Carbon or Aluminum

[joel0711]

Who has tried both can you tell any difference in flight,accuracy,etc between aluminum and carbon. I presently shoot 2016 28.5" 175gr point
Can you recommend a carbon for 55# longbow? I have a cutter and  tool for aluminum but no tools for carbon.  THANKS -----Greg

[Bowguy67]

Carbon is either shot or it’s not. Metal gets kinks, bends and although guys argue it imo it,fatigues and looses something. No metal can continually be bent and not imo. As aluminum get older it seems to shoot less well.
I shoot wood but I’d go, and have,carbon. Very simple Beman ics. Didn’t need any fancy paint job on it and I sure as heck ain’t paying for it.  You do need a cut off saw. I use a high speed Apple.

[Roy from Pa]

Carbons come in a wider span of weight size, pick something in the middle.

I use a dremel tool for cutting carbons and it works great.

[bunyan]

I've never messed with carbons. I shoot wood and aluminum. Yes aluminum can bend but its also consistent from arrow to arrow. And I feel its simple. I like simple. I cut to the length i like, fletch, add an insert, and find a weight tip that works. Seams ever one is always on here with issues trying to tune carbons. Also, there's so many different makers and varieties of carbon shafts, if one stops being manufactured then you had better stock up or start experimenting all over again! Try em if you want but I'll pass. If I want to get complicated I'll go with wood. At least it has class and romance!

[BOHO]

I shoot both. just depends on the bow and what I'm shooting at

[bigbadjon]

Out of the gate aluminum is better choice as it has uniform weight, spine, and straightness plus is vastly cheaper than carbon with similar specs. Carbon probably lasts longer but I have verified by spine testing that they do also degrade in stiffness. Cheaper carbons are also not as straight nor do they share spine uniformity. Having a spine tester and arrow saw it is easy for me to recommend carbon, I prefer Easton Axis. If you do not want to invest in the extra tools I would suggest aluminum, I prefer Easton Camo Hunters.

[Rough Run]

I do, at different times with different bows, shoot wood, aluminum and carbon.  I like them all.
With that said, I would add that the durability of carbon is unmatched by the others.  Do you like to take challenging shots that may hit the ground, or something else, hard?  Carbon is far superior in that regard.  Yes, they take different tools to cut, but those are inexpensive and easy to find, and use.  They take some learning to tune, comparatively, but that learning curve time isn't as long as you may think.  And the average, typical trad shooter cannot shoot the difference in the specs of the shafts compared to other materials, so don't be discouraged by that.  I like aluminum shafts, and was intimidated at the thought of using carbon - until I did.  Really glad I got over my hesitance.

[Dave Rice]

I shoot wood arrows, but have shot carbon and aluminum. For me, aluminum is the least durable option for stump shooting--I'll bend it when an ash or doug fir shaft survives unscathed (and cedar shatters). Aluminum is consistent, true and economical...and I liked the aesthetics of the old 'autumn orange' shafts. FWIW, I've found it just as easy/difficult to tune carbon and aluminum arrows.

I'm likely to start trying other shaft materials again, and when I do, I'll start with heavy carbon arrows.

[M60gunner]

Carbon for durably, aluminums for consistency. Cheap aluminums will only tolerate so much straightening before their no good. Cheap carbons need to be spined and footed front and back. The carbons like any shaft don’t like rocks, cement, and some hard wood trees. But footed they take a lot of abuse.
  I have quivers with all three, carbon, wood, aluminum. I will admit I have a wide selection of arrows to choose from years of hoarding. Cheap cutoff saw, $25 from E...y is all I use. I use the 3Rivers calculator to get into the ball park for tuning. Not perfect but it helps.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

I've shot carbon, wood, aluminum, and graphlex arrows over the years, and killed stuff with them all.  If I had to choose only one material for arrows for the rest of my life I'd choose aluminum hands down.  Whenever I try another material, after a while I find myself coming back to aluminum and "rediscovering" how fantastic an arrow material it is.  I prefer '22' sized shafts, they just feel right to me, and with a range of 2213, 2215, 2216, and 2219 I can cover a huge range of bows and weights.... and I even have a bit of a stockpile of 2217's around 

R

[Gdpolk]

After switching to carbons, I will not shoot anything else.  For me the pro's outweigh the con's by miles and barring simply personal preference they are hard to argue against as a material.

