To create your bow’s string or cord, you are going to want to look for a strong material. As mentioned previously, animal hides, milkweed and even cords from blue jeans can be used with great results. Other natural materials for a bow string are dogbane, yucca and nettle. Primarily, you are looking for a cord that can be made of strong material that will last, so synthetic cord with a small diameter will work as well if you managed to keep some around in a backpack.

The less stretchy your cord material is, the better off you will be, given that this assists the transference of the bow’s snap to the arrow with greater effectiveness. No matter what cord material you have available for use, the bow’s cord needs to stand off the bow about five inches.

This is considered the brace height, and will further assist the snap of the bow. You are going to want to use the notches that you already created to string your bow efficiently.