What makes a great bowstring?
When looking at any archery equipment, you want consistency from shot to shot. The last thing that you want is to be thinking, “Is my equipment going to cause my shot not to go into the center of the target or the kill zone of an animal?” Thoughts like this can build target panic and other anxiety driven shooting issues. This brings me to why I got into building strings and then led to me starting Northeast Strings. I feel that a great bow string starts off with the best string material on the market. My standard string material that I use on compound strings is BCY 452X. This string gives a great combination of durability, consistency, looks and speed. I have started using Bloodline string material as well and I will build strings out of it on special request. If you are looking for a string that fuzzes up less than 452X I would recommend BCY X99. On all of my strings I serve with BCY Halo that, in my opinion, is superior serving.
There is a lot of technical stuff that goes into string making and every string maker has their opinion of the correct way to make strings. You have stretching times, stretching tension, wax or no wax, so on and so on. I am not going to go into every detail that I use when making strings, but I guarantee that when you buy a Pro Level string from Northeast Strings you are getting a low wax string that has gone through a stretching process that helps eliminate break-in period on your string and gets rid of that “pain in the butt” peep rotation. I am the only string builder here at Northeast Strings and this helps with producing consistent strings on each build. A lot of people shooting my strings have me build multiple sets at a time for a main and back-up bow, and I want to make sure the process is the exact same from string to string so they have the same feel for when they have to switch to their other bow.
So to sum up what makes a great string: it is one that when installed on the bow and the bow is tuned in, you do not have any movement in that string, your timing is not changing after 200 shots, and it is not affected on hot or cold days. I still would not recommend leaving your bow in a hot car, that’s not good for any equipment. I want to give all my customers confidence that the string they are putting on their bow is the best and most consistent string that they could have.
What do you do besides archery?
My day is mainly made up of being a carpenter, working on large and small jobs. But to be honest my family is the most important thing to me. I have two boys that I love watching them grow, play sports, and just be boys. I have a fantastic wife who is always here to help me whenever I need it.
What has been your best day shooting?
That is a tough one. I love shooting whenever I get a chance, whether it is shooting 20 arrows or 150 arrows. But to give an answer to your question it was probably the NFAA New England Sectionals. At that time I was having a hard time breaking the 300 50x score. That day I was shooting next to a great shooter who was killing the X. I think at the end he shot a 300 with 59x and that one miss was a very close call. His precise shooting pushed me to keep that level of concentration on my game and the target; I ended with a 300 55X. The score was not what was important; it was the learning the level of concentration that is needed to bring my game to the next level.
What’s on your archery bucket list?
Podium finish at the Lancaster Archery Classic
Making the shoot-off at Vegas
Podium finish at the NFAA Field Championships
Shooting Redding
Hunting trip out west
The Archers Association of America negotiates discounts in travel and archery equipment for archers of all disciplines. To learn more or sign up, go to www.archersassociation.org.