Boutique String Hoarding

Does anyone else have a fear that boutique string makers will stop making strings and begin hoarding them? Or am I an outlier.

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I hoard because there is so much good stuff out there, not so much out of fear that they will stop producing. If one stops producing, there are plenty of other great options out there. And seems like more folks are getting into the boutique string game all the time.

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The only one that I’ve ever done this with was when Toxic stopped making the Markmont DRAGON string. I had 3 packs of it, and put out a ISO post everywhere I could think of. Ended up with 10 packs of it. That string lasts so long I don’t think I’ll ever need to buy more. Although I did buy another pack from Mark to compare the new DRAGON to the original, and bought some of his other formulas. I’ve got enough to last for several lifetimes haha

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that’s funny… i sent a pack of 100 to a forum member last year for nadaf

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I paid almost nothing for the 10 packs I bought. When they were originally discontinued, not many people were using them. In fact you search the forums and there were a ton of “I don’t know how you can play those” type of comments.

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You sent those to me Eric but they weren’t the Dragon ones (thanks again btw, still have some). I did however get a 10 pack of the Dragon ones from a guy doing one of those “purge my old collection for cheap” sales. Asked Mark and he said they are the same as the MF Dragons he sells now. @AaronW can you tell the difference between the two? I can’t.

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Only thing I’ve noticed is that the Toxic were pretty consistent as far as their length goes. The new ones can be +/- 1-2". At least on all the MF’s I’ve bought if you take them off the board they ship on and put all the knots together, I’ve gotten some that are 1-2" longer, or maybe the others are shorter :man_shrugging:

I usually cut off 2-3", so on some I don’t cut any off. Not a big deal. As far as the actual string goes, no I’ve not seen a difference between the originals and the current Formulas brand.

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booyah! at least i got part correct… i will say @Grunt we’ve tightened up this past year

Back in the day, some guy from Florida was making these strings called Gator strings. I wish I would have stocked up, because those things were fantastic, and I haven’t found anything similar

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Gator floss

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Very cool did not hear this name in a looooong while.
I loved gator floss!

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Was it Plaunier from TheYo? lol total guess just based on them using the Florida Gators logo as their avatar.

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They are awesome strings! I still have some left from my Stash I just sent a member some to try actually!

I’ve been around for a while now and seen string makers come and go. I learned my lesson not to stock up when Paul from G string stopped/took a break from making strings. I still have some OG G strings! Haha

So when airetic was having their Black Friday sale, I stocked up! I’ll have airetics for years to come!

Moral of the story… horde string!

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I’ve seen too many string makers come and go. I definitely stock up when I find something I really love. I’ve been building my stock of markmont formulas for quite a while now, just in case.

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Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was him

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yep, stocking string you like is a good lesson. and those airetec strings are pretty good. I’ve been playing the one you sent me with the rebirth for about 3 days straight. Looks like it’s just made of bulky nylon, so I’m going to have to fire up the ol string making rig and see if I can duplicate them. I wish I could duplicate gator floss, but I don’t know what kind of thread he used or where you can get it.

Pretty sure airetic is wooly nylon, not bulky. Also if you want something very close, you can get Bad Wolfe Co slicc. Super amazing string.

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I would worry more about pretenders that buy up a lot of boutique string with hopes of some day being good enough to make use of it, all the while only needing basic cheap string to throw at their level. They just buy and buy and buy, causing stock in the store to run out while they pile string away in some box and forget what kind it is. You know the bums I am talking about. Well? … People like, … … … me. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Not to get to scientific but I think we both choose string that feels more gooder for longer even if we are only okay at slinging aluminum.

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The pros just use bulk string, lol

I havent thought of hoarding string, but seeing the ephemeral nature of the market, ill keep it in mind for strings I can’t live without.

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