Outdoor Arrows vs. Indoor Arrows: What’s the Difference?


Outdoor season is in full swing, and with the new season comes some changes in equipment to better suit outdoor archery conditions.  One of the most important changes an archer can make to help their outdoor game is found in the arrows that they choose to shoot outside. Indoor season is all about cutting lines and near-perfect scores, whereas outdoor season involves fighting the wind and optimizing arrow flight over long distances to, again, shoot near-perfect scores.

Archery is a game of millimeters, and an arrow that’s touching the line between the 9 and 10 rings can potentially mean the difference between first place and fourth.  For indoor shooting, many archers prefer to shoot a bigger-diameter arrow to aid in “catching the line” so that they score the higher value (an arrow touching the line between two scoring rings will get the higher score).  Along with the bigger diameter, the use of actual feathers to stabilize the arrow flight is preferred because of the high drag coefficient, which allows the arrow to fly straighter in a shorter amount of time; this drag usually means that indoor arrows are heavier and slower than their outdoor counterparts.  Some archers prefer to use their skinny outdoor arrows for the indoor season simply to reduce the amount of re-tuning equipment requires when they’re switching arrows.

Outdoor shooting comes with a multitude of other challenges, most notably the ever-changing weather conditions.  Wind can affect both the archer and the flight of the arrow and, provided the archer has done the work to stabilize their body and equipment, optimizing their arrow for outdoor conditions is a must.

 

 

Arrows used for outdoor shooting are generally lighter, faster and skinnier than indoor arrows.  Of course, some archers choose not to change their arrows between indoor and outdoor shooting, but archers shooting long range target archery inevitably change to an arrow with a thinner diameter. A smaller diameter allows for the arrow to cut through the air more efficiently and be less affected by any crosswind on the field.  The use of smaller fletching, such as plastic or mylar, also cuts down on the drag experienced by the arrow and helps to spin the arrow along its long axis creating a more stable flight over longer distances.

Choosing the arrow that is most effective for your style of shooting will come with some experimentation.  Your “outdoor arrow” will be defined by which type of outdoor shooting you plan to do; target vs. field/3D.  Your “indoor arrow” might be the same as your long-range outdoor target arrow.  A field and 3D archer might choose to keep a bigger diameter arrow outdoors because the effects of wind are not as prevalent inside a forest compared to shooting on an open field. Now that you’re well versed on what differentiates indoor and outdoor arrows, grab a few and go shoot your best!

 

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