Wanting to hear from those who have shot both, what difference do you see in performance between the Schafer’s that are FF Vs those that are non FF? I have a FF Schafer, double carbon limbs. It is one of my favorite bows based on the looks and history of the Schafer story. I’ve never been able to shoot it as well as I could my other bows until recently, when I switched up my anchor, shortened my draw and adjusted my alignment. Now I’m shooting it lights out! As I trim down my herd of bows, I’m considering another Schafer. Just wondering if I’d be happy with the non FF performance.

I would stick with ff if it we're me. I hated my none ff so I put FF on it anyway and it was a amazing difference I had no issue with bow with FF on it even though it was not a FF bow. Widow

I believe it's just a personal preference. I own 6 silvertips, 3 FF & 3 non-FF but shoot FF strings on all of them because I see a noticeable improvement (speed, hand shock, quietness) with the FF. Dave & Beth will warn you against using FF string on his non-FF bows, but I have never had an issue. I do include extra stands of Dacron (extra padding) on the string loops on my non- FF bows as an extra precaution (Allen Shafer at Ten Ring Strings suggested this and it has worked for me).

On the other hand, I have a good friend that owns a couple dozen Schafers and he shoots Dacron on all of them because he doesn't like the feel of FF... so again, it's probably just a personal preference in the end.

I am with Widow, with FF they shoot better. I don’t care of bows with Dacron for many reasons not only for the speed.

The bow will perform to what the string lets it. The bows aren't different, the strings are, and I use low stretch on all of my bows. Old, new, no overlays, selfbow with no overlays, et, al. Low stretch (Fastflight is a brand name) will get more performance that is already in the bow since it doesn't give as much on the shot. More energy, that was "already" in the bow, goes into the arrow. You also have less vibration and after-movement with low stretch.

My Silvertip is on average 11 fps faster with an 8 strand BCY D-10 than with the Dacron string. The bow is a Fastflight model.

Personally, I like the performance of many bows with dacron over FF (or limited stretch if you want to call it that). I think that FF usually (not always) makes a bow a little louder and a little more unstable (twitchier) at the shot. And I know that the increased impact on the bow is potentially more damaging. I believe the increase you get in speed from a FF string (undeniable) of approximately 10 fps is WAY overrated. I can't tell a difference in trajectory at the distances I shoot (30 yards and closer) and on a 20 yard shot at a deer, my arrow will only arrive 2/100 of a second sooner. Not worth it to me. I'll stick with dacron.

Thanks for your input, it’s quite helpful. I’m guessing quite a few of those beautiful exotic wood combination risers are shot with FF strings... I’d like to have one but I didn’t want to have a non FF bow. Now I think I have the solution. Happy hunting!

So you can order a ff model and a non ff model?

Yep

Yep

Didn't know that? If a ff bow performs better who would order a non ff bkw?

If you want an all exotic wood riser then it will not be FF approved. Also the limb tips are different on FF bows. Mine is a FF bow and has a Rosewood Dymondwood riser with a Macasser flare, kinda the best of both as a total laminated riser just doesn't appeal to me as much.

I thought tip strength & durability in the case of a dry-fire was the only issue pertaining to no/low stretch strings. What happens to risers? Do they crack, and is it a long time build up of stress, or- like the tips- a dry-fire explosion?

The only time a limb tip blew on a bow of mine with a low- stretch string that WAS NOT a dry-fire, that bow had been dry fired twice by a buddy of mine, but I didn't check it thoroughly. Not total destructo, and Rick Rappe (Yorktown) turned it into masterpiece, much better bow than when it came out of the Bear factory in 1954.

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