Okay, question for some of you. Can a point be reached or has it already been reached where an arrow is simply traveling too fast for feathers to provide sufficient steering/stabilization?
Would you mind explaining the theory behind the question? Why would a feather be more limited than a blazer in that regard?
Feathers can cause issue at extreme speeds with light arrows. When you slow a fast object to fast which feathers could do, it causes the object to become unstable in flight and groups open up. Imo this is one reasonis blazers are having so much success.Think about field shooters. You dont see feathers or even long vaneos for 70 or 90 meters.
Why not just fletch the feathers on straight, with no helical or offset? Then there wiil be no slowing effect.
An arrow still spins even if the fletch is straight,especially a feather. Plus a feather creates more drag. Don't misunderstanding, I prefer feathers but there are trade offs and different situations call for different setups.
Agreed, but the question was, "Can a point be reached or has it already been reached where an arrow is simply traveling too fast for feathers to provide sufficient steering/stabilization? " and I am not sure how the feather fletch could not provide sufficient steering/stabilization. It would probably also be helpful if he was clear about what situation we were discussing, hunting or otherwise. I know he is looking for a new hunting bow and I assumed the question was related to that.
My answer is yes. Lol But not a factor for most hunting rigs.I personally wouldn't shoot a 300 grain arrow 330@ fps for hunting with feathers. But others would.
Sorry I wasn't more clear on this, guys. Yep, it is related to my search for a new bow, but I can assure you that my hunting arrow won't be anywhere near as light as 350 grains. I am looking at a much faster bow, but haven't decided yet. I may end up going with a Heli m, which is only rated at 12 fps faster than my Drenalin and that would translate into not much change at all. It's just that this whole process got me wondering about some of those speed bows shooting a light arrow. While I have no intention of going light and fast, I was curious if an arrow would reach a speed fast enough to make the feathers "lay down" enough to lose their ability to steer. I was just curious. :D
It wouldn't be the laying down that would be the issue. If your not going to shoot a really light arrow. Then you wont have an issue.
Trueflight has a demonstration that shows a feather fully standing at 350 FPS. Granted it's off TF's website so it might be tainted, but I wouldn't doubt that it's true. I much prefer the speed within hunting distance (40ish yards) that a feather provides over a vane type fletch. I haven't been able to find a problem with shooting feathers at over 300 FPS yet out of my Rogue. They perform great.
I shoot 3" Gateways. I currently shott them on FMJs at a touch over 300 fps. I also shot them on GoldTip Velocity 300s at just under 330 fps without any issues. I think it really depends upon the quality of the feathers.
i have gateway 2 inch razrs an 4 inch gateways on all my arrows shooting 315 fps it doesnt cause any problems at all. with feathers versus plastic vanes you get a better foc with feathers as they weigh alot less then a vane which is the main reason i switched to feathers
Matthwewalker- Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. I'm shooting over 300FPS out of my Rogue with a 4" trueflight shield cut feather on helical design with Beman ICS carbons. You pick up speed and predictability with feathers but make a little more noise in flight than a plastic vain. If a whitetail can dodge my arrow coming at it at over 300FPS from 50 yards, it deserves to get away. I've yet to have one dodge my arrow at 35 yards (farthest I've taken an animal).
So, would a feather lay down when it's accelerated out of the bow & have to pop back up during flight? Slo-mo video? After sitting in the rain for a day, I wondered if those flat feathers would do anything for me anyway.
I've tested the wet feather theory. I dipped them in a glass of water for 10 minutes then shot them. Aside from getting sprayed in the face the arrow flew perfectly fine. When you release the arrow, most of the water comes off the feather anyway.
