Restringing an archery bow is quite a common practice among bow hunters and archers. Regardless of what type of arsenal you own, you must know how much to restring a bow. Since you would require restringing to maintain your bow, it is important that it falls within your budget.
Unfortunately, restringing your archery bow can cost you a good couple of bucks. The total price including string and labor could be between $50 to $250. Thankfully, you must do it at least two to three years apart. That said, this cost justifies the performance it delivers.
If you wonder what makes the cost of a bowstring to be this high, there are a few factors involved. We have explained these factors along with all the useful information about how much is it to restring a bow.
Everything You Need To Know – How Much To Restring A Bow?
Now that you know restringing is an important thing to do, would you choose to purchase a low-quality string to save the cost or a high-end one for durability and guaranteed performance?
Every archer prefers a good quality bowstring but not all can invest $100+ in it. Therefore, if you wish to cut the total cost, you try to restring the bow yourself and save labor/service fees. Also maintain your bow by regularly waxing it. Do you know how often should you wax your bow string?
All you need is a bow press and the entire method is the same for recurve and longbows.
However, adding string to compound bows requires a slightly different procedure due to the presence of cams and cables.
An inappropriately strung bow will fail to deliver the right accuracy for shots. So, if you cannot restring the bow yourself, don’t hesitate to visit a bow shop for professional help.
Why Do You Need To Restring A Bow?
The string used in bows is not single-stranded but is braided using numerous strands of different materials. Whenever an archer draws the bow, all the strands create friction and rub against one another.
Because of this, the fibers of the strands dry out, become hairy, and fray with time. However, this doesn’t happen all of a sudden but, in years if you have a high-end string. In the case of poor strand materials, you will see the deterioration of the fibers after a few months.
When there are fewer hairs coming out of the strands, you must wax the strings for smoother operation. However, as the condition worsens and the wax doesn’t hold it anymore, that is when you need to replace the bowstring.
How Much Does It Cost To Restring A Bow?
The cost of restringing a bow will vary with the type of material and other services. For example, if you do it yourself, you will only have to pay for the string material which costs under $ 20 to $30.
However, when getting it done by a professional, the cost can range between $70 to $200 or more. Whenever spending more than $150 on getting a bow restrung, you can expect it to perform flawlessly with high-end tuning and great space for customization.
There are multiple factors that add to the overall price of restringing a bow, including the following:
String Material
The major factor that accounts for a significant chunk of the total restring cost is the type of material you choose for a bowstring. Simply put, you can get a bowstring for as low as $10 and as much as $250 and more. However, strings used in the bows of Olympians cost incredibly hefty i.e., up to $1000.
The better quality you look for, the higher the price will be. Choice of colors and length also come with varying price points. There most common materials that manufacturers use for bowstrings come under the following categories:
- Natural
These are relatively expensive and highly durable. Some traditional materials used for making bowstrings are natural including vegetable fibers, sinew, hemp, linen, rawhide, silk, and hair.
Most modern bows have now turned down natural fibers, especially compound bows. However, strings made from these are still used for some composite and traditional bows for a superb performance.
Another factor is especially important for hunters which is quiteness. Make sure to use materials that don’t create much noise and learn how to make a bow quieter.
- Synthetic
Bowstrings made using synthetic materials are less pricey but a lot more durable than natural materials. There are various types of these materials such as Dacron, Spectra, Kevlar, Ultra high molecular weight polyethylenes, Liquid crystal polymers, etc.
Out of all the aforementioned types, Spectra and Dacros are the most widely used for all bow types. Spectra is a little costly but is known best for offering a fast flight to the arrow and has less stretchability.
Dacron on the other hand is a bit less expensive, and more stretchable but offers slow flight as compared to Spectra. In terms of longevity, both are superb.
Service
Restringing a bow could be a challenge for some archers if not done right. If you are looking to do it yourself, make sure to read expert guide on how to string a recurve bow (with & without stringer). Therefore, those who lack experience prefer going to the experts. Now, these experts will charge some fees for the service.
Some will only restring it for you and charge $20 -$25. Whereas, some offer complete tuning with lots of customization according to your needs and charge $70 to $80.
If you have the fundamental skills of stringing a bow yourself, you can totally eliminate this additional cost.
Conclusion
Whether you are a professional bowhunter or a casual archer, you must know how much to restring a bow. The process is crucial to carry out to ensure the bow operates smoothly and there are no hairs on the string.
String material and labor make up a significant part of the total cost. Based on various factors such as the type of bow, type of string, and service, the cost may start from $20 and can exceed $300.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Yes, you can restring your recurve and longbow at home with or without a stringer. However, stringing a compound bow is a bit tricky and requires a bow press. It is important to have the right skills so you don’t end up messing up the bow’s performance.
The price range for restringing a compound bow could vary between $50 to $300 based on the type of bowstring and service. As stated earlier, compound bows have a bit of complicated mechanical parts such as cams involved in the process. Mostly archers head to experts for getting their compound bow restrung.
Other than restringing it after every 2 to 3 years or depending on the bowstring condition, you can wax it. If the string seems fine in performance but you notice some hairs of threads coming out, just simply wax them. It is ideal to wax your bow string every two to three weeks
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