To damp or not to damp, that is the question. .

[sood]

Anyone know if dampners/limb savers are worth getting? I mean apart from dampning the noise are there any further benefits?

(also can you use string dampners on recurves? I've only ever seen pictures of them on compounds)

Sood

[clickerati]

I'm so glad you asked, sood. I've wondered that myself.

I have seen string dampners on recurves used for hunting, such as Fred Bear recurves.

[Big Boy Blue]

I use Top and bottom dampers and they improve the feel of the bow during the shot. Vibration is also reduced to a minimum, the bottom one I think just balances the bow nicely and is not primarily used for dampening although it will have a contribution. I would suggest you try one and see how it feels.

As for limbs savers, well they are supposed to help the life of the limb by reducing vibration. They can also be used to make a bow quite although the bracing height should be set first otherwise you will struggle to hear any changes in the bow sound as you alter the BH.

The combination of the two and the usual stabilisers have resulted in a vibration free riser during/after the shot.

[Tarkwin]

the noise is generated by the vibration of the limbs as they come to rest. The dampers drastically reduce this vibration.

To my mind the main benefits of any such dampening system are reduced shock to the bow hand of the archer - this basically makes each shot more comfortable and to a degree reduces fatigue, also it reduces the risk of things shaking loose.

I've not really considered string mounted dampers, mainly as anything superflous on the string will slow it down. If something as small as a brass nocking point can reduce string speed, you can be sure a lump of rubber will. The Sims site suggests that there is 'minimal to no speed loss' due to the use of these things.

T.

[Kae]

Also, under FITA rules, recurves are not aloud to use string silencers.
Limb savers make a huge difference, but the bow should be tuned before these are attached, so as they don't mask any tune problems. They reduce limb vibration, which in turn reduces wear and tear, and noise.

[Kellog]

I personally disagree with the points above.

IMHO they're a waste of money, time, effort and tuning. I hate them with a passion.
A member of the public club we shoot with had them fitted to his G3's, after long and laborious attempts at tuning them we took the limb savers off.... and it tuned in about 10mins.

Another example is a guy who shoots an Avalon plus (lovely bow!) with limb savers and it feels plain horrible. A set of identical limbs in the same riser suddenly feels lively, responsive and smooth.

I personally do not see that if you have a decent stabiliser set up that you should need ugly, slowing lumps of rubber attached to your limbs.
I accept that with older set ups that they can be helpful, but with modern limb and bow design I would say they're pointless on a recurve.

[Gibbon]

Originally Posted by Kellog

I personally disagree with the points above.

IMHO they're a waste of money, time, effort and tuning. I hate them with a passion.
A member of the public club we shoot with had them fitted to his G3's, after long and laborious attempts at tuning them we took the limb savers off.... and it tuned in about 10mins.

Another example is a guy who shoots an Avalon plus (lovely bow!) with limb savers and it feels plain horrible. A set of identical limbs in the same riser suddenly feels lively, responsive and smooth.

I personally do not see that if you have a decent stabiliser set up that you should need ugly, slowing lumps of rubber attached to your limbs.
I accept that with older set ups that they can be helpful, but with modern limb and bow design I would say they're pointless on a recurve.

Have a drink that lady!!

[Rik]

Dampers can be useful, though personally i'd never go for the stick-on limb savers (I'm not convinced by them). Doinkers can be useful as a final tweak to a setup, but shouldn't be used to mask problems. It's funny how many people just stick them on a long rod (or twins) and don't bother trying to figure out where they work best, though.

[Kellog]

Originally Posted by Rik

Dampers can be useful, though personally i'd never go for the stick-on limb savers (I'm not convinced by them). Doinkers can be useful as a final tweak to a setup, but shouldn't be used to mask problems. It's funny how many people just stick them on a long rod (or twins) and don't bother trying to figure out where they work best, though.

Yup, doinkers can do lots of nice things I use a short top rod with a doinker on my bow to bring introduce a bit more rotation into the system. Very little difference in the feel of the bow but groups tend to be smaller and the shot tends to feel more solid

[Shirt]

Limbsavers good, stuff on string very very bad.