Just got a recurve and tried shooting it with the arrows I use for my compound. The plastic vanes are hitting the side of the riser. I looked at a video of an arrow being shot from a recurve and saw that the whipping motion of the arrow is what allowed it to clear the rest. I am using the Bear Hair rest. Does this mean I will have to change the spine to control this interference with the side of the riser ?? I haven't had a chance to buy anymore arrows and would like to use plastic vanes if possible. Any information would be appreciated.
3 thought here: arrow fletching, spine and rests. I shoot different arrows with the recurve than my lever compounds. Many of the guys shooting longbow/recurve favor the turkey fletching and a number shoot wooden shafts. I don't have a problem with the wooden shafts/turkey fletching, but I shoot aluminum shafts with my recurve with 4" or (my oldest arrows) 5" plastic vanes. Turkey will 'compress' on shelf/plate yet return to their shape, but the longer vanes seem to flex or compress better than my 2" blazer types. Different arrows or fletch/longer vanes may be one way to skin your cat, but at the cost of $ or impact to your compound shooting. A different rest, instead of 'shooting off the shelf' would be another option. If you're thinking of using this bow for bowfishing, I think this may be worth looking at, even if its one of the inexpensive 'stick on' types. You can spend more on a rest, but there are also a ton of rests specialized for bowfishing. One of the guys in the bowfishing subforum may be better able to help on this front, it this is the path you're headed. Spine is a different kettle of fish and most of the vendors have a webpage or tool to help match arrows to the poundage/cam/length permutations with their recommended arrows/spine configurations. I would almost bet the arrow is over spined if you're using the same arrows on the recurve as a Z7.
