Which arrows should i use

Honestly, it really is. It takes a little while to figure all this out, but eventually—honestly, we promise—eventually it'll all start to make sense. If you've come away from this post and you have developed only a small inkling of how to choose an arrow, we've done a great job! Table of Contents Parts of an Arrow. A Note About These Materials How to Read Arrow Measurements. Measurements for Wood Arrows. Measurements for Aluminum Arrows.

Measurements for Carbon Arrows. Go to An Online Retailer. Buying Guide: Tips and Considerations. Some Arrow-Selecting Tips for Hunters. Arrows Are Really, Really Important. Parts of an Arrow First things first: the actual parts of an arrow. You've got:. The Shaft. This is the length of the arrow, and they're made from different types of materials—usually wood, aluminum, carbon, or an aluminum-carbon mix—and each material behaves differently and is used for different purposes more on that below ; The Arrow Head aka "Points".

This is the sharp point at the end of the arrow. There are different types, which we describe below; The Fletching. These are the three vanes at the back of the arrow, and they're usually made of feathers or plastic. Very often, two of the vanes are one color, and the third vane is a different color; the vane of a different color is called the "index vane"; and finally The Nock. This is the slotted tip at the back end of the arrow. It's usually plastic, and it fits snugly on the bow string, at a strategic place called the "nocking point.

Bullet points are moderately sharp, and these are commonly used for target practice at archery ranges or for hunting small game; Field points are sharper than bullet points, and are also used for target practice and hunting small game; Blunt points have a flat tip and are used solely for small game—they kill the animal with blunt force, instead of through penetration; Judo points are a blunt or flat arrow used for small game, and have "legs" on them that clasp onto whatever they hit, to keep them from getting lost on the hunt; and Broadheads are VERY sharp—they're lined with razor blades—and these are specifically designed for hunting.

Spine You wouldn't believe it, but your arrow wiggles like a snake when it is shot. The Weight of the Bow. If you're using a bow with a very high draw weight, you're generally going to want to use a stiffer arrow, and if you're using a bow with a low draw weight, you can use a weaker arrow. Try to close your eyes and imagine it—if you were to use a high-poundage bow and shoot a very weak arrow, the arrow would wiggle like crazy and shoot inaccurately and be pretty dangerous to you when you're shooting it.

If you were to use a low-poundage bow and shoot a very stiff arrow, the arrow wouldn't bend very much, and it wouldn't go very far. The Length of the Arrow. The longer an arrow gets, the stiffer it's going to need to be.

Imagine you have a wooden pointer—the kind that teachers used to use when they pointed at a chalk board. If that wooden point was three feet long, it probably wouldn't bend if you held it up. Now imagine that it's feet long—it's much easier to imagine it bending if you held it. Length of the arrow has a strong correlation to how bendable it is. The Weight of the Point on the End of the Arrow.

This is kind of fascinating. The weight of the tip of your arrow has a lot to do with how much your arrow bends. Imagine it like this: you're holding one of those styrofoam pool noodles, and you use it to push over a paper cup that's half-full of water. The cup would fall over, right?

Now imagine you're using that same pool noodle, but this time you're trying to push a bowling ball. That bowling ball isn't going anywhere, and your pool noodle is going to bend. The same concept goes for the point on your arrow. This is actually a really important part of an arrow purchase—especially if you're a hunter and you've put a heavy broadhead on the end of your arrow—and we discuss it further in one of the sections below.

The Material and Size of the Arrow. We talk about this more in the "Materials" section, so we won't get into it here, but the material that the arrow is made of—wood, aluminum, or carbon—affects the spine of the arrow.

Stiffer arrows are needed on compound bows that have more aggressive cams, because aggressive cams put a lot of force on an arrow. You need to shot arrows that have the same spine. This is very important—it doesn't matter how good you are, and how much you've mastered your form—if the spines on your arrows are not identical, you will not get good groupings.

Variation in spine affects your performance—even when you're using the same arrows. In other words, you can buy the same brand of arrows with the same spine, but because no two arrows are exactly similar, there will be slight variations between arrows, and that can affect your performance. Arrow manufacturers have done a good job in minimizing deviations, but they still exist. As a general rule of thumb, if a variety of arrow is very expensive, it's less likely to have variations arrow to arrow.

