[jsilva]

With me seeing some posts here about being injured by broken arrows (and coincidentally having a video show up in my YouTube feed…), I’m not feeling entirely confident about spine and arrow safety.

I had been using 500 spine 30” carbon arrows with my 30# recurve and was having issues. I decided to use them with my 50# bow and they seem to shoot well enough. I switched to 700 spine 30” for the 30#.

It didn’t occur to me there would be any issues, but do I need to be concerned about it from a safety standpoint? I recently saw on some charts that I ‘should’ be using 400 spine arrows with my 50# and 600 with my 30#.

Outside of bad arrow flight, I obviously don’t want the arrows breaking and going into my hand I just ordered some more 500 spine arrows for the 50# (ad says suitable for 40-60# recurve).

 

[Viper1]

J -

Little bit of a shock for you a 30# calls for a 30" 850 - 900 spine arrow.
500 spine = around 50# and 400 = around 65#.

For an arrow WITHOUT PRIOR DAMAGE to fail, it would have to be WAY under spined and the bow nowhere center shot.
IOWs, whenever an arrow hits something it not supposed to, thoroughly inspect it.
And yes, while rare in both cases, carbon DOES have higher failure rate than aluminum.

Suggestion: for archery, stay off of Youtube, and be careful with who you listen to on Internet forums.

Viper1 out.

 

[jsilva]

Thanks viper1. That makes me feel better

When I ordered the arrows in question I had looked up spine charts. I did a quick search just now and saw a handful of different charts which say 500 spine for a 30” arrow at 30-35#.

I’m not at all meaning to contradict you, just saying why I chose what I did. I had thought moving up to 600 would eliminate the fishtailing but decided to go to 700 for extra certainty. But perhaps that’s not even enough, as you say (I haven’t tested those 700 arrows yet). My ignorance was at a level where I had been shooting those 500 arrows for a few years and never noticed the fishtailing. It wasn’t until I got the 50# Grizzly and which shot so much better, then I started noticing the fishtailing with the lighter bow.

I have been shooting for the last 5 years but up until this year it’s been very casual and occasional. The reason I’ve become interested in more details now is because when I started this year my accuracy was a lot better without any conscious effort which was a nice motivator.

 

[Viper1]

j -

Not sure what spine charts would recommend a 500 spine for a 30# bow, without A LOT of head weight, and I mean A LOT. For a 29" arrow the standard was always a 1716, which is a little stiffer than 900, @ 880.

If it bothers you, go with a full length (30") 1816 at around 750. They will shoot but won't tune without extra head weight.

But yeah, the Internet isn't always your friend.

Viper1 out.

 

[c_m_shooter]

700 will shoot well enough from 30 lbs. Use 125 or 150 grain points.

 

[jsilva]

Just so you can see what I’m talking about, here are a couple of charts. In my quick search I only found one chart which was above 500. These could certainly be bogus sources.

https://itishooting.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Traditional-Style-RecurveBow-Sizing-Chart.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/60/b0/c5/60b0c5adc261168d1ade5453817f6d9c.png

 

[Viper1]

j -

I would delete those sites from your bookmark list - quickly.

Viper1 out.

 

[jsilva]

j -

I would delete those sites from your bookmark list - quickly.

Viper1 out.

No worries, no bookmarks Just a search I’ve done in the past.

 

[1canvas]

I have found staying on the light side of spine has worked best and tunes much better for me. But with all of the recurves with risers cut so different I would think it would be hard to follow a chart. My ILF risers are all cut past center making choosing spine a little easier.