arrow material

[bogie]

#2579

I switched from wheel bows 20 years ago. I love tradition and traditional archery with a passion. I have never understood a traditional archerer shooting aluminum or carbon arrows. It strikes me as a disconnect. I have never asked because I did not want to seem critical. I am very interested in the answers.:?:

[Stumpkiller]

#10889

Me either. I suppose the reason is increased accuracy. But I understand carbons are more durable.

Still, traditions are what is handed down . . . and I was handed wood arrows.

[shag]

#10896

I just got into shooting traditional about two years ago. Its been alot of joy and alot of pain…as most love is :wink:. I shoot carbon for quite a few reasons. For one, its the only arrows I can find local. They are also built to exact tolerances. But another reason is they are tough as nails…I have shot them at rocks and stumps and everything imaginable, just trying to break them (my wife was once sponsored by carbon express so I was obligated to put them to the test). With regular use they do not bend or break. With flat out abuse it is hard to break them. I am not a fan of aluminum though. They bend and break too easily. I may swap over to wood some day. But not until I get to the point that I can hit the target everytime. I still flub up and miss the entire target from time to time. But thats just my reasons. There are people here who can give you better reasons than I ever could. There are also guys here who swear buy wood too. Its just personal preference.

[tailfeather]

#11214

For much the same reason folks choose fiberglass or laminated bows over self bows……personal preference. Personally, I shoot them because I’m on the poor-house end of the financial spectrum, and with care, a dozen carbon shafts will last me a number of years (I only target shoot with one arrow). I get “wood grained” carbon fletched with turkey feathers so I can pretend they are wood.:D Carbons are consistent and very tough….I’ve killed multiple critters, rocks, and stumps with the same arrow over several years.:D

With that said, I do think about going to wood one day. The smell of cedar and the romance of wood is hard to ignore. That will be another step forward, to begin tapering shafts, etc. I will add….I make switch cane arrows from time to time, and I have to say they are very near carbon in terms of strength.

[Dan Sweeney]

#11216

Dead horse?

[Stephen Graf]

#12405

Dead Horse!

[cannoc]

#14016

I bought a new long bow this year and needed arrows quickly. I almost went carbon for convince. But, I couldn’t go through with it. The first deer I shot was with a cedar arrow I built myself. Carbon just wasn’t the same.

[lyagooshka]

#14945

IMHO, I had all 3 types. Right now I am putting together aluminums for myself. My view is that they are probably the most available, the cheapest and most durable [I felt the cringe there from some of you on that last one]. I don’t mean that in “durability” after the shot, I mean that I can keep a few “raw” shafts in the Jeep, and if I am a ways away from “civilization” I can make a new set of arrows with supplies that fit into a cargo pocket, and be shooting within hours. Try that with cutting carbon, or staining wood. Again, this is what works for me at this stage of my life. I have some wood on my front porch (from the October snowstorm from 2011 and Hurricane Sandy) that I have left to dry. One piece would make a great bow (I hope) and some of the smaller pieces will make great arrows. I also have obsidian and a knapping set in the basement, and I will get some sinew (real or not, probably real) as soon as I get some practice under my belt. So you can see where I’m going with this. But remember also, I am very new to this whole thing. Hope it helps. Be well.

Alex

😀

[Michael Scott]

#20227

For me, I use aluminum arrows out of necessity…I’m not very good at saving money, so 50 bucks is easier to come up with for a dozen shafts than whatever carbons sell for. And I just haven’t had an opportunity to give woodies a shot. Maybe this year, as I have an invitation to go visit a friend that builds custom arrows. I eventually would like to switch over to wood, in addition to learning to build self bows.

Michael

[tombow]

#20237

After shooting all 3, aluminum are too easily bent for me, carbon are dead-consistent and extremely durable, but after recently getting into wood shafts, there is something weird when I shoot carbons, I am sure it’s all mental but that is a big part of shooting a bow so has to be taken into consideration as far as I am concerned. For me, it has to do with who deep I’ve gotten into wood arrow construction, I am not producing my own shafts but I am spining, straightening, cutting, tapering, crest-wrapping, nocking and fletching and producing quiet shooting consistent arrows. IMO carbons just don’t have that magic. The one downside to the woods has been durability, 4 deer killed, 4 arrows broken, retired to the “successful arrows” section on the bookshelf.