Arrows lose their spine over time. After taking hundreds of shots, the integrity of the spine is damaged a bit. If you spend time with a competitive archer, you'll notice that they replace their arrows frequently. As mentioned, it's vitally important to shoot arrows with identical spine, so it's something to keep in mind as the months pass. In most cases, it's better to have an arrow that's a little too stiff than an arrow that's a little too weak, and arrow manufacturers usually recommend arrows that are liiiiiiittle stiff more on that later.

Generally speaking, an arrow that's a little too stiff will favor the left, and an arrow that's a little weak will favor the right. If you're seeing a lot of left-right variations in your groupings that is, if you shoot a bunch of arrows and they're all on the same horizontal plane, but they're scattered left to right , that may be the result of variations in the spines of your arrows. Length This is one of the first things you need to think about when selecting an arrow: length.

If you don't have a draw length indicator, here's a rough estimate on how to determine your draw length: Put your arms out, side to side, and have someone measure your wingspan if you're alone, you can stand up next to a wall, put one hand out and mark a small pencil mark on the wall, then reach all the way out with your other hand, and make a small mark on the outside of your other hand.

There are two notes to keep in mind in regard to arrow length:. Some arrow shafts you buy are shipped to you at a much longer length than you need, and you'll need to have them professionally cut to an appropriate length by someone at a pro shop or you can cut them yourself. In other words, if you are just ordering arrow shafts, they may arrive to you at 32 inches long, and you'll need to cut them to be 30 inches long or whatever length you need. If you're using a clicker, your arrow must be short enough so that the arrow head clears the clicker at full draw.

Clickers are kind of an advanced tool, so if you're a beginner, they're not something you need to worry about. Diameter The diameter of an arrow is an important part of purchasing an arrow, and arrows are sold in a wide array of diameters. Target archers usually want an arrow with a thicker diameter, because a thicker arrow is more likely to connect with the lines on a target and get higher scores.

That goes for archers who are aiming at regular round targets, but also 3-D archers who are shooting at replicas of game, such as deer, elk, etc. Most competitions have very strict rules about how thick any arrow can be, so if you want to get involved in target archery, make sure you're not cheating by using an arrow that's above the allowed diameter.

Outdoor archers—that is, hunters or target archers who are shooting outdoors—usually go for thinner arrows. Thinner arrows are less affected by wind because there's less surface area on the arrow, AND, for hunters, thin arrows more effectively penetrate game. Weight The weight of an arrow is another important measurement.

The diameter of the arrow—that is, how wide the arrow is around; The thickness of the walls of the arrow—that is, if you sawed the arrow in half and looked at it, the thickness of the material that makes up the walls of the arrow; and The materials of the arrow—that is, wood vs. Tip Last but not least, the weight of the tip. Wood The original arrow! Aluminum These are fantastic for beginners, but they're also used by more experienced archers.

Carbon Carbon arrows are very stiff, which is a great match for heavier bows—particularly, heavier compound bows used for hunting. How to Read Arrow Measurements When you go to buy an arrow, arrow manufacturers will label the arrows with super-confusing numbers.

Here are a few examples: Arrow 1: Arrow 2: Arrow 3: Those numbers are kind of baffling. Here's how it plays out: Measurements for Wood Arrows Wooden arrows are usually sold with four-digit numbers next to them. Measurements for Aluminum Arrows This measurement is somewhat similar to the measurement for wooden arrows, but it's a little different. Isn't that easy? No, no it's not. But it's how they do things!

Measurements for Carbon Arrows Believe it or not, carbon arrows are actually measured differently by different arrow manufacturers. Now What? So now you know what those measurements mean, but what size arrow is right for you?

The odd color indicating how the arrow should be positioned to nock on the bowstring, which will differ depending on your bow and setup. Feathers are generally considered to be better than vanes for many archers, but there are exceptions. Feathers do tend to cost more than vanes, but not by all that much if you shop around for them. Vanes are for the most part a cheaper alternative to feathers. These are the sort of bargain bin types of arrows. Vanes do have their advantages for some archers who are shooting specific setups, but generally most archers will want to stick to quality arrows fletched with feathers.

Once the arrow is nocked on the string, the nock will hold the arrow on the bowstring by itself almost all standard nocks. Most nocks are quite similar, with a few exceptions. Speed shooters will normally use nocks that have been modified for speed shooting by widening the nock — so that it can be quickly nocked, drawn and then released. Light up nocks are another type of nock that are pretty fun to use. Designed to be used in low light or at night, light up nocks do just that — light up.

