i just want to get a list going of how you've tried to boost arrow weight and how it worked for you

1. hot glue sticks (69 grains per 4 inch section) worked wonderfully didnt notice any large change in spine at all

2.crayons(dont lets kids/little sisters know) it stiffened the spine but 60 grains per stick  just start with a weak shaft and stiffen it up my 72# is showing stiff with 2216's and 225 grain heads now havnt tested my 80# longbow yet

3. sand i didnt have good luck with this i blew out a nock and it was WAYYYY heavy

4. expanding foam with #4 shot in it. worked alrght but the foam was inconsistant and hard to set up so it wouldnt overflow

any other things y'all have tried id like to get a big list made up for future referances

I generally pick a very heavy spine arrow and just load up the point end to get the spine and weight where I want it.

Since I cast bullets too, it isn't too hard for me to make lead slugs in any weight I want to stuff into arrows.

I have stuffed arrows with 1/4"outside diameter nylon rope which boosted arrow weight dramatically without any noticeable difference in spine.Now I just stick to heavy spine shafts and load up the front to even things out.

Woody weight here

3rivers weight tubes + steel rod.
4mm welding rod fits in the white 8gr/" tube and 5mm rod fits in the grey 5gr/" tube. glue the rod in with CA glue and your good to go. i have a 90mm long section of this behind the insert then i fill the remainder of the shaft with the black 3gr/" tube. i only use this for my water buff arrows.

When I shot carbon I boosted a few with silicone. It didn't change the spine any. It's nice and pliable. Easy to get the weight right too.

With wood arrows you have several options.  The easiest is to simply go to a heavier shaft to get the final arrow weight you want.  I have become quite a fan of high FOC, so I go with a lightweight shaft and heavy head and paper tune until I find the spine I need.  I have also used Woody Weights and drilled the shafts to take a lead wire insert for an even higher FOC.  Both methods work very well.

IMO I would avoid anything that is not a rigid substance... Anything that can move or is pliable is now an energy absorbing substance inside of an arrow. I would think that it would absorb energy upon release and upon impact.

Example 1 (upon release)

Good recoil pads on guns are made of rubber to absorb some of the energy focused at your shoulder. I would thing some weight materials would act the same inside of an arrow..

Example 2 (upon impact)

The correct answer to this question is nether, but would you rather get a frozen water bottle thrown at you or one that is full of liquid?

I use for carbon shafts isolation foam that is used under laminated floors. I cut a rope of it of the lenght of my arrow shaft. You can cut it very easy on the weight you want. I wanted 45 grains, which resulted in a width of 2/5 of an inch.
Then I get a wire or thread through the shaft, knot it to the foam, spray it with silicone spray and pull it trhought the shaft by pulling on the wire or thread. You have to use silicone spray in order to make it move smooth trough the shaft. It doesn't affect the spine, stays on it place and I like it.
After a few 100 shots it might crawl towards the point a little bit (like 4 inches) but I saw no negative reactions from the arrow.

This an interesting thread!


I dont opload frontweight, because I want to keep my FOC low because I am a 3D shooter. Shooting wit 25% FOC on 60 yards is not the way.

I never noticed any difference in the characteristics using pliable silicone except my bow felt smoother due to the heavier arrow. If there was any difference it was negligible.

I found out 2" of 1/8 welding rod with the flux knocked off equals 50 grains of weight. Helped to fine tune the douglas fir shafts, with little variance between the shafts.

The welding rod works pretty good, but I like the 1/8" lead wire better.  It is cheap, very easy to work with and heavier, 35 gr/inch.

35gr/inch thats amazing how did it effect spine flecher anything at all? would it bump around too much inside an allum shaft how could i get it snug so i could use it to bump my arrow weight 2-300 grains?

I`m another who has used silicone...worked great, just a bit difficult to remove.

Now, I inject silicone into weight tubes...works GREAT!