Hard helical. I need all the help I can get. Just for S&G's, though...what kind of fletch are you considering?
Bruce... Asking because I don't know.....but can you fletch helical without an offset? Just wondering how you would get them to seat, otherwise. If you're shooting Blazers (and similar short fletchings)......I don't see how it matters, much.
Yes, you can. Offset refers to the centerline of the fletch in relation to the centerline of the shaft, this is a non-helical fletch [ | ] , this is the helical fletch with centerline showing [ $ ] and this is an offset [ / ] (kind of hokey diagrams but I think they work LOL). Now, imagine that dollar sign tilted like the offset and you will get the idea. I can set the top and bottom knobs on a Bitzenberger so that the centerline of the helical fletch is on the centerline of the shaft, no offset. What I do with my fletching is swing the top of the fletch to right and the bottom of the fletch to the left so that the centerline of the helical fletch is now offset from the centerline of the shaft. That would be for a right helical. For your left helical you would swing the top to your left and bottom to your right.
i was just curious to see what was out there as far as set ups... id like to eventually try out some helical arrows to see how they would work out but from what i understand id have to venture away from my octane hostage rest
I get what you're saying, Bruce. I just always figured I HAD to offset them, to get them to seat, properly. Maybe I don't (have to). But, I know I do (fletch offset, also). I just figured "offset/helical" was redundant. Learn something, every day!
I've been thinking about buying a fletching jig, and it seems like most people are using an offset or helical vs. just a straight fletch... I'm just curious if there is any reason not to go the helical route? Sorry, I wasn't trying to hijack this thread! FWIW I've been looking at the Bitz jig and it seems to be the way to go.
For hunting purposes helical (offset or not) is the way to go as it provides more forgiveness on the shot. The same reason a bigger fletch would be better than a smaller one and the same reason 4 fletch is better than 3. You just have to balance all that out with what you want and how much forgiveness you may need. I used to use a 4 fletch but found that it didn't afford me much, if any, more forgiveness on my shot than a 3 fletch but that was determined by a lot of shooting.
I would imagine a large percentage have at least an offset???? My recurve arrows are offset and helical my 2" blazers are just offset.
I fletch everything offset. For my target arrows that I shoot off a tuner blade, it makes it much easier to get the clearance I need when compared to helical. I tend to leave my jig there for everything so that if I need to fletch up or refletch a specific arrow I can make sure it matches the others.
