Welcome to the forum, Hudds8. Here in the US, VAPs are fairly popular while Skylon Paragon shafts are probably not very well known. The closest North American distributor for Skylon seems to be in Canada.

 

I shoot the Paragon and Performa. I am about a 225/300 barebow shooter, so not too great. I cannot discern difference in Paragon vs. Performa and now just buy the performa as my baseline arrows. I like them very much. I chose them as I have some physical disabilities that limit my draw weight, and need 31+ inch arrows that are light GPI to make most of relatively low draw weight bows. Secondarily, I have some old bows not too centershot, this helps a tiny bit there.

For me, these fit the bill. I have shot them for about 4-5yrs successfully, from trad recurves, longbows, and super recurves. I have not shot the Victory VAP so cannot compare.

They are tough, good shooting arrows. I use the bullet shaped glue in tips. Tough worth mentioning- the ONLY broken arrows I have experienced were from hitting steel posts that hold up our targets (long story, involves loaning folks a bow to shoot with.) I have had them stepped on, stuff dropped on them, etc etc. They shrug off 2x4 hits with impunity. My suspicion is that the increased wall thickness makes these unusually tough. A cozen will last you years on a range- I only replace every 3 years now.

I don't have a spine tester, so cannot speak to their consistency... not sure I could tell anyway. I have watched forums for years for commentary on these arrows- I have only seen positive reviews, no negatives.

That said.. unless you REALLY need light GPI, or are certain that skinny is essential for your shooting..

If you plan to hunt I would recommend getting arrows that you could use standard screw in tips. IMO- It is too hard to use these for hunting arrows, for that I have Easton Carbon Traditional.
The second downside- it is quite a bit harder to fletch these skinny arrows with feathers.... I don't claim to be a good fletcher, for me these are way harder than a traditional sized arrow to fletch properly.
The third downside- The lack of dealers here in USA is a pain. I buy from Alternative Services in UK, fine folks, but hassle sometimes.

I doubt that most folks can discern difference in great vs. good enough arrows. I certainly fall into that camp. For me these are great 3.2mm, low GPI arrows for use at the range.

 

I shoot the Paragon and Performa. I am about a 225/300 barebow shooter, so not too great. I cannot discern difference in Paragon vs. Performa and now just buy the performa as my baseline arrows. I like them very much. I chose them as I have some physical disabilities that limit my draw weight, and need 31+ inch arrows that are light GPI to make most of relatively low draw weight bows. Secondarily, I have some old bows not too centershot, this helps a tiny bit there.

For me, these fit the bill. I have shot them for about 4-5yrs successfully, from trad recurves, longbows, and super recurves. I have not shot the Victory VAP so cannot compare.

They are tough, good shooting arrows. I use the bullet shaped glue in tips. Tough worth mentioning- the ONLY broken arrows I have experienced were from hitting steel posts that hold up our targets (long story, involves loaning folks a bow to shoot with.) I have had them stepped on, stuff dropped on them, etc etc. They shrug off 2x4 hits with impunity. My suspicion is that the increased wall thickness makes these unusually tough. A cozen will last you years on a range- I only replace every 3 years now.

I don't have a spine tester, so cannot speak to their consistency... not sure I could tell anyway. I have watched forums for years for commentary on these arrows- I have only seen positive reviews, no negatives.

That said.. unless you REALLY need light GPI, or are certain that skinny is essential for your shooting..

If you plan to hunt I would recommend getting arrows that you could use standard screw in tips. IMO- It is too hard to use these for hunting arrows, for that I have Easton Carbon Traditional.
The second downside- it is quite a bit harder to fletch these skinny arrows with feathers.... I don't claim to be a good fletcher, for me these are way harder than a traditional sized arrow to fletch properly.
The third downside- The lack of dealers here in USA is a pain. I buy from Alternative Services in UK, fine folks, but hassle sometimes.

I doubt that most folks can discern difference in great vs. good enough arrows. I certainly fall into that camp. For me these are great 3.2mm, low GPI arrows for use at the range.

]Thanks for the info Pipcount I have heard that some of the points can be a poor fit have you not had any problems or do you use a different make of point / nock?

 

Thanks for the welcome Dave, have you any experience of the VAPs yourself?

 

I shoot vaps and they are phenomenal

 

I've shot both. The VAPs are usually lighter per spine but also more fragile. I'm not a fan of the VAPs overly sharp points or the Bohning nocks they come with either.
Likely I'll be shooting the even thinner Skylons once my VAPs have run out.

 

Thanks Grantmac,
I thought the VAPs were supposed to be pretty indestructible but maybe not.

 

Hudds8, no I don't own any VAPs. I'm not a target recurve shooter per se and don't care much for the micro diameter shafts for 3d or hunting. I shoot barebow, mostly gap shoot and occasional stringwalking. My old eyes just prefer larger diameter shafts.

The only complaints I've heard about VAPs is that the points and front end of the shaft are rather easily damaged by impacts with hard objects. I suspect those issues are less frequent when shooting paper target backstops versus 3d shooting.

 

@Hudds8 - I simply shoot the standard points from Skylon at link below. I have had no issues with them. I tried the bulge points for a while, threw them away- too sharp, would stick me. No real benefit to them I could imagine.

I have purchased some alternative 3.2mm points from Amazon once when I was in a rush. Worked fine as well, maybe a bit loose.

These have been great arrows for me.. I just bought another dozen shafts last week.

Skylon Paragon points (doz) | Alternative - Archery Shop > Arrows > Points

Break-off style stainless steel target points designed for the Skylon Paragon, Preminens, Precium and Performa series arrow shafts with 3.2mm internal diameter.

www.alternativess.com

 

Cheers Pipcount I usually use parallel points too so sounds good