Exomax speed
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
Exomax speed
I was using a Excell string and was not getting the speed I wanted out of my new Exomax. I talked to Pete at customer service, and he said to use a fast flight string. I did and my speed jumped up about 15 fps. My question is why is the fast flight string faster than a excell?
I believe the new Excel strings are dacron. Dacron stretches more when shot (more elastic) and is slightly heavier than fastflight material.
When any bow is drawn you are putting your energy into the limbs. The limbs store the energy and transfer it to the arrow when the limbs are released. Not 100% of the energy get to the arrow, though. Some is used to move the limbs through the air that surrounds them, some is used to to move the string, and some goes into getting the arrow moving. The limbs use more energy if we add weight to them, such as noise dampeners. The string takes more energy if it is heavier, and the elastic nature of dacron will waste a little energy by stretching and not transferring energy to the arrow as effeciently. Arrow weight is the other major factor that decides flight speed.
The advantage to dacron is that the stretch doesn't bring the limb motion to quite as an abrupt halt and is a little less stress on the limbs. I think of bungee jumping as a comparison. Would you want to jump with a steel cable or an elastic cord attached to your body? Fastflight is like the steel cable, when the limbs hit the end of the cable (bowstring) - they stop abruptly. If you're using dacron the limbs move a little past the point they would with fastflight as the string stretches, then they spring back to the point where the string is at rest. This abrupt stop with fastflight doesn't waste as much energy, but it does create more noise and applies more stress to the string grooves. That's why old bows with carved string grooves couldn't use fastflight. The string would actually cut into the limbs and split them sometimes. The new Mag-Tip limbs are designed to be tough enough to withstand the extra stress in that area.
If you find the fastflight string makes more noise, and the shock and vibration of the bow increases, don't be suprised. Yes, you will get a little more speed, but nothing's free!
If I sound like I'm not a big fan of fastflight, you're right.
I've tried it on my traditional bows and my crossbow and for me, the added noise & stress on the bow just isn't worth the little added speed to the arrow.
One test I would not recommend trying but have had the unfortunate opportunity to conduct firsthand is to dry-fire an Excalibur with dacron, then fastflight strings. I never lost a dacron string! They stayed in the string grooves, and the bow was undamaged (no DBs). The fastflight string came off and was sent flying. I imagine the limbs did quite a "dance" while that string was coming off the bow! Fortunately, the bow was undamaged in this event, too!
When any bow is drawn you are putting your energy into the limbs. The limbs store the energy and transfer it to the arrow when the limbs are released. Not 100% of the energy get to the arrow, though. Some is used to move the limbs through the air that surrounds them, some is used to to move the string, and some goes into getting the arrow moving. The limbs use more energy if we add weight to them, such as noise dampeners. The string takes more energy if it is heavier, and the elastic nature of dacron will waste a little energy by stretching and not transferring energy to the arrow as effeciently. Arrow weight is the other major factor that decides flight speed.
The advantage to dacron is that the stretch doesn't bring the limb motion to quite as an abrupt halt and is a little less stress on the limbs. I think of bungee jumping as a comparison. Would you want to jump with a steel cable or an elastic cord attached to your body? Fastflight is like the steel cable, when the limbs hit the end of the cable (bowstring) - they stop abruptly. If you're using dacron the limbs move a little past the point they would with fastflight as the string stretches, then they spring back to the point where the string is at rest. This abrupt stop with fastflight doesn't waste as much energy, but it does create more noise and applies more stress to the string grooves. That's why old bows with carved string grooves couldn't use fastflight. The string would actually cut into the limbs and split them sometimes. The new Mag-Tip limbs are designed to be tough enough to withstand the extra stress in that area.
If you find the fastflight string makes more noise, and the shock and vibration of the bow increases, don't be suprised. Yes, you will get a little more speed, but nothing's free!
If I sound like I'm not a big fan of fastflight, you're right.
I've tried it on my traditional bows and my crossbow and for me, the added noise & stress on the bow just isn't worth the little added speed to the arrow.
One test I would not recommend trying but have had the unfortunate opportunity to conduct firsthand is to dry-fire an Excalibur with dacron, then fastflight strings. I never lost a dacron string! They stayed in the string grooves, and the bow was undamaged (no DBs). The fastflight string came off and was sent flying. I imagine the limbs did quite a "dance" while that string was coming off the bow! Fortunately, the bow was undamaged in this event, too!
wabi
-
groundpounder
- Posts: 1280
- Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:15 pm
- Location: Monroe, Georgia
Thanks for the detailed explanation Wabi. I was wondering which string to replace my original string with for when the time comes and you let me know which one not to try. I know ther will be those out there praise the fast flight, but like you 15 fps wont make that much difference to me. My exocet is plenty fast enough for me. Thanks.
Why ride when you can walk!