[Forresterwoods]

#20502

I’ve been having great luck with hardwood shafts. Only problem is finding additional lumber with the same spine/weight etc. So far the most consistent seems to be Eastern Hard Rock Maple. VERY tough..trying some Red Balau…spines at 70 lbs in 5/16….Kevin

[tombow]

#20520

Kevin-

How is the Hard Rock to work with, ie: straightness retention, tapering, etc. and what is your source and price paid for shafts? I am relatively new to wood shafts and have used some POC’s and Sitka but am curious about other materials. Thanks.

[paleoman]

#20593

bogie wrote: I switched from wheel bows 20 years ago. I love tradition and traditional archery with a passion. I have never understood a traditional archerer shooting aluminum or carbon arrows. It strikes me as a disconnect. I have never asked because I did not want to seem critical. I am very interested in the answers.:?:

I would say the same reason most of us don’ t chip our own flint heads or use hemp cordage, etc. “New” things come along that are convincing and practical substitutes.

[paleoman]

#20594

bogie wrote: I switched from wheel bows 20 years ago. I love tradition and traditional archery with a passion. I have never understood a traditional archerer shooting aluminum or carbon arrows. It strikes me as a disconnect. I have never asked because I did not want to seem critical. I am very interested in the answers.:?:

I would say the same reason most of us don’ t chip our own flint heads or use hemp cordage, etc. “New” things come along that are convincing and practical substitutes.

[paleoman]

#20602

Sorry for the double post…..also I didn’t mean to imply flint is to steel as wood is to carbon. All are good materials in good hands.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#20626

I have no qualms about using carbon arrows. If it makes me less “traditional” so be it.

I also *gasp* wear modern fabrics when I hunt sometimes. 😉

[Alexandre Bugnon]

#20629

Imagine a traditional archery scale. The scale goes from self bows & cane arrows all the way up to aluminum riser ILF bows and carbon arrows. the process is the same in all of it. Shooting an arrow using nothing but my muscles, instinctively or not, and if I am hunting, add the difficulty of drawing the traditional bow right before the shot and not be seen by animal. It’s all about choosing where I want to be within that scale. I did it all. And all of it is valid, and lots of fun! 😀

[William Warren]

#20718

I use wood mostly but I also use carbon with one of my bows and I would not hesitate to use some aluminum, just have not bought any lately. I can see how wood is considered the most traditional arrow material but actually aluminum and some early composites were around at the same time as the origin of some of our most revered bows and bow makers, so tradition is really in the eye of the beholder. Dead horse or not, I think it is still a good conversation.

[David Petersen]

#20723

Well said, Alex, and true. All of life is a continuim, at least for those who think about such “voodoo” topics. But I would also suggest that in any endeavor, at least among those things we aren’t forced to do but choose to do, the more we put into a thing the more we get out of it. I recall someone here saying on another thread not too long ago words to the effect that “I get more satisfaction from missing a shot with my longbow than I ever did making shots with a compound.” For an example. Not that the easiest can’t be gratifying, but just that the more challenging is even more gratifying. Otherwise, why the heck are we shooting longbows and recurves?

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#20756

David Petersen wrote: I recall someone here saying on another thread not too long ago words to the effect that “I get more satisfaction from missing a shot with my longbow than I ever did making shots with a compound.” For an example. Not that the easiest can’t be gratifying, but just that the more challenging is even more gratifying. Otherwise, why the heck are we shooting longbows and recurves?

So true.

It’s a topic that comes up time and time again, but I think it’s always interesting to think about where we draw the “traditional” line:

1) Do we define “traditional” as how Fred Bear did it? or Howard Hill? They are both considered “traditional” icons, yet used quite different equipment. Is a 12th century Mongol, with a short recurve, less “traditional” than a 12th century English longbowman?

2) Are seflbows more “traditional” than composites? Composite bowmaking techniques actually go back thousands of years. Is that less tradition?

3) Is wearing camo less “traditional” than not wearing it? People have camouflaged their clothes and their bodies, in various ways, since the beginning of hunting. In many ways, plaid is actually a more historically recent development than camo clothing, if we really want to get nitpicky. I’ve always found it funny, for example, when people will acknowledge that they revere Fred Bear, yet in the next breath they disparage wearing camo as less than “traditional,” yet Fred had no qualms about wearing it at all.

As Alex said, it’s a spectrum. But in many ways, there are plenty of thought-provoking exceptions to the rule in how I hear people typically define “traditional.”

For me, it’s simply hunting and/or target shooting with a bow that does not have wheels, sights or any of the other reliances. Other than that, I see more strength in numbers than in splitting hairs. We are all part of the tradition, and, as someone much smarter than me said, “tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.”

[Author]

Posts