The world of feathers...
 

I'm strongly considering making the switch to feathers this year. Not because the Blazers have failed me, but purely for asthetic purposes.

I really don't care to hear "If it ain't broke..." But why should I not shoot them?

Why should I?

Which feathers are best? (Really looking to Greg / MO here, I knw you're a feather shooter.)

I'm honestly not looking for a debate here, so if we could avoid that guys, that'd be super. ;)

RE: The world of feathers...
 

I personally shoot 4" left wing feathers. I love the clearance, the control, and the way they look. You can also shoot off half a feather and it'll still steer the arrow well. I havent had the problems with them getting wet and not flying well either.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

1. Rain
2. Durable
3. because I demand it:D

I was never more happy to hunt in the rain this year and not worry about water proofing my arrow.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

I've heard the rain thing is pretty much a myth, Germ. Unless your arrows are absolutely drenched, and even then they're still shootable.

Am I wrong?

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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. I may try some out in the future for my indoor arrows, only problem is that we only have right wings and my helical clamp is left...I've been too lazy to order a clamp or new feathers. I'll get around to it one of these days when I need to refletch my indoor arrows.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

No, it all mental with me:D It gets in my head. Another reason is when they get messed up. I know they shoot the same, but it bugs me.

I have shot feathers for 22 years. This was my first year with blazers.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Switched back to feathers this year for hunting. I like the looks, forgiveness, stabilization, and I think I mentioned looks.:D

I've never had a problem shooting them wet.

I shoot gateway and love them, but I've heard that the Tru flite feathers have more consistent bases on them. Not sure though.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

I used to shoot feathers way back when. They were more forgiving with springy rests and I shot feathers because I couldn't avoid fletching contact. They do steer the arrow well but they were noisier and didn't handlle wet weather very well. I'll stick to my Blazers now.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

When I was shooting feathers, I shot Gateway. I can't say whether they're any better than trueflight, I didn't shoot those.

I highly suspect though, that one isn't any better than the other.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

I'm going to fletch some up with feathers too, like you said, for the looks more than anything. I will however have some fletched with Blazers,

And anyone can answer or have input here, am I assuming correctly and I'll play with this to know, there isn't any reason why my Blazers and feathers shouldn't group together. Have both in the quiver for the weather issues?

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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. ;)

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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.:D

Dan

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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. ;)

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Well that Greg is one inspirational son of a gun, that's for sure...:D 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.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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

RE: The world of feathers...
 

bigbulls pretty much summed it up. I shoot a WB and the feathers hold up quite well. I never worried about them getting wet because I don't hunt alot in the rain. If I did or was elk hunting or something I would waterproof them, no big deal. I still have my recurve arrows in feathers and some for the compound but I don't use them when hunting with the compound primarily because they can be noisy when brushing up against something - tree, clothing, whatever. While I would say the feathers provide excellent flight, I get good flight with the vanes but I would say they are quieter in the field. At least that's my experience. Of course, if you're careful not to brush them up against anything it no more problem than them getting wet.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

They fly great,even wet.


I prefer the tru flight feathers over Gateway because they have a much more consistant base.Not sure if the feather itself holds up better or worse,I have shot both and can't say 1 way or the other.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

If I was to shoot feathers, these would be the ones. Those are some "mean" looking arrows;)

RE: The world of feathers...
 

My 4" Gateway feathered arrows shoot a little lower than my Blazered arrows. I am going to give the Razor feathers a try.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

I've been shooting feathers for 25+ yrs-most of those years it's been Tru-flite(gateway has cooler colors but thick hard bases).Being wet doesn't affect them.And if it's a concern,there's many things to waterproof them

RE: The world of feathers...
 

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:

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.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Who knows

I have very limited experience with feathers myself, haven't shot them for 10+ years, or actually worked with them much at all. I steer clear of the trad stuff at the shop, I just hang out with and harass those guys when they are there, I don't work on much of their stuff. My only exposure tofeathers iswhat I see at the shop. I'd trust Greg's experience here much more than mine, he's been using the things forever.........

RE: The world of feathers...
 

I've been shooting the 4" feathers for as long as I can remember. I can't rememberthe specific model thatI used all the way back in the beginning, but ever since I started buying the feathers and doing my crestings myself, I've used Gateway exclusively.

