# Port Orford Cedar vs. Sitka Spruce



## J. Wesbrock (Dec 17, 2003)

Sitka spruce is a little tougher than cedar, but it's also a touch heavier, doesn't straighten quite as easily or stay straight quite as well.


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## SlowBowInMO (Dec 4, 2003)

Cedar is IMO the easiest wood to make a really good arrow out of. Really good arrows can be made from a host of other woods, but take a little or sometimes a lot more effort.

Cedar also flies like a dream, if somebody says their XXX woodies fly as good as their cedars, they're saying something!:thumbs_up 

Messing around with different woods is one of the great traditional tinkering pastimes, it's just plain fun!


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

J. Wesbrock said:


> Sitka spruce is a little tougher than cedar, but it's also a touch heavier, doesn't straighten quite as easily or stay straight quite as well.


so it may be stronger, but it is very tempermental?


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## J. Wesbrock (Dec 17, 2003)

kegan said:


> so it may be stronger, but it is very tempermental?


Like how?


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

likes to bend and stay bent.


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## J. Wesbrock (Dec 17, 2003)

Yeah, in that respect they're not as nice as cedar. Still not as bad as hardwoods though.


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## LBR (Jan 1, 2004)

It's been a while since I shot spruce, but as best I can remember there wasn't enough difference in durability (for me) to make a difference. Shots (or I should say misses) that broke POC would break spruce, and vice-versa. I've tried lots of different woods for arrows, but always wind up going back to POC--good quality POC. With the prices going up and up, not sure just how much longer I'll be shooting POC though. I have a few year's worth of shafts stuck back, but after that supply is gone I just don't know--if the trend continues the way it has the last 10 years or so, by the time I need new shafts they will cost a lot more than I will pay. May have to swap to c-c-c-c-c-c-c.......them black shafts.

Chad


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## J. Wesbrock (Dec 17, 2003)

Chad,

You can always get some of those wood grain carbons. Keep a broken cedar shaft in your quiver to sniff on every now and then and you'll never know the difference.  

I understand what you mean about prices and quality (or lack there of) with respect to cedars. I ran into a good deal on POC seconds a while back for small game hunting and bought enough to make my wife think I'd completely cracked up. If I limit my losses to 50 per season I should be in good shape for about 40 more years. At that point I may have to tap into my stash of about 500 Sitka Spruce shafts to get by. :mg:


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## hockeyref (Jun 2, 2006)

*Other woods?*

Any one else shoot Douglas Fir (probably similar to the Sitka Spruce), Ash, or Maple shafts? 

I like my Ash shafts - very tough in my experience - but the grain doesn't seem as fine as some of the other woods. Not real easy to straighten, but easier to straighten than Maple in my experience. I've have to put heavier coats of urethane on Ash to get them really smooth...

I currenlty hunt with 65# bows and like a finished arrow weight in the ~700 grain range. I need at least a 31" arrow so I taper full length shafts and go shoot. So, I need raw shafts in the 550-600 grain range -I'll lose about 20 grains of weight in the point and nock taper and I like 160 - 190 grain heads. It can be difficult to find quantities of POC that are straight, heavy enough, and spine out at 75-80#... Easier to find this in some of the hardwoods so I haven't really looked at POC in many years....


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## LBR (Jan 1, 2004)

I've shot Douglas Fir, Maple, Ash, Spruce, Norwegian Pine, Chundoo/Lodgepole Pine, and probably a few more I can't remember off-hand--I still shoot POC. I draw 30.5" and pull 66#, and my hunting arrows weigh well over 600 grains--I think around 650 (need to weigh them again--can't remember) with 125 grain points. I also shoot 75-80# spine, and although they aren't as plentiful they can be found.

I liked the durability of ash, but I hated the fact that they wouldn't stay straight. The maple I tried was neither straight nor durable. Fir and spruce were ok, but the folks I buy most of my other equipment from didn't carry them. Can't get Norwegian Pine anymore, and I never cared much for chundoo. Laminated shafts cost too much and I didn't see much if any benefit from them.

Off the top of my head, you might try Joe Stark at Lone Wolf or Raven for POC--over-all, I haven't found a shaft yet that can compete good POC.

Jason, would you adopt me?:angel: I was proud of my 15 dozen or so shafts I have stashed away until you rained on my parade! Wish I could run across a good deal on POC--would love to have a couple thousand stuck back for hard times.

Chad


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

okay. from what has been said i will go with the cedar arrows. 

and i'll rember to get some of those stump shooting judo points so i don't lose them practicing and small game hunting.


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## LBR (Jan 1, 2004)

I'd go with Ace Hex Heads for stump shooting--tougher and cheaper.

Chad


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