In a previous post regarding the quietest bow possible someone mentioned that putting silencers (string leechers or cat whiskers) on the cable will greatly reduce speed. This doesn't sound right to me. Silencers on the bowstring definitely slow the bow because they add weight to the string. However, the cable serves simply to pull the limbs towards each other and thus has no motion in the direction of the target. How then can silencers on the cable have a significant influence on speed?

Yooper11,


I'm no Einstein on this subject matter, but by putting String Leaches, CatWhiskers, cable silencers, etc. on your bow, yes..it can slow your arrow speed. HOWEVER...It's not going to slow it down enough that you see any difference. If you need some additional "silencing", go ahead and experiment with accessories (stabalizers, silencers, etc.) and choose what you "hear" works best. Also, you can shoot a heavier arrow to help absorb some of the shock and vibration.

When they said it adds weight to the string/cable, they meant that the extra "weight" or "resistance" being placed on the string/cable, is less force being transfered to the arrow.

Hope this helped.

Rob the rookie!

Yooper,

I have cat wiskers on my cable (cut to about 1/2" long). I can't imagine that they slow the arrow down any.

They don't slow down the arrow speed that much, but almost anything you add to quite your bow slows down arrow speed.

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They don't slow down the arrow speed that much, but almost anything you add to quite your bow slows down arrow speed.
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I have a few things on my bow that I can't figure how it would slow it down. Maybe you can explain it.

The catwiskers on the cable hardly move. At full draw they have moved about an inch and a half. They are moving a such a short distance at a speed far less than the string. How would that slow down the bow at all?

I have limbsavers on the limbs. Once again, they are moving only a couple inches and relatively slow in comparison with the string. I could see losing maybe 1/100 of a fps, but even that might be stretching it.

There are Sims cable dampeners on the cable. They don't move at all. They are set so the cable guard doesn't even hit them. Just there to absorb vibration after the arrow leaves, as far as I can tell.

I put moleskin between my accessories to soak up vibration. No way this slows down the arrow. I don't even have to ask on this one.

My stabilizer with doinker seems to soak up lots of vibration and noise. How does this slow down the arrow?

I have string leeches on the strings when hunting. I understand these slow down the arrow about 2-3 fps. I'll give you that one.

Here is what I have found by shooting the crono at our shop:

String Leach -3 to 4 fps, Cat Wiskers -up to 6 fps depending on the length, Stabalizers Very small amounts with several models no more than -1 or 2 fps, My huge peep -2 fps, string loop -0 fps.

I tryed Leaches and Whiskers on the cables and lost little if any speed.

It seems there is a sweet spot with the whiskers on the cables as you may have to play with it to get the desired effect.

With all the &quot;stuff&quot; on my string I only lost about 9 fps with my fianal set-up.I think this is a small price to pay for a whisper compared to a drum.

You may find these figures to be off a little with your particular set-up but not by much.

Hope this helps
SF