breaking tooooo many

[El Destructo]

I'm really surprised about this. I've been using POC shafts for about a year on a 60lb longbow, I've never had a single one break. Bamboo is a great material for shafts and is nigh indestructible, but it's not exactly a traditional material outside of Asia and Sub-saharan Africa.

Have you tried Sitka Spruce shafts? Their reputation is generally very good and I've had no problems with them.

I have Douglas Fir....Sitka Spruce and Ponderosa Pine...and they are all good till you hit a Stump or a Rock in the Ground...or another Arrow...and then they split...crack....or just break in two....

[jape]

jape, I think you are having arrow flight issues. The arrows  should fly straight to the target with no porpoising or fishtailing. You should see nothing but fletch all the way in. My guess is they are way overspined. 45# shafts don't usually shoot well out of
#35 bows even when left full length. Bare shaft tuning isn't of much use with wooden arrows. You probably didn't want to hear this. My site may help you with tuning and making arrows. Jawge
http://mysite.verizon.net/georgeandjoni/

Thanks George, after a year of bare-shafting dozens of arrows individually I certainly didn't want to hear that! Thanks for the link, I will read and try it. You are dead right about arrows when matched up wrongly - but the 45/50# shafts are out of a 45# bow. The 35# longbow bow has its own shafts 35/40.

[benjamin]

the best shafts I've had so far are the poplar dowels at lowes and HD. My sitka spruce shafts are snapping all over the place, POC also stands for "piece of crap", and the oak I've tried makes me too nervious to shoot off my nuckle. I can't find any decent bamboo there,... I'd like to try shoots if I could find any around here. Until then, I self spine the poplar dowels from the bin and they usually shoot pretty good. The only time I've ever broken one was when I shot the nock off, and I was too happy about it to feel bad.

[Hillbilly]

Bamboo is a great material for shafts and is nigh indestructible, but it's not exactly a traditional material outside of Asia and Sub-saharan Africa.

Our native US bamboos (AKA river cane, Arundinaria-a close relative of both Tonkin and Japanese arrow bamboos) are about as traditional an arrow material as you can get-the tribes living in its range have been using it as shafts for a couple thousand years, and as atlatl darts for several thousand years before that...........same could be said of POC outside the Northwestern US.

[El Destructo]

I'll tell you what....if this Cane is as tough Shootin as it is Straightening....I am going to have a Blast with these Arrows!!!

[Hillbilly]

Mike, once you get the hang of it, it's pretty quick and easy to straighten. It takes awhile to get the feel of it, though.

[El Destructo]

Mike, once you get the hang of it, it's pretty quick and easy to straighten. It takes awhile to get the feel of it, though.

I hear Ya....I straighten one part and make the next more snakey....I seem to be chasing the Snake up and down the Cane Stalk!!!

[mullet]

  Try straightening the crooks in the shaft, then straighten the nodes. See if that helps, I drove myself crazy doing what your doing.

[Hillbilly]

Perzackly what Eddie said. Start by straightening the sections between the nodes. Treat each one individually so that each section is straight-just look at each little internode section and act like the rest of the shaft isn't there. When you get all the internodes individually straight, then straighten the nodes so that your now straight sections line up straight with each other, and you will have a straight shaft. Also, especially at first, make sure that the bend you just made has cooled down before you start heating and bending another spot.

[El Destructo]

Gotcha....will try it this weekend...when and if I get a Moment to myself!!! Can't wait till I can retire!!