Why carbon ?

[champ38]

What are the pro's and con's of carbon in a bow ? I've noticed that the bows with it seemed to be more expensive. Im new to traditional archery, so just trying to educate myself a little before I buy. Thanks for the help !

[BobW]

'Cause they need to come up with something to get us to buy another bow...    

but seriously - some bowyers have gone back to the drawing table and designed a bow around this product that results in better performance.  Might be less limb weight, might be faster, might be more efficient.  Might cost more money too.  But in some cases, might not do a thing.  Research your bows.  Some bowyers feel it doesn't do anything when used in their designs, others have reached a new pinacle and can show you the results of their use.  There are some darn fine bows that use it, and sone darn fine ones that don't.  Just depends on what you want.

This type of discussion probably took place (though not via computer, as they weren't around yet) when someone had the "new" idea of glass backing a bow.....

[Lonesome Wind]

I've tried a single carbon strip in the center of my bow designs and found no improvements over a uni weft core. When discussing carbon usage with Mark Horne he told me that in his testing he found that tapering 2 carbon strips in his bow designs made a large enough improvement too include it as an option. The advantage of carbon is the weight to strength ratio, in my designs it just does not seem to help enough. There are many bowyers using carbon that say their bows improve performance, and I know of more than a few shooters who say they can tell the difference between a bow with carbon and one without when shooting them. I am not one of these people. The bottom line is find a bow you're comfortable with and shoots well for you, that bow may be a selfbow. I wouldn't recommend getting hung-up all the hype out there, remmember that this sport we enjoy has been around for over 10,000 years, you can get it done many different ways.