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06-27-2004 | 08:40 AM

#21

Len in Maryland

Joined: Feb 2003

Posts: 1,385

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From: Baltimore Maryland USA

RE: ? for Matt and other arrow experts

PW12:

First, they have NOT discontinued these shafts. All you have to do is look at your Beman spine chart to realize that.

Back when they first started making these shafts, Beman was a separate company (not owned then by Easton). Everyone in the industry, especially Easton who had a death grip on the market, wanted Beman to fail. The popularity of a much more durable shaft, and something that was stronger and lighter, became a big issue.

Bob Eastman, as he usually does, saw an opportunity and copied the Beman design with his AFC arrow. The popularity grew and the market share that Easton had enjoyed was being jeapordized. Easton went on a campaign to 'discredit' the use of carbon arrows with their meat contamination ads. While this thought has some merit, it is a stretch of the truth by a long shot. Anyone who has bludgeoned meat, either by an arrow or bullet, cuts out that area. Because the popularity kept growing, Easton decided therefore to buy Beman.

Since the technology was relatively new, much the way the wrapped carbon arrows are today, there were some problems. Over time, and with the investment of a lot of money, the technology improved. Yes, the side impact resistance of pultruded arrows is not as durable as the newer wrapped carbons; but, they are straighter, more consistant, and more durable in other areas. BTW, Bob Eastman had it going better than the Beman product until he decided to drop them.

What some fail to realize is that the have been improved over time to a point where they are better than they were 15 years ago. It's like saying that any product does not improve over time - which is wrong. Is there better technology available today? Yes, but it's right now not up to the standards that some of us find acceptable.

Do I want the wrapped carbons in my quiver? You bet I do. Do I want something that will last as long as the pultruded carbons have lasted for me and others? You bet I do. Do I want arrows as straight as the pultruded arrows that I now shoot? You bet I do. Do I want arrows as durable as the pultrudeds have been for my application? Again, you bet I do.

The durability of the wrapped carbons, if you're going to bang them sideways against anything is different than that of the pultrudeds. The pultrudeds will shatter whereas the wrapped will break. While I haven't seen or heard of any pultrudeds shattering into someone's arm in years, I have heard of wrapped carbons breaking off during the shot and going into archers' arms. I just found one several weeks ago that was broken under the nomenclature wrap. Had I shot this arrow before finding that problem, it may have surely wound up in my arm.

I would love to see the demise of pultruded carbon arrows for the sake of wrapped carbon arrows. To think that the wrapped carbon arrows are not a better design would be absurd on my part. I do think that I'm more intelligent than that. But, UNTIL they get this technology to a point where I feel comfortable, I'll stick with the comfort zone that I now enjoy with pultrudeds.

There are a couple of manufacturers of wrapped carbons that I do recommend in my store, that I find to be a cut above the rest. I use the A/C/C arrows on occassion and like the performance and limited durability. Again, for the money and the other benefits, I'll take the pultrudeds until they make something as good in all but one category.

And please, PW12, check your arrow charts. Pultrudeds HAVE NOT been discontinued. Only the AFC products that you used to use have been discontinued. Just setting the record straight.

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