I cut five booms with the plastics until I wised up. Now I use the woodies with a 3 in. strip of electric tape along the leading edge at the tip and one wrap around the whole tip. I also simply slid a 2 in. piece of clear plastic tube over the boom at the strike area. I found a piece with a tight fit, heated it with a heat gun and slid it on. I have crashed more than twenty times with this and have not hurt a blade or the boom. Of course I bend and break everything else. Since I am not crashing so much now, I am going to try the carbon blades, but I will still tape them.