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String Materials

There are many string materials available. To help sift through that information, here's more information about how they relate to each other and the best uses for each.

Fiber manufacturers

While it may appear there are dozens of options, there are really only 3 fibers used for strings.

  1. HMPE (high-modulus polyethylene) - known as Spectra, Dyneema, or Izanas

  2. PET (polyethelene terephthalate) - known as Dacron

  3. LCP (liquid crystal polymer) - known as Vectran

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Each of these have their variations:

String fiber by manufacturer

String material manufacturers

There are also a few string material manufacturers we have access to (at least in the US):​

String material manufacturers.png

BCY and Bloodline are readily available. Angel is almost impossible to get at this point. Brownell has been unavailable for almost a decade but they seem to be making a comeback and have some new materials available in addition to some of their previous offerings.

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Each of these manufacturers have access to the fibers listed in the previous section and have their own offerings for each.

String material characteristics

There are a few things to know about string materials.

  • They can be a single fiber, or multiple fibers blended together.

  • Different materials are different sizes. So when we talk about strand count, we must also include which material we are referring to.

  • They are not round. String material is actually flat, so we can't measure it's size with a diameter like we could if it were round. 

  • Materials seem to fall into 2 categories in terms of coatings: waxed and waxless

    • Waxed materials come waxed from the manufacturer and finished strings should be re-waxed periodically to help protect the fibers from damage and wear. BCY and Brownell both make waxed materials exclusively.​

    • Waxless materials have some other type of coating to protect them. They should not be waxed. According to the manufacturer, applying wax to these materials can add a somewhat sticky layer that tends to attract dirt and debris that can cause abrasion to the fibers. Bloodline and Angel both product waxless materials exclusively. 

  • String material is twisted. While the finished string is also twisted, there is a twist built into each individual strand as well.

Material stretch

Recurve and longbows need string material with a bit of stretch in it. Unlike compound bows, too stiff a material on a recurve can result in too much vibration going into the bow after the shot. Over time this can cause damage to the bow and potentially to the archer as well. Any materials blended with Vectran are best for compound bows and are too stiff for recurve and longbows.

These materials are arranged from stretchiest (and weakest) to least stretch (and strongest).

  • At the top we have Dacron. That is essentially polyester and is good for vintage bows, longbows that don't have reinforced limb tips, or student bows.

  • The center section also organized by stretch (based on fiber manufacturer specs), are the materials ideal for most recurve bow. The stretchiest being ASB Majesty, followed by 652 Spectra, Fast Flight X, Majesty 777, ASB Majesty Pro, 8125, D97, Glory Pro, Loyal, and finally Fast Flight Plus which should be the stiffest in the category. The stiffer the material, the more arrow speed can be achieved.

  • The bottom section is materials most appropriate for compound bows. Most of these are blended with Vectran.

  • On the right you'll see brackets indicating what various bow manufacturers recommend for use with their bows. In some cases, a bow's warranty may be voided if a material that is too stiff is used and causes damage to the bow.

Material size

There is a term used in fiber manufacturing called a denier which is a unit of weight. While not a direct replacement for a diameter, it does tell us relative sizes between different materials. The larger the denier value, the chunkier the material.

Material Denier.png

This can help guide us in determining strand count when switching from one material to another.

Strand Count.png

Choosing your material

Given all that information, these are the materials we recommend.

  • For vintage bows & longbows without reinforced limb tips: B55 (Dacron)

  • For Olympic Recurve, Barebow, and Long bow with reinforced limb tips: 652 Spectra, 8125, Glory Pro, or Fast Flight +

Dacron

BCY B55

SPECTRA® 1000

BCY 652

SK75 Dyneema®

BCY 8125
Bloodline Glory Pro

SK76 Dyneema®

FF Plus

Unless you have a good reason to shoot Dacron, any of the other options above really come down to personal preference and are all good choices.

  • 8125 - Tried and true

  • 652 - A softer feel

  • Glory Pro - For those who don't wax their string anyway

  • Fast Flight Plus - It has a great reputation, but we just got our hands on it, so that awaits to be seen!

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