FastFlight Strings

[trl242]

#3761

I have recently tried switching to a fast flight string to see if I could figure out what all of the excitement is about. I’m having a problem though and was wondering how common it is.

Being a stronger material and therefore requiring less strands, my string appears to be so much more narrow than the B50 that my arrow nocks do not lock on tightly to the serving, instead they slide up and down the strng.

The other problem that this creates is that when I draw the bow, the aroow is constantly being pulled off of the arrow shelf, something I’ve never had a problem with before and I have to believe it has something to do with the loose fitting nocks.

Am I supposed to order a certain diameter of fastflight string or are they all standard? I’m starting to wonder what the attraction to these are if the string is so narrow that it begins affecting arrow flight, which I believe they are on my recurve.

Any thoughts on this would be helpfull.

[wildschwein]

#23323

I have heard of folks using more/thicker serving on fast flight. Key words are “heard of” as I have not seen it for myself.

[David Coulter]

#23335

I got a new longbow this winter, which moved me to a fast flight string. The nocks are looser if your nocks are adjusted to the old string. The arrow falling off the shelf might be another problem, though, which I had, too. There was a link posted a while back to an excellent short video on youtube.com that addressed that issue.
Type in the word shelf in the search box and look for the link to the Arrow Swinging Off the Shelf thread. Scroll down to the video. It was a help to me.

[james gilmer]

#23357

your problem is very common. i went to a skinny 8 strand string on all my bows. I take dental floss and wrap the serving exactly where i knock the arrow. fixes the problem totally.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#23369

Thicker serving, or smaller nocks should take care of it. And I’d be very nervous about continuing to shoot the bow with a nock that isn’t stationary, but maybe that’s just me.

[Robin Conrads]

#23434

Here’s another option from an old Tip of the Week.
Nock Fit by T.J. Conrads

[Stephen Graf]

#24429

I make my own strings, which may not be an option for you. But if it is, then here is what I do. Hopefully it will help.

I use fast flight. But I use 16 strands. I used to use less, because you can. But over time, I slowly increased the number of strands. I may go up to 18 strands. Here’s why:
Forgiveness – Howard Hill says, and I agree, that thicker strings are more forgiving. I found thin strings gave me bigger groups and many other headaches.
Limb Nock Stress – Thicker strings fit better in the limb nocks, and are less likely to cause bow failures.
Arrow Nocks – As mentioned, thinner strings require thicker serving, dental floss, or other efforts to get them fitting right. With all do Respect to our Fine Editor, I haven’t found that squeezing hot nocks really works very well.

My final suggestion is that if you can, making your own strings will take away a lot of your frustrations from using generic strings. And is a lot of fun.

Pop in a Fred Bear video, crack a cool one, and make a sting!!!

P.S. – I use fast flight ’cause it wears so well. You can’t wear out a thick fast flight string.

[Ed Ashby]

#24821

When I started experimenting with thin strings I found a need to close virtually every nock I used with them. The method I came up with is similar to Don’s in that it uses heat. However I used a heat gun and, instead of closing around the string I used a small stick of the correct diameter. Here’s a photo:

This photo was when I had first started using this technique. I noted that I sometimes was not getting an equal amount of bend on both ears of the nock so came up with a change that works great, and is the method I use now. Instead of using a round stick to form the heated nock around I take a bamboo chop stick and carved it down to a semi-teardrop shape with the widest portion being the diameter of the string and the tapering tail of the teardrop slightly smaller. Heating the nock and forming it over this teardrop with just finger pressure gives perfectly formed nocks that are uniform from one to the other.

Ed

[handirifle]

#26395

Fastflight strings came about because they are stronger and stretch less. Because of this it was recommended to use less strands to add arrow speed. The arrow speed comes from faster return and snappier return of a lighter string, thus it exerts more force on the arrow shaft, often requiring a stiffer arrow spine than dacron strings. This could be the cause of the noticed erratic arrow flight.

I have used fastflight for years but i feel it has more drawbacks than advantages, for me. Dacron is quieter and easier on the bow. My recurve now sports a dacron string.

