carbon or wood arrows??

[mark Willoughby]

So guys im stuck in a rut lol I cant decide between carbon or wood arrows   :banghead:I currently shoot cedars but have heard alot of hipe about the carbons so I wanted to know you guys thoughts and opinions on this matter draw backs and advantages of both and ultimately the best decsion thanks in advance guys !

[Stone Knife]

Carbon are nice and they are tough, once you get them set up for your bow they are easy to duplicate and fly great. With that said I'm going to be shooting a lot more wood, wood is quiet and there is nothing like taking a deer with a wood arrow. there is just something about the smell of cedar and the beauty of wood arrows.

[Cavscout9753]

I feel you man but this is an endless subject. For carbons, once you get them tuned (numerous tutorials here) there really is no draw back per say. They may be a little louder in some regards, or your bow will in some cases. They are either fine, broken, or lost. Woods take time, will never be as perfect as carbon or aluminum, not as durable, break easy, etc. i still prefer wood and its all I shoot. You could always get a set of carbons for certain uses and use woods for others? Woods are just a part of it for me, a big part. But thats just me.

[njloco]

Wood is very nice to shoot and of course more traditional especially if your shooting a long bow. That being said and , I'm about to catch a l lot of heat for this, there is no comparison. Carbon beats wood every time, much more durable, straighter, easier to work with, many more choices and combinations. Now that being said I will switch over to wood as soon as I retire, because then I will have the time to make and work with wood arrows.

Please, no hate mail.  

[Orion]

Both will kill critters.  I've shot wood for more than 50 years and will continue to do so.  Started shooting carbons a few years ago as well.  They're much tougher than POC, which is what I normally shoot, and you can front load them a lot more for greater FOC.  Can also get much smaller diameter shafts in carbon, which increases penetration. Carbon usually costs more.  Wood is prettier, IMO.  And on and on.  Shoot what you like.  They all work.

[timbermoose]

Wood arrows are kooler!

I just prefer wood. I make my own from lumber, fir, maple, hickory, etc. using a router jig I made. Gives me the means to make a vast array of combinations of weights, tapers, spine, footings, woods. I have plans of maple shafts with purpleheart footing and nock sliver. Should look pretty. Can't do that with carbon, well with stickers you could I suppose.  

Either work well, if proper use and care is followed.

[wallybowman]

Carbons are very overrated, too light, and too expensive. Wood may take more work but are worth the extra work.

[fmscan]

Carbons are cheaper in the long run cuz they last so long. I use carbon for 3D and in back yard all summer BUT switch to wood for hunting in the WOODS... just feels better. Took a buck this year and felt better with wood. Use both but for different purposes...

[LC]

Well like some have said there's nothing like making up a new set of wood arrows and harvesting a deer with them. Been there done that and would recommend to anyone to do that for as long and as many seasons as you wish to do it. Nothing quite like wood shafts.
With that said carbon is the way to go. PERIOD. It's just a overall extremely better arrow shaft that's durable, long lasting, can be used over and over and over to take multiple game with the same shaft, penetrates better and cheaper in the long run after you find your recipe that works. As for the recipe just post here the bow you shoot the poundage and draw length and folks here can save you a lot of aggravation  and money.

[trubltrubl]

once you get good arrow flight  ...both are great...

advantage of carbon...easy to make up and all fly the same..great penetration with weight forward....
disadvantage is more expensive and not as "warm" or traditional.....

woods advantage...fun to make..look great...sense of pride when you make them..less expensive....
disadvantage..less penetration...break easier

hunted with both and been successful with both
your personal choice..
to me a golden rule is ..if you ever hunt with a selfbow you gotta use nice wood arrows or bamboo arrow or another natural arrow

good luck

[CEO]

Wood for one way arrows. Carbon for everything else. Not knocking wood, there cheaper and the best choice for that snowshoe hair sitting on top of six feet of soft snow or that grouse sitting out on that limb 75' up that distant spruce tree. If you don't connect, kiss those arrows goodbye. You know you're going take the shot.

[Kevin Dill]

Part of the answer lies in knowing yourself and what really gives you satisfaction. If aesthetics are extremely important then shoot wood by all means. Conversely, if arrow performance is paramount then shoot the carbon. What I've noticed over the years is that guys who hunt very hard AND have little aesthetic preferences will usually end up shooting carbons or aluminums. From a performance (only) standpoint there is little reason to choose wood over carbon. This is coming from someone who killed a good number of big game animals with nothing but wood over a 20+ year period. I still love wood and will hunt with it again.

