Im not a gap shooter but a local friend has long arrows that are a specific length so his gap distance works,, maybe thats why the longer arrows but im just guessing,,,, if not i agree trim them back.

Mathematically, of course it makes a difference, and the node placement is a really interesting idea. That said, I know I dont shoot well enough to shoot the difference between the two set-ups.

Great information on spine testing, BTW. I've tried to keep the seam aligned, but I gather from the two videos that the seam may not inherently be the stiffest section of a shaft. Can anyone clarify whether that's the case?

2018 and 2117

Quote from: Kirkll on December 30, 2025, 02:48:04 PMThat is interesting... I too haven't heard of using "Nodes" to help tune your arrows before this. What i have been doing over the last few years that made a HUGE difference is "Spine Indexing".  i've attached a link to a video here.  What this does is eliminate a lot of time bare shaft tuning. Once your arrows are equally matched, (Or as close as possible) you can bare shaft tune using just a couple of shafts and get good consistency on the rest of the dozen.

Until you have actually checked the spine on your carbon arrows like this,You wouldn't believe the difference in spine. Of course if you have 2-3 dozen shafts of the same batch and brand, you can get much closer matched arrows.  You can build your own spine tester pretty cheap with a couple of shelf brackets screwed to a 2X6 or a piece of plywood and use a dial indicator. The exact spine doesn't matter near as much as matching up the deflection of all your shafts.  You wont believe how much these carbon shafts differ. After doing this you will never buy blem arrows again.

This will definitely make the difference between a 10 ring and a 12 ring in accuracy.

https://youtu.be/h3NXPsmF2vU?si=W336XODeIA2zNR-7

Here is another one that is a bit shorter just showing how to find the stiffest part of the shaft. NOTE*  The closer you match the exact spine the more consistent and forgiving your arrows will shoot.

https://youtu.be/k9JplWg1IoM?si=lBxXdRvmIzMXNkRs

I built a very rudimentary spine tester a few years ago for the same reason. Some brands are definitely worse than others. And some brands have gotten worse over the years.

I'll stop derailing the thread now.

Congrats sir and thank you for sharing with us.

I agree with Kelly.  If you went to keep your arrows that long and points that heavy, you're going to need the heavier spine.

55-60#.  Does Three Rivers still sell bare "try shafts" of three different spines?  Try 50-55, 55-60 and 60-65#.

I like the discontinued 1918 autumn orange from my 51# Big River longbow. Shot many bucks and a bear with these and they usually bend. Down to less than a dozen now.

What Kelly said. Long arrow, heavy point make the shaft weaker. Part of what I call the "5# rule".

Zebra and eland are big.  Draw weight is okay but i think your arrow weight is light for these two.  Also want a very good penetrating broadhead.