feathers or vanes

[Pooh]

which is better? i shoot vanes but want to try feathers what do u think?

[frozen toes]

Personal opinion....stick with the vanes. I like them because they don't get messed up in the rain or while walking through brush. They are also more accurate at longer ranges than feathers. But, like I said, it is all personal opinion.

[Guest]

Personal choice, both work and can do the job. only thing I dont care for about feathers is that I have a friend who shots with feathers and his have a tendency to have a whistle sound when shot and I think vanes are a little more durable.I always had my feathers a little messed up but they maybe better now,I havent used them for many years.

[Jmnhunter]

i shoot beeman carbons and first started with feathers, they would fall apart easier and had to refletch them right away, I had them done with vanes, I like them, they shoot a tad bit slower, but they are more durable.

good luck

jn

[Deitz Dittrich]

I shoot feathers for target, and have shot feathers for hunting as well and was thinking of going to vanes for hunting.. I will stick with feathers for target..they are a bit more frogiving!

[Polar Bear]

Truth is...I can't understand why anybody would hunt with feathers any more. I swithched to vanes 25 years ago because of the way feathers mat down in the rain. Vanes will behave exactly the same in dry weather, snow, sleet or rain.

Its true, feathers are more forgiving of a poor release and might be a better choice for target competition on a nice day, but if you use a release aid and hunt in inclement weather vanes are the only way to go.

[delmuts]

poo. when i had my shop, i e-mailed Easton about any test done between the two,and also if there was any advantage between a left hand or right hand fletch. what they told me and info from a couple of tournament shooters,( course these are thier opinions!) is that a feather will stabilize and arrow faster and give more control at short range ( 0 to 20 yds.) due to the friction on the surface . but you do give up the durablity . vanes will preform great at close range if ;# 1 , you are using the proper arrow , and #2 that you have taken the time to tune your set up. such as finger tuning. i was told that a feather will be a touch faster out to 20 to 30 yds. at 30- 40 the vanes will catch up and past the feathers. ( we are talking mili seconds here!) soooo; in a way there are advantages to both, but many of us have gone to shooting vanes for the better durability and not having to worry about keeping them dry or water proofing the feathers. also note! easton told me there was no advantage between a left hand or right hand fletch. ( i played with all three one summer.i had fletched up 9 arrows. three with a left hand, three with right hand , and three with a straight.[2 degree offset] the only thing i found was during a cross wind the helico fletch arrows stabilized much better than the straight.) del

[jbjr]

I have to agree that shooting vanes for the better durability and not having to worry about keeping them dry or water proofing the feathers is the Primary reason I switched to vanes years ago for my compound bows.

Although I still use feathers for my traditional equipment.

jbjr

[Pooh]

thanks for all the info guy its a great help i guess ill probably stick with what i got

Thanks Pooh

[jlm]

You have to decide what sort of rest you would like to use and that will have a major effect on which choice you make. Feathers are much more forgiving than vanes if there is rest contact (which happens more than most think). This is a critical in very cold conditions as vanes tend to "get hard" in subzero conditions. This can alter your shot enough to make a "bad shot". You can eliminate contact with drop away rests and the Wisker Bisket style rests (still some contact however). If you use a shoot through rest with high degree of offset in your fletching, it is difficult to eliminate rest contact. Feathers would be your best choice in this situation. Vanes are much more durable however. I enjoy making my own arrows so re-fletching is not an issue for me. I love good feather fletching and for my situation, I will continue to use them. However, I am thinking of going to a drop away rest and if I do, I will be using vanes! Both have advantages and disadvantages. Good topic guys!

[Jmnhunter]

only way I would go to feathers again, is if I had fletcher and a unlimited supplies of feathers, then I would prob. switch.

-jn

[Pooh]

JLM i shoot a whisker biskut, with 4" vanes what do you recommend for me?? aluminum arrows if it makes a difference. my longest kill shot being 30 yards and really like my 20 yard shots.

[jlm]

If I were you with that set up, I would shoot vanes. You will have fletch contact but it is minimal with the WB. Sounds like what you are doing is great!

[treeclimber]

I shoot a Mathews Q2XL with a Drop zone rest. I too have always been a feather person but this year have been flirting with the idea of switching to vanes because of the durability issue and the weather issue. So if I were to switch to vanes what brand/style would you suggest? I do have my own fletcher so would also need some pointers on what offset and helical would work the best and preperation of shafts. Thanks and, MERRY CHRISTMAS

[jbjr]

I have had great success with Goldtip xt5575 graphite shafts, (3) - 4" Marco vanes with a slight offset to the right, thunderhead 125 tips. shooting thru a Golden Key Premier rest (super star launch).

For indoor the same setup only with (3) - 3" vanes and matched tips.

I also shoot through paper to fine tune the system. and use the same setup if I happen to switch to aluminum shafts.

jbjr