String Silencers: Do they work?

Big and totally unscientific review of Simon’s nice pushels.
Here you can find them:
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www.wecallthempuschel.com/eng...
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Armin Hirmer
Malta Archery
100 Triq Annibale Preca
Lija LJA 1915

[@klausernstthalheim9642]

If you put the Puschel in your ears, they work as silencer for every other noise as well.

[@steveg8322]

Brilliant, Klaus!

[@gluckskatze3229]

Hahaha! xD I love your joke! :D

[@gizmonomono]

Without doubt, you are the best YT channel about archery. Charismatic, entertaining, and educational. Keep it up.

[@ArminHirmer]

wow thank you so much, that keeps me going :D

[@gizmonomono]

@@ArminHirmer You're welcome. From the bow reviews to the advice, It's very useful. Your Khatra videos made me understand the concept. And I've searched a lot. Pitty there aren't more channels explaining it more thoroughly. I enjoyed your explanation about why you shoot only 3 arrows on the range. It is something I will addopt in my training.

[@eqlzr2]

Hi Armin. You know that near my house there is a large museum with a very expensive art collection called the Armand Hammer Museum. The guy was very rich mostly because he started Occidental Petroleum. I guess you might say he had a lot of gas. ;-) Also, I'm in the acoustics field, and a 6 dB change amounts to a 50% reduction in Sound Pressure Level (SPL). So while a 4-5 dB reduction in string noise may not "sound' like much of a reduction in decibels, it actually is a big reduction in Sound Pressure at the eardrum. Decibels are used to express changes in sound level because it is more convenient than expressing the changes in SPL. The human hearing range is so huge (all the way from the level of a mouse peeing on a wet sponge to a cannon going off nearby,) that expressing sound in SPL units would involve writing down a lot of numbers and decimal places. For example, 0 dB (the approximate threshold of hearing) is actually 2 x 10-5 Pascals in SPL. The decibel scale is a logarithmic scale which conveniently collapses the human hearing SPL range down into essentially 3 numbers (0 dB to about 140 dB which is the threshold of pain). Too much info? ;-) Hope not.

[@simondean6124]

More info please, this is wonderful!

[@mitchacho_]

Ahhh that made me soO nervous you cutting those string silencers with the bow strung up lol 😮

[@rickydlayaute5387]

Ach......"......the sound of silence...." Whap whap doo whap ....!!! 🎸like Simon and Garfunkel said in the 70's.. Oldies but goldies!!😄😄😄 Thank's a lot Armin for your terrificoscientific studies in archery !!!🙏😊🙏 Great pleasure seeing you day after day !!! Richard Lionheart 😎🇫🇷🏹

[@ArminHirmer]

haha thank you :D

[@bowman321123]

When I twist up a new string I make yarn silencers for all of my bows, when in place it makes a difference in noise and vibration and quiets the string without a noticeable reduction in speed. An added fun is the first few shots I get a cloud of yarn lint poofing. Good videos, thanks for your time.

[@kurzhaarguy]

Silencers of this type can be effective. They are only useful in dry (i.e. indoor) conditions, not for hunting, however. Marino wool will shed water, to a degree, but all yarn collects burrs and weed seeds. Try strips of beaver, mink, or muskrat hide. The strips should be 1/8-3/16" (4-4.5mm). They need to be about 6" (15cm) long. Weave them in and out of the string beginning at 1/4 of string length inward toward serving. They are, in my opinion, more effective than any manufactured product I've seen. See Bryan R.'s remarks, too.

[@josephparry]

You can quiet the bow further by adding fabric behind the limbs where they screw in, and at the tips where the string rests to stop it slapping into the plastic. Thanks for the video!

[@Leverguns50]

That’s very interesting I’m glad you did a review on these

[@nontimebomala2267]

There is an optimal placement for the silencers. You can find it by moving it up and down on the string while tuning your bow. The location at the top will be different from the one at the bottom because you do not knock in the middle of the string. The actual locations will be close to half the distance from the point where the string contacts the bow limb and the nock. The locations will vary slightly from those positions depending upon your personal shooting style.

[@graydon78]

Great video! I use pushels on nearly all my bows up to 70lbs after that there is little vibration because of high tension. They definitely work and make a difference.

[@niallguiver2861]

I've made some myself after raiding the wife's knitting basket. They are slightly larger than the ones shown in the video but really quieten down my Bearpaw Blackfoot Flat Bow.

