The string that comes with the Sage is pretty bad--way overbuilt dacron. I can't speak for the "generic" FF string that comes from 3 Rivers, but I do know that I toss the "factory" string and make a good one (8125, 8190, or Dynaflight '97) that fits it. Night and day difference.

What kind of difference will I notice?

I am getting pretty good groups out to 20 yards and open up around 30.

Is FF quieter? Noisier?

Will my arrows lose less altitude over a further distance? Would my 2114 arrows fly better out of FF because the spine weight is a bit over what is needed for a 45# draw, or would they fly worse?

I may just buy one to try it, but it would be nice to know what I should expect. Maybe I couldn't even tell a difference because I'm pretty green?

Well, went ahead and ordered myself a FF string... the guy is going to call me when it arrives, so I suppose I'll just have to see what the fuss is about when I get it set up.

Also, tonight I'm making myself a target for the backyard. This will be for when I don't want to drive to the range... which is a whopping 4 miles away, but with the new baby it's hard to get too far from home.

Will be using this:



Getting a 3/4" x 4' x 8' sheet for 10 dollars... I'll cut it into 8 peices then stack them and duct tape around the thing.

It will be 2' h x 2' w and 6" thick... I'll post up a pic when I get done.

Here she is... now on to testing phase





God, she's ugly.

The home made target worked awesome!

Shooting 45# Sage, Easton xx75 2114 Superlites with 100grn field points, the arrow only penetrated about 4 inches into the foam @ 10 yds. They are a little tough to pull out, but after breaking it in a bit more, I'm sure they'll start sliding out nicely.

$11 all said and done... not bad. Now I just have to start finding some of this stuff for free and I'll be set.

With a good string, you should get a little better performance, the bow may be quieter (tuning has a lot to do with that), and it will weaken the effective spine of your arrows a little. You can also go up to a 125 grain point or heavier for that.

That actually might be a good thing... 2114 aluminum is on the higher end for a 45# draw, I believe.

Well, just got my DF97 string but it's a 59" string for my 62" recurve (dacron string was 58").

He was saying that dacron stretches more and that when you're using a fast flight material for the string, the length should be 3" shorter than the bow length instead of 4".

Does that sound right or did the guy order the wrong one?

If I remember correctly, 58.5" to 59" works pretty good on a Sage.

D97 or D10 seems to be much preferred over Fast Flight these days, all are different versions of the newer low stretch string materials. Pretty much everyone that tries them prefers the low stretch material to dacron.

With your arrows, I would suggest trying some heavier points, like 125 and 160 gr, with your 2114's. A 2114 seems a bit stiff to me for 45 lb and the heavier points will lower the dynamic spine.