Carbon vs. Aluminum

[bigdawgwill44]

why have most people gone to carbon shafts rather than aluminum? my uncle was making fun of me the other day for shooting carbon, he says aluminum might fly slower but it hits like a baseball bat. what do you guys think between the two?

[TFOX]

Hitting hard and penetrating are 2 different things.

I am a carbon fan but have NOTHING against aluminum,in fact,I set my turkey bow up with aluminum.

UNLESS,you are using thick walled aluminium shafts,penetration doesn't do as well as carbons,ESPECIALLY when weight is equal,from my experience and many others.Too much flex in aluminum when hitting compared to carbon.


Of course,this is highly debated but I prefer the carbons when penetration is a concern.

[peakrut]

Last season was my first year shooting carbon and for speed it was pretty cool but I am switching back
to aluminium for this season. After all these years of shooting aluminium I just feel more comfortable and
more accurate. Bow also for me seems more quiet with aluminium.

[salukipv1]

Aluminum died a decade ago.....I've yet to hear a decent reason to shoot aluminum arrows......still haven't please enlighten me if one exists.....

and hitting an animal with a baseball bat may be great, but if the animal, ie deer, is no longer there once you swing, little good that bat does you.....

heavier/slower, just gives the deer more time to "jump" the string, and more time, especially at 30 or 40yds, means more wounded, more missed....etc....

Carbon does everything well if not great. They penetrate, don't bend.....fly straight, are light, I saw a guy last year in the field shooint aluminum! I just about started to laugh. and he was young! ie under 40.....so grandfathered in to aluminum excuse wasn't going to cut it. To each their own, but to me so far the score is 6 to nothing.

[peakrut]

Farthest I personally shoot is 30 yardsand 2nd never had one jump the string on me.(Knocks on wood)
I believe the bucks jump the arrow also as they hear the arrow come whizzing at them.
Ever been at a range and hear the arrows as they are flying through the air? (Carbon)
Pretty dang loud. For the record aluminium as not died just not as popular here in Wisconsin. Now if I was in competition then carbon is the path to take.
As for decent reason they still kill deer always have and always will.

[JimPic]

I shoot both aluminum and carbons(mostly alum's,though).Aluminum's are more consistant in weight and spine than carbon,alot cheaper,and they've been proven very effective in the woods and on the competitive fields for well over 50yrs

[wis_bow_huntr]

Ive been shooting Aluminums since I started bow hunting and have had very few ever fail me. Since I Switched to aluminum2314's I have have never had one fail me. Im shooting right around 60lbs, every shot taken on a deer has been a clean passthrough, most of my shots are anywhere between 20-25 yards. Blood trails were excellent, of course most of my kills I give credit to Muzzy for. My cousin has been shooting carbon/aluminum for years, although hes been pretty successful, he has a hard time finding his deer because the lack of blood. Not sure if its his Thunderheads or hes shooting too fast, hes using amedium diameter arrow, with a 100gr thunderhead. Im not a speed freak by any means. Speed is not what kills, but it does have a small factor in the kill. I compare arrows to bullets, the lighter the bullet, the faster its going to travel, the faster it may pass through the deer causing less damage, the heavier the bullet, the slower its going to reach its mark but when it hits, more damage is made. this of course depends on shot placement as in with an arrow. The only reason I am going to carbons is because the price of steel is getting too high to keep replacing aluminum arrows. Not because they dont do what they should because they do, and they do it damned well in my book.

[Arthur P]

Depends on the competition. If I had to put over a hundred arrows consistently in the spot at known yardage, I would go with aluminum. Like JimPic says, carbon doesn't have the consistency in spine or weight to do that job consistently. I've had carbons try to swap ends in a strong crosswind. So, no matter the competition format, if it were an extremely windy day I'd go with a heavier aluminum arrow because they are less affected by wind than carbons.

You constantly hear the old song 'carbon is more durable than aluminum.' When comparing aluminum and carbon shafts of similar weight, then yes. Thin walled shafts are amazingly fragile. But go with a shaft that has a wall thickness of .015" or more and an outside diameter of 22/64" or more, and durability becomes a non-issue. I'd put my old favorite 2216's and 2315's up against carbon any day in a durability test.

For sure, those big ol' fence posts are heavier and don't fly as fast. Big deal! I never shoot at game beyond 30 yards anyway. Within that distance, speed and flat trajectory benefits of carbon are miniscule at best. And the heavier arrow absorbs more energy from the bow, leaving less to be turned into noise, or that has to be absorbed by expensive string suppressors, vibration dampers and such. Of course, if you use all that vibration damping technology in association with hefty aluminums...

Aluminum arrows have been getting the job done since Doug Easton finally began marketing them in 1939. He had several world archery champions shooting them in the years prior to that. They are perfected, and have been perfected for many years now. Carbons are still having growing pains. They're slowly getting better but are nowhere even close to being on a par yet with aluminums for consistency.

Aluminum is only dead for those who don't know any better.

[kickin_buck]

The "hitting like a baseball bat" argument is crap. You can calculate your KE and see exactly how hard you are hitting that animal. It takes around 40 foot pounds to blow thru a deer, I see very few guys that are shooting carbon that are shooting under 60 foot pounds. I am what I would call an average guy 6'1 29 1/2 DL, pulling 70lbs on my Hoyt Katera XL and shooting a Gold Tip weighing in at 407 grains I am shooting 308fps I am producing almost 86 foot pounds. How is that for hitting hard?

[Paul L Mohr]

Ke actually doesn't tell you much, momentum is more important. A heavier arrow is always going to carry more energy to the target, period.

I have shot both carbon and aluminum and in my opinion aluminum is the better arrow for the money. They are much more consistent for the same or less money. Take a spin tester to a shop and start spinning carbon and aluminum arrows, the difference is pretty scary sometimes, especially with the cheaper carbon arrows.

And carbons do and will bend or wear out over time. I have had more problems with carbon arrows going bad than I have aluminums, and I shoot thin 2213's. I have never ruined an aluminum that would not have also ruined a carbon. And carbon arrows can go bad and you may not even know it until it breaks.

Aluminums are also easier for me to work with. They are pretty easy to fix and change, I'm not keen on having my inserts epoxied into my shaft.

I guess if I was shooting 3-D a lot and wanted a light fast arrow I might opt for a good carbon, but for every other application I think I would go with aluminum, or maybe an ACC.

I actually tend to get better penetration on game with aluminums than I did with carbons.

Paul