They usually come with a little tool that allows you to flip a small switch to turn them on or off. Not only are light up nocks fun, they can also be useful as they help you find your arrows much easier in low light conditions.

Arrow heads or points are the piercing point on the dangerous end of the arrow. Some arrows are like a tube, where different types of heads can be installed or switched out when desired. Some arrows allow for screw in arrow heads and in some the head will need to be glued into the arrow to keep it there. Cheap arrows usually have bullet or field type points permanently glued onto the arrow.

Bullet points are often the preferred type of arrows for target archery, field archery and 3D archery alike. While field points can be used in the above styles of archery, they could do more damage to some types of targets than bullet points would. Field points sometimes also called combination points are similar to bullet points, but are shaped somewhat differently.

While some people think that certain types of specific field points will do less damage to targets than bullet points, this depends on the individual target. Field points are also used by hunters, who use them as practice points.

Once ready to actually hunt, the field point is simply unscrewed and replaced with a broadhead point. Broadheads are designed for hunting, nothing else. Because they are often heavier than other types or arrow heads they change up the way the arrow will fly. This is also in part due to the very different shape of a broadhead when compared to bullet or field points.

Just like the name implies, blunt points are simply blunt arrow heads that are made for hunting small animals. They come in all different shapes and sizes, but there basic use remains the same. There are other blunt heads available that slip over the normal bullet or field point arrow heads, but those seem to be more for practice use.

A unique type of arrow head, the Judo arrow heads are made for shooting out in the wild. The purpose of the Judo heads is that they grab on to anything that they hit — which makes your arrow far easier to find in the woods. Unlike normal arrow heads that will just stick into trees or get covered under grass and brush, Judo heads will keep your arrows clearly visible. Only used exclusively in bowfishing, bowfishing points are made to be shot downward.

Use this as a number to start out with, you may or may not want to change this as you become more comfortable shooting your bow. Most archers are shooting lighter arrows these days for a variety of reasons.

Lighter arrows will generally shoot faster and more accurately than their heavier counterparts. Heavier arrows tend to be used more for hunting. They have more impact and can shoot straighter with some bows. Heavier arrows have more momentum to penetrate the target, and actually cause less wear and tear on the bow itself. They also make both the bow and the arrow shoot much quieter than lighter weight arrows.

And because of their heavier weight, heavier arrows maintain better velocity than standard arrows. Traditional Arrows Traditional wooden arrows are mainly used by archers that are shooting traditional archery, of course.

Usually on the bottom limb and for a given draw length. Example: Recurve Bow is marked 30lbs 28 " on the bottom limb. Your arrow length when at full draw is 29". Then you will be pulling more than 30lbs when you pull the bow beyond 28". Usually you can add 2lbs per inch of draw, so for 29" draw that would be 32lbs.

If you draw 27"then you will be pulling less at about 28lbs. You can of course use a set of scales to actually measure the draw weight. We have the means to do this inour Pro Shops. With these two measures Weight of Pull and Length of Arrow , it is time to look at the Arrow Types and Arrow Charts to see which size and typeof shaft will fit you best.

Which one to choose? Here is a brief guide to what most people use and why. Fibreglass : Robust but heavy: Will take a lot of knocks. Usually used at the Leisure end of archery. Alumini um : Made from light weight tubing: These make a very good reliable and relatively easy to use arrow for shooting at the short and middle distances outdoors. Also these are used by most people for indoor shooting as they are strong, accurate and reasonably priced.

There is a wide range of sizes available to suit almost all sizes of archer and strengths of bow. There are also different models at increasing price. You pay more for increasing hardness of the alloy and better straightness tolerances which in turn provides more accuracy. Aluminium arrows are the most popular place to start with your first bow and when you are shooting the shorter and medium distances.

Easton Neos : excellent entry level arrow: one diameter of shaft for all different lengths,. Easton Jazz and Tribute Models 75 Alloy : Better arrow : greater shaft hardness and selection of diameters for different lengths and stiffness. Easton XX75 Pla tinum Model 75 Alloy : Better again: A favourite of many archers good hardness but still able to take some knocks without being too brittle.

Once you are shooting 70m, 90mor yards or more then you should probably think about Carbon Arrows. Carbon arrows can be a little less forgiving of archer errors and need tuning to the bow well to get good clearance.

Used by most competitive archers shooting the outdoor distances. Need to select size from chart.