General Bolt & ZS Questions

[Boo]

Sixteen inches is so short that you don't have to concern yourself with Zombies. Go to the 0.03" Executioners. You won't see a difference if you were to shoot the 0.001" Zombies and the 0.003" Executioners. When you shorten a shaft it gets straighter and stiffer.
The Zombies are 25% stiffer than the Executioner when the same length shaft is measured. While I'm guessing the rate of stiffness is not linear when the shaft is shortened, when you compare a 22" shaft to a 16" shaft, the later is 6" shorter. More than 25%. So I'm guessing that the 16" Executioner will be stiffer than the 22" Zombie.
Does any one remember the BEA test that I conducted a couple of years ago? It will re-enlighten some of you guys.

[xcaliber]

A lot of great info there Big. As Dan was mentioning, the 16" are certainly an option. Something to consider though, the possibility of having an arrow loaded and because of whatever distraction from your routine, you unload an arrow through your foot. As impossible as it sounds, it does and has happened. I knew a fella who put a broadhead tipped arrow right through his foot. Last season Anthony (Amythntr) almost did it and I almost did it on a boar hunt but my arrow was stickinginto the sstirrup area and my boot wouldn't go in. That scared the booboo out of me and I was already fearful of that. Just wanted you to be aware. I hope it never happens but the possibility is real. Further, an arrow into your stirrup area will still drive tacks, being shorter doesn't mean more accurate.

Paul

That length will be OK. I would not go shorter as Paul says, it can & does happen. Safety, always first priority.

[TheBig1]

Boo, X, and Paul, you all made some valid points to consider for sure. I honestly believe that I'll be going with this particular company to buy bolts but now that Boo brought up the spine factor I now have more to consider. Go shorter, buy the Executioners, stay at 18" and go with the ZS's. Decisions, decisions!

Thank you all for your great amount of help.

[Boo]

Personally, I don't know why everyone doesn't make up their own arrows. I dragged a nice young man to my house this weekend and had him make a dozen. They were all within 1 grain of each other and perfectly fletched. We took 2 hours, but this was his first time. But now he's independent
Who ever is going to build your arrows, insist that they are fletched with an Arizon EZ Bolt fletching tool. That way you can repair/replace fletchings yourself.

[bubba]

Well buddy, Here's another monkey wrench thrown in.....If you are thinking of South Shore Archery and Jerry for your arrows, There is also another option he sales Spynal Tapp arrows also. All they are is Zombies without the walking dead graphics, and replaced with Spynal Tapp graphics that are made for Jerry by Black Eagle arrows. They are his store brand, at a lower cost than the Zombies, around 8-10 dollars less than the Zombies brand. Same arrow...That's the route my son and i have taken.. Not a fan of the graphics to loud for me. In fact my first order i removed them with denatured alcohol. I liked just the plain black graphite look. But the Spynal Tapp graphics are cool. My two Nickels... by the way my son makes all our arrows now. We just get our blanks and acc, from Jerry ....

[TheBig1]

Thanks Bubba, that's not a bad wrench to throw in there. I truly appreciate that and will probably end up taking the same route when I order.

[robertyb]

I thought the Spynal Taps from Jerry were BEEs not Zombies. Mine are BEEs but I have the older model.