Opinions please carbon or no carbon on recurve limbs

[Hunterjp1]

What is your opinion on having carbon on recurve limbs. Is it just a new thing, fad or does it really improve that much. Or can you even tell the difference. I really would appreciate anyone's opinion who has had both.

[Jeff Mundy]

I'm sure it helps... some. I wouldn't get to hung up on it though. I have bows with & w/o carbon. Not a lot of difference between them that I notice or see on the chrono.

[KentuckyTJ]

It gets you a few more feet per second all depending on bowyer and limb design. Also adds a different sound to a limb when it reports. The more important choice is limb core material IMO. The biggest performance gain is in foam cores over wood cores.

Foam cores - $30 upgrade
Carbon - $90+ upgrade

No brainer to me.

[fz4vgq]

Just my two cents but I'm not a big fan usually.  I do have an A&H ACS 1piece with carbon layers over optional bamboo cores that I love.  Other bows that I have had with carbon and or carbon w/foam cores were just hard to quiet down and it just wasn't worth the extra couple fps to me. Bamboo cores and fiberglass for me other than my A&H ACS. Again, just my two cents/experience.

[stabow]

I don't see any major advantage just my 2 cents

[Bjorn]

This is another thing that you need to try for yourself and see how you like or dislike it. I have shot bows with carbon that were just awful and others that were outstanding!

[Stumpknocker]

My plx has an internal layer of carbon, my morrison is carbon/foam, and my sax is boo.  I wish I had solid speed data to compare, but other tests indicate all 3 r pretty close. In terms of feel, each is a little different in ways I'm not sure I can describe.  I don't think the carbon alone will make a noticeably different feel.   I would go for just for the tad extra speed tho.

[JohnV]

Just slapping carbon on a limb does not automatically improve performance. The limb should be specifically designed for carbon layers in order to realize the potential benefits.

[Cherokee Scout]

When I have compared the speeds to carbon and non carbon limbs the difference in speed was insignificant.

[katman]

I think it depends on the carbon layup, some types offer increased stability like The "wacky" carbon Dryad uses in the acs recurve and other bowyers make their own special carbon layups. Speed gains can be had. I have not had louder carbon limbs but the pitch is higher than glass and that can be perceived as louder.

The best recurve I have shot to date from a bowyer across the pond were all carbon and foam no glass, very quick and extremely stable. Waiting on a set of max1's from Mr. Morrison right now, anxiously.

[nineworlds9]

I've tried wood or boo, carbon/ wood, carbon/foam.  I like wood/boo or carbon/ wood any day.  Carbon/foam to me 'aesthetically' sounds like crap.  Carbon/wood can be smokin fast and at least has a closer feel/sound to just plain wood or boo.  I feel the advantage of carbon is not the speed but the stiffness/ stability it can add to the limbs.  That being said its all in the design.

[Xander]

Structurally, the benefit of CF over glass is strength to weight ratio.  A properly designed CF skin will be thinner and lighter than the same spec'd all glass layup schedule.  Although, in the small amount of CF used on a trad bow, I doubt the weight savings will be noticeable.  

My race boats now, one is carbon over foam (divinycell) and the other two are glass over balsa, the CF boat, two people can carry the bare hull with one hand each pretty easily, and the glass ones need both hands and a little more oomph.  Also, CF is not as impact resistant as E-glass or S-glass, so there is often times a skin of those over a carbon boat, but not mine.  Ask me how I found out...


Cheers!

[eflanders]

I have tried the same bow style bows with and without carbon at the same poundage.  I was not overly impressed and could not personally justify getting the carbon versions.

[atatarpm]

I can tell the differance but then my bow is all carbon. Very little effects her. Water, sun, humidity,   cold, or heat.  Totally dead in my hand. Missfires, dryfires, due to arrows falling of the string. She has survied all of these things without any problems.

[LookMomNoSights]

You have to try for sure.....because I had a top of the line bow that had lots of carbon....and although I shot the bow well,  I did not like how it felt while shooting,  after trying a bunch of bows at Denton that just felt nicer to shoot...to me.  Said I wouldnt buy another bow with carbon.   Well,  last year,  I did just that!  And this bow feels entirely different than that first carbon bow!  Different types of carbon!  That first bow,  felt brittle....glassy....just flicking the limbs lightly with your fingernail or bumping on a small branch,  made a glassy thin type noise.  The carbon on my new bows limbs is NOTHING like that!  You gotta try to shoot the bow first if possible.

[jonsimoneau]

I think one advantage to carbon is the durability of it. Speed wise I don't notice much difference over good bamboo. The difference is there, it's just I don't really notice it.

[Str8Shooter]

I think it really depends on the bowyer and the design of the bow. Carbon, in and of itself, is just another material. Some carbon will not increase speed at all but can increase lateral stability. Certain carbons can bump performance but have no effect on stability. So, it comes down to the person who designs the bow to find the right combo.

I think there's a lot of fluff out there about carbon. I hear stuff that XYZ carbon will boost speed 10 fps... or 15 fps... or whatever. I don't personally think even the best speed increasing carbon will give you more than 3-4 fps at best. I know a few boywers who actually do a lot of testing and not one of them has seen the huge speed bumps some guys report.

These days I probably won't spend the money on carbon in recurve limbs. I feel a well-designed glass recurve isn't giving anything up to a pricier, carbon limb.

[Rick Richard]

I can't tell you how much faster my Max1 limbs are compared to my Toelke of the same poundage, but I can tell a BIG difference in how smooth the draw is as compared to most other bows I have shot.

Like everyone has said "you have to try it for yourself".