liquidorange

i tried a tool to straighten aluminum arrows. it dont work. once aluminum bends it essentially stretches so that arrow will never go back to original form. that arrow will be different from the rest in your quiver. i have carbons from years ago with at least a couple hundred shots on them and they still hit where there supposed to. as far as carbon shatter i think its just people being cheap and that they wont disguard an arrow with questionable wear marks. i have aluminums on my older bows because thats how they were set up. i use carbons today. thats my vote. does anyone remember fiberglass arrows back in the late 70-s?

ButchA

Oh God, the carbon vs aluminum debate...

Let me sum it up like this: "Once you go black, you'll never go back" Carbon arrows are either straight and shootable or they're broken. I have never seen a bent carbon arrow.

bowdoc1

liquidorange Yes I have shot fiberglass arrow back in the 60s They shot well out of my 65lb recurve, but didn't shoot good out of a compounds. I have shot microfight, gorden glass and herter glass arrows and I like them for hunting, they did split on the ends when you hit something hard and where heavy. There was no oscilation, so they where quieter out of the bow and retained more energy than aluminum

bigcountry

Actually there is alot of oscilation in fiberglass. Its an excellent conductor of vibration and underdamped frequency response. Carbon, not so much so.

You can still find those arrows for sale on some trad sites.

millerhunter13

i have shot carbon and aluminum arrows even with the WB for carbon and i shot aluminum and it was quiet. I like carbon arrows atleast for right now it will be my first hunting season this year, so next year i am gonna play around with arrows i am thinking about trying those new half carbon and half aluminum arrows.

Roskoe

If you lose one, it will make you cry

stalkingbear

Auther-I havta beg to differ with your opinion. Aluminum arrows ain't just as durable as carbon arrows,and I know this for a fact that a tree hit @ 50 yards will bust a aluminum arrow whereas a carbon tree hit @ 10 yards will still be as good as new-AFTER digging it out. We've tested them side by side with identical bows/setups and the carbon wins hands down.

Arthur P

Stalkingbear, you are welcome to your opinion. My opinion is based on over 50 years of shooting -hunting and competition- with wood, fiberglass, aluminum, carbon, aluminum cored carbon and carbon/fiberglass composite arrows. I have been a year-round shooter for many years, shooting literally thousands of arrows each year. I've broken and worn out my fair share of arrows. I've also done destructive testing, shooting concrete blocks to see how tough carbons are vs aluminum. So, even though it might be my opinion, it is based on my expriences. So, I firmly stand by my comment.

I know for a fact that sometimes it takes a whole lot of impact to ruin ANY arrow. Sometimes it seems like the tiniest little dink will completely tear one up. It depends completely on the way the arrow impacts and the million and one tiny variables that go into making up that incident. That goes for any arrow made from any kind of material. If you make judgements based on one isolated incident, you are drawing false conclusions.

These wrapped carbons we've got today are definitely far better with durability than the old pultruded ones were. Maybe you've been around long enough to remember those? These wrapped ones snap in two, might toothbrush out a bit, but they most definitely do not shatter into long slivers like those pultruded ones did. I think I'd still cut out the meat for several inches around the wound channel if a carbon broke while going through the animal though, just to be on the safe side. That's one thing you don't have to worry about with aluminum.

Another point, if you hit what you're aiming at, you don't have to worry about arrows breaking when they bounce off rocks and trees. When it comes to putting an arrow exactly where I want it, I have a lot more faith in the arrow to arrow consistency of aluminum arrows than I do with carbon. So an aluminum will bend or break when a deer falls over on it, or smacks it into a tree while it's running off. Big deal! By that time, it's done it's job. I might be a cheapskate but not so much of one that I expect to use an arrow again after it's made it's kill. Any arrow I can use after it's made a kill is just icing on the cake.

A major thing with me.... With aluminum, if I miss I know it is my fault. With carbon, I can never be quite sure because, on a number of occasions, I've had a carbon arrow go bad on me from one shot to the next.

Carbons got popular because of their lightness and speed, making mistakes in yardage estimation on long shots less costly on the 3D course. In the woods, there are no rules saying we can't use rangefinders. There are no rules saying we have to shoot from this stake right here. We can get as close as we want before taking the shot. We can (and, I think, we are ethically obliged to) use a rangefinder to know the exact distance to an animal before we loose an arrow at it. There should be no such thing as shooting at an unknown distance at long range in a hunting situation. When I know the distance, an aluminum arrow has an advantage over carbon. Again, due to it's much better consistency.

With carbons, to get consistency and straightness anywhere close to that of even inexpensive alumninum arrows, you have to go way up the price scale. Between el cheapo carbons and aluminums in the same price range, there is no contest. Aluminums are far and away the better arrows.

Carbon's advantages are vastly overblown and so are the disadvantages of aluminum.

stalkingbear

Authur-you have a lot more experience than me as I got started in bowhunting in 1974,with first bowkilled deer in 1977. I had no one to help or advise me in any way except magazines. Looks like we'll simply have to shake hands and agree to disagree on it. I only shoot the very best carbon arrows available. I'm somewhat of a equipment geek as I have to try every rest/broadhead/sight/release/arrow/etc that comes out.

BobCo19-65

One thing I can say other then what Art has already said about aluminums is that when I shoot the long shots at the range (and I love doing this), I don't have the little voice saying "If you miss youcould be out $10". It drives me crazy because I am setting myself up for failure before I even shoot. I couldn't bring myself to taking these shots with carbons. With the aluminums, I don't think twice.

Too bad Easton stopped making the regular game getters (the green ones). They were always my favorite choice.I'm using Easton Legacy now.

Sold all my tapered carbons earlier this year.