String silencers.

[Mick Smith]

Just for fun. What sort of string silencers, if any, do you prefer.

Me, I've always preferred the natural fur type, because they look great and they work well. They tend to get a little heavy when it's wet though. I'm sure they slow my bow down even when they're dry, but it's noticeable when they're wet.

Hunters will be fully alert to the reasons of wanting a good string silencer. You have only to experience your quarry jump the string just once, to realise their benefits.

I like to have some sort of string silencer on my 3D bows too, as I find the loud 'twang' a bit annoying after a while.

So, what do you use and why?

[perry]

extra strands in string, no stretch String Material, Heavy Arrows, good Bow Tune, good Form = quite Bow. Reminds me of a 3DAAA Shoot at Ipswich Independent Bowmen, Gary P and I and a Lady Friend of ours where Shooting Arrows together, Lady Friend says, Hey Perry how come Gary's got those big furry things on his String and you haven't, Perry says "Mines had a Brazilian"

regards

[Mick Smith]

Nice one Jacko.

The trends are pretty much as expected. It seems that most of us like fur or woollen silencers. I've used the rubber whisker silencers in the past and they've been good too.

Most longbows are reasonably quiet, but I've found they're even quieter with good silencers fitted. I'd say that just about all recurve shooters would have the need for silencers and even then, they're not particularly quiet.

[The Ranger]

G'day Mick, I use merino wool on all my bowstrings, whether they're longbows or recurves. I either use wool straight out of the shearing shed here on my property or use pre dyed merino wool from the shop by the yarn. Either way, I've found wool to be an excellent string silencer, quiet and light.

Ranger

[littlejohn59]

When hunting I use wool silencers as they are light,durable and easy accessible.

The rest of the time i don't use anything.

By shooting without silencers and listening to the sound the bow makes, informs me whether i have done a bad release or not.

[little arrows]

I don't need them, I just like them and I always make sure the gen-u-ine bear fur matches my bow colour

cheers
sue

[clinton miller]

catwhiskers. they are rain proof, snow proof and won't pick up any burrs. just more practical for me.

[CraigH]

Cat whiskers for me as well, work good and as Clinton mentioned has some good advantages.

Forgot to add, for my field rigs, sometimes won't use any silencers.

[greybeard]

Hi Mick,

It would be interesting to find out from those using string silencers as to why their bow was noisy in the first instance.

Possible causes could be poor bow design, sacrificing quietness for speed, bad bow / arrow combination and also poor and inconsistent form.

I believe string silencers are a band aid patch for underlying problems.

Why would someone buy a noisy bow?

Daryl.

[littlejohn59]

Hey Greybeard

You are right, nobody intentionally buys a noisy longbow. However, when you order a bow you never really quite know what you are going to receive in the mail. I have this one particular bow that sounds like a deafening noisy freight train in the dark when you shoot it. I have done everything i possibly can to quieten it. Changed strings,added ,subtracted strands. changed brace heights, arrows, blah blah blah and have now resigned myself to it is what it is. I would call it a lemon.....well almost..it shoots my fmj's ok but its still noisy. I will live with it. I wouldn't hunt with it unless i just wanted to scare the begezzuus out of the animal.

[Mick Smith]

Hi Daryl.

I think the major cause of noisy bows is due to the use of arrows that are lighter than optimum. Many field archers are tempted to shoot the lightest arrows they can, in an effort to maximise their ability to hit targets at longer ranges. Shooting relatively heavier arrows in comparison, is generally a much quieter proposition. It's not the only cause though.

There are many other reasons why a bow might be too noisy. Some bow designs are naturally more noisy than others. Something as simple as an arrow nock that's too tight on the string can cause excessive noise. A poor release will often cause excessive string noise. I'm sure there are many other reasons too.

Generally, I believe that most archers are happy to put up with some added string noise, if they're getting otherwise excellent performance from their bow. It's often a trade off, IMO.

[littlejohn59]

Hey Mick
I agree with you..You have seen my osage black widow in action. I am truly over it now. I just shoot it now wearing ear muffs....Really ,its no problem any more

[Mick Smith]

You can certainly shoot it well littlejohn, noisy or not.

[littlejohn59]

thanks but i am still not happy with it.
ps the arrows are almost 13 gpi and the dam thing still rattles.....lol

[CraigH]

Interesting results of the survey for those that voted. I would have thought the cat whiskers would have been more popular, I guess the wool and other natural silencers do a good job, and they do look good.

[greybeard]

the arrows are almost 13 gpi and the dam thing still rattles.....

How many grains per pound of draw weight is 13 gpi?

I must admit that I thought gpi was a compound thing.

Daryl.

[Mattkaye]

I have fur silencers on my bow and it doesn't make a single sound. It's the quietest thing iv ever shot. I think like others have said a heavier arrow works and I think if the riser wood is a heavier one it helps absorb a lot of the vibration/noise.

[littlejohn59]

Hey Daryl
My apologies. I should have said my bow is 53 pound and the arrows come in at 680 grains with a draw of 29 inches there about.

[perry]

Hey Greybeard

You are right, nobody intentionally buys a noisy longbow. However, when you order a bow you never really quite know what you are going to receive in the mail. I have this one particular bow that sounds like a deafening noisy freight train in the dark when you shoot it. I have done everything i possibly can to quieten it. Changed strings,added ,subtracted strands. changed brace heights, arrows, blah blah blah and have now resigned myself to it is what it is. I would call it a lemon.....well almost..it shoots my fmj's ok but its still noisy. I will live with it. I wouldn't hunt with it unless i just wanted to scare the begezzuus out of the animal.

In my experience problem Bows like this often do not have a particularly good Tiller for "that" particular User. Does the Bow Rock one way or the other when you take up tension on the String, if the Top Limb Rocks back, look for a too stiff Top Limb, if the Bottom Limb Limb Rocks back, look for a too stiff Bottom Limb. Tiller has a much greater effect on Bow noise than many People realise.

regards Jacko

[greybeard]

In my experience problem Bows like this often do not have a particularly good Tiller for "that" particular User. Does the Bow Rock one way or the other when you take up tension on the String, if the Top Limb Rocks back, look for a too stiff Top Limb, if the Bottom Limb Limb Rocks back, look for a too stiff Bottom Limb. Tiller has a much greater effect on Bow noise than many People realise.

Riser/handle profile can be problematic and if the hold and correct pivot point can not be established the bows limbs can be thrown out of syncronisation.

Daryl.

[cmoore]

I use this faux fur material that I purchase from spotlight, not sure if im tieing them on properly but they still work really well

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[Fanto]

fur. wool picks up too many burrs and thorns etc.

my bow shoots above 200fps at 7gpp, i shoot 11gpp plus but its still quick, partly owing to the 8 strand string. i need silencers
.

[Gringa Bows]

i think some silencers look thexy

[dan76]

I used to use beaver fur which are very good but i have now switched over to strips of fur from the belly of a red fox skin and they look good and work great and they are a bit different.

Dan