Paul (and Ron), I meant no disrespect. Having an agenda is not necessarily a bad thing. I don't doubt that Elite cedar arrows are excellent, but I think other arrows from other woods can be just as good when properly made.
I have had no problem with maintaining straightness with tapered hardwoods, but I have stayed with the lighter woods. Ash and hickory have a well-deserved reputation for needing regular straightening, and are just too heavy to suit me. My yellow poplar shafts make finished arrows in the 600-700 grain range, and stay straight and accurate. Tuning is the key to accuracy, just like it is with parallel shafts.
Relative to accuracy, I don't believe that perfect straightness in wood arrows is as critical to accuracy as straightness in tubular materials. I've proven that to my own satisfaction by extensive testing.
I said earlier that I have an agenda too, which is to try to get good information out to people with less experience. Practically all shafts were tapered before the advent of mass production. It's much easier and cheaper to make a parallel shaft than a tapered one. That doesn't necessarily mean that one is better than the other, but the general consensus for the last few centuries has been that tapered arrows have a performance edge.
I no longer manufacture or sell arrow shafts, so I don't have that kind of agenda. I'm just an opinionated guy who thinks he's seen and done enough to have an informed viewpoint.
I'm about to embark on my 48th season of bowhunting, 38 of which have been with longbow and/or recurve. I took a compound break for about 10 years in the 70's and 80's. Don't own one now. For the past 20 years I've shot wood exclusively, and I did extensive research, scientifically in a university setting, on wood arrow shaft materials before getting into manufacturing, so I think I can speak on the subject of wood arrow accuracy, which is the topic at hand. No offense or disrespect meant to anyone.
Topic: Most Accurate Wood Arrows (Read 2476 times)
