# To retie or not?



## Frisky (Sep 13, 2020)

I've been experimenting with band life. My bands were 8" active length, tapered 1/2" to 3/8" and made from Theraband Gold. I got close to 800 shots at 8" before they broke. I then retied to 7" until they broke and went to 6". In all, I got around 1,200 shots out of them. So, retying gave me about 50 percent more shots. However, I noticed the shorter lengths improved performance. So, should you retie? I like to get a lot of use out of stuff (even socks and underwear) but I also love long-range performance. For me, cutting to optimum length is the way to go. Even at the expense of shortened band life. It makes long- range hits easier, as it flattens trajectory. However, it's also satisfying to get a lot of use out of a set bands, and provides tons of fun! So, I can see merit in both philosophies.

Joe


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## Ibojoe (Mar 13, 2016)

I used to retie a lot with tbg cause it stretches forever. But elastic anymore is plentiful and cheap and lasts for weeks so I might retie once but mostly just make a new set.


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## cromag (Jan 17, 2021)

Obviously it depends on where the original band fails , hopefully next to the pouch and you catch it in time. I'll retie at least once since I cut all the bands I make a little long and fold it over at the fork tip. I don't notice a dramatic change in performance until the third retie and if it starts getting too extreme of a draw change I just make strips for fork wrap material out of it. The white and yellow material starts getting so dirty it gets embarrassing to use it anyway .


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## Reed Lukens (Aug 16, 2020)

Yup, I retie a lot also. I'm starting with up to a 15" active on full butterfly, then I keep retying until the bands get frayed on the edges. I re-taper sometimes also. Changing it up all of the time for me is lots of fun 🤪


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## Frisky (Sep 13, 2020)

Tonight, as I was finishing up shooting, I noticed another 8" band is tearing in front of the pouch tie. Instead of retying, I put a drop of super glue on it. That always works. When the bands finally break, it won't be at the repair.


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## raventree78 (Apr 20, 2016)

To be honest I don't know if I have retied a band set in the past 3 years or more. I tend to run tapers and I also tend to run at or near max elongation. I really like to get the most performance out of a set of bands, if they fail after a few hundred shots it is ok because I save on ammo by using a catch box. That is what I tell myself anyway lol


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## Frisky (Sep 13, 2020)

raventree78 said:


> To be honest I don't know if I have retied a band set in the past 3 years or more. I tend to run tapers and I also tend to run at or near max elongation. I really like to get the most performance out of a set of bands, if they fail after a few hundred shots it is ok because I save on ammo by using a catch box. That is what I tell myself anyway lol


I've only gotten serious about shooting the past few months. By serious, I mean shooting a lot, every day. I've blown through thousands of 1/4" balls and shot larger stuff into a catch box. I now have come to the conclusion, for me, it's best to cut to the length I get best performance from and not worry about breakage. I just love long-range shooting. By long-range, I mean 20 to 60 yards. 25 to 30 yards is my most common shooting distance. That way, when I shoot at my 10 meter line, it's hard to miss! At 10 meters, I regularly shoot into the hole on the top of a pop can! When I started, I could hit the top of a pop can, laid flat, but not shoot into the hole, lol! Longer range shooting has made a big difference! Shorter, flatter shooting bands, increase hit probability, for me, so its best not to worry about band life too much.


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## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

I broke a band this morning so I decided to try the_ Frisky SuperGlue_ repair. Oddly, this band broke close to the forks instead of at the pouch (after many hundreds of shots). I didn't even bother removing the band pieces. First step was to apply a thin line of cheapo dollarstore cyano glue to one end of the broken band and then hold the pieces together as best I could. After a couple of minutes the glue seemed to be holding. I then applied a very narrow line of glue to each side of the joint and set it aside until my evening shooting session. 

The repaired bands seemed to draw the same and I had no wild flyers. After a few warm-up shots I was confident that the bands were going to hold for a while. I counted out 10 balls and made 8/10 hits on a pop can from 20 yards. I then continued beating on the can until it cut in half. Then I smacked away on the half that was still hanging. My hit ratio didn't seem any worse than this morning. I continued shooting until a band breakage happened at shot #112. The break was right beside the previous break, at the edge of the glue line. The band broke right at the end of the shot cycle so I didn't get a cheek smack. 

The repaired band didn't quite stretch the same as the band on the other side. A perfect band will get narrow as it stretches. The glue joint is stiff so it buckled into a v-shape at full draw. I'm not sure if this is typical but it happened to my repair. As I mentioned, accuracy was good so it doesn't matter.

For a few cents in glue I got another 112 shots from a bandset that would have been trashed because of the breakage area. Below are pics of the repaired band and the second breakage. The bands were tapered .45mm BSB. I might try this again when another set breaks.


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## Frisky (Sep 13, 2020)

That's interesting! I've never had a band break at the fork. The glue method might not be as effective on that type of break. I just got to 325 shots with my pouch gluing technique. So far, no signs of stress. My retied pouches only gave me 200 shots.


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## CataDave (May 17, 2021)

Northerner said:


> I broke a band this morning so I decided to try the_ Frisky SuperGlue_ repair. Oddly, this band broke close to the forks instead of at the pouch (after many hundreds of shots).


I would really hesitate to use super glue on that side of a band. Dried cyanoacrylate is very hard and creates sharp edges. If the band breaks again in the same spot or past that point, it could harm you much worse than the band alone. Especially if it hits your face. I would use latex-based glue like Copydex if anything.


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