Ok forgive my ingnorance but what is a "Dipped Arrow" I have heard other people say that they had their arrows dipped and I have never heard of anything like that.

Thanks for asking that. I was about to do the same thing.

Simply put, it is nothing more than dipping your arrows in paint. Bohning for example, makes various colors that a person can put on the fletching end of an arrow and then apply a clear coat finish that protects the paint from the elements. Some will put a beautiful crest on their arrow before applying the clear coat just to "spice up" the arrow before attaching a color coordinated fletching. I have seen entire shafts dipped, but normally it is just one end. When I do mine it is normally the last 9-10 inches of the shaft that is covered.

I dip my arrows for a couple of reasons. It makes my arrows easier to find and it also makes them easier to follow in flight.

It is a messy and time consuming job considering a guy can buy arrow wraps and roll them on in a matter of minutes, although the wraps only go down seven inches on the shaft. Two inches or so doesn't sound like much but when your looking for a lost arrow it can be huge. I have seen some use spray paint and come out ok too.

How can you do this yourself. Got any directions and types of paint and clear coat to use? I would love to do this to my arrows. Already dipped-look-a-like arrows are sold at eastonearchey.com and they really aren't even dipped. They are more like a brass color. I want WHITE.

Well thanks for the info antler eater. But now wouldnt that be difficult making each arrow the same. I mean like the weight of the paint more on one side then the other and even more paint on one arrow then the other would make each arrow shoot different. Or does it not really do anything? Just curious.

just crested a dozen arrows with the vinyl wrap. the hardest thing was getting the old fletchings off and the arrow smoothed out. took about 1/2 hour to wrap and refletch. i couldn't see a difference in the way they shot (added weight). they look great and are easy to follow through the flight path.

OK guys, if you really want help on this subject, you need to go to the trad forum and ask these types of questions; those guys are the masters at turning out incredibly beautiful arrows! (I was building a home-made cresting machine and needing some advice/instructions, and those guys were invaluable.)

I got a thick piece of paper and masked off the top two-thirds of my arrow shaft, like you'd imagine a bodyshop repairman would do to a car he was fixing. I then used an enamel spray can bought at Wal-Mart in brilliant white to "cap" my arrow. (I tried dipping -- even bought a dip tube -- but, was just as happy with the results from spraying, and it's a whole lot easier.)

Then, I used my $11 cresting machine to apply a basic, color-coordinated crest and finished off by fletching with matching feathers. It would be real easy to get a whole lot fancier, but -- to Antler Eater's point -- I was really just looking for help in watching my arrows in flight and finding them after the fact. Sure makes it easier after you've taken a couple practice shots at a leaf before climbing down from your stand at dusk, or after a pass-thru and your arrow is covered with blood!