[@stuartmccloud307]

I got me one of them bows, so I'm gonna give it a try (even though its not that loud anyway :) )

[@breakingthroughinside]

Great video, I made my own silencers with a little bit of yarn, it works very well

[@colleenparsons51]

I love the idea of the bobbles on the string,

[@biosolix]

There is a simple method to check the efficiency of the silencers. Handle the bow like a "single string guitar": Press the riser on a table, limbs and string up. Pull string a little, let it snap and listen to sound, which gets amplified by the table. Without any attenuation or damping , you hear the string (and bow..) resonance tone for some seconds. The base resonance frequency of this depends on the length of the free string, which is not contacting the limbs, with the maximum of the wave at half length, but at this point you nock in the arrow. The next resonance frequency to be dampened is the double, their maximum is at 25% of the total length, The 3rd frequency from base is at about 16% , so a compromise to place the silencer is around 20% of the total free length from their ends. Put them in, and repeat the test. Instead the of the resonance frequency, you get a flat "plopp" sound. It works.

[@jasonjulaton]

Thank you for the video.

[@neotoxo54]

Something you might consider.. STRING SILENCER THEORY Something you might try & I use is taking advantage of the heterodyne principal of canceling resonate frequencies. In short, the heterodyne principal states that when two frequencies are mixed they produce both even and odd additional frequencies. This is how radios are able to transmit or receive a wide spectrum of frequencies without having a separate resonate circuit for each frequency. A naked bow string will sing like a plucked guitar string SO if you tie one silencer 1/3 the distance from one end of the bow string and the other silencer 1/4 the distance from the opposite end that combination will cancel out both even & odd resonate frequencies. That will make the string go thump instead of twang. Measure the distances with bow strung from where the string touches limb. This works with longbows, recurves & compound contraptions too. Aside from noise canceling it also allows the use of silencers with less bulk and mass giving you a little extra arrow speed. I use those small silicon string silencers from 3 Rivers Archery...string leeches or wishbones or any of the others work just a well.

[@kaikart123]

What about horse bows with string bridge though, where do we start to measure?

[@neotoxo54]

ngentotsemua Measure from the spots/locations where the string touches the limbs when strung.

[@dirkkoopman174]

The reason you did not observe much difference is due to mike placement and distance between bow and target. If you do the same test over a greater distance, with the mike near to the bow, you should get a more accurate result and, as a bonus, you will get two clear peaks, one for the string and another for the thud of arrow hitting target. You won't need the chronograph either as you will be able to see how the distance between "thwang" and "thud" changes. Or you could listen carefully to this otherwise excellent video and you will see there is a definite difference in sound for both bows. As an aside, it would be interesting to compare different string materials. After all, historically, none of these bows would have had polyester strings. I have a Rex Oakes 55lb @ 28" flatbow with a linen string. Many people have commented on how quiet it is.

[@robsarchery9679]

I like the sound the bow makes without them.

[@fossilfountain]

But it’s bad if what you are trying to shoot hears you

[@jake4194]

It sounds worse in person

[@jpk190988]

I am waiting for my xuanwu to arrive for 2 weeks already. Can't wait to use it!

[@ArminHirmer]

You will love the bow

[@jpk190988]

Danke Armin. Ich habe en Bogen persönlich bei Li Zhang bestellt :) Spezialversion ;) Alles gute aus China. Deine Videos sind super. Sollte ich mal in Malta sein ist Malta Archery mein erster Stop.

[@draven3838]

For the pusher problem of flying of you can use serving string to tie them in place

[@jimmyhor78]

Excellent video. On the horsebow, the slowdown could be due to twisting up the string as well.

[@genaroflores6912]

Not sure if it's been said yet, but the extra twist in the string on your horse bow was the reason for reduced arrow speed, not the pushel. More twist=more stretch=reduced arrow cast

[@robsarchery9679]

Good review

[@seanjorgenson8064]

Love your channel awesome 👌

[@gizmonomono]

Might I suggest a topic for your FAQ videos. It's something I was having trouble finding a good explanation for. Basic terminology when it comes to arrows. Grains per inch vs grains per pounds. Spine in regards to shooting style and bow type, arrow materials as well. And arrow weight in general. I almost lost my mind trying to find appropriate arrows for my new bow 😁

[@ArminHirmer]

great idea, will do

[@miguelveratraditionalarche9374]

Thanks for the video. Great I love the tests decibels and speed.✌

[@Userxyz1230]

In America, they call it Yarn and it is extremely cheap to make ( way less than 8 Euros ). I personally use silencers made of beavers skin to be more natural and it is also effective on my recurve. So if you call "Puschels" Mercedes, I would call the beaver skin Cadillac 😁 . Good video though, keep up the good work 👍👍

[@gizmonomono]

I found a tutorial on yt on how to make these from wool. They work amazingly well. No use for me, but quite awesome.

