To wrap or not to wrap.

BHunter32 · 09-04-2005, 06:44 PM

I am getting ready to fletch some goldtip prohunters with the blazers and was wondering if you all think it is better to use the wraps or not? I have read that you get alot better adhesion with the wraps and that it is less likely to cause shaft damage when refletching. What is the best way to prepare these shafts for fletchingbefore applying wraps, or just fletching them without? Also, I usually fletch right at 4 degrees, and was wondering if you still get good vane base to shaft contact with this helical and short vanes? Any advice on fletching would be appreciated. Good luck this season. Bhunter32.

Allseasonhunter7 · 09-04-2005, 06:46 PM

im deffinetly getting wraps next timei think theyd show up much easier with a camo arrow

WindsorArcher · 09-04-2005, 07:00 PM

Not to wrap. Wraps are heavy and expensive - use a spray laquer or even just a good quality spray paint instead. You'll get the same results - a cool looking high visibility arrow - as with wraps without the extra weight and the extra cost. Do a search - there's been some great discussions and photos posted recently.

fatsbucknut · 09-04-2005, 07:09 PM

I used yellow spray paint several months ago and it worked like a charm. You might have to touch it up after a while but its pretty resistant.

Zach

bigbulls · 09-04-2005, 07:15 PM

Definetly wrap.

Wraps are not heavy and certainly not expensive if you buy them from the right places. Such as bowmanhunter. $5 per dozen.

They are also so much easier to roll on the shaft than having to tape one up and spray paint it then let it dry and finially getting to fletching it.

Wraps also keep the glue from adhering to the shaft and makes stripping much easier as you don't have to scrape the glue and risk damaging the shaft.

I have done both and have found that wraps are much easier to get off the shaft than paint is. There are also a whole lot more color options available when using a wrap. Wit the spray paint the best you can hope for is a fade or two.

WindsorArcher · 09-04-2005, 08:32 PM

A $5 can of paint will do dozens of arrows and adds only about 1-2 grains for a crest, a fraction of a wrap. Plus, you can crest with paint at any time, not only before you fletch. Taping is ridiculously easy - heck I tape my fletching, and paint with the feathers glued right to the shaft.

If you've got an artistic streak - I really wish I did - then the colors and patterns are really only limited by your skill, or you could settle for what you can buy in a pre-designed wrap. And as for removal, a little acetone on a cloth and the paint should wipe right off.

I actually paint the whole shaft, leaving the label as a cresting of sort. I find a hi vis white is a beautiful thing when it comes to finding my arrows in the thick, grapevine infested areas that I hunt. And, blood really shows up on it. Nice for practice, too. Can't do that with a wrap!

bigbulls · 09-04-2005, 09:05 PM

You can't do this with spray paint.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-Dozen-Bikini-Blonde-Arrow-Wraps-for-Carbon-Arrows_W0QQitemZ7180537476QQcategoryZ20842QQrdZ1QQ cmdZViewItem

Arthur P · 09-05-2005, 11:33 AM

If your arrows are wrapped with pictures of women in bikinis, you might be a redneck.[8D]

bigbulls · 09-05-2005, 12:25 PM

That may very well be true Arthur.

Heck most of us are considered rednecks any way just because we do hunt. May as well go all the way.

alwyshntn · 09-05-2005, 12:48 PM

I have wrapped before and they definitely do make it easier to strip your fletchings to refletch, but they do add a little extra weight to the back end of your arrow which normally not where you need it. The cost isn't all that bad but does run up the cost to what is most times already a $12 + arrow.

I now do a spray laquer on mine and have been using it for a couple years now with no problems..The fletchings still strip a little easier than they would if they were fletched directly to the shaft. With a little acetone the paint most generally comes right off also. I haven't tried the blazers on any yet but have been shooting the fletched to my bare shafts for a couple of months now with no problem..Like you I shoot about a 4 degree offset and it fletches on perfectly....These vanes are so durable I can't believe it!!! I have a bag target that I have set up at 40yds and the center is getting pretty shot up and my arrows are starting to blow thru but with absolutely no damage to the Blazers...WOW they are tough

I painted a few of my arrows today and I'm going to fletch on the Blazers either tonite or tomorrow and we will see how it goes...Seasons only 10 days away here now!!!!! Can't Wait