Bowsite.com

CX Maxima RED

Football aficionados know the significance of the red zone.  It’s the most important part  of the football field.  Control the red zone and you control the game.  Unlike a football field, the most critical part of an arrow shaft is in the middle.  That’s why the folks at Carbon Express refer to the middle of their new Maxima RED arrows as the “RED ZONE.”  And they’ve figured out a way to manage dynamic arrow spine there, and put you in control of the game.

Background

Click for More Information

The nock, shaft and broadhead represent something of a “holey” trinity of bowhunting, holey in this case referring to how close you come to putting successive arrows in the same hole. The more you control these variables, the better you shoot, and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.  And it’s probably fair to say that of the three, the shaft is the most important variable.

Consistency

Consistency is the ultimate goal of those who shoot, and make arrows.  Greater consistency in materials and construction produces greater consistency in results, which is essentially the definition of precision.  It also leads to increased accuracy. 

The Carbon Express design and engineering team has always gone to great lengths to ensure their arrows are consistent, and as a result, your shooting is more accurate.  They use some of the most sophisticated equipment in the industry for manufacturing and testing their arrows for straightness, weight and static spine (the relative stiffness of a shaft).  Tighter tolerances in all three produce greater precision and accuracy.  In short, you shoot better.

It is sometimes said, in sports and in business that getting to the top is tough, but staying there is tougher.  Carbon Express has long held a position among the leaders in terms of arrow straightness and weight consistency, but they’ve never been content to rest on their laurels.  Still unsatisfied with the results, they recently decided it was time to look elsewhere, at dynamic spine, to build a better arrow.

If there’s a holy trinity, there’s also an “un-holey” trinity of arrow performance: Archer’s Paradox, Oscillation and Planning.

Archer’s paradox refers to the phenomenon where an arrow does not travel precisely in the direction it is pointed when the bowstring is released.  At release, there is a sudden and explosive transfer of energy from the bowstring to the arrow, which causes the shaft to bend, or flex.  The relative stiffness - how much it flexes - is referred to as dynamic spine.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  The shaft first bends one way, then the other, and continues to bend or oscillate as it flies, until it eventually recovers and flies straight.  The greater and more prolonged the oscillation, the less stable the flight, and the less accurate the shot.

At the front of this flying arrow shaft is a broadhead, the blades of which act like "wings," causing it to plane.  They also exaggerate the effects of arrow flexing and oscillation in flight, which reduces accuracy and increases the time and effort required for tuning.  The quicker and more effectively you can control these factors, the more precise and accurate the shot. 

Until now, dynamic spine was managed by giving careful consideration to all the following variables:

            1) Arrow shaft material, length, diameter and wall thickness

            2) Fletching weight, angle, shape and clearance

            3) Nock weight, fit and - as we’ve learned more recently - precision;

            4) Point weight and style and

            5) Arrow rest type and positioning.

If only there was an easier way to manage dynamic spine.

A New Wave

You can’t alter the laws of physics, and therefore archer’s paradox.  However, the engineers at Carbon Express discovered a way to use physics against archer’s paradox.  By restricting the dynamic spine flexing to the center of the shaft - the RED ZONE - instead of on the ends (like most arrows), they produced a shaft that oscillates less than other arrows.  As a result, the arrow recovers from archer’s paradox oscillation - becomes stable - more quickly and thus produces dramatically improved accuracy, especially when shooting a broadhead.  It also de-emphasizes the importance of the other variables.  The Maxima® RED™ manages dynamic spine so well, it only requires two spine sizes to match bows from 40-92 pound of draw weight.

Broadheads exaggerate the effect of arrow flexing in flight and act like "wings" on the front of the arrow.  Managing arrow flex within the RED ZONE of a shaft reduces this effect considerably, resulting in improved broadhead flight.

How

The Maxima RED is extremely forgiving because of the way it’s built.  Carbon Express uses proprietary manufacturing techniques, different types of carbon and a new, hi-tech carbon design to build the shaft.  Stiffer ends contain the arrow's flex to "RED ZONE"™® when launched and throughout its flight.  The process also produces superior spine consistency with matched weight of each arrow in a boxed set.

Recap

When the game is close you need an edge.  Carbon Express has figured out a way to manage dynamic arrow spine, confining it to the “RED ZONE,” making their new Maxima RED arrows a real game changer that will help you score big this season.