Rob, when Blazers first hit the market, I was a bit skeptical....So, I fletched up an arrow w/ 5" feathers, and one w/ Blazers. Tipped w/ Magnus Stingers, and other than the fletching, same arrow.

Shot the feathered arrow into a deer @ 25 yards, then the blazered arrow. Cut a feather off the first arrow. Yes, they will group the same.

For the distance I shoot when I hunt.....i highly doubt I'm realizing any advantage that a Blazer vane supposedly gives me.

I'll be shootin feathers in '08.

I am a feathers guy and I constantly play with several different types and kinds of Fletching Feathers, Blazers, QS's, etc. I Love feathers and never worry about the weather thing waterproof them with spray on ignition waterproofing and I've never had them let me down. This year I used the Razr feather a lot, and was really impressed with their performance.

Dan

Thanks mobow. Of course I'll play with it but I thought that would be the case. It's been alot of years since I've shot feathers but I know different vanes all shoot the same place.

I really like the looks of Greg's arrows too. I'll have to toot his horn by saying they kinda inspired me too.

I just don't know what it is about feathers, they just look so much better than vanes. If I can get the same performance out of them at long range that I do out of my Blazers, I don't see any real reason to switch.

Rob, you make an interesting point, too. Why not carry both if they fly the same? Hmmm.

Well that Greg is one inspirational son of a gun, that's for sure... I too think feathers look really, really cool. I just can't get beyond that wet factor is all. I've seen first hand that a completely water logged feather doesn't fly the same as a dry one. And you gotta love that water spray in your face...LOL.....if it weren't for that, I would probably still be shooting them as well. Nothing out there looks as sharp as featers, IMO.

Rob they should shoot the same. The only thing that might be different would be WAY downrange.

Washington i totally agree that feathers look so much better then the plastic vanes, and lets me honest half the reason we choose the gun/bow/camo/truck/broadhead/whatever is because it looks kinda cool haha. Part of the reason i switched is i changed bow shops and the new guy is all about feathers but once i tried them i wont ever go back. First i think they are a little more forgiving, i shoot a whisker biscuit and my vanes were getting all wrinkled and tore up from shooting through it so much, the feathers seem to give a little going through the whiskers and aren't as effected. Second, they can take a beating and still fly as if they were brand new. you can take a pair of scissors and cut out big chunks of a feather vane and its fine, do that to a plastic one and they will make a ton of noise and fly all over the place. As far as being waterproof the only time they are effected is if its pouring rain, but i don't bowhunt in the pouring rain so it doesn't make a difference.
As far as what kind i shoot, to be honest i don't even know the brand, i just go with what my bowshop gives me. but i like the 4 or 5 inch vanes to help stablize the big cut on contact broadheads i like

They work better.
They are lighter which improves FOC and creates a faster arrow.
They are much more durable.
They are much more forgiving with contact with objects.
They look sooooo much better.
They don't flap like a flag when traveling at 300 fps like a vane does.
They still work even if they have parts of the feather missing unlike a torn vane

Their only down side is wet weather but unless you are hunting in real rain it really isn't an issue and there are plenty enough water proofing products out there you can use.

I switched to feathers several years ago but I still keep trying the new vanes every year cause I need to be abletotell my customers what works and what works best. Guess what? I keep coming back to feathers. They just plain work better than vanes do and they look a thousand times better than vanes do. The only thing to come close, and they did come very close,was NAP's quick spin speed hunters but durability is still lacking when compared to a feather.

I personally like Truflite better than Gateway.

Here's a pic of one of the FMJ's I built to take to NE. in Dec. They finished just a little over 500 grains and had an FOC over 20%. Barred feathers

Dan