# Which String Silencers Are Best?



## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

You're going to get a lot of answers, but good 'ol rubber catwhiskers are still very hard to beat.

I am using wool puff silencers but only because they were easy to install and my bow was already pretty quiet.


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## dhaverstick (Jul 26, 2006)

I make my own out of yarn. Takes about 10 minutes and costs next to nothing. I'm sure there are several YouTube videos that show how to do it.

Darren


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## Yooper-travler (Feb 28, 2011)

pastprime said:


> I need to replace them on a #45 Sage bow I bought from someone on this site. Looking through the Lancaster catalog and there are a few choices: nitro whiskers, colored whiskers, rubber silencers, wooly whispers, beaver balls, beaver string silencer. I'm a trad newbie so could use a little help although maybe it's not a big deal, just personal preference. What are you guys using?


So I have wool puffs on my bear T/D, cat whiskers on my grizzly, otter puffs on my buffalo, and some random fur/yarn on my shakespeare(s) that I use for fly tying. Know what? they all work about the same. For some reason the T/D "likes" the wool puffs more to my ear, but when my daughter shoots with me she cannot tell any difference. I like the looks of the wool and otter myself. What I would recommend is to try out a couple different types and see what makes a difference for *your* bow. They are relatively cheap and easy to install.


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## Kali4 (Jan 3, 2016)

I have tried several and finally settled on making my own out of yarn. You can get a spool of yarn in the discount bin at a craft store for $3.00 and have enough material for the rest of your life. Once they are shot in they look identical to the fur silencers at a fraction of the cost and they are much easier to install, plus you can choose whatever color or colors you want to give it your own personal touch!


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## Stub (Aug 13, 2013)

I like them all. I switch them around depending on my tune. I like to tune my full length arrows to my bow. So where some small cat whiskers might put me a little weak. A big wool puff will put me a little stiff. Then I slide them up and down till I'm happy with my bareshafts.


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## Easykeeper (Jan 2, 2003)

I think otter fur strips wound around the string look the best and work well. I think wool balls don't look quite as nice but work a little better. Cat whiskers work well but I don't like how they look on my stickbows.

If you are shooting a recurve don't forget to address the area where the sting and limb make contact at brace. Either mole skin on the limb or wool yarn wrapped around the string work, make sure you cover up about 1" past the last point of contact at brace. I prefer the wool yarn wrapped around the string, less chance of filling in the groove on the limb.


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## JParanee (Oct 13, 2009)

They all work but I'm with Easy 

I dig the fur


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## Ernie80 (Nov 15, 2014)

Hi

We have tested many and the best were the Navajos from Centaur Archery.

Kind regards
Ernie


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## fieldnfeathers (Nov 7, 2013)

I'm partial to wool myself. I'll slide them up and down, like Stub stated earlier, to dial in bareshaft tunes. For that reason, I'm a big fan of Mountain Muffler strings. Check them out if for nothing else than getting silencer ideas.

http://www.mountainmufflerstrings.com


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## TGbow (Jun 24, 2016)

Hard to beat cat wiskers


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## Outback Man (Nov 21, 2009)

Anyone ever use the Bow Hush and Hush Puppies? http://www.bowhush.com/

So far I've always felt the Limbsaver little string bat looking things made the most difference but sure look weird on my recurves.


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## berzerk64 (Nov 27, 2013)

I use the beaver balls, but they work about as well as wool, as far as my damaged hearing can tell. I just prefer the way they are mounted in the string. They both quiet the string more than enough for me. Rubber cat whiskers work about as well, it may just be my perception but they seemed slightly less effective. They're none so expensive you can't try them all over a short period of time.


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## vhram (Jul 1, 2005)

I nuse beaver and otter. Ive picked up a bunch of furs over the years at the thrift stores.


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## Halfcawkt (Dec 27, 2015)

Fur and wool both work fine, when dry. They absorb some moisture, so shooting when its wet can be quite the adventure. On a positive note, they look more like they belong on a stick bow than the others.

I choose cat whiskers due to the fact that much of my shooting is done in the mountains where rain and snow can hit without warning.
With cat whiskers, there is still a wet explosion on the shot, but it is a fraction of those with fur or wool.

I really like the look of otter, but if it is a bow I will use outdoors, I use cat whiskers.

Aside from that, they all work.


