WHEN SHOULD I TAKE MY STRING OFF MY RECURVE

[Lx lungbuster]

i just got a new recurve bow and i want to know should i take the string off after every time im done shooting. If not when should i take the string off. answers would be greatly appreceiated.

[Alex The Hawk]

MY RECURVE WILL BE 40 YRS OLD AND IT IS STRAIGHT AND GOOD BECAUSEI TAKE OFF THE STRING ONCE IAM DONE WITH SHOOTING IT.

YOU ALSO WANT TO STORE IT IN A RACK HORIZONTALLY AND DON'T JUST LEAN IT AGAINST THE WALL, AND KEEP IT AWAY FROM HOT AND HUMID PLACES.

[ThomasofHookton]

It all depends what type of bow you are shooting. If you are shooting a self-bow (bow made of only one piece of wood, like a traditional longbow made of yew) then it is imperative that you unstring the bow after use. Otherwise, the bow will tend to "follow the string" after a while and lose poundage. On the other hand, a modern laminated bow can literally withstand years of being strung without any ill effects, other than wear and tear on the string itself. The important thing to remember is to string and unstring the bow PROPERLY using a bowstringer. I have been shooting the same bows for over 10 years, and generally leave them strung on average of 2-3 weeks at a time before unstringing them. (One of them is a 70 pound recurve.) No change in poundage, no change in accuracy. When modern laminated bows were first offered in the 1950's, some of the very first bows wereleft strung by their inventor for over 2 YEARS, with no damage to the bow and no change in poundage. (The strings had to be replaced due to wear and tear, though.) So enjoy shooting, but don't be too worried if you don't unstring your LAMINATED bow for a while!

[LBR]

I agree with Thomas--as long as it's stored properly and nothing causes a string failure, you can leave your laminated bow strung indefinately. Some companies recommend leaving it strung, as limb twist usually happens during stringing/unstringing. My bowfishing bow (recurve) seldom ever gets unstrung. Can't remember for sure, but I think I've had it for 6 or 8 years now, maybe more--and it was a reject when I got it.

Chad

[Wingbone]

I'd have to disagree with keeping the bow continuously strung. When compounds first came out, they were either laminated wood or solid glass. They quit making the laminated wood version even though they were faster, because they lost poundage from being continuously strung.

[Longbow Bowhunter]

If it is a modern glass bow, it can be left strung indefinetly. I bought an Howwat that wasn't unstrung for 15 years, still drew 56# and was fast.

[Arthur P]

They quit making wood lam limbs for compounds when they started putting out designs that keep the limbs under huge amounts of strain, even at brace height. They found out that wood limbs couldn't stand up to that kind of strain and had problems with breakage. Well, they can't make money if they're constantly doing warranty replacements, so the wood limbs went bye-bye.

Besides, molded fiberglass limbs are cheaper to make anyway, and profit margins increased even further because they didn't reduce the prices of their bows. Then they found out that people would pay even more for a real short bow, so they could charge even MORE money for a bow that only took 2/3rds of the materials it took to make a full size bow....

Woah!!! You verynearly got me all the wayup on that soapbox, Wingbone. [8D]

Those old wood lam limbs did lose poundage, but only when they were stored improperly. People were too lazy to back off the draw weight when they put them away. I shot my wheelbows all the time and never lost any draw weight with any of them.

I think keeping them in use is the key. If you're using the bow every day, then leave it strung. Like Chad pointed out, stringing and unstringing a recurve is far more dangerous to the bow, because that's where almost all limb twists are caused. However, I don't like leaving an unusedbow strung indefinitely. Maybe it doesn't hurt a thing, as long as the bow is kept out of the heat.I've never tested it.

Old training is hard to shake andit was always pounded intoour mindsto unstring our bows when we were done shooting for the day. I'm already stretching that, because I don't unstring the bow I'm using every day - it still makes me feel kinda guilty though....However, I do switch out my using bows every week or two, so none of them are strung longer than that, at any one time.

Anyway, I think it's best to unstringthe bowif it's going to be several days or longer till you use it again. And use the stringer!

[Lx lungbuster]

my limbs are wood in the middle outlayed with with laminated fiborglass does change how often i should take off the string.

[jimmy the foot]

i do after everytime i hunt or shoot

[Rangeball]

I wrestled with this awhile back. After extensive reading and asking, I came to the conclusion that the risk of constant stringing and un-stringing was much more likely to cause a problem than leaving my bow strung (it's also backed and bellied with glass).