Appeal of carbon?

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

Mr Cooper....when it comes time (if ever) to throw it all away, let me know so I can hand deliver the soup and then you can let me "discard" of all your stuff. I think we have a deal!....Ryan

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by NY Yankee:
.... Wood and aluminum arrows have been killing game since the dawn of time, give or take a couple years. ...

hah!  aluminium since the dawn of time? yah, really.  

look at a woodie the wrong way it's broken - not to mention their unstable reaction to the environment (temp and humidity).  i love woodies, i build and shoot them ALL the time, but they are a labor of love and totally inferior to man-made shaft material.  

alums are a definite step up from organic shafts but they dent and bend far too easily, and then their consistency goes out the window and yer left with junk that's as useless as a crooked woodie.  

cabons are either perfectly consistent or busted, no in between.  these shafts make for workhorse arrows that can take a lickin' and keep on tickin' ... perfectly.

and we all do know that the arrow is far more important than the bow, right?  :cool:

[Bonebuster]

"Workhorse"...that is a very good description of a carbon arrow.

The early carbons didn`t get a second look from me. I would roll my eyes at the thought of them.

Money and time are in short supply for me. Once I was determined to learn how to use carbon arrows I found out that they are the best value for my investment of both my money and my time.

[Rob DiStefano]

this topic should be retitled "carbon love".  :D

[Cherokee Scout]

Us older guys remember this same discussion when there was only wood, then aluminum and fiberglass.
I do not understand why some have to think that their way is right and all others are wrong.
You would quit if you were down to plastic straws? What kind of nock is on your arrow? Plastic?
AS R.K. once said, "why can't we all just get along".

[Shawn Leonard]

Come do some stumpin or roving with me, where I shoot if you start out the day with a dozen aluminum you may have 1 or 2 left in the end that are shootable. I on the other hand can start the day with 3 or 4 carbon and have at least 2 left and most likely it is because I lost one and maybe broke another. Carbons are as easy if not easier to tune you just need to take the time to learn how. Shawn

[Bowwild]

I appreciate the artwork of a talented wood arrow builder. I tried it and still have some of my woodies but they are not straight enough to suit me.

I have hundreds of aluminum shafts. My favorites of these are Easton Legacies although I cut the swage off and install uni-bushings so I can better tune nocks.

I rarely shoot a woodie or an aluminum.

I am head-over-heals for my Beman MFX Classic carbons. I had 2 dozen of these in 2010. I'm down to 16 of these. I lost 7 and broke 1. I typically shoot multiple times daily, sometimes 3-4 bows. During inclement weather this shooting is done at 13 yards (my basement). So, I'm pretty hard on the arrow. Most of mine have scrapes on the shafts, gaps in fletching, and occasssionally a busted nock.

Nothing new from me here: I love their durability first. I like the narrow diameter for preserving my centershot and I'm convinced it helps with penetration. I don't know why but the same carbonshaft seems to fit many more draw weights than aluminum. A bow trade brought me 4 throw-in 35/55 shafts of a different brand last week. They fly good. But they are lighter than my MFX. These were obviously new but blemished shafts but of the 4 I was only comfortable shooting 3 (one had a rough carbon edge mid-shaft -- a splinter or break waiting to happen).


The MFX are $100 plus for a dozen shafts or more for feathered arrows. Yep, this is expensive but when I'm spending $15/each on broadheads (or more) I'm not going to balk at $10 on the arrow itself.

I'm shooting size 600 now. I'm switching to 500 soon so I can add 100 grains to my arrow. I'm shooting 415 grains now. I'm not 100% about this because I have no complaints with the 600s. They performed great on deer this season but they heavy arrow discussion on trad gang have made me feel a bit inadequate -- I know I could go out and get bigger tires for my truck and solve this problem.  :D

[hvyhitter]

All you guys just keep shooting carbon and get ALL your friends to. Makes picking up aluminum shafts oh so much cheaper!!! I havent found carbon to be all that much better for me so I have no need to change or feel "trendy". I use the ones with the heavier walls and the heavier weight so no need for EFOC to tune or penetrate, and I lose far more than I bend. 90% of the bent ones I can hand straighten and still shoot fine. Shoot what you like and I will too...........

[Possum Head]

Any trad ganger drools at the sight of a well crested beautifully fletched dozen of woodies!Aluminum is still a favored of a number of shooting greats.Carbon in theory could be the cheapest material available due to durability.Who out there can test an arrow quite like a stump shooter?

[TSP]

Carbons allow one to shoot arrows invented for compound bows without admitting having a secret fettish for shooting a compound bow and without admitting that your arrows aren't of traditional ancestry.  That's pretty cool.

You can verbally dump on compounds and crossbows while hunting with the same arrow they use.  Saweeeet.