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## olfeller (Nov 16, 2014)

I use the Wooly Whispers wool puffs cuz they're easy, they're cheap, they work.
(Not as cool looking as fur, but cool looking nevertheless...imo)


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

pastprime said:


> I need to replace them on a #45 Sage bow I bought from someone on this site. Looking through the Lancaster catalog and there are a few choices: nitro whiskers, colored whiskers, rubber silencers, wooly whispers, beaver balls, beaver string silencer. I'm a trad newbie so could use a little help although maybe it's not a big deal, just personal preference. What are you guys using?


 IN MY OPINION... braided nylon twine is hard to beat by ANYTHING... :grin:


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## Daniel L (Nov 23, 2013)

I like rubber cat whiskers. Waterproof and they also knock out excess vibration / hum. I make them half size to minimise speed loss.


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## Halfcawkt (Dec 27, 2015)

Daniel L said:


> I like rubber cat whiskers. Waterproof and they also knock out excess vibration / hum. I make them half size to minimise speed loss.


Me too. I like the smaller size.


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## bendback (Oct 30, 2013)

Outback Man said:


> Anyone ever use the Bow Hush and Hush Puppies? http://www.bowhush.com/
> 
> So far I've always felt the Limbsaver little string bat looking things made the most difference but sure look weird on my recurves.


I do. They work great for me.


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## motarded (Nov 16, 2007)

The wool puffs seem to work the best, but do slow the string a lot when wet. After a rainy 3d shoot I switched to rubber cat whiskers. They do not work as effectively, but are not affected but the rain.


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## motarded (Nov 16, 2007)

bendback said:


> I do. They work great for me.



they are great, just keep them dry. after installing them on my bow it was silent.


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## monkeyball (Jan 31, 2008)

I roll my own. The sky's the limit as far as color combos or material blends. And like stated above, you can get a lot of "puffs" out of a roll of yarn.

Good Shooting->->->->Craig


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## pastprime (Mar 4, 2015)

monkeyball said:


> I roll my own. The sky's the limit as far as color combos or material blends. And like stated above, you can get a lot of "puffs" out of a roll of yarn.
> 
> Good Shooting->->->->Craig
> How do you make those?


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## monkeyball (Jan 31, 2008)

Pastprime,
I made a little jig after watching a video. It is actually like a small loom. It is good winter therapy if you know what I mean. Kind of like fly tying. PM me your address and I will send you a pair...any color preference? The ones with the lighter color are a heavier gauge yarn, the darker ones are finer.

Good Shooting->->->->Craig


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## pastprime (Mar 4, 2015)

PM sent, thank you Craig.


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## Pantucci (Sep 23, 2016)

I got some cheap rubber ones from Bass Pro-- tied em on with dental floss-- work great on a Sage 45


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## TGbow (Jun 24, 2016)

I buy the rubber skirting from Jann's Netcraft shop..same as cat whiskers..it last a long time.


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## Outback Man (Nov 21, 2009)

Outback Man said:


> Anyone ever use the Bow Hush and Hush Puppies? http://www.bowhush.com/
> 
> So far I've always felt the Limbsaver little string bat looking things made the most difference but sure look weird on my recurves.


Got mine and installed them yesterday. Shot today and highly impressed. Had multiple people at the range comment about how quiet it was. Good stuff for sure. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## moog5050 (Oct 23, 2012)

Outback Man said:


> Got mine and installed them yesterday. Shot today and highly impressed. Had multiple people at the range comment about how quiet it was. Good stuff for sure.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


A bit over priced, but they do work well.


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## jsarche (Sep 11, 2013)

I've tried cat whiskers and beaver balls, but my favorite on my 45-pound Hoyt Buffalo has been little rubber things called BowJax. I take down my bow between shooting, and in my experience, the string wax kind of messes with the cat whiskers and any kind of fur silencers - they get kind of matted and the hairs or whiskers get stuck together. I don't detect any real difference in the sound level between the various kind of string silencers, especially when I'm careful to get the brace height just right, so I've gone the sort of minimalist route and have been pretty happy with the BowJax.


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## pursuit (Sep 29, 2008)

Navajo Wools are my favorites

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk


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## Greencb (Jul 8, 2008)

I like wool but the stickers in Iowa render them less effective. Its cat whiskers from this point forward.


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## Swampfoxforeman (Aug 19, 2016)

I'm sorry IMO yarn and rubber just don't look right on a recurve or longbow. Just to me it take some of the elegance away from traditional bows. I use otter fur string silencers from 3 rivers. They look great, work great, and if they get wet they still work great.


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