A great friend of mine said it this way: "When I have a big buck bearing down on me at 20 yards and I'm tensing for the kill, the LAST thing on my mind is whether my arrow is traditional enough. I want an accurate shot and a dead buck".

The choice is ultimately yours.

[monkeyball]

Mark,
          I took a look at your profile. I see your interests are diesel trucks and family,which equates to " I like things to last a long time". That is just my guess anyhow.

  Well sir you are a prime candidate for the"carbon conversion".

  I "fought" carbons forever, was a diehard "wood guy". Once the carbons started looking more like an arrow( meaning no outserts) with internal components I had to give them a try.

  That was probably about 6 yrs ago or so. There has been no looking back.

 People say that they are more expensive than woods and I am not sure how they figure that one out. Carbons will outlast woods in every aspect. Even if you lose one under the grass and find it a year later, the shaft will still be rebuildable.

  Penetration is the big factor with the comparison. Smaller diameter in the same amount of total arrow weight will always get you deeper. No brainer there.

  There are at least 8 steps in building a hunting arrow out of wood.
 I say "hunting" because I left out the cresting step.

  You can build that same arrow out of carbon in 5 steps and that is including a wrap.

  I could go on and on and on......but I won't.

  The only thing I miss about woods is the smell of the cedar when you are working them into arrows.........every now and then I will take one of my carbons and drive it into a pine, pull it out and and take a whiff just for "old times sake".

                                                            Good Shooting,
                                                                         Craig

[Michael Arnette]

Family, friends, church, time in the woods...somethings gotta give!

I have tried wood on several occasions and loved it but have always reverted back to carbon arrows. For all the reasons mentioned above but mostly it's to save time.
I spend enough time practicing, scouting, hanging stands, and dragging deer (mine or others)out of the woods. I would much rather do any of those activities than mess around with wood arrows (as awesome and traditional as they are)

[ChuckC]

Use whatever you want. They all work.

Wood arrows have been around for a LONG time.  They must not be too dang bad.

I killed my deer this year with a wood arrow.  I have carried carbons on the other sits.

Search your own soul, follow your own path.  If a longbow and wood arrows is what turns you on, who am I to tell you that carbons make a better experience, and who are you to listen to my gibberish.

Try both, experience both, then you choose what turns you on.  Don't be surprised if you start using both, depending upon your mood and how the stars align.  
ChuckC

[Bjorn]

If you are weighing pros and cons go with carbon. I shoot wood because I love to-love does not weigh pros and cons.  

[Sam McMichael]

For some reason, I have never been able to get carbon to fly on my longbows well enough to convince me to change over from my woodies. Admittedly, I am totally biased in favor of wood. They just seem to belong with Hill bows.

[caligator]

Originally posted by monkeyball:
every now and then I will take one of my carbons and drive it into a pine, pull it out and and take a whiff just for "old times sake".

                                                            Good Shooting,
                                                                         Craig

That's awesome!

[stagetek]

I've shot them both over the year's and keep going back to aluminum. I find carbons difficult to tune and woodies to inconsistent.

[Kevin Dill]

Originally posted by Sam McMichael:
For some reason, I have never been able to get carbon to fly on my longbows well enough to convince me to change over from my woodies. Admittedly, I am totally biased in favor of wood. They just seem to belong with Hill bows.

I remember saying those same words when I tried to shoot carbon shafts several years ago. They were just weird and flew differently and seemed to lack something. Bob Morrison got me straightened out on what I should be doing to get the best spine and flight. They were so different from woodies that I was missing the best tune altogether. Suddenly I was smacking shafts and breaking nocks with consistency. Shot-to-shot consistency went way up in my case, too. I stayed with it (like a challenge) and ended up with better overall accuracy and penetration characteristics than I ever got in decades of wood.

Funny and true: A couple years ago I spent some serious money and bought 3 dozen matched weight & spine shafts...real beauties and straight as I've ever seen. I gave them a 9.8/10. When I fletched and shot them, they were all over the place on my target. They came out of my bow weird and just seemed to have a strange mind of their own. I realized I'd come full-circle at that point.

Both shaft materials are fine and can be made into excellent hunting arrows. There is no "best" except as applied to the individual person. They are as different as night and day out of my bow.