Stringing Question

[JBiorn]

I just place the bottom nock on a soft surface(I carry a little piece of carpet in my bag for this) grasp the upper limb and push the handle with your knee. This way I am not pulling the upper and overstressing it, I am just holding it in place while my knee does the work for me, thus putting even stress on both limbs. Of course I have a selfbow. My bowyer told me this technique.

Jeff

[the Ferret]

JBiorn, my brother uses that method but it feels awkward as heck to me.

Whether using the stringer, push-pull step thru or knee in the handle you are never over stressing a limb as it will never be bent much more than brace height, and certainly no where near full draw. There is as someone else stated a chance of twisting wide thin limbs on a curve whether using a stringer or not (I've seen the string slip over the edge of a limb just prior to pulling up on the riser of a recurve), This could certainly induce twist, however on a recurve I would still recommend using a stringer carefully. I have also seen a limb tip fly out of a shallow pocket on a stringer.

There is no absolutely safe method, but a little inherant risk in all methods.  I have been around stick bows my whole life. Been around tens of thousands of guys stringing and unstringing trad bows. I have never seen anyone come close to getting an eye poked out, nor do I know anybody who has known of someone actually doing this that I could verify. It may have happened to someone sometime, but personally I think that's more of an urban myth. I did see a guy knock himself out once trying to draw a 125# recurve and the bow slipped out of his hand and came back and smacked him on the forehead right between his eyes.

Heck I ride motorcycles, big fast ones. I know inherent risk and I'll take my chances stringing a straight end bow with the push pull method. I even take my chances and wear a full face helmet even though "supposedly" a full face helmet caused someone to snap their neck in a wreck once.

[DarkeGreen]

"I did see a guy knock himself out once trying to draw a 125# recurve and the bow slipped out of his hand and came back and smacked him on the forehead right between his eyes."

Now that right there is funny! Sounds like something i would do.

[the Ferret]

Darke it was at the US Bowhunter Nationals in Franklin Ohio. Bowhunters Who Care had a contest going who could draw the heaviest recurve and who could draw the heaviest compound (My buddy did with a pull of 241#)..anyhow the guy with the recurve used an "open grip" on the recurve, 3 fingers straight out, his index finger curled around the handle and the bow resting on the web of his thumb and index finger like he was going to shoot it. He grabbed the string with all 5 fingers of his string hand, rocked the bow back and forth a couple times down low getting ready for a mighty pull, swung the bow up like he was flight shooting and jerked back on the string. Apparently his thumb wasn't strong enough to hold that much bow and POW, right in the forehead. Poleaxed him. He fell straight back. Immediate knot about as big as a golf ball between his eyebrows.

[JBiorn]

I just love that term----"Poleaxed". Ouch! I'm guessing he will remember that for the rest of his life........or will he?    

Jeff

[TRADITIONAL ONLY]

on my longbow i just put my knee on the grip and press down then slip the string into the nocks...

on my recurve i hook it under my boot and pull the grip toward me as i slip the string into the nocks, works fine for me...