Good discussion of a topic that challenges many who want to start with frameless shooting!
How to measure frameless active length
Hi friends, would like to share a quick tip on how I have learnt to measure frameless active length. This works for both tubes and flats. I used to not be able to get it right - it was either too tight and hurt my fingers, or too loose and lack power. The issue is the extra length needed for the "frame" or hand portion. The reason why its hard to give an exact number is because everyone pre-pulls the bands to a different degree before forming the "frame" and locking in the band. This is assuming you already know what your usual "active length" is (otherwise see footnote below).
So what I did was to make marks every cm of the band at the "frame" end (picture 1), pre-pull the band and form my finger frame as usual, and see the length of band taken up by my hand after its locked onto my finger (picture 2). I noticed that I usually take up 4cm of band for my "frame" portion. So now I add 8cm (4cm x2 for both limbs) to my usual active length and get the perfect band set every time. Hope this helps!
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Footnote: how to measure active length
-- My go to would be to add 10% to the active length with max elongation factor. Good example how to measure max elongation factor shown here by Mark from ATO. QUICK TIP: BAND ELONGATION
-- For example, my current 1632 has max elongation factor of 6x. My draw length is 75cm. So the max active length is 75 / 6 = 13cm. Add 10% to that would make my active length 14cm
So what I did was to make marks every cm of the band at the "frame" end (picture 1), pre-pull the band and form my finger frame as usual, and see the length of band taken up by my hand after its locked onto my finger (picture 2). I noticed that I usually take up 4cm of band for my "frame" portion. So now I add 8cm (4cm x2 for both limbs) to my usual active length and get the perfect band set every time. Hope this helps!
Footnote: how to measure active length
-- My go to would be to add 10% to the active length with max elongation factor. Good example how to measure max elongation factor shown here by Mark from ATO. QUICK TIP: BAND ELONGATION
-- For example, my current 1632 has max elongation factor of 6x. My draw length is 75cm. So the max active length is 75 / 6 = 13cm. Add 10% to that would make my active length 14cm
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Hi Sanch, yes this method works for flats as well, I personally have tested it myself. In fact, I would argue that it works even better with flats because flats "lock" onto your fingers better than tubes. Even after forming the finger frame, tubes can still shift a little bit; but flats, maybe because of its wider surface area, doesn't move at all.
I have been using flats to train my consistency in pre-pulling and frame forming.
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