Best arrow material. Carbon, wood, or aluminum.

[recurve97]

#6017

I was wondering what the best kind of arrow is for all-around hunting and practice. Obviously wood is cheapest but carbon or aluminum is more durable. Carbon arrows are fast but wood or aluminum, being heavier, get better penetration. Any thoughts on the matter?

[GERALDTOMLIN]

#46900

recurve97 wrote: I was wondering what the best kind of arrow is for all-around hunting and practice. Obviously wood is cheapest but carbon or aluminum is more durable. Carbon arrows are fast but wood or aluminum, being heavier, get better penetration. Any thoughts on the matter?

I had the same question as you about arrows. I found an excellent answer in Byron Ferguson’s “Become the Arrow”. Especially if you intend to hunt, his answer will point you well.:D

[Polar Bear]

#46914

That’s like asking which rifle is best. Ruger, Remington, Winchester or Marlin. It is a personal choice. I have used all 3 at one time or another. I use mainly wood and aluminum. I have a hard time getting carbons to work for me the way I want.

Try them all and see which you like the best. Oh, by-the-way. I’ve had 40 years to expearment.

[Ed Ashby]

#46917

Even though it’s ‘common knowledge’ that aluminum and carbon are more durable than wood shafts, and while that’s true for the softer shaft woods, like POC, lodgepole pine, etcetera, that’s not true when it comes to the hardwood shafts and compressed wood shafts. The Study’s outcomes indicates that the hardwood shafts are SIGNIFICANTLY less damage prone than either carbon or aluminum, and carbon to be somewhat more durable than aluminum.

That said, the study also shows a marked decrease in carbon shaft damage rate with internally footed EFOC shafts and with the tapered carbons. However, the very lowest shaft damage rate in the study (even lower than the hardwood shafts) occurred with UNFOOTED Ultra-EFOC carbon shafts.

The most durable of all arrows may well be the carbon-shafted, Ultra-EFOC arrow, but I think an Internally Footed Ultra-EFOC shaft would be super-durable (though I have not tested those yet). Nonetheless, a good hardwood shaft is pretty hard to beat for durability, and no ‘ordinary’ aluminum or carbon shaft even comes close.

If you would like to read more on the Study’s shaft durability findings check out the 2007 Update, Part 2 (https://www.tradbow.com/members/258.cfm) and the 2008 Update, Part 7 (https://www.tradbow.com/members/2008_Study_Update_Part_7.cfm).

The entire 2007 and 2008 Update series gives some dramatic information on the tissue penetration performance of the EFOC and Ultra-EFOC arrows, with comparison against the outcomes from earlier testing with arrows of differing mass and shaft material.

Ed

[David Petersen]

#46934

First, I don’t think I’ve seen two first-time posters back to back on the same thread before. Welcome Ben and Gerald! To add my own 2 scents worth to the good comments above, it comes down to your personal definition of “best.” In my experience, from a practicality pov, carbon wins it hands-down. From an overall satisfaction and aesthetics pov, woods will always have it. So I remain torn between the two. If I were hunting only deer and smaller pigs, I’d forget about practicality and go with wood. But I hunt elk and over the years have become obsessed with the need to never ever again wound and lose one of the magnificent animals. Thus, informed by Dr. Ashby’s detailed study findings and those reinforced by my own experimentation, I hunt elk now almost exclusively with carbons. And durability isn’t even among my considerations. First is their ability to achieve EFOC via light shafts that can handle massive up-front weight. I also appreciate the absolute uniformity between shafts and being able to switch from field points to broadheads on the same shaft. Their slenderness is a further gain. Add all this up, and there you go. As an elk hunter,carbon is clearly “best” for me. If I hunted only deer, I’d be shooting woods.

[GERALDTOMLIN]

#46963

Hello David Peterson,

Thanks for your perspective on arrows. For awhile there I felt kind of alone. It seemed that people who wanted arrows for hunting were either choosing heavy wood or heavy aluminum. I was enjoying my Carbon arrows, quietly, so that no-one noticed.:D

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#47113

David Petersen wrote: …First is their ability to achieve EFOC via light shafts that can handle massive up-front weight. I also appreciate the absolute uniformity between shafts and being able to switch from field points to broadheads on the same shaft. Their slenderness is a further gain. Add all this up, and there you go.

X 2.

[Steve Sr.]

#47124

David Petersen wrote: Welcome Ben and Gerald! From an overall satisfaction and aesthetics pov, woods will always have it. If I hunted only deer, I’d be shooting woods.

And THERE>…..David said it best for me, as well as Doc’s addition on “compressed” wood durability!!!

OH how I wish Bill Sweetland was still here to make shafts!!!

(or at least I would have been “smart” enough to buy them some decades past…instead of NOW but better late than never)

Not in any way is there a reason to put down the many arrow shaft types. Each indeed offer something the others may not and I’ve used them all successfully……I just do have a preference for a fine woodie!

All in the eye of the guy/gal behind the bow, IMHO.

God Bless
Steve Sr.

[Jason Wesbrock]

#47230

Steve Sr. wrote: Not in any way is there a reason to put down the many arrow shaft types. Each indeed offer something the others may not and I’ve used them all successfully……I just do have a preference for a fine woodie!

All in the eye of the guy/gal behind the bow, IMHO.

God Bless
Steve Sr.

I agree. Carbon, aluminum, and wood are all up to the task. History has more than proven that point. For what it’s worth, I watched a DVD again the other night where Don Thomas put a broadhead on the tip of a wood shaft completely through a water buffalo. I doubt any game species on this continent would put up anywhere near that amount of resistance to penetration.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to what your personally prefer. For the most part I use carbon shafts because I want an arrow that won’t warp or bend and finishes up between eight and nine grains per pound. If I can put that completely through a mature bull moose (twice, for the record) I’m not the least bit concerned about lethality on anything else I’m likely to hunt.

[DAbersold]

#50596

I agree with…well…everybody. They all work well, especially if you’re staying in the U.S. Pick which ones YOU like, tune them well, keep them reasonably heavy, and keep the pointy end real sharp. Other than that, go hunt and enjoy.

[Author]

Posts