I'm new to this traditional thing. I shoot high-tech carbons out of my high-tech compound, but I was thinking of shooting cedar's or possibly Easton Legacy's out of my recurve when it arrives. Are cedar arrows very durable? And how are they priced compared to aluminum? Thanks.

PBB

Pick a hair.....or a caruncle!!

Just started shooting traditional and sold my compound last week. I was shooting 2514's and ICS's. I always leaned toward aluminum. The advice given to me was to start with alum and transition into wood. Sounds like good advice, as I've shot several of my arrows into trees and fences and rocks. Would have probably destroyed a wood arrow. I plan to try and switch to wood after 6 months or so of shooting. Starting with carbons may not be bad as they are pretty tough. The KE of a trad bow insn't the same as a compound so an errant shot probably wouldn't hurt them much. Good luck. I use my busted arrows to hold up tomatoes and stuff in the garden.

Hey CT! I think I might have you beat on the broken arrow use. Instead of buying a good pair of shooting sticks like the cheap @$$ that I am, I run a bolt through two, put points on the ends (so they would stick in the ground and stay where I put them) and spray painted them brown and grey. As for the other two dozen, I ground them down in a chipper and used them as bedding in my dog's bed. Cedar does wonders to keep fleas away.

PABeardBuster, he gave you some pretty good advice on the alum. to wood. And to be honest, you could probably find some carbons that would shoot good and use them if you like. But you WILL RUIN quite a few arrows before you get good. And make sure you are clear of anything valuable. Even then nothing is safe. I actually shot my roof (the hous was 30ft behind me) when an arrow hit a rock, bounced up and hit my alum. shed, went straight up into the air and fell to its shingle death.

I actually started on wood and now I wish I had began with alum. I do however love wood for the personal involvement. Such as a handloader with rifles, I suppose it has something to do with making it yourself (haven't gotten to the selfbow thing yet). And I just think that wood looks so much better than an alum. or carbon when you add your personal cresting. And you will never think of hunting the same without that busted cedar arrow laying on your dash that passed straight through a deer and smashed on a tree or rock behind it. Do that with an aluminum!
That's all I have to add for now, good luck and try your best to have fun and not get discouraged.

"Clutz by Nature, Hospitalized by Fate..."

Pyral

Great ideas pyral. I coulkd use a pair of shooting sticks and plenty of bed material for my 3 labs.

ah the age old question...wood, alum, or carbon.


They all have there merits.

Alum, we all know well enough about. You can buy one anywhere and its still the same arrow, and weights exactly the same.

For many reasons a carbon will out penetrate under most situations. If you could make a wood or alum with equal charactheristics, they would also do the same. Usually carbons even the weighted ones we have played with are to light. I am not a heavy heavy fan, but I also dont like to light. Also I feel the weights start screwing things up with arrow flight to some degree, atleast to the amount of mentioning when it comes to the amount of weight needed to get them acceptable. I have also heard to use fish air hose tubing cut to length and insert in the shaft....just to much work for me. It however must work as he has killed some whitetails that would make ya heart studder and a couple moose with them so he obviously has something.

Woodies, many ya gotta lovem. Its all I shoot since I started this "stint" in trad archery. But I tell ya something. When it comes to shooting EVERYTHING is in the arrow. Its THE MOST important piece of equipment you have!!! Ya shooting form and a few otherthings play into things...but if your arrows are off, forget it! You maybe close, but usually will never be consitent with them! Or you'll be consistently close. To get a good set takes some tools, a ton of knowledge, and or a ton of money. You can buy them outright, but just how do you know they are what they say they are? How close do you want to match them? Then you ask how durable? Well I have taken regular cedar arrows and shot them into a car door with Josh here. I was amazed! I knew they were good, but didnt know they were that good. Usually when a soft wood breaks, particularly cedar, its right behind the head or BOP. Cedar and other softwoods along with even some of the better hardwoods fail with glancing blows...then again so does most alum! If you want super durable, long lasting shafts, try Ash or Hickory. I have used ash enough to put them in the top 3 list, the other 2 being cedar and sitka spruce. If you can get your hands on SS its just a little more resiliant to breaking then cedar. It does seem a tad lighter however...not something the general stickbow chronies cares for, a light arrow. As long as it isnt TOOOO heavy or TOOO light (ie carbons in most cases), they work. Once I find a set that works, I try to sort through shafts to get the same weight and spine groups as before. Pretty simple..yes, but can you afford to buy shafts by the 100 or more, and start culling the rest? They make great flu flus or bird arrows but it can be a real pain!



Ct <BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>The KE of a trad bow insn't the same as a compound so an errant shot probably wouldn't hurt them much. <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>

You maybe humbly suprised what a stickbow is capable. You also need to factor, KE isnt the hole factor to the equation! There are other things at play. Espically when it comes to penetrating game animals as that is what I am personally worried most about. KE, like AMO or FPS and P&Y scores, have been pushed so hard for so long by the archery industry, it stands to reason why people use them so much. Take one of those nice alums out of my longbow I am sure within a shot or too I can havem looking like a snake! <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>!

I prefer Port Orford Cedar (POC) arrows. However, lacking the equipment and room to make up my own except for fletching them, I buy them from a fletcher (arrow builder). If you're in the same boat and have to buy your wood arrows, ask around and get the name(s) of good fletchers. Contact them and talk with them about your needs. They'll ask the questions and if you got the answers, they can get real close as to which spine will work best from your particular bow at your particular draw length. Some will send a few tuning arrows so that you can determine which will fly the best for you after fine tuning your bow to them. I paid $70.00 for my last dozen and they were right on as far as what the fletcher said they would be and they flew perfectly from my bow.

In lieu of spending that kind of money for every dozen that I have, I buy aluminum shafts as cheaply as I can and cut, fletch and mount points/nocks myself. I can build two dozen alums for the price I paid for one doz. woodies. They are more consistent than the average dozen of wood arrows, but sure don't smell as sweet when you bust one. <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Make em sharp and shoot em straight, or leave em home.

When I started shooting a recurve about 5 months ago I bought a nice set of PO cedar arrows. I broke most of them the first month and the remaining 4 are so crooked now that they don't shoot worth a da*m anymore. I now shoot aluminum arrows.

For a beginner I recommend going the aluminum route - they are cheaper, hardier, easier to spine, and are more consistent than woods. That said, someday when I grow up as an archer, I'll probably go back to wood.

[Deleted by Admins]