Money Saving Tips for the DIY Bowhunter

July 18, 2024 by Leigh Hauck

As DIY bow technicians, we should always be looking for ways to make the quality of our work better and save money. Through the past decade of running my self-owned bow shop, I have come up with some great money saving tips that can help any DIY bow tech. From people just getting into the world of DIY archery, to techs who have been doing this for longer than I have been alive, these tips could help you out!

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Save on arrow shafts by improving your build quality. Unless you shoot a massively long draw length and require full length, 32” arrows, you can certainly get away with shooting 0.005” straightness arrows. If you spend the time honing your arrow building skills, you will be able to get any 0.005” arrow to outperform any 0.001” arrow of average build quality. Perfectly squared ends, meticulous fletch jobs, and calculated spine matching can transform these ‘budget’ arrow shafts to seriously lethal weapons.

Arrow straightness grades are the biggest cost factor when it comes to arrow shaft selection, and you can save hundreds of dollars by choosing lower grade shafts but putting more time and effort into them. Remember, a poorly built match grade arrow will still not fly well! It all comes down to the man (or woman) behind the build.

An easy way to cut your arrow wrap costs in half is to buy long arrow wraps and cut them in half! I always buy 6” or 8” wraps and cut them in half to double the amount of wraps I get for my dollar! Typically arrow wraps cost about $1/wrap and going from one size to the next has only a marginal cost increase. By choosing long wraps and cutting them, you are literally able to cut the cost of your arrow wraps in half!

I never build an arrow for myself that doesn’t have a wrap, and you shouldn’t either. Arrow wraps make your arrow more visible in flight, on impact, in the target, and in the ground after a shot.

However, the biggest benefit of arrow wraps comes in their ability to protect the clean carbon shaft underneath. If you accidentally shoot a vane off an arrow, or your fletching's are worn from passing through targets, you can simply peel an arrow wrap off with all the vanes and be left with a perfect and unused arrow shaft underneath to refletch.

When you need to refletch an arrow that has had the vanes glues directly onto the shaft, you will be left scraping and scratching away glue residue, and it never comes out looking great.

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Extra strength glue sticks can be a fantastic insert adhesive. All it takes is a cheap glue gun and a pack of extra strength hot glue sticks to transform the way you glue inserts, and save you some cash. Hot glue is a highly impact resistant adhesive, making it perfect for arrow shafts.

If I can replace something that I routinely use in my shop with something that I can find at my local hardware store, I will almost always do it. DeWalt extra strength hot glue sticks have been my most recent hardware store archery find, and I have been thrilled with the results of my testing.

There is only one condition with using this budget solution: if you tend to leave your arrows in a hot truck or garage on those scorching summer days, this solution is not for you. Your hot glue will melt in the heat of the sun, and your inserts can pull right out.

For me living in Canada, this isn’t an issue, but I make sure that I bring my arrows in the house on those few and far between 30+ degree (86 degrees Fahrenheit) days and avoid extended shooting sessions. For those of you in Southern states who chuckle at the fact that 86 degrees is a scorcher for me, this solution isn’t for you.  

Buy what you can in bulk. For anything in my shop that I know I am going to use routinely forever, I buy in bulk. Buying vanes in bulk can take the average cost of a vane from $0.41 per vane to $0.04 per vane. I will typically buy vanes in bulk packs of 500, and they last for years!

Another thing I buy in bulk is HIT inserts. I love Easton’s HIT inserts and will replace almost any stock insert on a .204 shaft with a HIT. By buying HIT inserts in bulk packs of 100, I save some money on each arrow I build, and this adds up quickly!

I will always buy D-loop material in bulk too. I buy black material by the roll of 100 feet at a time, and a few off-colors 5 feet at a time. Black will do for anyone but the most picky shooters. You never want to be in a position where you are short on material and can’t tie a proper D-loop. More importantly, I use D-loop material for drive cables on any drop away arrow rest.

If you install a lot of limb driven rests like I do, these use a ton of material – sometimes 18” on just one bow. I can’t afford to be short on material and not able to send someone’s bow out of the door because of it.

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The last thing I tend to buy in bulk is nocks. Like vanes, I love white nocks on arrows and I have found a brand that fits the way I build strings perfectly. On my standard 20 strand count bow strings with power grip center serving, these nocks are a perfect fit and I never want to be messing around with trying to find a close match for a busted nock.

In my shop, I sell almost exclusively .204 arrows and have built the strings on most of my customers bows, so having a drawer with 1000 nocks that will fit almost any arrow and string that I see is a no-brainer.

If you can’t find bulk packs of items like this online, just ask your local pro shop. They will be able to order bulk packs of almost any item you’d like and pass the savings onto you. 

My last money saving tip for DIY archers is to keep everything... kind of. While I don’t condone hoarding, I do suggest having a toolbox full of accessories, tools, and gear that you may have once thought to throw away. I routinely have guys come into my shop to get arrow rests replaced, and I rarely throw them out.

Sure, most of them are squeaky, dirty, and have served their purpose and then some, but you never know when someone will come in and need that old squeaky rest.

Particularly during season, I have guys come in every year with damaged gear that need a solution ASAP. If I don’t have time to order a new rest, an old – but still functional – arrow rest can save someone's hunt!

I keep arrow wraps, vanes, spare inserts, instruction manuals, arrow rests, stabilizers, and any bolts that I come across. It is truly amazing how often I find myself digging through this stuff in my toolbox, and reusing old forgotten archery gear.

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If you have any questions or would like to discuss the topic further, please feel free to reach out to us at sales@toothofthearrowbroadheads.com

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