So I'm fairly new but I have always shot either aluminum or carbon arrows through my recurve. I'm seeing lots of people that are shooting wood arrows. Do they shoot better, or do people just shoot wood for the enjoyment of shooting wood?
A good wooden arrow will do everything a carbon or aluminum will. It's just a matter of what trips your trigger:)
I can say this. You'll save your money on carbons. Woodies break too easily and are expensive but a blast to shoot
QuoteOriginally posted by Kamm1004:
I can say this. You'll save your money on carbons. Woodies break too easily and are expensive but a blast to shoot
And cedars smell better than carbons when you break them. :rolleyes:
Try bamboo, you won't be disappointed!
I love shooting the wood arrows I make but for performance there is no comparison between wood and carbon, the carbon wins hands down every time.
A carbon arrow can be straighter than a wood arrow and carbon arrows lend themselves better to high FOC if you want to go that route.
Carbon is tougher than wood and less likely to break on a miss.
But a carbon arrow will never be more than a carbon arrow.
A wood arrow can be art that you will be proud to have in your quiver and eager to show off to other archers. A wood arrow can be beautiful.
Guy
I shoot mostly selfbows now. I have a variety of different arrows. I've got carbons, woods, cane laying everywhere. Most people that shoot selfbow would not consider shooting anything but natural material. I shoot mostly wood and cane now, but I can tell you that my carbons shoot better out of my selfbows than the other two. More forgiving on spine and definitely tougher. That's just one man's opinion, and my own experience. I will be hunting with cane arrows this year though. :)
You really have to experience shooting wood if you haven't yet. Well made wood arrows will fly great and provide a great shooting experience.
No one could explain it better than Guy.!!!
I love to watch the arrow in flight. Maybe I'm just getting old. I cant see the carbons fly--to skinny and too fast. I will stick with wood and aluminum. I can still see them fly.
YOU can get high FOC by shooting TAPERED wood shafts . SO that is a wash !
I have shot numerous carbons but will stay with wood !
I DO keep a set of aluminum arrows for each bow I own . They are great for shooting in to frozen excelsior bales in the winter and are the best if you happen on a Mckenzie target. TRY getting woods and carbons out of Mckenzies !! LOL
YOU can get high FOC by shooting TAPERED wood shafts . SO that is a wash !
I have shot numerous carbons but will stay with wood !
I DO keep a set of aluminum arrows for each bow I own . They are great for shooting in to frozen excelsior bales in the winter and are the best if you happen on a Mckenzie target. TRY getting woods and carbons out of Mckenzies !! LOL
I shoot carbon, aluminum and wood.......there is nothing , I repeat nothing like a wood arrow! There is is just something about them! Plus they are fun to make!
I shot carbons since 2004 and aluminum before that. I decided to switch to wood last winter and I'm having a ball with them. I finally "Got It" with wood and they are more enjoyable to me.
Every bow I will hunt this year has a set of cedars to with it.
I switched from aluminum to wood in August. Best thing I ever did.
I'm using ash shafts--a lot heavier than my 2016's-- which are tough as nails. They took a some work to get them straight, but making them is half the fun.
Once I got them tuned to my bow, they fly just as well as the aluminum--just a bit slower.
I've always enjoyed shooting, but for some reason shooting a wood I made adds a little more to my experience.
Oh, and $28 a dozen for matched ash shafts (spine and weight) is half the price of the carbon shafts my wife shoots.
I find wood more forgiving and quieter than carbon. It is less durable, but usually I break nocks, not shafts, so there really isn't much difference in durability in a practical sense. Wood is also as accurate as you are. Get what you like and can afford, and get shooting.
Carbons are just all around more durable. They don't bend and they don't need straightening. They will be easier to tune and will last longer than woodies will. If you wanna shoot woodies there's nothing wrong with it but carbons from a durability stand point are the dominant arrow.
Caleb
I think the fragility of wood arrows is greatly overblown, as is the durability of carbons. I think the stongest attribute of carbon is that the straightness never degrades. I shoot aluminum for ease of tuning but I also make cedar arrows spined to the pound. When the are closely matched in spine I find they are as accurate as synthetic shafts.
When out stumping I have broke more carbons than I have woodies......Carbons are straight or broke and that can be a good thing. But I have no problem with the durability of wood shafts. :notworthy: The important thing is get whatever you shoot well tuned and then go have a good time!
I dont know much about carbons. what I do know is I enjoy building my own POC arrows.
I too think the fragility of woodies (Ceder) is overblown, I 3D shoot with them & stump shoot with them. I might have broke one this year & I shot 3 days at comptons 3D, shot at the Grayling 3D & the Lapeer Mi. 3D. Plus I shoot on the weekends at pop bottles on sticks in the back 20 acres of my backyard almost every weekend.
I used to believe they were fragile (I used to listen to people who shot carbons & didn't have a clue on cedar arrows)
Dan
Since that is what i started with they are easier to tune for me.
Think of carbon vs wood like Ford vs. Jaguar. The Jaguar (wood) may be finicky (according to some) , and it may be a bit more fragile, etc, than the Ford, but man it is still a world class ride and a total blast. Wood is that way. There's something inexplicable about beautiful, well made wood arrows, and they are often tougher than you might guess.
Snag pretty much said it all.
Wood only for me. There is something mystical about a beautifully built wood arrow. The combination of colors is endless and the skills used by builders, like bowyers are a thing that I love.
QuoteOriginally posted by okla bearclaw:
Snag pretty much said it all.
Your right, That does say it all! :thumbsup: :notworthy: :notworthy:
Well, I like them all. They all have their preferred use in my book. But I intended to use wood in all my bows this year for hunting because I really like the idea of sending some fir through the rib cage of a few deer. I like wood so much I had over 5 dozen made up for all my bows. I had to sell them all for my recurves due to the draw increase last week. But due to some unforseen circunstances with me getting new bows and my draw increasing 1 1/2 inches from May, I'll just have to see.
Now, I will tell you something I did not use to buy into. As far as acceptance of spine, carbon is by far superior to them all. As far as tough, I have found that aluminium and carbon are beter for stumping than the wood's. All though the woodies can be tough when shooting a blunt. But mistake none here, a good quality woody will shoot with them all, they just require more attention durning making and care.
Lord willing, I will be launching wood from all my bows this fall. Can't go wrong with some Surewood fir. God Bless
There is no doubt wood arrows will do everything a carbon or aluminum will do.
My experience has been that wood will not show the durability of the others.
Personally I shoot carbon arrows because I find them the EASIEST to tune and by far the most durable...therefore it is an economics thing...
If I had the time and extra money wood arrows require, I would certainly use wood.
One thing neither carbon or aluminum can do for me is provide the "feeling" that wood can. Also, I have never carried a broken carbon arrow sniffing the freshly broken end. :campfire:
Hows come no body paints their woodies all black to look like a carbon :bigsmyl:
Eric
I think the "cost" issue is pretty much a wash, in that, carbon arrows are more expensive than wood. If you make your own woodies and buy high dollar carbons, you'd have to break a bunch of wood to equal the cost of a single carbon. I prefer hickory, ash, maple, laminated birch, ramin-all very tough, very durable woods-for arrows.
I know all the reasons that carbons should be and are a superior material for arrows. Moreover, I certainly have nothing against carbons or those who choose to shoot them. But they're not for me. I simply prefer woodies first, then aluminums.