When should you recommend carbon arrows?

Shooting Industry, Sept, 1995 by Carolee Boyles-Sprenkel

One factor you may want to consider is the sale of accessories. Even though the profit margin on carbon shafts is not great, the margin on the sales of accessories is fairly high. Carbon shafts require the use of specialty broadheads, and many carbon-arrow shooters will look for an upgrade in equipment such as sights and release aids.

Carbon fiber, regardless of its cost or the complexities associated with it, also has a technological mystique to it. Some shooters are sold on technology, and carbon has a big appeal to that audience.

Gooding suggests recommending carbon shafts when a customer is looking for a very lightweight arrow.

"There are some advantages because of durability, both in hunting and in target archery situations," he says. "To get a comparable aluminum arrow, you have to go to a much larger diameter arrow with a thinner wall. If you're shooting in wind, you get less wind drift with the smaller diameter of the carbon."

Fortunately, choosing the right carbon shaft is as easy as choosing the correct aluminum one. According to Gooding, it works the same way.

"The Easton aluminum shaft size chart contains the carbon shaft sizes as well," he says. "You just use the same system."

"The choice between the two still comes down to shot placement, and whether you are going to be able to hit the same place every time," Schoeck says. "It depends in part on the level of the shooter. There are shooters who absolutely love carbon shafts and may never switch back to aluminum. On the other hand, there are shooters who shoot carbon for tournaments and for fun, but want aluminum for hunting because of their consistency and the confidence factor."

Even new shooters can benefit from the use of carbon arrows. With some bow setups, carbon arrows may tune more easily, and shoot more accurately than aluminum ones. As with everything in archery, though, we're dealing with an inexact science. Experimentation may be the only way to determine which is best for the individual shooter.

One thing which may make the sale of carbon arrows easier is the use of pre-packaged arrow "sets." These arrows come pre-fletched, with points included.

One note about when not to shoot carbon arrows: some 3-D ranges don't allow carbon shafts on their courses. Because the points are larger than the shafts, the outsert creates a larger hole than the shaft. Pass-throughs also are common with carbon shafts. This may blow holes in targets. In addition, removal of arrows which don't pass all the way through may create "plugs" of foam which come out with the arrows. You need to keep up with the rules of local clubs to be sure they allow all-carbon shafts.

The other issue which we need to bring up here concerns the use of carbon shafts in hunting situations.

"It's not uncommon for an animal to roll on an arrow shaft," Schoeck says. "Carbon shafts can break in some pretty ugly ways because they are made of long, linear fibers. When certain kinds of shafts break they make a lot of little black slivers. So wound channels should be carefully inspected when you're using carbon arrows in a hunting situation."