Stay a while and learn something. We hope you enjoy and even submit a trophy of your own, or leave a comment on a post. Finding new arrows can feel like an overwhelming challenge with so many different options available to traditional archers.
Depending upon your needs there are a few ways to narrow down your arrow options. The basic steps for choosing an arrow are:. What makes each arrow material different? They are one of the least expensive options, yet require constant maintenance to keep them in shooting condition.
Often you must straighten the shafts due to improper care, or due to glancing shots when a target is missed or the arrow is shot into the ground. Wood arrows fly quieter than hollow carbon and aluminum arrows, as wood arrows are constructed from of a solid material. Weight can vary depending upon the type of wood the shaft is from. Light-to-Medium weight, they balance speed with knockdown power. Laminated Birch, Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Bamboo, and Lodgepole Pine are some examples of other wood shafting that offer varying characteristics, weights, and looks when stained and sealed.
Be sure to use a test kit or at least use a spine chart when choosing spine. Tired of dealing with broken wood arrows? Carbon is a great solution, as they are straighter and more durable than wood. There is no need to be concerned with straightening shafts; just check for cracks. Carbon arrows are easily customized using different arrow nocks, inserts, adapters, and weight systems. The carbon composite is very tough and known to take some abuse that would break other materials.
Be sure to watch for cracks around the ends, since when a carbon arrow does break it usually shatters, which can be dangerous. The standard grain weight on carbons is normally lighter than wood. However, if you are looking for deeper penetration, there is a selection of heavier carbon shafts on the market. Also, by using weight tubes you can bump up the weight, turning a target arrow into a heavy-hitting hunting arrow without affecting the static spine of the arrow spine.
Tuning an arrow to a bow is also much easier with a carbon arrow, as you can easily adjust point weight with different points and inserts such as Brass Inserts and different arrow nocks to balance out point weight. Cutting a carbon arrow requires the right tools, as not any saw blade will work.
An abrasive wheeled cut-off saw is an easy and accurate tool for the job. Consistency and tight tolerances are a big advantage to using carbon. Once you find the proper set up of spine, length, and weight it is easier to match this when buying carbon arrows in the future. Most carbons only have a few spine options, as carbon arrows have faster in-flight recovery thus making them more forgiving with spine.
The smaller diameters are rapidly growing in popularity as they have less wind drag and deeper penetration compared to arrows of the same weight. Aluminum shafting has been around for decades. Heavier than most wood and carbon shafting, aluminum arrows offer great penetration, an affordable cost, and have tight tolerances that produce a dependable performance time and time again.
Though the selection of different aluminum shafts is small, they are tried and true. Bows with very high draw weights should use stiffer arrows than lower. Similar logic applies to the weight of the arrow and tip. Longer arrows will need to be stiffer. Need help choosing arrows for a recurve bow? Get in touch with us to ask your questions. Archery for Kids: Is it Safe?
Start with your Draw Length Your draw length is the measurement of how far back you pull your bow string. This is the slotted tip at the back end of the arrow. It's usually plastic, and it fits snugly on the bow string, at a strategic place called the "nocking point.
Bullet points are moderately sharp, and these are commonly used for target practice at archery ranges or for hunting small game; Field points are sharper than bullet points, and are also used for target practice and hunting small game; Blunt points have a flat tip and are used solely for small game—they kill the animal with blunt force, instead of through penetration; Judo points are a blunt or flat arrow used for small game, and have "legs" on them that clasp onto whatever they hit, to keep them from getting lost on the hunt; and Broadheads are VERY sharp—they're lined with razor blades—and these are specifically designed for hunting.
Spine You wouldn't believe it, but your arrow wiggles like a snake when it is shot. The Weight of the Bow. If you're using a bow with a very high draw weight, you're generally going to want to use a stiffer arrow, and if you're using a bow with a low draw weight, you can use a weaker arrow.
Try to close your eyes and imagine it—if you were to use a high-poundage bow and shoot a very weak arrow, the arrow would wiggle like crazy and shoot inaccurately and be pretty dangerous to you when you're shooting it. If you were to use a low-poundage bow and shoot a very stiff arrow, the arrow wouldn't bend very much, and it wouldn't go very far. The Length of the Arrow. The longer an arrow gets, the stiffer it's going to need to be. Imagine you have a wooden pointer—the kind that teachers used to use when they pointed at a chalk board.
If that wooden point was three feet long, it probably wouldn't bend if you held it up. Now imagine that it's feet long—it's much easier to imagine it bending if you held it. Length of the arrow has a strong correlation to how bendable it is. The Weight of the Point on the End of the Arrow. This is kind of fascinating. The weight of the tip of your arrow has a lot to do with how much your arrow bends. Imagine it like this: you're holding one of those styrofoam pool noodles, and you use it to push over a paper cup that's half-full of water.
The cup would fall over, right? Now imagine you're using that same pool noodle, but this time you're trying to push a bowling ball. That bowling ball isn't going anywhere, and your pool noodle is going to bend. The same concept goes for the point on your arrow.
This is actually a really important part of an arrow purchase—especially if you're a hunter and you've put a heavy broadhead on the end of your arrow—and we discuss it further in one of the sections below.
The Material and Size of the Arrow. We talk about this more in the "Materials" section, so we won't get into it here, but the material that the arrow is made of—wood, aluminum, or carbon—affects the spine of the arrow.
Stiffer arrows are needed on compound bows that have more aggressive cams, because aggressive cams put a lot of force on an arrow. You need to shot arrows that have the same spine. This is very important—it doesn't matter how good you are, and how much you've mastered your form—if the spines on your arrows are not identical, you will not get good groupings. Variation in spine affects your performance—even when you're using the same arrows. In other words, you can buy the same brand of arrows with the same spine, but because no two arrows are exactly similar, there will be slight variations between arrows, and that can affect your performance.