Cons to carbons:

• Typically more expensive to build, though wood arrows can cost as much at times
• Typically more finicky to tune which requires more time, energy, effort, and a more consistent form...this can be a deal breaker for a guy with a stickbow that is just getting started and is still changing form and equipment a lot
• When they fail, there is no repairing them and they have the potential to shatter into your arm if shot after a hard impact, BUT they can also be easily checked to prevent this from happening

Pros:

• Come in a wider range of weights
• Come in a wider range of diameters
• Come in a wide range of spine weights
• Can be tuned for HUGE variations in FOC mass
• Are significantly more durable than both wood and aluminum arrows which saves money over time so long as your not loosing them
• Screw in inserts allow for a HUGE variety in point types along the same shaft so long as the weights are the same and are easily swapped (unlike wood)
• Are more quiet to draw, in the quiver, and shoot than aluminums
• NEVER need straightened or re-tuned.  Once built they are either perfect or shattered (+/- changing point types and occasionally a busted nock)
• Allow for the use of lighted nocks (these are a HUGE benefit to small game hunters and upland bird hunters who shoot up into trees and air frequently or thick brush and allow you to find those lost arrows MUCH easier)
• Can be bought in pretty much any finish/look that you want for whatever that's worth
• You can tune for 100gr brass inserts with lighter weight field points/Judos/blunts and then have other "broadhead" arrows with aluminum inserts and add that weight to your broadheads allowing for more material to make the broadhead stronger and have better length/width ratios for increased penetration without affecting the tuning of your shafts overall
• recover from archers paradox the quickest for decreased noise/drift/and loss of energy

I've found that once I switched to carbons, I did a pretty expensive high FOC build on mine and my cost per shaft about doubled.  However, instead of buying another dozen or two a year, I am still shooting the same arrows that I've re-fletched three times now and have had for over 4-5 years now.  In that time, I've lost one arrow, broken one by pulling a shot and sending it through a 3" lead pipe holding up a bag target (which would have broken ANY shaft material), and broken two by robin hooding them when I was too lazy to pull arrows and just had to shoot one more into the same dot as my first arrow (which would have broken ANY shaft material).

I have mine set up perfectly tuned to my bow with 230gr up front.  Some have field points, Judo points over brass inserts with footings, RFA Talon small game heads over brass inserts with footings, screw in rubber blunts over brass inserts with footings, and heavier Grizzly heads over Aluminum footings.

[Recurve7]

Aluminum is my choice. They are simply more durable for stump shooting than other materials. They can be straightened and easily repaired when necessary. I agree they can be subject to metal fatigue if bent and straightened frequently.

[BWallace10327]

Recurve 7, you must be the very first person I've ever heard call aluminum arrows durable for stumping.  I tried on a number of occasions before I gave up on them 5 years ago and could get just a few shots before a bend occurred.  I could get them straight within 1/2" or so, how many thousandths is that?   

[Steve D]

Agree with  Ryan's comments, I prefer aluminum after trying and using all the other materials

[bluemelonchitlin]

Been using aluminum for a long time,carbons not that long.
Some of my bows like carbon some don't.
I prefer aluminum mostly because of the physical weight. Yes I know 100 grain inserts can be used but I like to start with a heavier weight shaft then add weight as needed.
I do like carbons can take a hit that would cause an aluminum shaft to bend.
Main concern with carbons is the price with most being more than I want to spend. Some are priced to the no way in h*** I'm spending that much on shafts.

[Cmane07]

I've decided this year to use a blend of the 2.  I'll keep the carbons in my quiver with my more expensive broadheads for whitetail and then I'll keep a couple aluminums in the quiver with some cheap 125s for hogs or whatever else I may feel the need to sling an arrow at

[Bisch]

As long as you are tuned well, either will work a well as the other!

I like them both so much that I shoot both at the same time! Easton Full Metal Jacket! 👍👍👍

Bisch

[Tedd]

I'm with Ryan on this one. It seems when I pick up aluminum it's refreshing to hit with ease. Sometimes I get tired of fussing with carbons. It seems like with carbons I have to try too hard to be accurate from one day to the next. Aluminum has been working really good. They bend sometimes. So I throw them in the bent bucket. 2216s seem to cover all my bows at the same cut length. I have decided I will be hunting with 2216s this year.
 But I have hundreds of carbons laying around in various stages of testing, lengths, weights...etc. I shoot them too. I'll probably be dumb enough to play with some Arrow Dynamics shafts today.
Tedd

[Tedd]

Forgot to post photos of some aluminums I just made up. I was going to cap dip and crest. But had some wraps from one stringer. They don't look too bad with some wraps on them.

[Tim Finley]

I never liked aluminum arrows I prefer wood or carbon . I can still hear the last deer I shot with aluminum running off and the arrow making a pinging sound hitting the brush, probably scared the deer more and made him run farther . I get great arrow flight from my woods and carbons and they are either broke or straight .