Silencers (or the lack thereof)

[Patrick]

#2748

With all of the talk about silencers, I can’t help but wonder, am I the only one who doesn’t use them on their longbows?

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#12426

Been meaning to ask you about that, Patrick – I know you shoot a Norther Mist, but what other longbows do you shoot, and do you not use silencers on any of them? Also, what string material are you using?

[Patrick]

#12446

I shoot/have the following:

2 Northern Mist Whispers (41# & 60#)

1 Northern Mist Baragas (57#)

1 Java Man Elkheart (59#)

My thought is that no matter how quiet you make it, it’s not going to be silent enough to prevent the animal I’m shooting (at!) from hearing it, so why bother?

I have to plead ignorance as to what the strings are made of. I’ve only had Steve Turay make me a new string when needed, and the string on my Elkheart is new. I just don’t recall. 😳

[Cameron Unruh]

#12463

I am a sold out silencer guy…mostly because I love the sound of the thunk rather than the twang. And for me it lessens any remaining vibration in the hand even as slight as that might be.

Some of the target guys I build for prefer no silencers – they seem to like the sound of the string, until I stand next to them and they don’t hear the sound of my string. On the shooting line I hear quite often, “wow…your bow is dead quiet.”

[Patrick]

#12471

There’s no doubt, they make a difference. I just feel like it was never enough of a difference. Granted, that’s an entirely personal thing. I even did a blind test. I had my son shoot my Elkheart, my Whisper, and his Helms Deep. All are about the same poundage at the same draw length. His Helms Deep was barely quieter, and it was the only one with silencers attached.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#12475

My longbows are so slow, I always just figured that animals may hear the noise, but forget about it again by the time the arrow reaches them… 😆

But I put little wool thingies on for the same reasons Cameron notes. That said, I never put silencers on a new string until I’ve gotten it as quite as possible through tuning first.

[Cameron Unruh]

#12484

I understand that it is also a matter of preference. I built a bow I called Goliath…because it was a 68″ three piece for a very big lumber jack type of a guy. It was a 60# bow as well. He took one look at the carefully crafted wool silencers and said – “take those off, this bow is not for my wife.” for whatever reason he did not see the silencers as a manly addition. 😀

[Patrick]

#12593

Smithhammer wrote: My longbows are so slow, I always just figured that animals may hear the noise, but forget about it again by the time the arrow reaches them… 😆

😆

Cameron wrote: He took one look at the carefully crafted wool silencers and said – “take those off, this bow is not for my wife.” for whatever reason he did not see the silencers as a manly addition. 😀

😆 That’s the real reason why I don’t like silencers. They’re just not manly enough for us manly men.

[Stephen Graf]

#13001

Good Thread Patrick! But I have to say that Silencers are to bows, like potato’s are to steaks. I don’t care how good your steak is, it’s always better with a ‘tater 😀

Smithhammer wrote: … I never put silencers on a new string until I’ve gotten it as quite as possible through tuning first.

I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t let this one float past me without biting 😳 So let me just go ahead and say what I’ve been biting my tongue over ever since I saw it come up on this forum…

Heterodyning, or whatever you call it, is crapola. CRAPOLA I say!

(Mom – Sometimes you just have to let them roll on the floor screaming, they’ll get over it right?)

Why you ask? For the simple reason that string silencers have a big impact on bow tuning. If you don’t believe it, try it yourself. Get a bare shaft shooting perfectly. Then move your silencers an inch or two up or down the string and see what happens.

If you don’t use silencers, your biggest tuning knob is brace height and shaft length/point weight. Once you add silencers, you give yourself a bigger control margin, and finer control of it.

To take advantage of silencers:

-Put them on your bowstring equal distance from the tips, say 10 inches.

-Get your bare shaft mostly tuned up by reducing length / changing point weight as best you can.

-If you are getting a nock high tare you can’t get rid of, move the lower silencer up.

-If your shaft is a bit weak, Move both silencers toward center.

-If your shaft is a bit stiff, move both silencers towards limbs.

Once your arrows are tuned to the bow, it will be as quiet as it’s gonna get.

