When To Buy Carbon Arrows

There comes a time in every archers’ career where we ask “when to buy carbon arrows?” The answer varies from archer to archer but here we’ll discuss when to buy carbon arrows.

This is something I have been looking at recently (actually around October 2024) and have been in conversation with a number of archers of varying degree of proficiency as well as other senior coaches. To answer the question, you have to factor in a number of variables and once you have those, you will then know when to buy carbon arrows.

Firstly, you need to understand the dynamics (or mechanics) of both aluminium and carbon arrows. Aluminium arrows tend to be quite heavy and thick. They are usually purchased as starter arrows and have a broad spine weight range. At this point, if you haven’t read the article on arrows, have a look now. Carbon (or aluminium carbon composite) arrows are a lot lighter in weight than the aluminium arrows and tend to be stronger as well.

The next variable you need to understand is your bow’s draw weight. This is the amount of power or force (measured in pounds) that is required to draw the nocked arrow from the bow to your anchor point.

With this information, you can probably see that a bow poundage of say 30lb will only throw your aluminium arrow a certain distance, maybe 50 yards maximum with any degree of accuracy. Because they are heavy, they will drop a lot quicker. We can also see that carbon arrows are a lot lighter so in reality, that 30lb bow will throw carbon arrows much further – perhaps up to 80 yards or more AND with more accuracy. Because carbon arrows are lighter, they will fly faster and straighter making them more accurate.

So when to buy carbon arrows? The answer is when your aluminium arrows no longer reach the distance accurately that you are shooting at. This will vary for each archer; obviously someone shooting a bow of say 36lbs will be able to throw that arrow further than a bow of 30lbs. You could also factor in draw length too – an archer with a longer draw length will put more energy into the bow limbs, increase poundage and throw the arrow further still but it still boils down to the individual archer.

Hope this helps – please feel free to comment below.