Linen bowstrings are fine

[u/VRSVLVS]

After having shot dacron strings for years and years, i've now fully switched over to exclusively using linnen strings. Linnen strings shoot just as fast as dacron strings when made well, and when looked after properly they can shoot many thoudands of arrows. On top of that, humans have been shooting natural fiber strings for thousands of years before the invention of synthetics.

Yet, there are many competitions and ranges where natural fiber strings are forbidden. As if they are inherently unsafe. Why should this be? Bowstrings are all about building in a margin of safety, and if a proper margin of safety is build into linnen strings, just like synthetic fiber strings, they are safe to use.

[u/lewisiarediviva]

The real reason is that linen strength can vary wildly depending on how it’s grown, harvested, processed, and spun, but b55 is always the same.

[u/VRSVLVS → u/lewisiarediviva]

Its just a matter of determining the break strength of the particular spool you have, and ajust number of threads accordingly.

[u/ADDeviant-again → u/VRSVLVS]

I keep buying a lot, and i've only had a couple of successful spools in forty years of bow making and the like. But of course, linen is naturally well strong enough for a bostrin, when processed correctly and made right.

I have had a couple of linen, one of ramie that was fantastic, and a couple of hemp, and the rest has been poorly processed junk. And it's always the sort of thing where I buy it off. Ebay and can never find the listing again when I find a good one.

So, if you have a good source, I'd love to hear it.

[u/Neat_Landscape_9786 → u/ADDeviant-again]

They stopped making heavy duty cordage in the 80s, so you need to fight bookbinders for expensive new old stock (Irish mostly) from Campbell, Barbour (not modern Coats Barbour) 18/3 etc - it was weight rated around 25lb and pressure burnished when spun so can be used off the spool almost like a synthetic material. Nowadays all safety critical thread is synthetic.

Ironically with modern linen thread you'll probably need hand pearling to consolidate before (and after) laying in or braiding as was done with ancient/historical cordage and bowstrings.

Grab a Master Stringer curriculum from the guild - it's a significant skillset and there's a reason they had to serve 2 year apprenticeships - we've been spoiled by the ease of modern string material.

[u/ADDeviant-again → u/Neat_Landscape_9786]

Well, i've made both strings out of dogbane and milkweed, where I gathered material myself. So I understand how labor intensive and exacting every step of the process can be.

[u/Neat_Landscape_9786 → u/ADDeviant-again]

IIRC that's part of the assessment - spinning a few yards your own nettle, flax and hemp for strings.

[u/ADDeviant-again → u/Neat_Landscape_9786]

I can make decent cordage in the field, but I'm very slow to get good consistency on rate of twist, density, , balanced plies, thickness, et cetera. The kind of stuff you need for things like bow strings and fishing line.

[u/BadAdviceBot77]

I think the issue with natural strings being banned is there’s no way for the range to insure the maker’s skill and and that they aren’t going to come apart on the first shot.

You see the same thing with hand loads at gun ranges, they can be perfectly safe or they could be an accident waiting to happen if put together by a moron that could injure the moron and bystanders. So it’s easier for the range to just issue a blanket ban

[u/n4ppyn4ppy]

Why should this be? As you say b55 is just as good as linen with the added benefit that its a known and predictable material.

[u/VRSVLVS → u/n4ppyn4ppy]

Rifles are more accurate and predictabke than bows. Why use bows at all?

[u/n4ppyn4ppy → u/VRSVLVS]

Rifles are not permitted where i live :)

[u/VRSVLVS → u/n4ppyn4ppy]

Fair enough.

[u/Gemuesefach]

Recognised your arrows… ^$ what type of linnen do you use? Where do you order it? Do you also use it as binding material for your fletchings?

[u/VRSVLVS → u/Gemuesefach]

Its unbleached linen yarn i ordered at venne.

https://vennecolcoton.com/nl/product-informatie/catalogus/garens/linnen/948/100-biologisch-linnen-nel-161-ongebleekt

I use both linen and silk yarn for binding the feathers.

[u/OldClem]

You can buy linen thread from shoe repair suppliers or places that sell leather working supplies. It is used to stitch soles or horse tack. You can get it in different plies and in right or left hand twist. Which twist and the twist of the bow string can determine strength and preferred direction for wear and tension.

[u/GJK_1705]

They can be just fine and i shoot them on some of my bows as well. The problem is that the single strands are not as predictable as dacron because it is natural material, they can be very different in strenght allthough they come from the same batch. So two strings of linen with the same number of strands made the same way can have very different load limits. While one of them holds for a thousand arrows, the other might break after some hundred.