Comparison of CA arrow costs

How much do arrows cost?

People often ask two important, basic questions when getting started:

How much do arrows really cost?

Is it cheaper to make them myself or buy them from someone?

While costs do vary by suppliers, shipping rates and so on, the following guidelines provide approximate costs for varying styles of fiberglass arrows (Siloflex arrow information may be available from other sources):

Style

Cost

Shaft

Blunt

APD

Padding

Glue/Tape

Label

$5.00

Fiberglass

Baldar

Asgard

(integral)

Provided

Easiest of all options! Order, receive, shoot.

$4.00

Fiberglass

Baldar

Asgard or Siloflex

(integral)

Provided

Yours

Kit purchase. As above, except Order, receive, assemble, shoot.

$3.50

Fiberglass

Baldar

Siloflex-2

(integral)

Yours

You make the siloflex APD, buy your own tape and glue.

$2.50

Fiberglass

UHMW

Asgard

Yours

Purchased UHMW blunt, shaft and Asgard APD. You buy padding, tape, and glue

$2.00

Fiberglass

UHMW-2

Asgard

Yours

You make the UHMW blunt, otherwise same as F4.

$1.50

Fiberglass

UHMW-2

Siloflex

Yours

You make the Siloflex APD, otherwise same as F5.

Note well - this is based on the following purchased component prices:

28" Fiberglass: $1.00

Baldar Blunt: $2.00

UHMW Blunt: $0.75

Asgard APD: $0.50

Siloflex APD: $0.50

And the following approximate materials prices:

UHMW 1.25 Rod: $2.50/ft

160 PSI Siloflex: $0.50/ft

Camping pad foam: $6 (enough for more than 120 arrows with single-layer padding)

Liam's opinion - The real tradeoff occurs between cost and assembly/maintenance convenience. Assembling arrows using Baldar blunts and Asgard APDs is insanely quick. Padding your own UHMW blunts saves you $1.50 or more per arrow, and adds only a few minutes per arrow to construction time. Using a homemade APD instead of an Asgard takes several minutes longer, requires a separate nock, and tape maintenance. Baldars may eventually split and fail after being stepped on, etc. There are always tradeoffs, so consider what's most important to you when making the decision.

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