Barebow/stringwalking tips

[Scooter]

I figured I'd try to liven up this section a bit. Perhaps this can even be a sticky.

By far I am no expert on string walking but I thought we could collaborate on a thread on various tips or tricks we have come across.

I'll start with

1) Buy the Modern Traditional DVD. I can't explain how much voodoo this took out of SW for me.

2) Use a beefy rest. Something like a Champion II or Spigarelli wire rest. Beefy and adjustable.

3) A tab with stitches is wonderful for helping learn and mark your various crawls.

4) Get used to a higher nock point than you normally use,

[Greysides]

Hmmmm...........been thinking about this.........most of what I could post is already in the Classics section or taken from Ty Pelfry's posts or publications/DVD's and to repeat it as mine seems like plagiarism (I hope I spelt that right!).....his contribution in the book 'Precision Archery' is very useful.



At the same time, a treatise by an expert on how to set up a bow for stringwalking/field archery from begining to end would be extremely useful.

Choice of arrow spine and length is also a big factor to discuss.

[Greysides]

Seems a pity to leave a good idea lie...................so here's a thought.

Stringwalking will affect left to right as well as up and down.

When you tune, you tune to a certain distance. If this involves a crawl (mine does, I tune to 18m as that's our indoor range length) then distances less than this will show stiff as the distance between the nock and the plunger at full draw is shorter than tuned for. Distances more than the tuned distance will have the arrow show weak.
There is more to the explanation (the bow poundage effectively changes too) than given but that's how I explain it to myself without complicating it.

So, while you stringwalk for distance you now must account for windage. This can be done by aiming off the appropriate amount to one side or by altering the plunger setting to suit the distance. A scaled plunger is your best friend here.





Next please.............

[SteveGabriel]

I've been experimenting with a little bit of face walking to minimize adjusting the plunger

1 anchor is point on at 40 yards using my middle finger to anchor against a tooth.
A 2nd uses the same tooth touched by the index finger. Point on at 50, arrow rest gives me 55.
A 3rd anchor gives me 70 yards. For 80 I use the arrow rest on top of the target.

I'm still experimenting with this and I'm replacing my T-Rex with a Hoyt Eclipse so I'll see if this still works.

[Greysides]

I'm replacing my T-Rex with a Hoyt Eclipse so I'll see if this still works.

If you have plans to do FITA field you will need to reconsider your riser choice. All risers must pass through a 12.2 cm hoop. The Eclipse will not.

A second-hand Hoyt Gold Medalist with some weight , say 350 grams, in the lower stabiliser bushing will balance very nicely and be cheap and thus eminently usable under 'field' conditions.

[rusty craine]

don't over think stringwalking :).

most important part of stringwalking is your form....just like real archery LOL.

lots of walkup and walkbacks (10 to at least 60 yds)

shooting is the most important part of tuning for stringwalking. don't worry a lot about tuning, worry a lot about group size. then worry about moving the group. ya can tune the bow just like everybody does and tune for stringwalking as you learn what is happening was you walkup and back. a fellow named Skip Tafford can take anyone's bow tuned for an arrow and out shoot me with my "tuned" for stringwalking bow.

count threads. lacing on a tab will just not get you there. at distance a thread can be the difference between a 5 and a 4.

worry less, practice your form more. the points will come.

rusty

[Greysides]

count threads. lacing on a tab will just not get you there. at distance a thread can be the difference between a 5 and a 4.



With strong limbs, compared to weaker limbs (say, 40# to 28#), I know the point on distance will increase but do the crawls get closer together i.e. the distance on the string between 5m and the point-on shortens as poundage increases?

[buejeger]

Out to 50 meters I find stitches on my tab work fine and very accurate... I use the cordovan 3 fingers under tab from 3rivers....
I am shooting FITA so my maks distance is 50 meters for marked field, 45 for unmarked field and 30 meters for 3D. There is no international class for barebow in target shooting, but here in Norway we shoot the 70 meter at 40 m and the 90 meter at 50 m. Again the stitches on my tab work well for me out to these distances...

So far my "sight markings" are like this (50 meter mark is not nailed down yet, but 40 and under are pretty much nailed....
50 meters is point on the top of the gold. 45 m is to the top of the first stitch 40 meter is one stitch, 30 meters is 5 stitches, 20 meters is 8 stitches, 15 meters is 10 , 10 meters is 10, and 5 meters is 13... at 20 meters and below I need the string shadow tight to the riser at 25 meters to 50 the string blur is halfway out the plunger....
The more I do it the more I like it.... stringwalking that is ;)

Nathan

[Greysides]

For comparison:

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4319/bwtabmarks.jpg http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/2923/stabmarks.jpg

(There are five stitches per finger of the tab.)

[buejeger]

Whose marks are those? yours Aiden?
What I find odd is that as I get over 40 meters I would expect the number of stitches to increase, but it looks like the longer power stroke due to me pulling the arrow the full 29" compensates in some way... also I am using very light points, 70 grains which is giving me an foc of about 7.5% which is at the lower end of the recommended FOC range... however I am shooting max 50 meters.. longer and I would want more FOC....
10 to 15 meters I can use one sight marking.... pretty flat shooting! MY 5 meter mark puts the nock up to my eye and I just "shotgun" down the shaft
also on my tab the 45 mark is a bit higher than what you have shown here, but then every tab is slightly different when it comes to the stitching.... swap tabs, learn new stitch count...
If one is to count serving strands, then monofilament serving is really the only practical way and I havnt used that since the early nineties and I dont wanna be again thankyou :)
I have still to finalise all my crawls but i am getting there and what an interesting journey!
Nathan

[Greysides]

Nathan, yes, it's my tab.

