This review will no doubt raise some eyebrows. I received a string set from a little known string maker in Ontario Canada by the name of George Bowman. George operates Bowman’s Custom Strings and claims to make a string that is a cut above the rest. Well, he does. It seems that he has a better method of string making and serving than the Industry uses. All bowman strings are hand made and served rather than machine made. My test strings were made from 18 strands of 8125 material. The serving was tight and accurate.
The test Bow I used shot at 288 fps with factory string and cable. These were replaced with another custom set that increased the speed to 296 Fps. This was impressive and when George claimed that his were faster and quieter I smiled to myself and accepted the offer to test them and do a review.
The first Thing I noticed when the package arrived was the color combination, a red/green/yellow twist. It looked sharp but silence and speed were what I wanted to see. That I did. After restringing the Bow and quickly setting up a peep and arrow noc I test fired it at 60 pounds to seat everything in then turned on the chronograph to see how well George would do with his promises. Limb bolts bottomed out and poundage set back to the same that it was before I started shooting at over 302 fps. This speed was confirmed with a string of 6 shots. I was more than Impressed, I was surprised. This performance was more than I could have ever expected.6 fps over a custom string and 14 fps over factory strings.
All this extra speed should come with a sacrifice, but it didn’t. The bow had become quieter. After shooting with my normal arrow setup I changed the 125 grain points to 100 grain and started to shoot at 5 grains per pound. This should have made a difference in the bows sound but it still shot very quiet and the speed increased to 308 fps.
George Bowman definitely deserves credit for his wonderful strings and the performance that the test set I received gave me. These are definitely a string I will recommend.
If even more performance is what you are looking for George also makes a speed string that he boasts is even faster than the one I tested. I can’t wait for that one to arrive. I am sure that we will here more about Bowman’s Custom Strings in the future. Pete Ward
PETE WARD