[@ARTCHILD]

Really enjoying your videos thank you so much as I’m new to the Art...question, can I make string silencers from the lumps of cat fur my cat sheds off?

[@ArminHirmer]

You can try, not sure if and how it will work :)

[@nair.127]

Zooh or zoot? How would we type those fun verbal ticks you have when speaking English. Which when I have listened to your German presentations I didn't hear.

[@gordonallison1055]

always use silencers for recurves, maybe not for flat bows. Some bows really benefit from silencers.I believe they drop the speed a tad but usually its a fair trade for less vibration and noise. I make mine from an old mink muffle from a second hand shop and twist into the string- I have enough to last a lifetime maybe. For horse bows they could be tied in with some serving? Never tried them on horse bows but may have a go.

[@DeepikaSharma-ge2gn]

I love your chanel sir

[@walterward8164]

So I was... thinking of trying them. But I still have some mink from a 100 +/- year old stole I purchased from a thrift store. I have a wood horse bow form Ali., 50lb. maybe I could use some as string pads up by the knocks or on the grip. your thoughts ?? I have a thing for leaving personal mark. Carving would be out of question of course.

[@dm8994]

I have a question, but it isn't about the silencers. Why do the arrows vibrate from side to side when you shoot with the recurve bow and not with the hunting one? I notice that with the hunting bow the arrows stick and dont move at all. Is that due to a difference in technique? Or arrows? Whats the explanation.

[@ArminHirmer]

bad technique I guess

[@johnmutton799]

Big difference with first bow. And with second and when used in hunting. I am listening with headphones on so could really tell. The second bow sounded softer.

[@ryanbeavers871]

Hello Im a n00b when it comes to archery....but aren't the markings on the bow (like the 30# @ 28") on the bottom limb and not the top?

[@ArminHirmer]

Mostly yes

[@gblan]

My English longbow wants one of these curvy Asian bows for a girlfriend.

[@MrInsaint]

I really like Your video Mr. Hirmer👍 but I also like The Twang🤪 so for me, no noisy string silencers 🙏

[@novokarpati]

I learned from an old fella that the top silencer is 1/4 the way down, and the bottom is 1/3 the way up. "WHY''.., well, it has to do with 'harmonics'.., you ever hear a violin being tuned and a piano is nearby..? Well, and IF they are both 'in tune' you can hit the 'A' key on the piano, and the violin, placed near or on it...will vibrate..in 'harmony' ..IE like begets like..! Now, you want to 'silence' that bow string, so, you break any 'harmonic' wave action. So, in putting the 'silencer' (of whatever type..) , at 'non-harmonic' or , at 'non-equal' distances, when you release the bowstring (like 'plucking' a guitar, or violin string...) the 1/4 spacing cancels out the 1/3 spacing..., and voila~ the string is 'dampened'...or 'silenced'...!

[@novokarpati]

I also think that the 'perfect number' (about 1.634/0.634..) has something to do with this. AND, if your arrows are 'balance forward, of 66% or so, (of entire length...!) then they will be 'in tune'...!

[@ArminHirmer]

@@novokarpati right

[@oneer8435]

When you start plucking a tune with your bow i wanna see that.

[@Archerstidbits]

Nice review. The knife solution to the scissors problem was pretty funny also :-p

[@jameswoodard4304]

Wait! A German technical term that is shorter than the English term?! Are you sure they're not called Stringentwangenstoppeners?

[@Traveler2112]

I've use them on all my bows. Easy and cheap to make. I personally like a quiet bow. :)

[@sigmanarchery54]

Thank you great video I just use yarn. How much for the Bodnik.

[@ArminHirmer]

Thank you. 260 Euro instead 525

[@Taylor_in_Southern_Oregon]

I've been using thin strips of rabbit or squirrel fur

[@homer92234]

ooof winter beanie puff ball for 8 euros :D

[@LionAstrology]

Interesting.. I wonder if flemish vs continous loop strings would show more difference than just adding string silencers.

[@ArminHirmer]

good thought

[@vaportrail226]

That is a good question

[@user-nk1ic2qy9p]

Поставил глушилки на тетеву, лук стреляет практически бесшумно слышно только звук попадания стрелы. Спасибо Армин.

