i dont use them, but i cant get my dad to change over to carbon arrows and i was wondering if anyone still uses them, and why, do they penitrate better are they faster what is it...
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If it ain't broke.....

It's probably bent.





Can't say I personally know anyone still shooting them.

Good one bud. Wish I would have thought of it. I'm making you vice pres. of my one liner club. You don't have a choice in the matter. Accept it and go about your business.[X(]

Not really any advantage to aluminum arrows...

Here arefew comparison points and the winner.

Durability - Carbon
Spine &weight options - Carbon
# of Manufacturers - Carbon
Diameter options - Carbon

Several things aluminum has going for it over carbon.

They are easier to work with. If you've got a bad insert, you simply heat it up and remove the insert. With carbon, if you've got a bad insert, you've got a much bigger problem. Depending on what glue you've used, it's either a royal pain or impossible to remove the insert without fatally damaging the arrow.

Aluminum arrows might bend, but the problem is like so-o-o many others in the bowhunting market these days. Blown way to hellngone out of proportion. Not to mention that if something can bend, it can also be straightened. With a straightener and a little practice, most bent aluminums can be brought right back into factory specs. As long as you haven't put a 'J' hook into the arrow, it can be straightened.

And then tolerances on aluminums are so tight that carbons can't compete. Near perfect consistency in weight, spine and inside diameters (no sloppy or too tight inserts like with carbon). Easton has been making aluminum arrows since the 1920's and they've got all the bugs worked out of them. Carbon? Still a work in progress.

The only two things carbon has going for it are strength and light weight for speed and flat trajectory. Durability is often thrown around as a major benefit of carbon but that's only when comparing aluminum arrows of comparable weight. Those thin walled beer can arrows are definitely fragile. Go up in weight into arrows with wall thicknesses of at least .015" and I think they are just as durable as any carbon on the market. Their only problem is they're much heavier and don't fly fast enough to suit the speed freaks.

If your dad is happy with aluminum, then leave him be. Maybe if you shut up and quit badgering him about it, you might learn something from him. Believe it or not, he just might know something you don't.

The one thing I liked about aluminum was if any part of the arrow was sticking out of the deer (which happend a lot with aluminum) it would break off when slammed into a tree, leaving the head and part of the arrow inside cutting.In my experince it was good the one time it happend before I switched to carbon. Carbon when slammed into a tree pulls out or makes one heck of a hole, hencebigger blood trailand not a pluged hole.So my choiceCARBONwhen there is no pass through.

I still use aluminum.

Do they make a carbon that is as straight as aluminums?

Regarding straightness, carbon arrows offer a distinct benefit over aluminums. While a carbon arrow's advertised specs may be no straighter than a typical aluminum shaft, carbon arrows resist distorting and "bending out of shape" much better than aluminum arrows. Though an aluminum shaft may BEGIN with a similar ±.003" straightness, it's straightness quickly deteriorates through normal use and handling. So after a few months of use, your aluminum arrow set may contain a few arrows that are ±.003", a few at ±.012", and a few at ±.025". Carbon arrows generally do not retain this kind of "memory" after being stressed. So your carbon arrow set stays much more straight and uniform - even with heavy use. Some archers even joke that there are only two states of a carbon arrow: straight or broken, but never bent. While that's not entirely accurate, it does help to illustrate the point.


Informationfrom Hunters Friend.

IMO, that's a stretch. Carbon arrows might not bend, but they darn sure warp. I have checked straightness on carbons that would be in factory spec when new, but be well out in less than a month. I mean by at least double their original tolerance. I have very rarely found a carbon that the needle on a dial indicator would simply sit still while sitting on an arrow turning under it. With aluminum, it's the norm rather than the exception.

I've had to go through 4-5 dozen carbons to get a few that would shoot broadheads with the accuracy I expect. Granted, my expectations are high, but with aluminum I can be confident that every arrow in the dozen will do an excellent job with broadheads. Carbon arrows are a big reason mechanical broadheads have the popularity they do. They'll shoot fairly well on crooked arrows.

Another thing in aluminum's favor... You can pull them out of 3D targets a LOT easier, without having to douse them down with a variety of salves, potions and unguents. That's important for us guys who are chronologically advanced, with stiff joints and backs that don't work as well as they used to. When pulling an arrow out of a target, the less we have to tug the better.

Carbons are popular, more popular than I think they deserve to be, and they do have some advantages. They have a lot of potential but there is also a lot of room for improvement. As of right now, they can't match aluminum in the attributes that are more important to me. But to each his own.