Cedar arrows..your opinion

[nclonghunter]

Do you use port cedar arrows and what is your opinion of them?

[JW_Halverson]

Do you use port cedar arrows and what is your opinion of them?

1) They have a natural tendency to stay straight
2) Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, smells better when they break
3) And they break easy so you don't have to wait long between smellin' 'em

Sitka spruce are typically about 5-10% heavier for a given spine weight but take far more abuse.  If you like heavier arrows, I can't recommend ash shafting enough.  But the trade off is that you better get good at straightening.  I have typically straightened a set of ash shafts at least 5 x over the course of a couple weeks before they will stay straight.  Maybe I am too shy about applying heat or too tentative in bending, but they chap my britches until I get 'em where they need to be. 

Your mileage may vary.

[burchett.donald]

nclonghunter, I have used them and they easily straighten and hold. Kind of a light shaft and probably back in the day it was the most popular shaft. They are excellent choice...They stain well and smell good to. What are you looking for? Hunting shafts and or target shafts?

[Pappy]

JW pretty much summed it up, but I do like them and use them quite a bit,I do prefer Sitka tho. 
   Pappy

[nclonghunter]

Thanks for the responses. I will be using them for hunting and I like heavy arrows. I just hate to use a self bow then shoot a carbon shaft but my expierience with natural cedar arrows is that they warp or bow easily. I will look at the Sitka shafts rather than cedar.

Who sells the ash shafts and are they as durable and heavy as Sitka shafts?


Thanks

[steelslinger]

Surewood shafts (available at Echo Archery) are old growth douglas fir, and they have been able to hold up to my crappy shooting. I only got a couple weeks of shooting out of the cedar shafts.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Try ash shafts. They are finicky in the straightness dept, but it can be done. They weight up real nice. 600 grains plus.

[adb]

Pretty much use cedar exclusively. Cheap, good quality for the most part (straight grain and weight matched), and readily available.

[killir duck]

nothing compares to river cane for weight and strength they are somewhat hard to straighten but once you get em straight they stay straight, i have no use for cedar as i shoot 75#+ and they just aren't anywhere near heavy enough, but back when i shot 50-60# i got some sitka spruce and they were pretty good, i also had some other POC from 3rivers that was awful they looked good and the grain was straight and tight but they would break if you blew on them, they did smell nice though. if your going to use a lighter wood i would suggest lodgepole pine (chundoo) i've had good luck with the stuff from 3rivers. i also use hickory quite a bit it's great if you like 650gn+ shaft. just my 2 cents worth,   Duck

[Pat B]

I learned to make arrows with cedars. Their downfall IMO is their brittleness and they are a bit light. Cedar arrows have probably killed more game than any other modern wood shafting(last 75 years).

[PEARL DRUMS]

No question Pat. There are plenty of hunters who still dont know they make other wood shafts than cedar!

[NeolithicMan]

I had a dozen cedar shafts, blew threw them in about two weeks target shooting. they do smell fantastic but the cost to use factor steered me towards making my own. between drying some shoots I tried making a few out of oak and poplar dowels from Lowes and was very pleased with results from both. I also used the old cedar shafts that broke near the tip to practice making footed arrows. they seem to be more durrable and I think look better with a walnut footing.

[FAW]

I started with cedar and it was a great learning experience. They were cheap then ( many years ago ) and in a premium grade required little work to straighten and keep them that way. I learned however to appreciate a heavier arrow and experimented with ramin, birch, laminated birch, hickory, ash, sitka spruce, Douglas fir and even maple. Dogwood shoots and cane arrows soon followed. I like the cane because generally the shafts are thinner for a given weight and heavier at the point end ( natural taper ). Those dogwood shafts are sturdy but to get a matched set might take a lifetime of work. After all the years and the natural progression of things, if I had to settle for one shaft now at this moment it would likely be the sitka spruce. There is certainly nothing wrong with cedar, but I think it is more difficult now to get the heavier weight and heavier spined cedar unless you increase the arrow diameter. My own choice would be sitka spruce or laminated birch in a 5/16 or 11/32 shaft tapered at the nock end.

[mullet]

 I have about 200 that were given to me, matched 50-55 so I shoot them. Like everybody said they break easy. I prefer to hunt with Tonkin shafts or my pretty arrows made by Mr. Butner.

[twisted hickory]

Only been in this primitive stuff a little over a year. But here is my experience
Cedar, great target arrow but doesn't tolerate stumping well at all.
Red osier dog wood, nearly indestructible but not as accurate.
Douglas fir, a good shaft that is somewhere between the two mentioned from my experience. They will warp a little tho. I really like them for hunting/stumping arrows. Kinda heavy as well which I like. full length 50-55 w 125 head weigh in around 530-580. I made up a dozen tree rat arras that were heavy and they go 590-620 with 145 gr blunts. They stop a tree rat in their tracks when shot out of my 69 lb wampanog paddle bow.