Arrow selection

[edward.penny2022]

Wood, carbon, or aluminum? Which do you use and why? I’m trying to make my mind up which to use and can’t figure it out. Which is easier to tune and work with?

[rustyspike]

I would start with aluminum. Easy to take care of and fix.

I shot Aluminum and  Wood. I do not see the reason to spend the extra $ on Carbon.

Rich K.

[buckeyebowhunter]

I've shot them all. And they all have their pros and cons. I started with Carbon. It's expensive but durable. Aluminum is my favorite, its cheap, fairly durable and perfectly straight and easy to make heavy because it's already heavy. I went through a faze where I thought it would be fun and cool to shoot wood because they're the most "traditional" and they are cool, but not very durable in my opinion and not always straight, they're pretty finicky in my opinion. I once shot a group of wood arrows at a 3d target that was wobbly and it fell on my arrows and snapped them all.

[Orion]

Carbon is the most durable. Even though it's a bit more expensive than the rest, it lasts longer.  Aluminum bends, wood breaks. The price of wood arrows has gone up substantially in recent years such that aluminum is now probably the least expensive. 

I shoot wood and carbon, but it's a personal preference thing.  They all work.  And any decision you make isn't irreversible. Start with what appeals to you.  Can always change.  Most folks eventually try all three before arriving at a favorite.   

[durp]

Carbon is the most durable. Even though it's a bit more expensive than the rest, it lasts longer.  Aluminum bends, wood breaks. The price of wood arrows has gone up substantially in recent years such that aluminum is now probably the least expensive. 

I shoot wood and carbon, but it's a personal preference thing.  They all work.  And any decision you make isn't irreversible. Start with what appeals to you.  Can always change.  Most folks eventually try all three before arriving at a favorite.

Yes yes and yes to this^^^...home is where the heart is 

[Mark R]

I've shot em all, I use carbon a lot, used to use aluminum not much anymore no real reason why there the straightest, I only hunt with hickory, toughest most durable shaft in IMHO.

[Mike Bolin]

Carbon is not necessarily more expensive. For less than $70 you can buy a dozen Easton 6.5 carbon shafts. Occasionally you can find them on sale from vendors here on TradGang for around $60. These shafts replaced the old Beman bowhunter shafts and I've found them to be an excellent shaft.