Kayla Parham

Dance’s Sporting Goods

Petersburg, Virginia

Custom bowstrings excite people and give them the opportunity to customize their bow with colors they want versus factory colors like black and white. On my personal stone-colored Mathews Halon 6 bow, for example, I have pink and gray strings and cables, which really add a nice color pop.

Some customers would like to upgrade to a new bow, but don’t have the money. Changing to a custom bowstring with a new color scheme, in a way, makes it feel like they got a new bow. Even if a customer doesn’t seem to care about colors, I generally encourage them to consider going with a new color scheme. There’s a level of excitement with upgrading to a colored bowstring.

As for the merits, premium-quality bowstrings solve the dilemma of string stretch. Peep sights tend to settle in much faster as compared to cheaper bowstrings. We’ve seen peeps sights continue turning over 200 shots or more, and that can be frustrating since the customer will need to bring their bow in and have the peep sight straightened out a few times until it settles in.

Some customers don’t understand the merits of high-end bowstrings. If they just bowhunt and don’t really shoot during the offseason, they usually don’t want to fork over much money to have their inexpensive bows restrung. We tell them that bowstrings are like tires; you get what you pay for. We have quite a few customers who take their archery and bowhunting far more seriously, and they already understand why custom bowstrings are the way to go, and they’re willing to pay the extra to get what’s best for their bow.

We offer Zebra, America’s Best, and Rogue. We don’t stock very many custom bowstrings since customers usually like to choose their own color combinations, but we do stock them for the popular bow models so we have some on hand when a customer isn’t willing to wait for a special-order string. Generally, the strings I stock are lime green and black, and blaze orange and black, as those seem to be the most popular color combinations. Of course, I keep some all-black sets on hand as well.

Karl Massey

Fat Shafts Archery

Benicia, California

We primarily offer America’s Best Bowstrings here at our store. I’ve been using them for more than 10 years now on my bows, and the shop has been open for eight years. I’ve also sold Vapor Trail in the past, and they were okay, but America’s Best is the number one string we sell.

America’s Best offers three tiers of bowstrings. When someone comes in looking for a new bowstring, we explain the differences between the multiple tiers. With the least-expensive option, they work okay, but they’re going to twist. If they don’t want to deal with that, we explain the benefits of going with an America’s Best Platinum set, which is a high-end option that doesn’t twist or stretch.

I keep a variety of recurve bowstrings in stock, but compound bowstring sets are usually a week to 10 days out. Most of the time, customers want custom colors, plus there are so many bow makes and models that I just can’t keep up with all of them. That’s why custom strings are special-order items.

The benefits we give our customers by offering custom bowstrings is a one-year warranty. We also go above and beyond, in that, one month after installation, we invite the customer to bring his or her bow back in if any minor adjustments must be made. We handle them at no charge.

Target archers typically prefer custom-colored bowstrings to match their target bows. Bowhunters seem to prefer plainer tones like black or tan. Personally, I shoot an all-black bow with a bright orange bowstring. This might sound funny, but I’ve hunted with people who’ve set their bows down and then walked away. In one case, it took us an hour to find one gentleman’s bow. A camo bow propped against a tree is tough to see, which is why a brightly colored bowstring isn’t such a bad idea.

Seth Morton

Dublin Hunting & Fishing Supply

Dublin, Georgia

Bowstrings wear out over time and eventually need to be replaced. Custom bowstrings are not only a great way to replace an existing bowstring, but they’re a way to provide the customer with something better than what they had originally.

Custom bowstrings are a special-order item for us. We can order whatever color combination our customers want. We handle America’s Best Bowstrings and 60X Bowstrings. 

A plus of high-end bowstrings like America’s Best Bowstrings Platinum is they’re pre-stretched. That gives the customer peace of mind in knowing their peep won’t start turning after putting a dozen shots through the bow. In contrast, an average stock bowstring typically causes problems with peep orientation. Another reason custom bowstrings are great is they usually don’t have problems with serving separation. America’s Best seems to produce the best servings on the market. Custom bowstrings aren’t just for folks who have an existing bow that needs to be restrung. I have numerous customers who come in and purchase a new Mathews bow, then have me install an America’s Best bowstring right away because they know the quality they’ll get with that product.