A bow without an arrow is like a kite without wind. Your arrows are one of the most important parts of your archery gear. The size and length of your arrows must be “in tune” with your bows draw weight and draw length for peak accuracy and performance on the archery range or for hunting. Arrow manufacturers provide a “Sizing Chart” to help select the correct size arrow for your archery set up.

Arrow Construction:

• Nock
• Fletching
• Shaft
• Point or Broadhead

Arrow shafts are made of aluminum, carbon, aluminum/carbon composite and wood. They come in many colors and even camo patterns for archery hunting. Each material provides individual characteristics and advantages that affect the performance of the arrow. Whether target shooting or archery hunting, the following lists the pros and cons of each material to help you choose the best arrow shaft for your archery shooting style:

• Aluminum arrows are still the most common used for archery hunting. Aluminum provides a high degree of precision with consistent spine and weight tolerances giving the archer several different size options for his/her bow set up. Aluminum arrows have a larger diameter than the others and tend to be heavier and absorb more of the string recoil providing a quieter shot for archery hunting. Although very strong and durable, they have a tendency to bend when impacting a solid object like a bone.
• Aluminum/Carbon Composite is a new technology created by Easton called the Full Metal Jacket Technology. The arrows have a small diameter thick wall carbon fiber core and incorporate HIT (Hidden Insert Technology) to impart a spin to the cutting tip, independent of the direction of the spin of the arrow. They have an aerospace grade aluminum alloy jacket that gives them a higher degree of consistency in spine, straightness and weight as compared to the all carbon variety. These arrows are claimed to have qualities of exceptional accuracy, extreme durability and superior penetration, even crushing bone on impact. They also allow for easier arrow removal from the target.
• Carbon arrows are usually lighter in weight and therefore fly faster at a relatively flat trajectory as compared to other arrow types. The lighter weight causes the arrow to slow down quicker and has less penetrating power at impact. The fast arrow speed of carbon does allow more room for error when estimating shot distances.
• Wood arrows are made from a variety of woods like cedar, pine and spruce to name a few. Wood arrows are the least common of all arrow shafts and are mainly used by traditional archers shooting recurve and long bows.

Arrow Fletchesprovides stability to the arrow in flight and available in a wide variety of sizes, lengths and colors in the form of a feather or a vane. Feathers are much more forgiving and give way more when passing through the arrow rest and recommended for long bow and recurve shooters. Feathers do not repel water very well and when wet, may affect the flight of the arrow. Vanes are made of plastic and are less forgiving but are resistant to moisture and better for archery hunting in rainy or wet conditions.

Fletches can be applied to the shaft manually or you can purchase your arrows already fletched. A helical type of fletching is recommended meaning that when the feathers or vanes are attached to the shaft they are in a slight twist or helical form. This allows your arrow to spin much sooner after your release, which makes the flight of your arrow straighter, right out of your bow. Choice of colors is personal preference with the cock fletch being a different color than the other two. Brighter colors are not recommended for archery hunting.

The Nock is the plastic part attached to the fletched end of the arrow. This is the point where the arrow is attached to the bow string for shooting. The opposite end of the shaft is the point. Some shafts require the point or broadhead to be glued into place but most shafts allow a threaded insert to be installed into the shaft for screw in tips to to easily switch from field points for targets and broadheads for archery hunting. These inserts are sized to match the size of the shaft.