Give us your Favorite and Least Favorite shaft materials and why!

[Tetsuoh]

So here's the deal, I already know of a vast array of shaft materials, but that is not what this is about.

What I want to know is what your favorite and least favorite materials are for arrow shafts, and why they are your favorites and least favorites.

Hoping for a nice pool of info, so please reply even if you've only been doing arrow work for a short while.

I will be keeping a poll here on the first topic with the list of each and the number of people who "voted" for each.

Count So Far:

Favorites -
10  Bamboo
7  River Cane
4  Hill Cane   
4  Osier
4  Viburnum
4  Wild Rose
3  Ash
3  Hazel
3  Ocean Spray
2  Douglas Fir   
2  Popler
2  Sitka Spruce
   Alder
   Aluminum
   Birch
   Canes (General)
   Carbon   
   Cascara
   Cherry
   Choke Cherry
   Dogwood
   Fir      
   Hickory
   Indian Plum
   Ninebark
   POC (Port Orford Cedar)
   Privet
   Scotch Broom
   Sourwood
   Spruce
   Syringa (Lilac)

Least Favorites -
3  Carbon
3  Dowels/Milled Woods
2  Aluminum
   Ash
   Brazilian Pepper
   Cedar
   Douglas Fir
   POC (Port Orford Cedar)
   Unnaturals

~

[JW_Halverson]

Easily the most hated shafting material, according to me, is anything cedar.  Those shafts break if you look at them crosswise.  Far to delicate.

Favorite?  Depends on what the heck I wanna do with 'em.  If I am shooting archery league, gimme a matched set of 24 sitka spruce shafts.  Light, so they are very fast, twice as strong as cedar, easy to keep straight.  Now if I am going to go hunting or stump shooting, gimme ash shafts.  They are heavier, so that they carry more penetration grain for grain, and are almost indestructible.  Their downfall....they are a pain in the sitting muscles to keep straight. Ash will warp when humidity changes, drives me batcrap crazy.  Ok, crazier.  But you can use a set over and over and they will take a beating before surrendering. 

[Danzn Bar]

River cane favorite, because it's very available to me
least favorite carbon because it's carbon..................
DBar

[PAHunter]

I'm commenting so I can watch this thread.    So far I have mainly used bamboo and it's practically indestructible.  Now I'm trying to decide on what I want to use for hunting and target.  I'm considering sitka spruce for 3d and hickory for hunting for the mass.  Cool topic!

[bowtarist]

now now jdubya, cedar makes a nice arrow, you just have to leave them long and carry a tapper tool, fletch tight, a few points and a crack lighter. leave them long, that's the key. If you're lucky they may shoot better as you break them down. one tapper at a time...one tapper at a time. 

Cane seems to be in great surplus and strong as all get out. all different kinds too. Dries quick, easy to straighten, and tough as all get out. probly some better than others, but if it is plentiful...
BUT, to do it right you should probly scrape the skin off it or nothing will stick to it and even fletching wraps will move.

Shoot shafts of osier are nice, heavy, cut big and scrape to size or cut at 3/8" and hope for the best. take a bit to dry. I'd say most shoot shafts w/ bark left on take more time to dry than cane. ? am I wrong?

Hazel is ok, light though, but pretty tough.

Most of my shoot shaft shooting has become mainly blunt point stumping and old targets. My deer hunting arrows are osier primitive arrows. Mainly for weight and that's what I was into at the time.

One thing I never hear about arrows that may save some checking in shoot shafts is to glue the ends of the shoots like you do a stave...to keep it from checking.

 Those are the ones I've tried. My next batch may be ocean spray. I've collected quite a supply from two different sources.

Least favorite would probably be dowels. Might as well buy shafting if I'm using dowels. They have their place too though.

They all take time, dpgratz

[osage outlaw]

I love hill cane for hunting arrows.  Thick walled and a nice heavy shaft.  For target arrows I like the tomato stake bamboo.  I think it is tonkin.  They are a little lighter than the hill cane.

[Scallorn]

My favorite is rivercane it grows right around here. Next after that would be the native Viburnum that grows around here. Worst favorite is definitely any of the milled timbers, cedar, birch, spruce, ect'. I don't like milled shafts cause they cut across the grain and encourage splitting.

[Merlit]

Rosa rugosa is another fine wild rose that makes heavy hunting arrows - my favorite besides bamboo/tonkin!

[bowtarist]

I like multa-floral rose shoots too. Totally abundant, can find them straight, but they are light too. Tough though. I'm done now.  dp

[NeolithicMan]

Favorite: cant decide between bamboo and witch hazel (got alot of saplings around here)

Least favorite: POC... until one breaks at the tip and you add a good footing. I have only used osage and they fly great, hit hard, and last a while. beats buying new arrows for sure!

[Slackbunny]

Ash.

Because a while ago a friend gave me a giant chunk of it. Now I have enough ash for several dozen more arrows on top of the ones I already have made.

Also it seems to be near impossible to destroy them. I shot one directly into a tree at about five yards, and didn't hurt it a bit. I shot another one into the concrete wall of my basement. It was a blunt tapered wooden end, and all it did was bend the taper over. I cut an inch off the end and it was good as new.

There is nothing I hate more than breaking arrows that I've spent time making. I once took a batch of six cedar arrows into the woods with me for a couple hours. I came back with an empty quiver. This never happens to me with ash arrows.

[Ed Brooks]

By far my favorite is FREE ,
so far my favorite would be hand planed old growth fir.
I have used hazel nut shoots, I like how the wood works you can cut them big and plane them down, I don't like how easy they break.
have made only a few to test out of these , cascara shoots seems like it's worth trying more of, 
have used dog wood definitely going to make more.
I have used scotch broom worth trying again.
I have some new Ocean Spray drying this stuff is tough as nails (ironwood), I have made some arrows from 1yr and 2 yr shoots. the 1yr are a bit week, but still shooting them after 2yrs.
I have got to use some 1/4 garden stake cane makes good arrows but I have to buy them so those are out for me . Ed

[bow101]

Dougals Fir is a pain becasue of the grainy nature.  Hard to get a good finish, only bonus about them is when they break they usually do so with a nice clean line about 20-30 degrees, real easy peasy to glue up afterwards.
Poplar seems ok same with Alder. I have lots of ocean spray just have to go out and cut it.
Have not used some of the popular choices yet like Boo, River cane or Cedar. 

[Tetsuoh]

^ 101 Did you mean Douglas Fir is your least favorite, or? Because your kinda confusing me

Need a bit more specifics guys - getting a lot of have worked with but what not necessarily what you liked best.

I can definitely understand not being able to choose - but let us know that when ya post, lmao.

Getting a lot of liked but rather few unliked materials. But when ya love what you do, I can see that.

AND updating my first post with totals, here's hoping I actually know how to count.

[turtle]

My favorite at the moment is rivercane. Straightens easily, flys straight, and seems to be almost indesructibe. Just doesnt grow around me. Second is hazel nut. Not as durable as a lot of other material but is easy for me to find straight shoots.   Least favorite is phragmites reed. Too light and to fragile. Havnt tried a lot of the materials on your list but have also tried vibernum, poplar, and cedar which all make a descent shaft. So for me it is whatever is more available at the time time i need to make shafts.