I've been shooting the same arrows for 3-4 yrs now and have noticed some of them aren't flying very true, with a lot of wobble. I was just curious if they go bad. I have a bear target that is extremely hard to get arrows out of and am thinking that all of the stress I put on the arrow getting them out of the bear is warping them or something. Any ideas?

Carbon arrows do not bend or warp like Aluminum arrows do but they can crack & possibly split if put under some extreme sideways bending & if hit something that they shouldn't.

I allways check my arrows after each shot to be sure of no damage especially if other arrows hit any of them, just hold it by the tip area& nock area "about 2 inches away from each is fine" & bend them slightly, you should get about a 25* bend out & still not feel, hear or see any cracking, do this along the planes of each vane & if you do not feel, hear or see any cracking then that arrow is fine.

I've been shooting the same hunting arrows "the ones that I use for my target practice" for almost 3 years & outside of the ones that have been damaged one way or another they all still shoot exactly the same.

I hate to tell you this but they do.



The biggest problem with carbons is that they lose spine after a while specially if you are shooting into a hard target like the one you have.

The friction of the impact causes the shaft to heat up which in turn slowly breaks down the bond between the carbon fibers, weakening the spine.

I shot the spine out of myCarbon Express CX 300's ina year.

thanks for the info guys. I think I will go get some new ones tomorrow.

Hmm? Never heard of this before. Burning out the spine of a carbon arrow? Might need to upgrade arrows.

ausie guy is right on.

lean a graphite fishing rod against the wall...come back in a year or so. betcha she aint so straight anymore people think carbons are broke or perfect...that aint true.


id really love a spine checker for my old easton Epics. im pretty sure i shot the spine out of them. they seem really weak now...when i bend them to check them they bend really easy...guess that'll happen when you shoot most every chance you get from snow out till snow starts with the same couple arrows every time id pull out a new one, id shoot it and hit it with another and bust it

if you got a couple years out of your carbons, id say turn em into tomato stakes and figure you got your moneys worth i still say they are cheap to shoot than alums, i figure id have a dozen of them bent and unshootable in no time...

this is so true happened to me!

I hate to tell ya this little buddy, but Ausie (Oh I hate to say this, It will make his head swell even more) will probably forget more about archery than most on this forum will ever know... I know, I shoot with him, and trust me, people from all over the world call and ask him for advise on all aspects of archery... Rarely will he ever post something that is incorrect, unless it's about how I shoot....

Easy there....Revvvv.... Not sure I said anywhere that I didn't believe him. Just never heard of it before. But thanks for letting me know about his long elustrious career in archery.

Buddy.