Just like using a stringer, there is a proper way to push-pull and an improper way. There is a safe way and an unsafe way. If you use a stringer wrong you can also twist limbs or get hurt. [:' (]

I' m the third generation of bowhunters in my family...and the first to ever use a stringer on anything. When I was growing up the rule was if you can' t string it yourself, you can' t shoot it...and we didn' t use stringers. No one ever left their bows unstrung when they weren' t being used either. Even so, we never twisted any limbs or lost any eyes in the process. Why? Like I said...there' s a proper way to do it.

Are stringers nice? Sure. Can they make stringing easier? At times. Are they a necessity? Absolutely not.

IMO, learning how to safely and properly brace and unbrace your bow without the aid of a stringer should be fundamental. Then again, I also think folks would benefit from being able to make their own strings (and that includes serving), sharpen their own broadheads, and build their own arrows too.