[@tangomike1306]

ich liebe diesen Akzent...

[@jasommato9110]

I use ones made from natural fur My bow is little user unfriendly vhat I like about it but what I didnt like was its kyck It vibrates and has somethink like a recoil and this furballs reduce it su much that my bow is now unfriendly only to archers who shot modern bows ;)

[@h0tkoko]

Silencers reduce string vibration to reduce the sound, right? Does it also reduce bow vibration?

[@ArminHirmer]

As the vibration comes from the string, yes

[@h0tkoko]

@@ArminHirmer would it make sense to put this "silencer" on the bow limbs as a "shock absorber", would it effect the arrow speed? I do not have a speed meter to test myself.

[@jimwalkerarchery]

In my experience, I now prefer the silencers less for quieting the bow and more for "arm slap" reduction. I prefer to not wear an arm guard if I don't have too, and for bows with especially snappy strings, I find the yarn or fur silencers do a great job in dampening the recovery impact of the string (and resulting less impact on the forearm - ref. red welts).

[@v1743962002]

Did you just do dry fires at 7:10

[@tbone6203]

Man i hunt the swamps in dare county n.c i use beaver silencers and when that grizzly broadhead flies death is comin!

[@vaportrail226]

Doesn't do much for the horse bow but it does look cool

[@Marmocet]

You might have a quiet bowstring, but you're going to damage people's retinas if you insist on wearing such loudly coloured shirts, Mr. Hirmer. I don't think I've ever seen that shade of black before.

[@johnyannacci4413]

Is there any sense to use string silencers for target shooting?

[@ArminHirmer]

Only if the noise bugs you

[@andypanda4927]

Must not have been the microphone. Could understand easier in a March video. Boosted volume, almost, to max to hear better. Still interesting.

[@Mikey-ym6ok]

Puschel sounds like a pet name you give your wife.

[@janedagger]

WHeeeee ! Poufy !!! goodness

[@gregkoe60]

😂 it gets nice and pooofy.

[@NicoCattaneo]

SECOND!

[@gigilaco]

I heard that Spongebob reference...

[@michaelsanders7484]

Where!!??

[@seanjorgenson8064]

You should have shot bow without silencers a shot or two. Then put them in for our benefit.

[@b4bluey]

I see you placing the silencer way down from where the string hits the bow, I normally place it JUST under where the string is on the bow, this is to stop the string from hitting the Bow > ( which makes the Twang ) You, however, place the silencer way down the string, and I`ve not seen this before?? I`ve corrected other archers about this, but perhaps I`ve had it wrong all along??

[@ArminHirmer]

Find the placement that works for you :)

[@AnimaTriste]

Yes, You've had it wrong all along. The silencers on a recurve string serve to disperse and dampen the remaining energy, thus reducing sound and vibration, when they are put on the right places, which, as someone else here mentioned are 1/4 and 1/3 of the length of the string. Some put them differently (1/3 on the lower limb, and 1/4 on the upper), some put four of them on the string, again on the 1/3 and 1/4 mark up and down. But, they are called STRING silencers for a reason. They are not meant to silence the limb slapping against a string. There You should put some kind of material, like piece of moleskin, fur, leather strip, search it up on YT, to make a bow silent even more, or You should do like me: shoot any longbow, flatbow, or hybrid. If made good, they can surpass the recurves in speed or at least keep up with them, because of light narrow limbs, especially hybrids, which have reflex deflex added to that. I personally can't stand any recurve as a bow which I would shoot it for more than a few shots, because of the sound they make, and am more than willing to do without some advantages, that they may have (but are still to this day unimportant to me). I am speaking only of myself of course, not that is anything wrong with any kind of bows that You would like.

[@RoninGroupUK]

So basically then the Puschel pom pom is pointless

[@RobsDunne]

like 444

[@SPACE_GEKKO]

From my point of view these Puschels are far to big, and far to expensive. I use string silencers when I don't like the sound of a bow, I prefer the tok over the ploink.Usually I use something between 10 and 20 peaces of whool, aproxximately one inch long, maybe less.Same effect, far less additional weight on the string, nearly no cost (ask mommy for whool). If you want Puschels, ask mommy how to make them.

[@ArminHirmer]

my mommy is dead...

[@SPACE_GEKKO]

Sorry for that Armin, I didnt mean your Mommy especially, women with children have normally the knitting skills and the material to make Puschels

[@Dr-Brown]

Aren't they just wool pom-poms?

[@ArminHirmer]

Yes