Arrow manufacturers have done a good job in minimizing deviations, but they still exist. As a general rule of thumb, if a variety of arrow is very expensive, it's less likely to have variations arrow to arrow.
Arrows lose their spine over time. After taking hundreds of shots, the integrity of the spine is damaged a bit. If you spend time with a competitive archer, you'll notice that they replace their arrows frequently. As mentioned, it's vitally important to shoot arrows with identical spine, so it's something to keep in mind as the months pass.
In most cases, it's better to have an arrow that's a little too stiff than an arrow that's a little too weak, and arrow manufacturers usually recommend arrows that are liiiiiiittle stiff more on that later. Generally speaking, an arrow that's a little too stiff will favor the left, and an arrow that's a little weak will favor the right. If you're seeing a lot of left-right variations in your groupings that is, if you shoot a bunch of arrows and they're all on the same horizontal plane, but they're scattered left to right , that may be the result of variations in the spines of your arrows.
Length This is one of the first things you need to think about when selecting an arrow: length. If you don't have a draw length indicator, here's a rough estimate on how to determine your draw length: Put your arms out, side to side, and have someone measure your wingspan if you're alone, you can stand up next to a wall, put one hand out and mark a small pencil mark on the wall, then reach all the way out with your other hand, and make a small mark on the outside of your other hand.
There are two notes to keep in mind in regard to arrow length:. Some arrow shafts you buy are shipped to you at a much longer length than you need, and you'll need to have them professionally cut to an appropriate length by someone at a pro shop or you can cut them yourself.
In other words, if you are just ordering arrow shafts, they may arrive to you at 32 inches long, and you'll need to cut them to be 30 inches long or whatever length you need. If you're using a clicker, your arrow must be short enough so that the arrow head clears the clicker at full draw. Clickers are kind of an advanced tool, so if you're a beginner, they're not something you need to worry about. Diameter The diameter of an arrow is an important part of purchasing an arrow, and arrows are sold in a wide array of diameters.
Target archers usually want an arrow with a thicker diameter, because a thicker arrow is more likely to connect with the lines on a target and get higher scores. That goes for archers who are aiming at regular round targets, but also 3-D archers who are shooting at replicas of game, such as deer, elk, etc. Most competitions have very strict rules about how thick any arrow can be, so if you want to get involved in target archery, make sure you're not cheating by using an arrow that's above the allowed diameter.
Outdoor archers—that is, hunters or target archers who are shooting outdoors—usually go for thinner arrows. Thinner arrows are less affected by wind because there's less surface area on the arrow, AND, for hunters, thin arrows more effectively penetrate game.
Weight The weight of an arrow is another important measurement. The diameter of the arrow—that is, how wide the arrow is around; The thickness of the walls of the arrow—that is, if you sawed the arrow in half and looked at it, the thickness of the material that makes up the walls of the arrow; and The materials of the arrow—that is, wood vs.
Tip Last but not least, the weight of the tip. Wood The original arrow! Aluminum These are fantastic for beginners, but they're also used by more experienced archers. Carbon Carbon arrows are very stiff, which is a great match for heavier bows—particularly, heavier compound bows used for hunting. How to Read Arrow Measurements When you go to buy an arrow, arrow manufacturers will label the arrows with super-confusing numbers.
Here are a few examples: Arrow 1: Arrow 2: Arrow 3: Those numbers are kind of baffling. Here's how it plays out: Measurements for Wood Arrows Wooden arrows are usually sold with four-digit numbers next to them. Measurements for Aluminum Arrows This measurement is somewhat similar to the measurement for wooden arrows, but it's a little different.
Isn't that easy? No, no it's not. But it's how they do things! Measurements for Carbon Arrows Believe it or not, carbon arrows are actually measured differently by different arrow manufacturers. Now What? So now you know what those measurements mean, but what size arrow is right for you? Here's the first way: Use An Arrow Chart Arrow manufacturers usually have an arrow chart on their website.
Here's a made-up example of an arrow chart you might find:. You can also Go to An Online Retailer You don't need to buy directly from an arrow manufacturer; there are tons of big-name online stores that deliver straight to your home, and very often, it's a lot easier to buy from these online stores than it is to buy from the archery company. And, finally Go to a Pro Shop You can always go to a pro shop or archery store and ask specific questions to a trained professional.
Buying Guide: Tips and Considerations Here are some "Buying Guide"-style tips that we couldn't figure out how to add to the other sections:. Start out with cheap arrows. Arrows are tools that won't last forever—they get dinged up, the fletchings fall apart, they bend, and so on.
When you're new to archery, there's no reason to break the bank. Buy cheap at first and then buy expensive ones once you get good. Some arrows have vanes that aren't glued on straight—they taper left or taper right. That's actually not a mistake—that's what's called a "helical configuration. Pretty cool! There are arrows that come "shaft only," and the archer needs to add the point, the nock, and the vanes, and there are arrows that come with points installed, with nocks installed, and with vanes installed.
You'll have a choice which you want to buy—that "shaft only" variety or the pre-made ones. If you're a beginner, the pre-made arrows are fantastic.
We mentioned earlier that vanes come in feathers or in plastic. Each type has its pros and cons, and here they are: feathers are great for indoor target archery and go great with recurve bows, especially if you're "shooting off the shelf," because the feathers won't mess up the flight of the arrow if they touch the bow handle, because they gracefully flatten upon contact with the bow handle whereas plastic vanes WILL mess up the flight of the arrow if they touch the bow handle, because a plastic vane won't gracefully flatten.
The bad news is, feathers get wet and weigh down the arrow, which makes them not great for outdoor archery or hunting. Plastic vanes, on the other hand, are great for outdoor archery and hunting.
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