i have shot all the fletchings ever made, and feathers fly perfect everytime. big shafts to small shafts. gigantic broadheads to 1" slick tricks and trophy ridge ultimate steels. with feathers all i have to do is sight in with field tips and any broadhead of the same weight will be dead on with field tips. ive only been shooting for two years, why doesnt everyone use feathers?
Why doesn' everyone use feathers? Simple. Because vanes work equally as well. Having said that, though, I have shot feathers exclusively for 3 years now.
Agreed and I'll add one other thing for TEmbry since he isn't here. Vanes are more durable if you are "rough" on your fletchings. IMO, barred feathers look ten times cooler than any vane and that is just one of the reasons I use feathers exclusively :D.
just came full circle myself and came back to the ol 4" feathers with Rage and Slick Tricks..just feels right.
If you shoot ALOT, Feathers hold up 100x better, and fly exactly the same as brand new regardless of what they may look like! Feathers are also MUCH more forgiving IMO. I can't switch! Love them too much!
I disagree with mobow, and kinda surprised he made that statement after all the educatin' I've done on him over the years, LOL! Vanes DON'T work equally as well... The operative word here is WORK. Feathers WORK much better than vanes; Todd hit the nail on the head; feathers are far more forgiving if your fletching makes slight contact with an object on its path to its intended target. You can lose over half the length of a feather and it'll still work just as well... They fly just as well in a downpour soaking wet as they do on a bright, sunny day... I could go on and on... but Bruce already mentioned the best part: they look way freakin' cooler. there's a reason God made bird wings out of feathers, and not plastic. The reason more people don't use them? Cost. Plain and simple.
LOL........God made feathers on birds because they are lighter, and vanes are man made. Bird was here before man. :D Vanes also work when soaking wet. In fact, they don't hold water the way feathers do, though as you know that's really a moot point. Feathers do indeed work perfectly fine when totally saturated w/ rain however......That splash to the face will wake you up. Vanes also work well when damaged. As I said, I simply cut a "V" out of the damaged part and voila. It works. I've also shot arrows with only 2 vanes attached.....it works fine. Ya know how many arrows I've robinhooded with vanes? Obviously, they guide an arrow just fine, in MOST situations. I will say there are times when feathers work better, period. 1. When shooting off the shelf of a longbow. What I cannot deny is feathers are indeed more forgiving when they come in contact with anything. They lay flat and don't bounce off the object the way a rigid vane does. If a vane comes in contact with an object, God only knows where your arrow will end up. 2. With some large, fixed blade broadheads. There have been instances where I could not get a vane to guide a large broadhead, and a 5" feather will. Do those 2 things make feathers better? Not in my opinion. That just means they are a better choice some situations. If vanes didn't work, and feathers really are that much better................NOBODY would be shooting vanes. They wouldn't even be selling them. Vanes work. Vanes work very well. But again.....having said that, I shoot feathers. Love 'em.
Not necessarily. Once you understand that aligning your fletching with your broadhead blades is purely a myth (for the purported reason of improving arrow flight), it's entirely possible for your fletching to make contact with a twig or branch and have had your broadhead pass right on by it... I never worry about aligning my fletching with my blades. Also, there's a huge populace of bowhunters these days who choose to shoot mechs, for a variety of reasons... that'd be a perfect example of having a chance to have your fletching make contact and nothing else.
I'm with ya Don, I'm actually using Bohning 4" vanes made from the same material as Blazers on my arrows, Flight is perfect, as evidenced by that 43yd RH I posted up Friday. I did however end up pulling that damned finicky rest off the bow and put a Shaky Hunter on, which may be fitting when I'm chasing elk in Colorado.....:D Not quite. In my experience feathers are the least durable thing I've had on arrows. I have half a dozen arrow that all need re-fletched after the feathers partially tore off or whatever.
My feathers last as long as vanes.When they get a little mashed from being in my case or whatever,I just soak them down with hot water and run my hand across them, shake and let dry.They look brand new the next day.
Im thinking of making the switch to feathers, what would you guys recommend from an economical stand point, since I'm just a poor teenager. because i have noticed that vanes are alot cheaper.
That is the 1 reason to shoot vanes,feathers are expensive.Mean V has the best prices on feathers I have found. http://www.meanvarchery.com/Feathers.html
I'll be making the switch to TF when the batch I have now run out! The barred TF are the best looking feathers there are!
I have shot feathers for 20 plus years, did a small stint last year of messing with vanes I will never make that mistake again- plain and simple feathers effectively stabilize a broadhead better But I will disagree on one thing, I have shot gateway for many years with no issues - what makes TF so much better
