It's simply as the arrow gets pounded day in and day out, shot, smacked into targets, yanked back and forth pulling them out of targets, etc the fibers can weaken/loosen up- especially arrows that use a "composite fiber " design like the old CX Terminators and Beman ICS/easton Excel/original ST Axis (ever break an ICS? or a Terminator? You will see this white thread like stuff in there- that's the composite construction).

This is one area where Goldtip is better because they use a more "pure" carbon/graphite. Unfortunately Goldtips only have a 3 layer horzontal/vertical wrap (as did those older Easton shafts) and a blatant seam. This makes spine tolerance much tougher to get consistent.

Arrows like current CX, and PSE Carbon force use a multi directional weave (original CX shafts also used the vert/horiz layers but there were 5). It is also thought that on the GT type construction (as well as the original CX arrows) that the layers can "shift" a bit, causing spine variance over time. The weave type design eliminates this problem and allows them to be more consistent with spine througout the entire length of the shaft through the whole diameter, and leaves no real seam.

If Goldtips have done well for you and you are happy then I'm not sure there is a need to switch, but I think you will find more forgiveness/consistency in a higher tolerance shaft like CT or an A/C/C (at the expense of some durability), especially at 30 yards plus, faster speeds, and shooting fixed blade heads.

But as I said, get a good set of Goldtips and do some nock tweaking and you can def get a great set of shafts- I've done it, it's just a crapshoot- and can get expensive unless you have a shop that will let you sort through shaft after shaft. I think out of my last dozen of Goldtip Pros, with some cutting from both ends and nock tweaking I was able to get 8 or 9 out of the dozen that shot very well out of my Liberty (29" draw, 80 pounds, close to 5 g/lb). The other 3 or 4 just would not dial in, and shoot with the rest, they'd always be an inch or more out around 20 yards, and at 40, a few inches out, or worse.

FWIW- I shot mostly mechanicals cos I prefer them, you can def get away with some more arrow slop with mechs. The last season I hunted I was experimenting pre-season with 4 blade Stingers (then new), and NAP Razorbacks in my Outback and Liberty, and thats where the "slop" was killing my accuracy. Nock travel is also a big factor for slop tolerance. If your bow's nock travel is not good, the more probs you will have. I suspect that is hardly the factor it was just a few short years ago with today's singles and hybrid cam designs.


I suspect after the arrow nerd sermon I just gave, everyone is wishing I'd stay away for another 3 or 4 years