For those of you guys with experience with Footers, do you have any recommendations on where to buy them?
I think it’s a collar that goes on the arrow after you cut it and before you put the insert in? Supposed to reinforce it
yeah willo is on it. I don't know if they have an actual name. Everyone seems to call them something. I most commonly seen them referred to as footers.
Ray at VPA custom shop makes a flanged footer that is excellent and good value. Ironwill Outfitters cam out with steel footer, excellent but pricey Elk River makes non flanged footers that are epoxied on, little longer then the VPA. Great quality and workmanship. Footers with 204 I’d shafts and brass hits are the cats ass.
A footer is a piece of tubing either over top or underneath the main shaft with the purpose of preventing the insert from busting out the side of the shaft on hard impacts. Traditionally, they're nothing more than a piece of Easton XX75. shaft that the inside diameter matches closely that of the outside diameter of the main shaft. Most recently and particularly since the Advent of the outsert many sleeve type footers have hit the market. Mostly because outserts are weaker to begin with because they can't "lean" on the shaft. Here are some examples.
Yup I use footers on all my arrows for the last 4 or 5 years. Best thing I ever did with my arrows. I do same as pics above, take aluminum xx75 arrows and epoxy over my carbon. I have only broke 1 arrow since I did them. Very strong and adds some weight to the front which doesn't hurt! Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Had a friend try them for the first time. He figured the best way to test if they really do work is to make a stump/bird arrow. He spent last summer shooting everything that moves and then some. Recorded over 1000+ shots I think it was. Hit rocks, culverts you name it. All on one arrow. Never failed. Nough said.
I used the VPAs this season- really really like them. Great customer service as well. Almost forgot to mention- first buck I killed this season; complete pass thru at about 15 yards at a pretty steep angle. Used a Trophy Taker A-tac. Arrow buried about 16" into soft sandy soil then hit a rock. A-tac blade and ferrule was bent all to hell- but the arrow was OK. I am certain the footer kept the shaft from shattering. what is the OD of your arrows? Not the XX75s; the carbon.
I'm shooting CX piledrivers 350. Don't know exactly off the top of my head, but real close to .305. I had looked it on a another website before. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Here are the specs for anyone wanting to make footers out of aluminum shafts. //cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5c3ddbb521ba2/Easton_Aluminium_Arrow_OD_ID.pdf
for those that are interested; the nice thing about the VPAs (aside from being already cut) is they come formed with a little inward-rolled over lip/flange that actually locks or cups the end of the shaft and acts like kind of a washer between the broadhead and the shaft further protecting the shaft from splintering. Also, this precludes the need to glue them on permanently- when screwing the head on it locks the footer in place and you are good to go. If the arrow gets damaged you can re-use the footer (assuming it's not also damaged) Also, all the edges are milled and butter-smooth - no machined or cut razor sharp edges/burrs to worry about. EDIT- I was looking on the intranets for a link; and saw some video where it appears that the little flange/rolled edge I am referring to is not featured in all varieties of VPA footers. Maybe older ones didn't have it or maybe different sizes...but the ones I bought last year for .204 diameter shafts have that feature.
That flange is SO important. It is the difference between disbursing forces down the shaft or trying to absorb them all in one spot. The latter is what leads to the shaft splintering aka mushrooming. You can also do this with the insert I came up with aka duplex insert because the collar of the insert butts flush onto the footers outside diameter. A poor man's approach would be a simple washer. Not quite as good because it's not one piece but certainly better than nothing. PS the first pic from the top in the examples I post is a duplex insert. The 4" piece of aluminum shaft goes inside the main shaft. The insert shank is catered to the diameter of the footer but the collar to that if the footer. So everything is flush. You can reverse this and put the footer outside so the outer edge is hidden by the insert collar as well. To each their own. I prefer it inside because I believe it's actually stronger by working with the forces rather than against.