Incidentally, for FITA, I believe it's okay to mark the tab as long as you don't label the marks.

[buejeger]

Nathan, yes, it's my tab.

Incidentally, for FITA, I believe it's okay to mark the tab as long as you don't label the marks.

hmmmm, interesting.... I have just scoured the FITA rule book for target , 3d and field and cannot find anything writen about it... but I am sure i have read somewhere that no marks are allowed... I will have to check this out some more..

Nathan

[buejeger]

I have sent a mail to the Norwegian governing body, but after trawling the www it seems to be that any marks that are on the tab that are not a part of the construction can bee deemed illegal..
I found one report on Archery Interchange where an interpretation of the rules allowed said markings but then a british archer at the world field champs in Sweden was told by a judge there that it wasnt legal.... best not to take any chances.....

Nathan

[buejeger]

Ok, just got an answer on this from the Norwegian governing body and I quote from the international rules:

9.3.8.2 Recurve and Bare Bow.

9.3.8.2.1 The following equipment is permitted:

· An anchor plate or similar device attached to the finger
protection (tab) for the purpose of anchoring.

9.3.8.2.2 For Bare Bow the stitching on the tabs shall be uniform in
colour. Marks or lines shall be uniform in size, shape and
colour. Additional memoranda and markings are not permitted

pretty clear I think.....

[Greysides]

I have sent a mail to the Norwegian governing body, but after trawling the www it seems to be that any marks that are on the tab that are not a part of the construction can bee deemed illegal..
I found one report on Archery Interchange where an interpretation of the rules allowed said markings but then a british archer at the world field champs in Sweden was told by a judge there that it wasnt legal.... best not to take any chances.....

Nathan

I've seen that thread on AT where Zane Smith says it's okay and shows his tab so to confirm that when I got the chance I asked an international competitor at a comp locally. He said the same thing.
However, if there's any likelihood of being pulled up I'd err on the side of caution too.At the end of the day it's not too hard to remember the sight marks.


Thinking about tabs..... it looks as though the 5m mark is a vaguely similar crawl down for both of us, yet we have different point-ons. This suggests that with the sight marks more congested the difference of a stitch or two will have a greater impact on the person with the greater point-on where the distance to the target is known.
Yet, the flatter trajectory of the greater poundage is meant to be an advantage at unknown distances.

:confused:

[Greysides]

9.3.8.2.2 For Bare Bow the stitching on the tabs shall be uniform in
colour. Marks or lines shall be uniform in size, shape and
colour. Additional memoranda and markings are not permitted

pretty clear I think.....

I agree. I don't see how the two sides can be reconciled. Annoying when there's two versions of the truth.

[buejeger]

If you think about it I have a greater yardage built in to the same amount of tab as you.. that will say that I have a flatter shooting bow.. in sight terms I would have 5 pins from say 10 to 50 meters much tighter squeezed together than on your bow... this give me more margin for error... Yes I need to be precise with my stitch count, but that is not the worst problem with unmarked....
If i shoot a 10 yard target as a 15 yard crawl, then I have more chance of hitting it than you....
but to take advantage of this speed I need a tab with fine stitches....
I really like the 3Rivers tab..

Nathan

[rusty craine]

yes that is the answer......horse power/arrow speed. If you can shoot the high to mid 40# stichtes are good enough. when ya get to be a old geezer and have to drop draw weight to the early 30# so ya can shoot 112 good arrows, counting wraps makes good sense. at least for me that is also the time you have one kit that you stick to. it is too hard to remember a bunch of different crawls for different rigs

rusty

[buejeger]

it is too hard to remember a bunch of different crawls for different rigs

rusty

:lol: coming from you Rusty, that last line did make me laugh... I mean, folks would think you had shares in Bernardini and Border!!! :D

[buejeger]

Just refletched all my arrows after the kurly vane disaster... they didnt even last long enough to work out the new crawls at all distances.... I have switched now from 2,25 quickspins to the smallest size they make, 1.5" and the are alot lighter than the 2,25 my arrow weight is now 328 grains flying at an average of 205fps...(at my 30meter crawl... at my 50 meter crawl I would guess 210fps from earlier tests) not too shabby for a 70" bow....
Spent a couple of hours doing walkbacks today and have a new set of crawls out to 50 meters...

on the left meters on the right stitches down...

5 - 13
7.5 -12
10 - 11
15 - 10
18 - 9
20 - 8
25 - 7
27.5 - 6
30 - 5
35 - 3.5
40 - 2
45 -1
50 - 0

I have a few gaps to fill in, but this is looking good so far.. and not too hard to remember... :)

Nathan

[Greysides]

Not any much change due to the change in vanes.

[rusty craine]

I had shot about the same crawls for years till I went down in draw wieght. the most interesting bit will get ya some day :). that is the bit when ya move to a low anchor to get out YONDER :).

there is really three sections in stringwalking, 10 to 50, 50 to 70 and 70 to 90more or less :). that last section is the one that seperates the have and the have not :)

rusty

[buejeger]

Not any much change due to the change in vanes.

Not out to 30 meters no, (as expected) but my 45m mark is the same as 40 meters and my 50 meters marks is the top of the first stitch actually.. so at long range I am getting less drag which gives me better sight marks.

nathan