| Tapered advantages are the spine is changed little but you lose a bit of weight = faster arrows = flatter trajectory for longer, nice for speed freaks.
A shaft tapered on the nock end allows the arrow to pass through paradox with less lateral movement of the point end. This subsequently allows the arrow to recover more quickly (this is particularly important with traditional bows but L/B's in particular).So less waggle, I find that I can use less fletch too if I want, that also gives a little extra speed and so a flatter trajectory.
The tapered nock end also moves the centre of gravity forward giving a better flight characteristic not only that but it reduces pressure on the bow from the nock end of the arrow reducing feather wear and tear and again less waggling, I find too that these shafts can be more forgiving of poor releases in that they do not accentuate a bad loose.
I prefer my taper on the back although one friend of mine likes chested arrows, i.e. tapered at both ends or barelled, Paradox and flexing of a parallel shaft loses more energy with the shaft bending more in the center and over it's whole length. The stiff center of a barreled shaft transfers paradox to the skinnier ends and retains more energy from the bow with less flex at the center on launch. With less flex at the heaviest section of the shaft, the added retained energy improves momentum and again speed. It is possible too that the barelling means that there is a bit of leeway regarding straightness, I had some from the States some years ago out of the Tallahatchie woodshop they were beautifully balanced and spined and weighed to the Nth, I think they were called super cedars. Quicks had them for a while but for some reason (probably the £22 per dozen price tag) they never took off, I have to say they were wonderful and worth every penny. I have been shooting tapered arrows for years, wouldn't shoot anything else and now that Chris is producing his in taper I don't need to import from the States, I just got delivery of a batch and they are Top Johnny. I have never understood why many Trad archers would not want to shoot the best arrow they could and for the small amount extra a decent shaft costs you'd have to be crazy to shoot nasty arrows.  |