Another advantage of string silencers is that by using them, you can adjust the bow to shoot the arrow. Thus if you have two bows that are close in weight, by using the string silencers to fine tune the bow you can use the same arrows with both.

OK, I’m done stompin’, cursin’, and spittin’ ‘backy on the stove now 🙄

As you were.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#13097

Steve – I never said I don’t continue tuning after adding silencers, just that I find that getting the bow as tuned (quiet) before adding them is a good idea, imo, and helps minimize the variables. It’s not that there still isn’t work to be done after adding them. I could be completely off in that opinion however. Thanks for the info!

[David Coulter]

#13131

Steve, Based on very limited experience, the Heterodyning just didn’t do a thing for me. The silencers work, I’m assuming they do, because I never shot without them. I like the tuning tips. thanks, d

[Patrick]

#13182

Steve Graf wrote: Good Thread Patrick! But I have to say that Silencers are to bows, like potato’s are to steaks. I don’t care how good your steak is, it’s always better with a ‘tater 😀

Makes sense, as I often eat steak without potatoes. 😉

As far as the other stuff goes, I changed to traditional bows to simplify. Yes, you can slow your string down incrementally, and the upper part independent of the lower, and doing so is another way to tune, but it’s certainly not necessary. I think I’m going to cook up a steak and eggs right now.

[Cameron Unruh]

#13189

Wow…for some reason I am really getting hungry.:D

I think it would be an amazing thing to sit around a real live campfire with you guys and have these discussions. I just picture a really good time.

[Col Mike]

#13585

Cameron

That campfire idea is great. I have six acres of woods with a poor mans 3-d course and a camp ground next door with about 800 acres of stumping trails across the street.

Wojo and Brennan have been here–if enough interest perhaps we can organize a trad bow forum campfire get together here–of course with MOM’S blessing:D Return home tomorrow after almost 5 weeks on the road.

Food for thought and discussion. Silencers—interesting subject8).

Mike

[grumpy]

#13591

Patrick wrote: With all of the talk about silencers, I can’t help but wonder, am I the only one who doesn’t use them on their longbows?

Nope! You are not the only one!!! No silencers here, can’t hear a twang, and Audrey, and Arwen agree (so it isn’t my hearing). Have lots of fur and feathers (flytying) to use for silencers, but have no need. Audrey says it has nothing to do with femininity.

[grumpy]

#13598

Any time youse guys want to show up (after the snow melts) we can roast kielbasa and marshmallows over our campfire, and watch Mushroom Bill, and Winston get tipsy while we talk about archery, traditional knives, blah, blah, blah, blah While we listen to the spring peepers.

Actually Bill, and Winston getting tipsy are getting a little old…

[wojo14]

#14327

I will chime in my 2cents.

First off, Steve turray uses d97 string, which is by all my testing the best string material out there. Quiet and fast. I found that 14 strand of 97 on 45-51# is good!

Now for silencers, I did a test on all of them. I found that beaver balls are the best in my opinion. With beaver, I did not loose any fps over no silencer. 4db quieter then no silencer. Which was noticeably quieter.

This of course is just my opinion and my results.

Hope it helps.8)

[wojo14]

#14329

One more thing, I would love a campfire with all you guys!

I’ll bring the Bourbon. 8)

[grumpy]

#14341

Mushroom Bill would love you.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#14408

wojo14 wrote: One more thing, I would love a campfire with all you guys!

I’ll bring the Bourbon. 8)

Seconded! It would be a long trek from Idaho, but it would be awesome to rove all day and hang around the campfire at night with you guys.

[Col Mike]

#15900

Bruce and all. I have the place, Wojo and you are young enough to organize it dates to be determined but I will be traveling west late May for a couple of weeks to join Dave P on his trek north to visit Flo and the grizzles. After that what ever you can come up with–we had a reunion of the Marines from Adak AK here two years ago so we can accommodate all levels.

Just let me know

Mike

[grumpy]

#26922

Now that I’m getting a “store bought” bow, maybe I’ll have string noise to solve.:roll:

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