tie them in permanent

Tie them on with serving. Much neater and will stay put. A zip-tie tab looks gawdy on a bowstring (to me anyhow).

I tried zip ties about 30 years ago. The catwhiskers separated allowing the zip tie to touch my string. Wore right thru a couple strands quick.

Okay. Thanks for all the info. I am going to pick the lock part of the zip tie on the one that is left as I see a worn spot in string. Shot approximately 40 shotsvtonight in basement at 10 yds. All in kill zone but last shot into concrete wall......shhhhhhh... wife didn't hear it.

When I used to use cat whiskers I just sandwiched them between the bundles of the string and tied a couple of wraps of serving material around them to secure them in place.

Hate the zip ties , just an easy quick way for some bowyer, I tie all mine on with braided fishin line left over from my sons umpteen fishin reels , have done "many" this way ....

I tie them on.

Oh yeah, be careful, the stuff will cut ya (lol) seriously!!

Oh yeah, be careful, the stuff will cut ya (lol) seriously!!

I use dental floss.

Cut your old strings apart and use the threads to tie in. The strands are already waxed or they should have been. Its another usage for an old string.

I would not use them zip tied on. One advantage we stickbow shooters have is that we can quickly and easily un-brace our bows and change the string if we need to. Un-brace the bow and put the Cat whisker ribbons through the string. Brace the bow and cut the whiskers they won't go anywhere.

I like my cat whiskers to look good. I use the method shown by Ryan Sanpei. He has an excellent Ytube video. Looks a little complicated to begin with but after a couple of tries is actually very easy. I bought a couple of rolls of fishing skirt rubbers from an online site. Very cost effective. And you can get a myriad of colors-not just the same old black.

I received a used bow with zip ties once. I took them off before stringing the bow.

Just cut them a little longer (assuming you don't buy the short lengths they try to sell) and tie them without any other material...one knot pulled tight will do the trick. It's ougly but that' the price of using rubber silencers.

I use yarn puff balls, and put them in between the string bundles.

Not my thing. As others, tie them in.

I use zip ties and have never experienced any problems like others posted. I cinch them tight around center of whisker, snip off the extra length of zip tie and trim cat whisker.

Use a stapler!

Stapler?? Or I could weld them on......?????

I use zip ties at work. Wouldn't fancy them on my bows but if you do: 1 black ties are outdoor rated and last longer than the clear or white ties(UV) 2 not all zip ties are created equal. There are good ones and really cheap ones 3 as said above, they will cut you 4 we use a tool to set them to proper tension when wiring. Which I guess means they can be over tightened. Hope this helps. Finally get to contribute a little! Matthew.

I really like using rubber cat whiskers as silencers. I've used zip ties, dental floss, and string material to tie them on. All have seem to shift failed after a while. A pretty long while but still fail. I recently switch to rubber o rings looped around tied to my string. They work pretty well.

No need to insert between strings or to use any other tie...will fail faster that way...just tie the ribbon-like strip of rubber, directly around the string. It'll last long enough that way.

If you want to use cat whiskers, this video will show you an easy way to tie it on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6WNxTLPJW0#t=211.235969

If you want to use beaver fir silencers, 3Rivers archery has a cool video showing how it's done.

I use waxed dental floss to tie my cat whiskers on with no problems.

Link didn't work.

Try this, hope it works: bow tuning tips/ tie in your string silencers: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6WNxTLPJW0

I tie nocks on. Zip ties are plenty good and convenient for wiskers

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