Shrew-Carbon/Foam or Bamboo

[Irish]

A couple Doc???

I have a Shrew with bamboo and one with carbon/foam.  Both are nice, same weight, but the carbon/foam does seem smoother, don't know about quicker.   I liked the Morrisons I had with bamboo over carbon/foam - but then most days I don't have a clue what I am talking about.

[Curveman]

Don't feel bad Bill as opinions are what this forum is all about! It's all part of the fun and camaraderie in my opinion. If tradbow shooting was more popular then no doubt we'd have some real scientists doing just the controlled variable tests we'd need to answer this question definitely.

If you look at the top Korean limbs (Olympic) as I mentioned you will see a push back towards wood cores. You will also see foam-wood core options using both in the same limb. Why? My engineering friends tell me that foam can have its own problems/weakness as a material due the little "voids" in it. Maybe that is why you see wood/foam combos in some of those Olympic limbs? There were a lot of bowyers that were at least historically applying the carbon wrong to limbs as well so JC may well be right on the application end with the foam.

I have to say though that some of this discussion reminds me of what seems to happen with compound bows. It seems like every 6 weeks Matthews is coming out with a new limb geometry and new materials and stabilizers that report-ably are "revolutionary" in design etc! Clearly they want you to believe that what you have is no longer suitable so you need to buy the "_________" bow!      :D

[Curveman]

Originally posted by Irish:
A couple Doc???

I have a Shrew with bamboo and one with carbon.  Both are nice, same weight, but the carbon does seem smoother, don't know about quicker.   I liked the Morrisons I had with bamboo over carbon - but then most days I don't have a clue what I am talking about.

   

That's an example of what I am talking about though. I'd like to see a blindfold test to determine whether anyone could tell which is smoother and I mean a bow the tester had never  seen or handled before!  The bow scales say "no." I would bet that the bows Jeff talks about have different string angles etc. which is why the different core materials have differing favorably ratings depending on the bow.

I don't know anything either Irish-I have to ask about 9,000 people to come to a conclusion on anything! I use to think I was indecisive but now I'm not sure!    

[JC]

Carbon and foam are applications of two different materials, not necessarily done in conjunction with one another. While some builders and shooters have not seen the benefits of carbon because of the type of carbon or the way it was applied or some simply don't like it at all for whatever reason, I think foam as a core material should be judged on it's own merits. If you take the arguable and admittedly small improvements carbon may give to a limb out of the mix, it's awfully hard to not choose foam over bamboo for a core. I challenge you to shoot both, with just glass and no carbon, and see what you think. I'll bet you'll choose the foam for multiple reasons...I simply cannot find a single reason NOT to like it...and the price is typically within $10-$20 for that option. The carbon though, I won't make that bet. It definitely has aspects that not everyone likes or wants, and there is definitely a give and take with it's characteristics...unlike foam in my opinion. Carbon is not for everyone for sure, but I'm convinced foam is a superior core. I know the original poster asked for Shrew opinions initially, but I think the benefits of foam will be seen no matter what the design/model/maker of bow.

One last thing, after approximately 18-20 custom bows built to my specs from various bowyers, and another probably 30+ purchased used from various sources, I have learned the most valuable lesson I think anyone can learn about buying a custom bow. Do NOT buy ANY bow without shooting a representative example first. Carbon, foam, carbon/foam can be debated all day every day and still not amount to a pile of horse exhaust to the guy plunking down his hard earned money without shooting it for himself.

I'm no expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn once.    

[Irish]

I should of said the Shrew and Morrison had foam-carbon    Sorry    I stayed at a Holiday Inn once also, obviously did me no good.

[hunt it]

I have found in heavier weight bows that there is a drastic difference between foam/carbon and bamboo. Carbon/foam draws much smoother and would seem 5-10#'s lighter than pulling weight. This is on 70# plus bows.

[Izzy]

I like em both.My cousins Shrew will be finished next month and his philosophy was go with the bamboo cause its served him well with 3 of his other bows.Make your best effort to shoot both before you order.Either way you got a smooth bow coming your way.

[KentuckyTJ]

Definitely foam cores. I have a Morrison Cheyenne. It came with a set of boo core limbs at 53@28 and I then bought a set of foam core limbs 52@28. No comparison. The foam core limbs are much smoother to draw, faster and don't have the sharp recoil after the shot.

No-brainer for me.

[Bowhunter4life]

I'll stick by my first comment...  The three designs that I've tried them with were night and day improvements with the Foam Cores.

I haven't tried the foam cores with a Dakota yet as I like my Cougars to much with the boo cores, and it would kill me to have to sell them to get a new bow!

But, my Shawnee Dakota boo cores are gone and all I have for them are the foam core and/or carbon foam and Uni-Weft (which is the ultimate to me).

I've also owned several Shrews in the past with actionwood and boo cores.  I got to shoot a carbon foam w/Uni-Weft at the Solana last year... and they are simply a different animal all together!  Would love to get a Carbon Classic with that configuration to fill that "short" bow need.  I'm also thinking hard about a PCHX Widow to fill that need too...

Hopefully the Widow boys are "tinkering" with the foam cores too... hint, hint, hint...

[Irish]

Jeff, I did ask the Widow Boys about foam and carbon a while back.   They said not working on it.   But you never know what will come out of Nixa in the future.

[floodman]

owned both in the shrew and could not tell any diff...

[amar911]

I have the first foam core Shrew and the first foam/carbon/uniweft Shrew, and I also have a bunch of bamboo core Shrews. The foam/carbon/uniweft Shrew Classic Hunter that Jeff Berberick was talking about shooting at Solana is my bow. The bamboo core Shrews are great, but the foam core Shrews are better. I think you would be doing yourself a disservice not to get the foam/carbon bow. And Gregg will automatically use the uniweft too. I have two more Shrews on order and both of them will have foam cores.

I also have to agree with the other folks here about the foam core Morrisons being better.

Allan