Hi, I was curious if strings will age and lose their performance. What I mean is that, I'm thinking of buying bulks of string to save cost. I own my own stringing machine and I string about 2-4 rackets per month or so. I looked around and seen some good deal on 10 packs of string which I am considering but I seen 200m(660ft) reel of strings. The reel seems like an awesome deal but that is about 20 packs. If I do my lowest stringing job(2 rackets), the 10 packs will last me 5 months but the reel will last me 10 months. I was wondering how long can string stay in storage and still keep their peak performance when they are ready to be strung onto a racket. It might be just relative and it depends on how you store it. I assume that air and moisture plays a roll in string peformance when left in storage unstrung. So I guess the individual packs will last longer because it's in a closed bag but the reel might pose a problem. If you're wondering, I'm thinking of getting 10 packs of BG80 or a reel of Ashaway MP. Those two strings seem comparable to each other based on user comments. -Thanks
The main reason I stay away from reel is the storage and measurement. If you have a good deal, single packs can be only slightly more expensive than reel. Anyway, I assume a zip-lock bag (food storage) can help you to minimize the damage?
Without presenting any sort of scientific evidence, unless you're talking about storing strings for years and years, I doubt age is a significant factor in a piece of string's performance. Just don't store them on the radiator, in the toilet, outside in the sun and rain, in the oven with the Thanksgiving turkey, etc. Think about it this way, who knows what string packets have gone through after manufacturing in shipment, storage, shipment again, storage again, shipment again, storage again---you get the idea---until you buy them from whomever. Another few months sitting in a utility cupboard isn't going to make much, if any, difference.
Storage = easy, room temperature. Measurement = easy, for me it's 6 arm lengths. If you can find a good deal, a reel will be significantly less expensive then packs.