[trl242]

#29789

I appreciate all the input. The idea and suggestions are all valid. I have simply given up on the fast flights and went back to dacron, though I like the idea of using the FF material so that I don’t have to change strings as often. Maybe one of these days when I get time, I’ll make a few thicker ones and try those. It was something that I needed to work out quickly though as the big day is growing near and I find myself with less and less ‘experimental’ time to play with. So maybe it will be this winter’s cold-weather experiment after the season ends. At any rate, it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who had this problem.

[Steve Sr.]

#29864

What material are you all refering to as “Fast Flight” just D97? or anything not dacron?
Ultracam, Astroflight plus
All the what? Dozen? BCY fabrics http://www.bcyfibers.com/Bowstring.php

Not sure my ol brain can handle it. 😯

Been looking into string making (that I should have done decades ago, lol) and lordy momma is there a bunch of string types.

On Dacron?

B50 or B500 dacron? I dont know the difference either.

I see reads on “improved” speeds of “fast flight” and have to wonder

A. just how much
B. is it even noticable (without gadgets)
C. what is the trade off (believe me, there is one)
D. is worrying about “speed” once again just taking a toll on everyone’s pocket book?
E. Other than SPEED….is one QUIETER than most? (that would get MY interest…..but I see conflicting reports?)

To each their own but sometimes……there just seems to be too many “new wagons” to jump on some days.

Always fun to discuss and consider “new” things (most of which are not but only just now catching on to some) but for my own use, I sometimes think (personally…….not finger pointing at anyone) I should spend the time used considering such,… in the woods or out shooting where I would get a larger percentage of return on my time. (??)

As all subjects (dang the internet!) there will be conflicting reports of one thing compared to another but I’d READ a comparison of all the strings shot together when comparing the noise of the shot, but there too , too many things come into play.

Nock pinch
Bow type
Bow length
Bow weight
Arrow weight
etc

Dacron and a heavy arrow seem to fit the bill for me for hunting…….quieter and more efficient. Is there something “better”? Probably……but would I be able to tell?

Probably not. 😆

Interesting none the less.

God Bless

[handirifle]

#30373

One definite drawback to any of the newer “non stretch” fibers, is that they require reinforced tips on the bow.

Without the addition of something like linen micarta or similar, it will eventually tear through the standard, wood laminated tip. not a good thing to have happen to a bow, especially at today’s bow prices.

I believe most of these were created because of the tremendous stress forced on the bowstring and cables, of compound bows. Compounds started with coated steel cables, but when makers like High Country, started using the high speed cams and synthetic cables, to add even more speed, they found the basic materials stretched too much. i owned one of the older, dual hatchet cam, speed bows, and can attest to the fact that string and cable stretch were a very common issue. I shot in weekly shoots, and had to re-time the cams about every other month. What a PITA.

Even the fastest recurves do not stress a properly sized string like a compound does, so personally i do not see the need.

As for speed gain, I took a 66″ Martin recurve that pulled 60lbs, down to 55lbs (limbs were narrowed and thinned by Tim Meigs. This was about 15 years ago), and I added micarta to the tips, and a fast flight string, whereas before it sported a dacron one.

At 60lbs, shooting a 540gr arrow, it shot at 165fps. At 55lbs, with the fast flight, and same arrow, it shot 172fps. I removed 5 lbs draw weight and added 7fps. Part of that speed gain, I am sure, also came from a lighter narrower limb design as well. How much was each? i never put the dacron back on to test, but looking back, I should have. The bow was noisier, no matter how it was tuned, but since it was a 3D bow, it didn’t matter to me.

Limb design can make a bow pull smooth, or not, shoot fast or not, or be quiet or not. A bow that is all of the above, is a well designed and built bow. Hand shock is another factor in shooting smoothness, and speed. I equate hand shock to recoil of a rifle. If one is a little afraid of recoil, you will not shoot as accurate as if recoil is not a concern. To me, the same logic applies to hand shock. We do not like it and will subconsciously try to avoid it. Sometime this equals a adjust grip, letting go of the bow at the release, or changing hand positions at the release. this applies to all kinds of bows.

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