Carbon arrows... CAUTION!!!

H

hogdogs

Staff In Memoriam
Before firing even a new carbon arrow you should lightly hold the nock and tap the shaft a few times with a knuckle. Listen for a dull or scratchy sound. This is not what anyone wants when they pop the release.
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Brent
 
I've heard of this happening, but never seen it. Some people I've talked to only use aluminum arrows because they have had fiberglass/CF ones bust on them in the past.

I hope he didn't have to climb down a tree stand with it like that, or drive a stick shift.:eek:
 
Yeah tree stand woulda been a real bugger to navigate with that little distraction I bet!
BTW this image is at least 3 years old...
Brent
 
That picture brought back a ugly memory..........

This has been 35 or more years ago. We were at the hunt camp on the St. Marys River and it was archery season. This was just at the beginning when the use of some really good compound bows was becoming widespread.

So one of the guys there has a fishing arrow, SOLID FIBERGLASS. I don't remember why he had it but he was shooting a recurve. So one of the guys there gets the idea to see how his new compound bow will shoot this SOLID FIBERGLASS arrow.

It was UGLY!!! I was a teenager and to tell you the truth I wanted to just throw-up when I saw how bad it was. That thing had compressed and then splintered and ended up in the poor guys hand just as the picture posted here shows.

Lord what a mess!

And if you remember back that far there were wood, aluminium and FIBERGLASS arrows made for hunting. That guys hand scared me enough that I never would use anything but the aluminum.
 
For us ignoramus rifle hunters, could those of you in the know explain what the heck happened, and the differences between fiberglass/aluminum/other arrows, and why one is better than the other? :confused:

Sorry, I know I should understand, but I don't. The pic looks bad enough that the poor guy might have been better shooting himself through the hand. :eek:
 
This is the reason I only use aluminum. It looks like I've sliced my left wrist before because I've had a carbon arrow snap and go into my wrist. I'll take the slower aluminum over that again.
 
Fremmer, carbon arrows have fibers and are wrapped. Advantage to carbon is they are lighter, stay straight, and my opinion are faster..... But the pic above is the downside. The wrappings begin to come apart or loosen and they will do just that when all the pressure hits at once when the string is released. Aluminum arrows are a bit wider, and will bend if you're not careful with them, then they don't fly straight. Another way to check the arrows to see if the wrappings are loosening, hold them firmly and twist. If there is any play, trash em! At least that's the way I was taught. Thanks for the post Hogs, I should check my arrows, been shooting the same cheep carbons for about 4 years now. :eek:
 
carbon arrows have come a long way in the past few years. i remember the big scare about the carbon splintering in the animal and people ingesting the carbon - toxic. Yeah, things like this happen but carbon arrows have so many advantages over aluminum that I personally would never go back. BTW carbon arrow worked just fine on the ten-pointer I whacked last night. Just getting a little too friendly with a pine-tree (rub) to notice a hole in his lung!:D
 
O.K., I get it now.

And after examining a .308 sp, I'm not sure it would necessarily be better to take that in the hand. Both would be pretty horrible. Nasty wound in the pic.

Thanks for the explanation, and good thread. A good reminder to check those carbons. Or check 'em all to make sure they are straight and in good shape. It made me check my hunting ammo.
 
Wooden arrows have worked just fine for thousands of years and I find aluminum to be an improvement.

I don't care for carbon arrows at all and this only reinforces my dislike of them.
 
The second you switch to a carbon arrow, you pick up a minimum of 20fps. They are either straight or broke. I've never had an issue, nor do I know anyone personally that has. From the OP, it can happen, but so can anything else. I had a brand new AR-34 upper limb crack and just about com apart.(Could have killed me) Turns out it was a design flaw that caused the problem that no one else in the world had had, yet they already had new limbs ready that fixed the problem.

But anyway, carbon arrows aren't to be feared. Things break and can go wrong with anything. I'll take the 20-30fps and the security that my arrows are straight.
 
I guess the first thing that comes to my mind is how much was paid for that arrow?
If that was a $3 Wal*mart arrow, I think you have your answer. I've never seen or heard of anything like that happening with a good brand arrow unless something bad happened to it first. If you wack a rock or a board/tree and you continue to shoot that arrow without a THOROUGH examination then you get what you get. Also, all my arrows have a warning on the side to examine the arrow for damage before EVERY shot. Not that I do...

Anyway, I'm not saying any of that happened here. Just postulating.
 
It takes very little damage to the shaft to allow this to occur. A heavy broadhead magnifies the problem. Basically shafts have some flex when fired no matter what. If there is an internal flaw or damage here is what happens... when you release the bow string the butt is pushing the head end. With damage the arrow shaft fails somewhere from the middle aft and when this occurs the center bulges as the front hasn't yet moved. So not only has it failed, it has come apart with the splinters spread out insuring some will hit the bow hand. Knowing a little about the physics and the materials involved, I would have a real uncomfortable decision to reuse the carbons many times... I know thousands of folks shoot hundreds of thousands each year with little fan fare but I am no archer either...
Brent
 
This was posted o another hunting forum a few years ago. It was posted as a warning to those that just grabbed up their arrows and reused them without inspection... especially following a miss from a tree stand.
Brent
 
that looks very nasty. i never owned or shot carbon arrows. wooden for practice with my first bow, just in case i couldn't hit the broadside of a barndoor. dad and i have aluminum. dad may have some carbon leftover from his old and gone recurve bow. thank you for the heads up hogdogs.
 
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