Tapered or Parallel?

[D.A. Davis]

Ok, which is better, taper wood arrows or parallel?  It's been a long time since I shot wood arrows, and I always shot parallel arrows, but the big thing back then was tapered.  I know that I can get the equipment to make my own parallel shafts, but from what I remember tapered arrows were compressed in some way to help with the tapering process.  What's everybody's opinion on this?

D.A.

[BobW]

ah the proverbial "can of worms" is now open (again).....  

[dan ferguson]

Mr. Davis, I,ve shot both, and I have shot both alot for quite a few years, and I can honestly say I,m not good enough to tell the difference. I went back to just the straight shafts. Some say the tapers are easier on the fletch, but I believe if they spine to the bow I can,t see much diff there either. Now if tapers will give you more confidence then they will do you better. Most of the tapers I,ve seen or done were just sanded down approx 10" from the nock and or nock and point. 11/32 to 5/16 etc.

[Fletcher]

Good parallels are good arrows, but IMO, tapered shafts are better.  Enuf so that I rarely make parallels anymore.  Practically all of today's "tapered" wood shafts are as Dan said, tapered on the fletch end for about 9-10 inches to 5/16 diameter.  As best I can figure, it lightens the tail end of the arrow a bit which increases the FOC balance and also allows the arrow to come out of paradox quicker.  Both of these contribute to better arrow flight and stability.

[Roy Steele]

I've built selfbows for 20 years.With some people want to know the FPS of there bows when I build them.To do this I need to know what type of arrow they shoot.SPLINE,TYPE WEIGHT.
  I always keep a lot of both so I've shot a lot of both types.Eighter I guess I don't shoot good enough to matter or my eye's sight a little off but I can't tell.Personly I shot parallels for 20plus years through a lot of deer and every thing else.
  There is one thing that will change a lot of peoples mines.Tapered arrows do go 1,2,and with some bows even 3 FPS faster you may get more with LAM bows I could'nt tell you that one.
  Is that addvertisment of what.

[RunninWild77]

Well, from what I've been told, a nock end tapered shaft clears the shelf better than a parallel. IN MY OPINION, and I do shoot tappered shafts, I feel like I'm shooting a more forgiving arrow because the FOC is more foward wich stabilizes the shaft faster.

[fido dog]

I would like to hear more of this.

I have some tapered arrows on the way. They are coming from a friend of mine who decided to go back to wheel bows (nothing wrong with that).

He told me who made them and I called and got the specs. They are 29" long (I think), 60-65 spine with 125gr. field points and 130gr. Stos broadheads. I'm pulling 50# from my recurve. I'm thinking they will be just fine. What do y'all think?

Anything I might want to look for and consider for change?

Pic is sooooo related. That's them.

 
 

[overbo]

15 years into to this.I shoot parallels.Quality is the key w/ woods rather it's tapered or parallel.I've been thru 1000's of woods.Tapered,barrle tapered,footed,and parallel and I like very good quality parallels and 11/32's or smaller DIA.

[SuperK]

I'm with Overbo...poor quality shafts make poor quality arrows.  It doesn't matter if they are tapered or not.  I can't tell the difference between arrows made from quality, matched, tapered shafts and quality, matched parallel shafts.  I can tell the difference when using shafts that are poor quality, mismatced, etc. Remember, they must be matched to your bow and shooting style!!! Lots of good vendors listed here on Tradgang.  Twig archery is where I get my shafts from.  Very satisfied with quality and price.

[Pat B]

I shoot mostly cane and hardwood shoot arrows and both are naturally tapered. With the natural taper they shoot like arrows with 10# lower spine weight so a 50# spined tapered arrow will shoot like a 40# spined arrow. Also they clear the bow with less effort.
   It is easy enough to taper your own either with a thumb plane or make a jig with 2 angle irons and sandpaper

[snag]

I sat in on a talk at a trad. banquet this year. The man is the authority on Ishi. He said Ishi shot a barrel tapered shaft with small heads. Of course he was shooting small game. But he was very accurate...just an observation.

[Pat B]

Ishi shot deer size animals with his bows and arrows. Many Natives used what we always called "bird points" on their big game arrows. Better penetration.

[Orion]

Almost all carbons and aluminums are parallel and they shoot pretty good, so we can assume a parallel wooden shaft will shoot good as well.
I've been shooting wood arrows (parallel and tapered) more than 40 years and I agree with overbo, the quality of the shaft is much more important than whether it's tapered or not.  The advantages of tapering have already been pointed out.  Here's one I consider a disadvantage.  Tapering reduces arrow weight by 25-50 grains depending on arrow material.  Might be a plus if you want to lighten up hardwoods, but a negative when I want to keep my cedars as heavy as possible.

[snag]

I'm just wondering. If you start out with a heavy spine and taper it. Then even though you are taking the overall weight down, with it being heavy spined you could load up the tip weight more when tuning it. This would result in gaining back or surpassing the weight lost and ending it where it counts--in the tip--weight forward....?

[elkslayer]

I have shot both and I think the tapered seems to do better for me.

[autobows]

When I was a traditional dealer I sold thousands of parallels and 100's of tapers.
The big thing then was that the taper allowed the feathers to clear the rest, and as Fletcher said allowed the arrow to come out of the paradox quicker.
It has been my experience that archers are missing the most fundamental aspect of shooting consistent because so many of them are not shooting spine or weight matched shafts, with the most critical being the spine.
As much as I hate to say this, when I was set up at shoots and someone complained about how their arrows were shooting, the first thing I did was to check the spine of their arrows.  You would not believe how many times that the "matched" shafts they bought would differ by as much  as 30#. I wish I were exaggerating.
The one biggest thing that Rose City has done in recent years is to improve their factory spined shafts to closer match what is marked on the box. Unfortunately, it hasn't always been that way.
Just my two cents.
autobows

[Orion]

Snag, tapering only reduces the spine a pound or two.  The taper itself probably contributes 1-2% FOC.  You can load the front of a parallel shaft just as much as a tapered shaft, maybe a little more.

Agreed Autobo.  Unfortunately, there's still a lot of mismatched stuff being sold today, but unless one has a grain scale and spine tester, it's pretty difficult to detect.  And then there's the question of grain straightness.  Most don't even consider this, but it's also very important to good arrow flight.

[Boneyard Bowhunter]

Try both and see for yourself. I switched to tapers about 25 years ago and have never gone back. Shoot
what ever puts a big cake eating grin on your face.  

[Bowspirit]

Shoot
what ever puts a big cake eating grin on your face.

Boy, doesn't that sum it all up right there...

[Bjorn]

I shoot tapered woodies, and would not shoot a non tapered any other material either.
Try it out for yourself-if you don't see a difference-don't worry about it; shoot parallel.