Don't know how I missed this one Dan, but I did go to bed WAY early last night...
I'm REALLY surprised to read this one:
The shop I help out at is a big traditional shop. They all swear by Gateway. We sell some trueflight's as well, but everyone prefers the gateway.
We all know Matt knows his stuff, and I'm not about to argue his personal experience at his own shop... but that's absolutely the
first time I've ever heard that... ever. I've heard many, many people claim the exact opposite. I know it's true from my own experience as well: I firmly believe that Tru-Flight offers a much better product out there, both in consistency of bases and in their coloration. Look at a Gateway barred feather, and then look at a Tru-Flight barred feather; there's simply no comparision.
bigbulls nailed it and saved me a lot of typing with his post. The only thing I would add to it is that I've sat in absolute downpours and still taken a field-point tipped arrow out of my quiver at the end of the hunt and shot a leaf with it; I experienced the same result of shooting a dry feather in nice weather. That -- coupled with my findings over the last decade that it's fruitless for me to go hunting in a torrential rain that is not going to let up before dark--gives me no cause for concern. If it is, and you wish to sit in downpours -- or are scared at the thought of being caught in one with a quiver full of feathers -- I'd suggest a couple things. One, spray your feathers down with a product called No-Sno, which can be found in Cabela's I believe. The other is to carry one vane-fletched arrow with you so you can switch to that when the heavy rains start.