# beaver balls vs. cat whiskers



## trad hunter (Nov 26, 2004)

I recently replaced the cat whiskers with beaver balls on my crow creek TD longbow. The beaver balls dont seem to quieten my bow as well as the cheap cat whiskers did! Has anyone experienced this? Thanks guys!!!


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## don s (Mar 7, 2003)

i have better luck with the beaver. try moving them to different spots on the string.
don


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## swamprat (Apr 29, 2004)

I agree with Don on beaver balls. They will and if installed correctly and positioned correctly they will silence just about any noise and vibrations.

Beaver balls are water proof, light, easy to install, and look good. I position mine about 7 inches from each bow limb tip. I seperate the string in halves, weave the balls into the line, on both ends, then string the bow, and then slide the strands into one big symetrical ball. Again making sure they are symetrical on the bow. Then with a pair of scisors, I will trim off the wild hairs and make it one nice clean ball.

Sometimes I even serve the balls into place, this will keep them from moving around. 

Other things that cause noise or vibrations on a bow:

three under is louder than split fingers
brush balls make a tremendous noise and are dangerous
too heavy of string
flemish verse dacron
too light of an arrow, maintain 9 to 11 grains of arrow weight to poundage of bow weight
too tight of arrow nocks.

Steve


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## LBR (Jan 1, 2004)

I love the looks of fur silencers, and sometimes use them during tournament season. When hunting season rolls around, and it's time to get serious, I use cat whiskers. The whiskers have several advantages over fur--cheap, easy to install, durable, waterproof as long as you have them, don't catch burrs, and by their nature do a better job of quietening a strings vibrations.

You can put enough fur on a string to make it quiet, but it will take more than the weight of cat whiskers. Rubber naturally dampens and disperses vibrations--that's why it's used on things such as baseball bat grips. You can put enough of something else--yarn, leather, etc to absorb the shock, but you'll be adding extra weight to the string. Silencer placement is also crucial for it to work the best, but the sweet spot should be the same regardless of what silencer you use.

I'm not saying that some bows aren't quiet with fur silencers--some bows are real quiet without any silencers at all--but the rubber cat whiskers do the job better. Of course they have to be put on properly, in the right spots, and in the right amount. There's usually exceptions to every rule too--just experiment and see what works best for you.

Swamp, not sure what you mean by flemish vs. dacron? Flemish is a way of making a string, dacron is a string material. I think you meant flemish vs. endless? Different string materials also can sound differently, depending on the bow. In my experience tiny strings have more twang than larger ones. I like a happy medium.

Chad


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## trad hunter (Nov 26, 2004)

Thanks for your input guys! I may try moving the beaver balls out a little. I have them set now 10" from the end. Maybe 7" would make a difference. I see like most things its a matter of personal opinion as to which is best!!!! Thanks!!!!!


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## LBR (Jan 1, 2004)

Try the 1/3 points, the 1/4 points, or somewhere between those. Moving the silencers further from the tips will generally do more to silence the strings.

Chad


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## trad hunter (Nov 26, 2004)

When installing beaver balls on a flemish string, do you wrap with the twist of the string or against? I wrapped them with the twist and pushed them together. When I push them together they become loose on the string. What is your method? Thanks!!


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## LBR (Jan 1, 2004)

I never paid any attention to which way the string was twisted. I separate the string and insert one end about 1/2". Wrap the silencer around the string, push it up tight (into a "ball"), use up any slack, then insert the other end like the first. Never had any problems with them coming loose, and this is shooting tounaments with a lot of arrows.

Chad


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## trad hunter (Nov 26, 2004)

I see my problem now! I was pushing them together after I had inserted it in the string. Thank you for your help. Y our right long bows rule!!!!


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## silverhare (May 27, 2004)

Which is quieter,flemish string or endless string


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## don s (Mar 7, 2003)

i believe flemish is supposed to be quieter. i would bet though, that if your bow is setup correctly, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.
don


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## LBR (Jan 1, 2004)

All things equal (same material, same number of strands) flemish is generally quieter and a tad slower.

Chad


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