I shoot with feathers. 5" left wing. My current ones are a turkey feathers in sort of a brownish grey tone. Blood shows up well.

Since I shoot fingers,I like thier more forgiving characteristic. They seem to stabilize the arrow faster, but that may have to do as much with surface area and spin, I don't know for sure. If they just touch brush, they are less likely to deflect as much a stiff vane.
And I think they hold to the shaft better since thier base in contact with the fletchlack is porous where vanes are not. The bonding to the staff is very strong. Also like stated earlier they can be put back into shape with a little steam.
I only shot vanes for one season out of 40 plus seasons, just did not work for me.
Im going to try carbon arrows this year so I have no real insight into their preformance in that area.

Work hard and be true to yourself.
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