choosing arrows!!!

t7Hello again!!
Recurve shooter. I don't know enough about spine charts. Or arrows.
For reasons that would take far too long to explain, I often change my draw weight from 38lbs otf to 40lbs otf or 42lbs otf. This bounces around and the sharp eyed will have spotted that this puts me on the border between spines on the Easton charts. What would you do? I'm interested in peoples thoughts on this.
I'm leaning towards ACEs, not because I'm an amazing archer but because the Birthday Present Voucher Scheme means I get a set of arrows and can't change that to less cheap arrows and a couple of something elses. I get a set of arrows be they jazz or X10 and if that's the case, well ACEs are nice and X10s would be abusing the system in a way that may see the Scheme abolished.
My arrow length is 29.5" and that may drop by 0.25" at some point in the future, but it still leaves me between groups T6 / T7 when shooting at 38lbs and T7 / T8 when shooting at 42lbs. So I should go with T7? Or will I be abusing T7 spines when shooting at 42lbs so should opt for something from T8??
Are there charts for selecting points like there are for spines? Which points are suitable for ACEs? What decides you on whether to put a pin in the shaft and then a nock on that pin rather than just a nock in the shaft? Beiter out nocks are popular with many high achieving archers, but what's better about out nocks instead of pin nocking? or "in" nocking? Is it simply because they're top archers so they're given them free? Or is there more to it?
A club archer advised to use points slightly wider than the arrow shaft? I do not understand why this would be an advantage.
One set of arrows will have to do me for practice. For indoors, outdoors, for bad weather. For competitions. For 38lbs, for 42lbs. Probably for at least two years.
That's why I'd value people's advice, I want the best chance of getting this right.
Thanks for reading!!
 

Timid Toad

Moderator
Staff member
Supporter
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
If you are going to regularly and seriously use such widely varying poundages the best option is not on set of expensive arrows that will have a poor tune for every set up you use but a set of arrows for every set up you work with. That way you can tailor each to the purpose. It's a complete waste to buy ACEs and expect them to give you any kind of improved results using them the way you describe.
If you want indoor arrows, go for X7, outdoor go for Carbon One. That'll give you a much better result for less cash. Work your head around that and then we can talk points, nocks, fletching etc!
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
...or CE X-Busters indoors, if you don't wanna follow the herd & become a total Easton user ;) If your club forbids all-carbon outdoors then you really only have the 4 Easton A/C -types to go for. Using such a range of draws seems to me a bad idea, pick one & stick with it! (Saying that, I use 36# limbs indoors & 44# outdoors but don't swap on a whim, the 44's won't see action again until Easter.)

Here are some lovely points for A/C/E's, about the same price as 'official' ones - Protector Giglio - I have them bookmarked!

I think the idea of wider points is less 'target grab' on the shafts.

Out-nocks seem to only be available for X-10s, I've no idea why they are so popular with the 'pros'. Me, I'm a big fan of pin-nocks - I got a 2nd hand set of A/C/E's last week, first thing I did was rip the super-nocks out & replace them with pins. I simply think they look better, plus replacing a nock on the line is quick & tool/glue -free.
 
It's not and indoor/ outdoor thing. The bulk of my shooting is done with 40lb otf. At least 70% of the times I use my bow that's what I'm getting. It might be 39.8 or 40.2 but I can't measure it that accurately, so for all practical purposes I treat it as 40. On the Easton charts one line goes from 36 - 40lbs the next line goes from 40 - 44lbs, so the bulk of my shooting is going to be on the border between those two lines. There are rare occasions when I shoot 90m. I give the bolts a tighten and bow measures almost 42lbs when I do this. I don't shoot at 90m often though. (really I don't, I just went through my notebook and checked - wow that's rare!)
What does happen fairly often though is that I wind the bolts the other way and shoot with pretty close to 38lbs. This is because I am a far keener (and better) climber than I ever will be archer. After a few days pinching gnarly holds on gritstone edges in the cold and rain the fingers just deserve to be given a softer time with the bow so I go easy on them with lower poundage.
If I stop faffing and leave the bow set at 40lbs that still leaves me having to pick a line on the chart to select spine and go with it, regardless of what type of arrow I'm picking.
At the moment I don't shoot indoors and it doesn't look like I will any time soon so I am not worrying too much about indoor performance.
 

AndyW

Well-known member
I don't know anything about the scheme you mention but from a pure makes sense to me view if it makes no difference what you buy I would get the set of ACE full length and sell them on as unused. Take the money then go for a reasonable inexpensive set of whatever you choose but buy the stiffer spine an inch and a half long then cut back in quarters until you get to a tune/length you are happy with.
That's assuming you're happy making the cuts - if not it will cost you £6 or so a set but at least you won't be playing with chopping ACEs.
Charts are just a guide - they get you in the ball park but a lot depends on other things. Spines aren't that specific you need to do some of the work yourself and you will make mistakes so don't go all out with expensive to start.
 

bimble

Well-known member
Supporter
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
AIUK Saviour
At least 70% of the times I use my bow that's what I'm getting. It might be 39.8 or 40.2 but I can't measure it that accurately, so for all practical purposes I treat it as 40. On the Easton charts one line goes from 36 - 40lbs the next line goes from 40 - 44lbs, so the bulk of my shooting is going to be on the border between those two lines.
One of the things to keep in mind is that the Easton charts are only a guideline, and depending on your equipment it may turn out that you are not on the border between two spines, but bang in the middle of one. This is because a simple chart can't cover all the variations in limb geometries, riser lengths, limb lengths, and the myriad of other things that can effect the required spine of the arrow. It's why it's a starting place, but not the be all and end all!
 

Stretch

Well-known member
Commit to one draw weight and shoot it all the time. ACE will give you a lot of arrow speed so you shouldn’t need to wind up. If you select weaker and they come out weak then wind it down and shoot it there.

But as others have said, spine charts are only a starting point.

Beiter Out nocks are an X10 thing. I’ve never seen anyone use them on ACE. The Easton G nock or Beiter 12/x are more than adequate insert nocks. And that’s what I’d choose.

Bulge points allegedly reduce wear on the front of the shaft when shot into our ridiculously hard straw bosses. I never really noticed a difference. Hard bosses kill arrows, shoot at Foam if you can!

I couldn’t imagine retuning the damn stick over and over to accommodate distance/weather. For me that would lead to insanity. If you want to commit to the mid-weight just use Vetwrap when your fingers are sore.

2p

Stretch
 

LAC Mark

Active member
What about getting arrows that are longer than required, as this will alter the spine window to span the 38 to 44lb you shoot.
Yes this will still be a compromise, but if tuned to what you shoot most often it shouldn't be too far out for the rest.
I'm not looking at the chart so I may be wrong on this, but it's worth checking out.
Lets face it, there's a lot of archers that don't tune their arrows and still get quite good results (I fall into this category).
 
Top