Schultzy

This is kind of going off of Diehards thread. Whats the advantages of shooting wood arrows? Disadvantages too if you will? Is there different kinds of wood that is better? I will shoot these in the future but would like some insight from the folks who've shot them and know a thing or 2 about them.

Thanks!

bigcountry

I notice the advantages are the shot is quieter. Just seems the wood soaks up that noise, where aluminum is an excellent conductor for vibrations and ossiclates more. Also, wood seems to be more forgiving in spine.

But wood is dynamic, where it will change spine over its life. You have to hand staighten them and often. Aluminums you don't. Points can be a pain to keep on, espeically if you target practice in cold weather.

BobCo19-65

Then aluminum or other woods?

For wood:

Better would be described as what attributes you are looking for.

For straightness, I think cedar is best.
For weight, the heaviest would be ash/maple/laminated birch. Fir is also heavier then cedar but lighter then the others mentioned.
For ease of straightning, I think fir would be the easiest. Some of the hard woods require heat.
For retention of straightness, I think cedar would be best.
If you are looking for higher FOC, you could use a footed arrow. But you still won't too high.

Arthur P

Other than being quieter, there really aren't a whole bunch of advantages to using wood arrows. Just like there aren't a whole lot of advantages to driving a '49 Chevy pickup vs a brand new Silverado. But it's kinda neat, getting behind the wheel of a 49 and tooling down an old gravel road once in awhile. Same with wood arrows. It reconnects me with my archery roots. Nostalgia, if you will.

Besides, if we were wanting advantages, we wouldn't be shooting traditional gear. Now would we.

rybohunter

I don’t know much about them, but I did shoot them when I jumped back into the trad thing. That was a bad combo. They broke, easily and often. I’m sure now that I’m a better shot, I’d break them less often, but I still like durability in my arrows.

burniegoeasily

They are a pain in the butt for me. I have gone all carbon. Forgive me trad gods, but I got lazy and tired of dealing with wood. Ive used ash, cedar, and cain. All cool and are truly traditional, but as mentioned, wood will warp, and when and animal lays on one, its toast. I like to get a lot of life from my shafts. The only thing I can think of for using them is to stay as traditional as you can. Other than that, they dont do anything more for me than any other shaft. They are a bit quieter, but not enough for me to go back to them. I look at it this way, buy/make a wooden shaft that will cost time and/or money, that is not the most durable. Or go with another material that will last. I guess im a cheap arse.

Schultzy

Good stuff there guys!! Reason I want to do it is to try and be more "Traditional" I guess. I was surprised in most of the replys. I thought there would of been more positives then what was listed.

BobC,

If I do this what type of wood arrow should I go with in your opinion? What would you suggest for a 1st timer shooting woods? You know my bow set up already.

BobCo19-65

I'd say cedar. Fir is also good, but it seems to unstraighten easier then cedar IMO. On theother hand, it is heavier then cedar and easier to straighten. I believe that there is a cross chart between aluminum and wood arrows at Arrows by Kelly's website thatwill match you with the right wood arrow. Or if you are going to go with an arrow maker get his/her opinion.

I actually kind of shy arrow from woods similar to Burnie. I still shoot some though.

LBR

I shoot wood arrows, but could care less about being more "traditional". They are quiet and forgiving--and most of the larger tournaments I shoot in require wood shafts to compete in the longbow and selfbow classes.

It has gotten harder to get good shafting, and they are time consuming to make, and the prices have gotten out of reason......but I still like 'em.

Chad

bigcountry

I want to try river cane but not sure of a good source. They say its hard to find the right spine and wieght. Usually wieght is too low.