Aluminum shafts are made more straight than carbons. They do not bend on impact. They are heavier than carbons. They get bent by the user mostly by being pulled out of a foam target. Carbons loose their spine and become less straight with time and abuse. I have some surviving Gold Tips that have become useless after a couple of thousand shots from my compound. I also have quite a few aluminum crossbow arrows that have been dented and are useless. The carbons on the other hand seen to shrug off the minor collisions.