No, those are the advertised tolerances. Get two dozen and actually check them for spine, weight and straightness, compare them with average aluminums (heck, even use JAZZ youth arrows if you want) then get back to us. Gold tips are the ones I hear the biggest gripes about. However they do stand behind them and will send you different arrows. If you gave me goldtips I would probably sell them to someone else, my opinion anyway.

I have shot both, started with carbons and then tried aluminums basically because I'm a cheap SOB. Then went back to carbons for a while. Guess what I shoot now, aluminums. For the money they just can't be beat in my eyes. If I where to shoot carbons again it would be Nitro Stingers by arrow dynamics because of the increased FOC and tapered design. The ones I had were very forgiving with fixed blade broad heads.

The only advantage I have found with carbons is they tend to be more durable if you abuse your arrows, like step on them and stuff like that. And you can get them lighter if you want that. And that is providing they are good out of box. Not so much an issue with expensive ones, but it does happen from what I hear. If I were buying expensive carbons I would at the very least be spin testing them before I took them home.

Carbons can and do go bad. They can break down and lose spine over time and warp. Especially if you shoot a lot of 3-D or do things that will warm them up. Yes you can bend aluminums, usually from hitting something else or pulling them incorrectly from a target. Those same things will ruin a carbon as well, but the bad thing is you may not know it right away. I have better longevity from aluminums than I have some carbons. And I shoot 2213's which are fairly thin. If you shoot heavier thicker walled ones they are even tougher.

My opinions on my personal experiences and nothing more.

Paul

Iunderstand that those are the advertised specs, and like most things may not be totaly true. For the easton game getters, they have advertised straightness of +/- .003 and a weight tolerance of 1 1/4%. And since the gold tips are matched by the dozen for their advertised specs, it would kinda defeat the purpose to compare two dozen together wouldnt it.

Spinning them before you go home doesn't really prove much when it comes to carbons in my opinion. It seems that the majority of the issues with carbons are at the end (usually nock end) and most places do not cut anything off of the nock end when they cut to length for a customer. If the straightness is off the entire shaft that's less of an issue.

Almost all of my arrows come out good after spinning to see which end is worse and cutting more off the bad end. I care less about my logos aligning than my arrows spinning true. I just cut some arrows for a friend that had 2 that still wobbled after cutting. He fletched them and says they now spin true. Even the ones that don't are great for practice. Even Len agrees with that.

I shoot primarily carbons, and I do so because I want heavy arrows with a very high FOC. Carbons make this easier to accomplish. What I've found out through testing, is that straightness doesn't appear to be very important and that weight tolerances are almost completely unimportant. However, spine tolerances are critical. I shoot Goldtips quite frequently and have them flying well, but they were very inconsistant in regard to spine - often off by as much as .030 to .040 in a dozen. I've never tested a group of aluminums that was off by more than .003 - that's more than 10 times better spine tolerance.

I've gotten the Goldtips to shoot very well, but it takes a detailed procedure of spine tuning, arrow tuning and spine testing. I'm not sure the average bowhunter would be well served with low-end carbons, unless they can get this kind of help tuning their arrow.

Its kinda funny. Back in 1986 when started shooting compounds, everybody of course shot aluminums. Then bemans showed up and everybody wanted carbon to get more speed. And tired of aluminums bending. Now, a huge number of bowhunters want the wieght back for penetration and constantly complain about crappy straightnes advertised by carbon companies. So I can't tell you why to switch to carbons, I have questioned that myself. You can get aluminums straighter, no question about it, and more consistent of spine. And more choices of spine.

Even the so called quality carbons I have found to not meet advertised specs. Especiallly beman, and gold tip.

Straight,
Well put. I doubt most people if handed an aluminum arrow that was "straight" and a carbon that was "off" could shoot the aluminum more accurately. Yet, that's all people keeptalking about when they say they only use aluminum because they are straighter. i think it's become more of an excuse for poor shooting.

I think a lot of people are wasting their money buying $120 carbon arrows that are claimed to be +/-.001. They're talked into believing that you need .001 to shoot accurately when that's just not the case for most people. That .003 or .005arrow is more accurate than most of the people behind the bow. Me included most of the time.

big,

You can get the same or better penetration with carbon. That's an old thought process that the carbons are all light.

Also, I was talking about GT's in my post and I can punch10 ringsfrom 40 yds withmy XT hunters ($65/dz)if I'm shooting well and I'm not claiming to be the best shot in the world either. Even with the ones that don't spin well. I'll keep shooting GT's since they work so well for me.

You big expert you. Hey, man, you got your opinion, and I got mine. Your already posted yours, and I posted mine. No reason to get your feelings hurt about it.

big,

Well, you ar a yr older than me so I guess that makes you more of an expert. I was simply adding to what I'd previous posted. I didn't know it was illegal to post twice?

My feelings didn't get but but thanks for caring so much. NowI can sleep better at night knowing that you are thinking of me.

Good for you man, congrads.

I am actually talking about over all consistency from arrow to arrow, not really straightness. I have shot .006 arrows and they shoot just fine. I'm talking about the average guy going to cabela's, gander mountain or a local pro shop and buying a dozen arrows done up already and then cut to length or even ordering a set and having them fletched. It is not uncommon to find 2 or 3 out of that dozen that are not just out of spec, but flat out crap. If not more in some cases with cheaper carbons. And that is just straightness. If they can't hold that tolerance, what do you think spine is going to be like?

I have put arrows in a spin tester that were so bad they darn near jumped out of it. I don't think cutting a few inches off the ends is going to fix that, unless you shoot REALLY short arrows.

Aluminums just don't do that. The average aluminum may not be as straight spec wise to begin with, but if you got 6 dozen arrows and checked them you probably wouldn't find any bad ones.

And for the average guy shooting in his back yard, or even shooting spots with target tips it probably wouldn't make a difference. I can shoot bent arrows well if they have enough fletching and FOC. However take that same guy and one bad arrow and one good arrow and put a fixed blade on it. I bet you will see a difference.

I shot several brands of carbons, and I will be honest I didn't have any real problems with them. I had maybe four or five out of a hundred maybe that were absolutely not shootable. And then some more after shooting them several hundred times. I just personally feel for the money the aluminums offer a better bargain in usability and quality control for the price. Plus for me they are easier to work with.

I simply don't need any of the benefits a carbon offers and don't seem to have the issues people complain about with aluminums.

Paul