It wouldn't take more than a minute at any archery range in the world to notice that accessorizing, customizing, and personalizing archery gear is exceptionally common. Everyone has an innate, burning desire to have their bow be THEIR bow, and for their arrows to be THEIR arrows. You don't want your bow to look exactly like the guy's bow next to you, and you certainly don't want (for obvious reasons) your arrows to look the same. Just take a glance at the patch-and-pin-covered backpacks scattered around the back of the range, laying next to the sticker-covered bow cases. None of them are going to look the same, are for good reason. Your gear and setup should be an expression of your personality, pursuit, and style.
The obvious exception here is everyone's grandfather and his compound bow he got used in 2009, which looks exactly like everyone else's grandfather's used 2009 compound bow. At the very least, none of their arrows are the same, because there's a good chance most of the arrows in your grandfather's quiver don't match, either - but I digress.
Anyone can select certain limb, riser, and string colors. Anyone can use a certain color of hockey tape around their grip. Anyone can match their stabilizer to their cams and sight. Anyone can JB Weld a small, rubber Jesus figurine into a cutout in their riser. Those are all common personalization options for a compound bow. The same goes for arrows. You, and your siblings, and your parents, and your kids, and your friends, and your friend's parents all most likely have an arrow setup that is at least relatively custom - sure, many people shoot factory fletched, factory insert arrows, and there is nothing wrong with that at all.
There are, though, a ton of you out there that get DEEP into the weeds on arrow flight, performance, and customization. There are a lot of you who care about it way more than even I do, and I work for Lancaster (pronounced Lank-ister) Archery. Your topo wraps, helical TAC Driver vanes, custom number stickers, precise insert weight system, and broadhead/point of choice all do well to make sure no one at your local range is going to have the same arrow as you - and that's the point.
I bet it is about at this point that you're thinking to yourself, "Wow, I hope this guy gets to his point about hybrid hunting arrows soon." Well, your patience is rewarded. The reason that I waffled on for a bit about custom bows and arrows is because of the inherently unique nature of these 'hybrid' sized arrows. If someone asked you to name common hunting arrow sizes, your answer would probably include the big three: .166"/4mm, .204"/5mm, and .245"/6.5mm. No one would bat an eye at that as an answer, and that's because it is unequivocally true. Those are THE hunting arrow sizes: micro, small, and standard. Mostly everyone you'd ever run into bowhunting is going to have one of these three. Do you see yet how I'm going to make the connection between my custom rant at the top and the topic of the uniquely sized arrows? You do? Good.
Yes, my overall point here is that merely STARTING your arrow build with a hybrid diameter is going to give you a distinct advantage when it comes to making them unique. But, outside of the opportunity for a "nobody-else-has-this" build, there are advantages to using these arrow sizes that have to do more so with the actual performance-based, archery-centric results rather than just looking cool. Let's dive into them, shall we? First, I will begin with telling you which arrows I am actually talking about, here: the Black Eagle Spartan, the Easton Sonic, the Victory Rival X, and last but not least the UltraView UV 1K.
Components
Naturally, using a brand-specific, proprietary arrow diameter would mean you have less opportunity to experiment with aftermarket components. That is totally true, 100%. Having said that, though, these brands offer truly great options for these unique offerings, which really can end up helping to simplify your build and setup as a whole. Sometimes less truly is more. Maybe you don't agree with that, but I know there will be people who do, and maybe those people should be the target market for arrow systems such as these.
Take the Black Eagle Spartan for example. It is essentially halfway between a small and standard diameter hunting arrow, and Black Eagle does well to offer options to build it the way you want. Different nocks, screw in weight options, and an optional nock bushing mean you can build this arrow out however you want, even though it is a proprietary size. Just because your component choices are limited, doesn't mean your build scope has to suffer.
If we jump to the very popular Easton Sonic, you will see three different insert options, multiple weight screw choices, and two different nock size options (with their 4mm bushing) that allow for your choice of any 4mm nock on the market, all within their unique 6mm diameter sizing. That's remarkable.
Victory's Rival X arrows showcase a similar level of weight control. They come stock with 30 grain steel inserts, a 5mm nock bushing, 5mm nocks, and 20 grain insert weights. That is to say that you can use whichever 5mm nock your little heart desires, and that they include as stock the 20 grain insert weight, in addition to offering 10 grain and 50 grain options as well.
The final of the four arrows I mentioned above is undeniably the most unique of them all. Proprietary optimization is the name of the game here. While you can still use aftermarket 4mm nocks with the 1K's nock bushing, that is where your control ends - but that might not be a bad thing. "Why fix what isn't broken?" and all that. They include their own field points and outserts, and that is all you're going to need. Where the 1Ks really stand alone is in their diameter. While the Spartan, Sonic, and Rival X all fall between the 'small' and 'standard' arrow diameter categories, the UV 1Ks are a hybrid between 'micro' and 'small.'
The idea I am trying to drive home about these shafts - with the exception of the UV 1K, which has its entire existence built around already being the perfect arrow - is that less doesn't necessarily mean less, and that for all other arrows, more doesn't necessarily mean more. There is something elegant and refreshing about arrows with a decent build range without having access to the component market - much like a restaurant that has too big of a menu just sort of stresses you out and messes with your head. Keep your arrow-building table simple and sorted, and keep your diner menus to a maximum of 2 pages, front and back.
Hybrid Performance Advantages
To boil it down and keep it as simple as possible, the idea behind hybrid diameters is that you get the benefits of a certain size without all of the downsides. In the cases of the Spartan, Rival X, and Sonic, you get a lighter weight compared to many 5mm shafts, while not taking on too high of a drag coefficient that generally accompanies 6.5mm arrows. The same is true for the UV 1Ks. They incorporate the lighter nature of the 5mm shafts (compared to 4mm) while cutting through the wind better than your average 5mm shaft.
Want a larger diameter arrow but you don't want the wind to affect your shot at distance as much as it would with a .245" arrow? The Spartan/Sonic/Rival X is the answer. Want an arrow that flies like a .166" but without the added weight necessary to keep it tough? Go with the UV 1K. They are middle ground arrows built to bridge those gaps. It is really that simple.
The X-Factor
I know one person that actively shoots each one of these arrows, except for the Sonics, wherein I know two people. Now I know that doesn't seem like a very high number, but when you consider the sheer amount of arrow options out there, and the fact that I am surrounded by archery enthusiasts, it seems more like the perfect number in my estimation. Not too many people shoot them, but if you decided to try one out, then you'd instantly become part of an exclusive club of geniuses consisting of either two or three total people. I know I wouldn't want to shoot the same arrows that everyone else in my office shoots - that would be exceptionally boring.
Sure, you can slip right into the crowd of those that shoot RIP TKOs and Match Grade 5.0s - both exceptional arrows for what it's worth - and do your best to differentiate your arrows from the crowd of those like-minded sheep around you - again, they're great arrows and you shouldn't feel bad for using them - but why wouldn't you rather start your build, from the ground up, with something a little different? I know I'd rather hear, "Oh, wow, don't see those very often!" when I roll up with my Spartans rather than no one even looking in my direction because my arrows are the same as everyone else's.
In summary, take a chance on something different this season - it might just improve your builds, your shooting, and maybe even your life broadly. I won't make any promises, though.
If you want to check out our hybrid arrow lineup, click HERE.
This message brought to you by an archer renowned for shooting exclusively .246" arrows because he is an old chunk of coal.