As Greg said - anyone who makes the "weather" argument is missing the boat. There was even a guy on here last year(Littlechief, I think) who went so far as to soak his feathers in a bucket of water and play a little bit of wet feather mythbusters. Myth busted.

I killed the biggest buck of my life in a soaking downpour, and my feathers were so wet that they were actually slicked down against the shaft. No worries. It will hit where you aim it. The thing is, the arrow "snaps" so hard out of the chute that almost all the water retained in the feathers will be blown off before your arrow even gets past the riser.

This year, I might switch to the Rayzr's, b/c I know Goherd1111 used them last year and really had great results. Besides, they look pretty badass.

It totally boggles my mind as to why more people don't shoot feathers. They stabilize the arrow every bit as good (possibly better) than their plastic brethren, with none of the clearance/warping/tearing issues.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Edit: double post

RE: The world of feathers...
 

heck trying new thing is part of the fun, if i were doing this it would be the barred turkey feathers no dought.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

I prefer TrueFlight as well, but recently AMG's product has increased in quality. A few years ago, I tried the AMG's and was not too impressed with their base consistancy. I tried them again last summer for my longbow arrows and got them from Bulleseye feathers on the big auction site. They were just great and I've ordered many more. I like bright ones too and AMG's colors are vibrant. I also like TrueFlight's Bright Stripes.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

I am also a big feather user. I have used both gateway and truflight but have found truflights bases to be a bit more consistant. I also use feather fletching tape to fletch them. It is so much easier than waiting for glue to dry. And I have never had any problem with the tape coming undone. I just place a dab of glue at the front and the back, U have used feathers in every weather condition imaginable and had no problems at all. As far as them grouping the same with Blazers, they are very close. When I say very close I think my feather groups are about 1/2 inch higher if that. Not enough to be concerned about really.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

I'd almost forgotten that. I've been shooting Gateway feathers since then and I've never looked back. I'd like to check out some other brands though. I've noticed that there's a large deviation in the base thickness and width on Gateway feathers. If what some have said on here is true, Tru-Flite may have better bases. Still, I've only had minimal problems fletching even the thick, wide based Gateways.

Feather fletching tape? How does it hold up and where can I get some?
Okay.... duh. Just read the next sentence. That only leaves "where can I get some?"

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Wrong thread.[&o]

RE: The world of feathers...
 

http://www.3riversarchery.com/Product.asp?c=52&s=220&p=219&i=5384

The tape is great for feathers. I have even pulled it through targets and straw balesand they still stay on.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Thanks for the info. I've gotta get some of that.

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Tru flights for me all the way baby. I am currently using Blazers but when I get new arrows or re fletch I will go back to 5 inch tru flight feathers.

After trying them though if I had to shoot vanes I think I would go with the blazers, I'm pretty impressed with them.

Paul

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Yeah not sure how anyone would ever prefer Gateway feathers over Tru Flights.[:-]
I'm an on again off again feather user but since I started really getting into Traditional archery I appreciate the quality of a Tru Flight feather.

IMO the only thing the 2 have in common is that they both were once a part of a bird. ;) Gateway feather bases are a major crap shoot, thick, thin, (mostly thick) uneven, cracked, channeled and basically a rigid inconsistent mess.....plus the heights and lengths can vary as well.:eek:
They'll work but if you want the best get Tru Flights. I have a couple 100 packs of Tru flight 5" Sheild cuts and I could lay all 100 feathers out side by side and they look , feel and behave identically with very flexible thin even bases.

I'm getting so excited I think I might just go knock out a couple new longbow arrows!:D

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Seeing as how I've never dealt with feathers, is there anything I need to know about fletching them that will differ from vanes? Same glue I use for vanes work? Same jig and clamp?

RE: The world of feathers...
 

Dan I just fletched up some arrows with feathers and used the same jig, clamp and glue as I did earlier this year with Blazers! I might go back to feathers for my compound, when I do it will be with Tru Flight, not Gateway! I used 5" Sheild with the cock barred and the barred is no so barred if you know what I mean. The Tru-Flight look a lot better. As for the bases I'm sure the Tru-Flight are more consistent! In other words, not happy with gateway!