You can pretend your arrows are traditional because they are 'from the earth', then shift gears into a 'there's no such thing as traditional!' mode when the debate situation becomes perilously risky.  Big thumbs up.

You can sound impressively sophisticated when entering deep discussions about heavy front-loading your 300 gr. BXM 7000 CarbonWhackers to get maximum trajectorial kinetical penetration from your 36# target bow at 43 yards on deer.  Awesome.

You can enjoy the rich heritage of traditional bowhunting without actually having to BE traditional in the arrows you shoot.  Fist pump.

You are an anomally wrapped in an enigma, having your cake and eating it too, a man among stick and metal-shooting boys, the swashbuckling pinnacle of hybridized archery.

That's why I shootem'...sometimes.  You?  

     

[Huntschool]

What everyone said above...  Carbon shafts just work better ..  FOR ME.

I also love to build wood shafts... It is an art thing for me.  I also spend way too much time building fancy carbons....

When I first started trad (it was bowhunting back then) I got a dozen "Bear-Easton Professional Aluminum" and a dozen "Fred Bear Kodiak Supreme Fiberglass" arrows.  These were the cats butt at the time.  (I am looking at a 1969 Bear catalog as I write this)

Those were top of the line.  There were a ton of folks shooting wood but the target guys and most of the hunting guys I knew at the time jumped on these as they said... you don't have to mess with em.

Its a great world...  I am gonna shoot carbons and enjoy what I like.....

[Rob DiStefano]

quote:Originally posted by TSP:
Carbons allow one to shoot arrows invented for compound bows without admitting having a secret fettish for shooting a compound bow and without admitting that your arrows aren't of traditional ancestry.  That's pretty cool.

You can verbally dump on compounds and crossbows while hunting with the same arrow they use.  Saweeeet.

You can pretend your arrows are traditional because they are 'from the earth', then shift gears into a 'there's no such thing as traditional!' mode when the debate situation becomes perilously risky.  Big thumbs up.

You can sound impressively sophisticated when entering deep discussions about heavy front-loading your 300 gr. BXM 7000 CarbonWhackers to get maximum trajectorial kinetical penetration from your 36# target bow at 43 yards on deer.  Awesome.

You can enjoy the rich heritage of traditional bowhunting without actually having to BE traditional in the arrows you shoot.  Fist pump.

You are an anomally wrapped in an enigma, having your cake and eating it too, a man among stick and metal-shooting boys, the swashbuckling pinnacle of hybridized archery.

That's why I shootem'...sometimes.  You?  

     

[Bonebuster]

If I could get the use out of wood that I do carbon, my whole house would smell like cedar!  :D

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Bonebuster:
If I could get the use out of wood that I do carbon, my whole house would smell like cedar!   :D  

amen to that, brother!        

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by Bonebuster:
If I could get the use out of wood that I do carbon, my whole house would smell like cedar!   :D  

My basement already does.   :D  

 

[DTD]

Bow Bum,

I have tried several different carbon shafts and like them for several reason, most have already been mentioned. They are very consistent for weight and straightness. They are very durable. I like the small shafts for increased penetration such as the Axis or Beman with the HIT technology. I used the Axis FMJ's this year and they have become my favorite-for the moment.

Doug

[frank bullitt]

Ah, Jason the Hoarder  

[legends1]

For the most part i think its durability and the fact that you can shoot a wider range of bow weights with the same arrow.I was a diehard wood and aluminum guy,but the fact is i enjoy stump shooting alot more without bending or braking arrows.Not as costly.Also,i test shoot the bows i build at diffrent weights,now i only have to use one arrow.Before carbon i had diffrent size shafts in the shop.

[guspup]

Irrelevent, but interesting........

" Ötzi the Iceman was found to have carbon tattoos that survived during his life and for 5200 years after his death"

Maybe that will make us carbon lovers feel a little more 'old timey'

[Eugene Slagle]

In reality I shoot all of em, Wood, Aluminum & Carbon.
I still have a set of 2117's & 2114's from back in the 80's that are still straight enough to shoot resonably accurate & I learned off of those arrows how to straighten them to keep going.
Every once in a while I'll have a few Bamboo, Cedar & Spruce arrows to sling down the lane but I'm in the process of finally making my own Cedars so I'll be shooting them more soon.

My Carbon arrows get the most use because ever since I started to use them, around 98' I found that as long as you check them for possible cracks "flexing them" time after time they are just as solid & consistent as when I assembled them in my basement & yes Woods are nice & Aluminums are cheaper but Carbon seem to last a long time by comparrison.

So my brothers & siters, let's grab our favorite bow & our preferred arrows & lets just shoot to have fun & be friends together.