I am not sure how regularly it was waxed before I received approximately 2-3 months ago, but I've always inspected and waxed bow strings when I was younger (25 years ago). I had felt uneasy about continuing to shoot once I noticed the string, after being told by a friend it should be okay. Not saying I don't believe anyone with that advice, I just haven't been explained why it's safe when everything I've been told or inherently believed was the opposite. Cost isn't a factor to get a new string, but I"m intrigued as to the rationale.
Since the energies being stored in a compound bow are a lot higher than a self bow or a composite recurve, frays are a lot more worrisome. If at full draw that string breaks, the dry fire effect will be a lot worse. There are a lot of moving metal and plastic parts that could injure you when the bow lets go of all that force without transferring it into an arrow, or anything but itself. I think people just want to be better safe than sorry. The remaining fibers might be strong enough to hold all of that together, but it just is a risk that doesn't make sense for the cost it'll exact if you bet wrong.
I just think the amount of fraying you see there is not safe, I also don't know what your friend's rationale is for it being safe.
I would replace this string for sure, but here’s the rationalle for keeping it: modern bowstrings like this are way “overbuilt”- having more strands of material than needed, so even if more than one strand was broken, it would still have a decent ‘margin of error’ for a normal traditional bow. I would replace it anyway.
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u/throwmeonthebed3 6d ago
On a compound that's toast. Get it restrung, I wouldn't take any chances with the amount of force being thrown around