# Wood/Carbon vs Foam/Carbon Limbs



## alaz (Mar 8, 2009)

Does one type of limb have any clear advantages (all else being equal)?
Is one more durable or more consistent? Is one considered quieter or smoother?


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## deepsprayj (Nov 4, 2011)

I havent tried foam yet, but wood/glass and wood/carbon seem similar with carbon being just a smidge snappier but a little more vibration prone.


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## vabowdog (Dec 13, 2007)

I've owned both and still own both...foam is probably more stable in all conditions...indoors really don't matter much I wouldn't thing...my favorite is bamboo core with double carbon....

Dewayne


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

I've had about dozen wood core limbs and maybe bit less than dozen foam core limbs.

There is usually a difference in feel, and foam is ofter very slightly faster, but other than that, not much. It all comes down to personal preference. In my personal favourite limbs of all time (samick ultra, samick extreme, sky conquest, mk korea 1404, border xp10 evo) there are both foam and wood core limbs. I've had about same amount of failures in both types.


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## baller (Oct 4, 2006)

In older limbs you would see more of a difference between the cores but with todays more modern limbs there is a lot less of a difference, but still some.

Wood cores:

Typically will be more affected by temperature and humidity than a foam core. Wood cores are typically shot by archers who are looking for a more stable hold and a slower heavier shot feel, kind of a classic feel if you will. A longer elapsed time from release to the arrow clearing the string (slower acceleration...we're talking thousands of a second here folks so don't go crazy).

Foam cores:

Typically unaffected by weather conditions, usually faster than a wood core mostly due to being lighter mass weight. Feel at the shot is more snappy, a shorter elapsed time from release to string clearance, faster acceleration. Typically shooters find foam cores to be a little faster but some can tend to be a little twitchy at hold.

My preference....for low to mid line limbs I prefer wood cores...I find that they are more consistent for me than their foam core mid priced counterparts. For high end I have no preference....the differences I feel between wood and foam cores are minimal, and usually base my selection on the high end on whether I need speed or consistency, and what the shot characteristics of the riser they will be mated with are.


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## Dacer (Jun 10, 2013)

the difference in speed between the foam core and wood core F7s is about 1 FPS maybe 2 - if i remember correctly.


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## Markliep (May 6, 2012)

Had a conversation with Jim Belcher at Sky today - what I got was that as carbon content goes up differences decline - the convo was foam/carbon vs boo/carbon; foam = softer heavier relatively (to boo) slower & more temp stable & the boo = lighter & snappier; fiber direction vs wood meant that boo is smooth too - hope I got that all right as i opted for xccb limbs - M


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## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

Any thoughts on Hoyt Quattro Formula foam limbs??


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## Joe Schnur (Mar 22, 2012)

From years of professional skiing foam breaks down wood core will out last in consistent performance. Skis were only good at pro level use 1season of hard use but wood core gave competitive performance for several years.bows and skis have same problems and similar performance.


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