Facts About Aluminum Arrows

Easton Archery introduced the first trademarked aluminum arrows in 1955. Aluminum arrows are used in both hunting and target archery. Aluminum arrow shafts replaced wood shafts with the advent of the compound bow, but have been dwarfed in popularity by carbon arrows, due to carbon arrows' straightness and durability.

  1. History

    • In 1825, metallic aluminum was created by Danish chemist Hans Oersted. In 1939, James Easton began to use aluminum in the formation of arrow shafts. Two years later, Larry Hughes won the American National Archery Championship using aluminum arrows. Easton Aluminum trademarked the XX-75 arrow shaft design in 1955, a design that has changed little since that time.

    Identification

    • The main manufacturer of aluminum arrows is Easton Archery. Easton Archery uses a four-digit number to identify each shaft. This four-digit number consists of two two-digit numbers. The first number is the diameter of the arrow shaft in 64ths of an inch, and the second number is the wall thickness of the arrow shaft in thousandths of an inch.

    Advantages Over Wood Arrows

    • Wood was the original material used for arrow shafts and was convenient due to its availability as a resource. However, it was difficult to work with, and when the compound bow replaced traditional, or non-compound bows, wood was replaced with aluminum arrows.

      According to Strictlybowhunting.com, the aluminum arrow is more durable than wood, as well as widely available and inexpensive.

    Advantages Over Carbon Arrows

    • Carbon shafts were developed by Easton Archery in 1983. Carbon arrows are more generally more expensive than aluminum arrow shafts. Additionally, there is a wider range of aluminum arrow sizes on the market than carbon arrow sizes. Aluminum arrows are also heavier than carbon arrows, which contributes additional momentum in the arrow's flight.

    Disadvantages

    • Aluminum arrows can be damaged or bent quite easily, whereas carbon arrows have the ability to always retain their straightness. Due to the increased strength in the shaft, Archerybuff.com reports that carbon arrows penetrate more deeply in targets than aluminum arrows.