Wilderness Roamer – Enjoy the Outdoors

Compound bows are fantastic for easy precision and high power. There's no wonder why they're a popular tool for hunters. They also take a lot of abuse, which is why it can be so gut-wrenching to realize that your string may be damaged. Why does a bowstring fray around the peep? The most common reason for bowstrings to fray around the peep is because the peep may have a small burr that digs into the bowstring and damages it. Let's quickly take a look at why this is probably happening, how to fix it, and how to avoid it in the future. Burrs Causing Strings to Fray Compound bows move at insane speeds, and they take on a lot of wear and tear. This is why even a very small burr can damage your bowstrings. Even though the peep doesn't actually slide on the strings, the strings vibrate quite a bit when the bow is fired. When you have even a small burr that rubs against the string, the vibration will cause the string to fray over time. This can lead to cut strands, which is a major problem. If the frayed area is in one area around the peep, it's quite likely that a burr is responsible. Normal Fraying or Actual Damage? All strings fray over time, so don't get too alarmed if your string just looks a bit fuzzy. The thing to look at is the actual strands of the bowstring. Usually, a compound bow will have something like 12 individual strands of synthetic material that make up the bowstring. If any of the strands are severed, you've got a major issue and you should take your bow in to your local archery shop. It's fairly easy to tell if you have broken strands. They'll peel away from the string since they're no longer under tension, and you should be able to work them loose pretty easily just with your fingers. Here's an example of what severed strands look like: I made the dumb mistake of knicking my bowstring with a broadhead, so it did some major damage. It wasn't cheap to fix. So strands on your bowstring should never separate apart like in the picture above. What Happens When A String is Too Damaged High-powered hunting bows take a lot of abuse with each shot. The draw strength is usually 40 pounds at the extremely low end up to 70 pounds or more for large game. Compare that to a youth bow or something that you might have as a casual hobby, where a 35-pound draw weight might be more common. The higher the draw weight, the greater the chance of major damage to your bow or personal injury if your string snaps. The arrow can go flying in an unintended direction, the snapped string can take your eye out, and you can totally destroy your bow if you let your string degrade to the point where it snaps. In all honesty, though, it would be very unusual for a peep burr to cause this much damage before it becomes extremely noticeable. If you're seeing broken strands, or if the fraying seems excessive to you, your best bet is to just take it in to an archery shop for a second (and qualified) opinion. Installing a New Peep If you catch it early, you might be able to just remove and reinstall your peep, or replace your peep with a new one. Peeps are dirt cheap compared to bowstrings. You don't even need a bow press to install a peep, so this is very much something that you can do yourself if you're reasonably capable. All you'll need is a string separator and some small diameter serving string to tie it in place. This is all stuff you can get for cheap on Amazon. Here's a link to the string separator and here's a link to the serving string to tie it in place. If you don't feel comfortable doing this yourself, just take it in to your local bow shop and they can do it for you, this is something that usually doesn't cost too much to get done. How to Prevent Your Strings from Fraying Over time, bowstrings will break down. Generally speaking, they don't really last beyond 5 years of moderate use. To extend the life of your strings and to avoid fuzzing, use string wax. It's probably the simplest, best investment you can make for your bow. Wax will keep the fibers tidy, prevent water damage, prevents mild fraying, and helps the string to keep its twists. It will definitely extend the life of your string. It's super easy to apply, too. Just rub it into the string. The friction from rubbing it will allow the wax to melt into the string. This prevents the strands from rubbing together and wearing themselves down. You can pick up the string wax I use here. You should be reapplying it at least every 200 shots. I wax my bowstring every 2 weeks. Generally, a little bit of fraying around the peep is fairly normal. Just maintain the strings by cleaning and waxing. If it becomes more of a problem, or it seems excessive, check the peep for burrs or take it in to a shop.

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