CARBON ARROWS: THE OPTIONS

In the UK, as we have already mentioned, many archer's choices are restricted to Easton A/C arrows.

The popular and inexpensive A/C/C lightweight shafts are often recommended as a first set for beginners and lowerpoundage archers, followed by the lesswell known A/C/G, formerly, and more interestingly, known as the Navigator.

At the top end the choice is either A/C/E or X10 shafts. The A/C/E at £345, will give you one of the lightest and fastest arrows available, which if you are struggling with sight marks and no scope to increase draw weight will give you better arrow speed and sight marks. Above this are X10's at £4-500 and a bit heavier than ACE'S, they drift less in the wind, but the extra weight may cause issues with attaining longer sight marks. A/C/E and X10's are sold in matched sets of 12 and the weight and spine tolerances per set are very tight. If you break one you are down to 11, it is a false economy to try and buy a single shaft. After a set is a few months old it will rarely group with the other 11 due to wear and tear. Interestingly, other all-carbon shaft manufacturers see this as a weakness in the A/C design and claim that their comparable shafts are stronger, last longer and by cross referencing batch numbers, dealers can order replacement single shafts.

The two direct competitors to Easton at the top end of the market are the Carbon Express Nano Pro X-treme (£350 for 12) and the Carbon Tech Mckinney II (£250 for 12). The Mckinney II is very light to give you a faster arrow speed like the A/C/E and the all-carbon Pro X-treme is a like-for-like competitor to the X10 – although Carbon Express would argue they are better for all the reasons mentioned above. A significant handful of elite international competitors have switched to Carbon Express recently, although they behave in a very different way from Easton arrows and directly comparing the two is difficult.