Humidity sensitive shafts dilema

[Mesophilic]

A while back I started a thread about my bamboo woes.  Shafts breaking from glancing blows to 3d targets and shattering upon impact with hard objects.

Well,  our monsoons are here and with the rise in humidity, combined with a swamp cooler on the new house, these same bamboo shafts are behaving more like what I expected.  I've had numerous hits that would have shattered the arrow a few months ago, and the shafts are unscathed.

Are there other shaft woods that are less sensitive to humidity changes?

I'm on the fence trying to decide if I'd be better off switching to carbon.  If I can only take advantage of toughness and durability of bamboo for a couple of months out of the year its not worth it.  To stick with natural shafting I need something that can handle long months of single digit humidity and not become brittle like a box of old wooden matches.

Thanks, guys.

[Pat B]

Any shoot shafts should be more durable. Poplar dowel shafts are pretty strong but I don't know how humidity effects them. We have high humidity in the summer and a lot less in the winter and I haven't noticed much change, if any from the r/h changes.

[archeryrob]

It gets humid here in the summer, although, probably not as humid as you. Anyways, I always noticed softer woods seemed to warp and be affected more by the humidity than harder, denser woods. Also shoot arrows have concentric rings making them tougher on hard contacts. No idea what you possibly could have available to you. 

[Mesophilic]

When things slow down I'm going to work on some shoot shafts.  I've harvested Apache plume, black currant, what I think is coyote willow, and a smidge of birch.  Have alot of elm in the area that might work.

Just so darn busy right now and don't have much time for the labor intensity.  In the meantime I'm down to my last 18 bamboo arrows so I'm trying to plan ahead. 

I had a suggestion for a bamboo supplier that is very reputable so I'll get a small order from him to tide me over while on my quest for the perfect shaft.

Not to derail the topic, but I did prep one of the Apache plume shafts  it's about 5/16" thick, spines around 50-55# but the dang thing weighs 600 grains cut to 29 inches.

[DC]

Arrows aren't that big, could you store them in a container with a damp rag or something.

[Mesophilic]

That's actually a pretty good idea.  Might just make a range quiver from a piece of pvc, and when done I could cap it with a damp paper towel or rag in it.

[BowEd]

When things slow down I'm going to work on some shoot shafts.  I've harvested Apache plume, black currant, what I think is coyote willow, and a smidge of birch.  Have alot of elm in the area that might work.

Just so darn busy right now and don't have much time for the labor intensity.  In the meantime I'm down to my last 18 bamboo arrows so I'm trying to plan ahead. 

I had a suggestion for a bamboo supplier that is very reputable so I'll get a small order from him to tide me over while on my quest for the perfect shaft.

Not to derail the topic, but I did prep one of the Apache plume shafts  it's about 5/16" thick, spines around 50-55# but the dang thing weighs 600 grains cut to 29 inches.

That Apache plum of yours sounds pretty good for hunting arrows.Here in Iowa my native common plum shoots come in denser/heavier and narrower at the same spine and length as the the dogwood here too.I'll use them as hunting arrows.Coming in naturally in mass weight with a 125 to 135 grain glue on Zwickey at over 700 grains.Dogwoods here are around 100 grains lighter,a little over 600 grains in mass weight total with the same set up.
Personally I would think for nostaligic native american bows with a shorter draw than 28" the shoot shafts could be a lot shorter and still carry a good amount of mass weight to be effective too.

[ntvbowyer1969]

i use truoil on my arrows just like i do my bows. after final straightening is done i do three coats of truoil before i fletch.

[Mafort]

the poplar dowels hold up really well against humidity. of course i use a spray on polyurethane and do about 4 coats before i fletch them. now all i gotta worry about are my fletchings getting wet