Feathers vs. vanes
 

I been shooting GoldTip 57/75 Ted Nugent series shafts thatI bought off ebay for while. NowI am in the process in looking to buy more shafts, but this is the problem should i switch back over to vanes or spend the extra money for the feathers.I have did pricing, for either way, but it is a challenge to find the right feathers i need, the vanes come up cheaper. Any advice. Righty

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

I first had feathers and liked them fine. My broadhead flight was accurate and I was ready to hunt. Then I got caught in the rain and my feathers got soaked and then matted together.

So I switched to vanes but when I put a broadhead on, my arrows planed big time.

Went back to feathers and just put some of the stay-dry powder on em and I wont shoot anything but feathers from now on. From all I've read, they're more forgiving and the speed is neglible from what I understand.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

personally i would stick with feathers just because they are more forgiving and the cost of arrows with vanes or with feathers should not be a tremendous amount so i would stick with what you have and stay with what works

Lefty
the original buckmaster

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

This is your personal desicion. With feathers there will be more spin on the arrow which will mae it a little lowder. The only bad thing is that they shoot real bad when they get wet. On the other hand vanes shoot great...but like i said its up to you.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

Here we go again. Do a search on this topic, it gets beat to death. There are other places to get your feathers and vanes besides ebay. And you will find what you are looking for. I used to be a die hard, tried and true feather guy. In fact, I still like em. Nothing looks as good asaDRY feather. There in lies the problem. Feathers just don't like to be wet. You can take measures against that, but in my experience, they just always end up wet. Feathers are great stabilizers, though. I figure if they weren't, birds would be born with plastic wings. ;)

I recently switched to blazers, and couldn't be happier.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

There are pros and cons to both........Feathers just seem to be all around better for my Cx's.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

Righty,
I shoot the same arrows but with the 4 inch quick spin vanes,I mostly elk hunt so I use a COC BH.My arrows are set up with 100 gr Magnus stingers @ 280 FPS and I have no problem shooting or planing problems.
BBJ

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

Go with feathers. I did not read what everyone else had to say, so I may just repeating but hear it goes. Feathers stabalize quicker, they are not as loud as what people say(stand down range from a feather and vane and listen to the difference, there really isn't one), and even though feathers may cost more, you can shoot a crappy feather in practice and not worry about it while if you have a broken or sliced vane, it has to be replaced. Feathers will be my all time number one choice because of performance. You CAN shoot them when they are wet, maybe not at long ranges, but when hunting you're not shooting that far anyways. They are not as loud as what people say they are because you can't hear them untill they get "fairly"close to you. They stabilize an arrow within three feet where as vanes dont stabilize untill within 10 feet(depending on the vane), which means if you make contact with something other than your bow it is going to come back within your shooting windom quicker. And, the major plus, they are prettier. Feathers on birds are there for a reason. They are made to fly. Plastic was not. I realise feathers versus vanes is all about personal experience, and it is all about the shooter. But, feathers are a much more realistic choice in accuracy. Bar none.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

http://www.trueflightfeathers.com/facts.htm

If feathers get 'matted up' (been shooting feathers more than 50 years and have never seen feathers get THAT bad) just hold them over the spout of a steaming tea kettle for a few seconds. It's like magic. The feathers zip right back into shape all by themselves.

You can hold the feathers over a pot of boiling water and do the same thing, just the tea kettle spits the steam out under pressure and it works faster.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

Feathers all the way , do a search as sugested , you'll have hours of reading .
If Im lucky enough to shoot an animal I wash the blood of in a stream usealy and when I get back to camp make sure its clean , get the feathers wet and use a hair dryer to fluff them back up , then you can put fletch dry on them to keep them from absorbing rain and sutch , works as good as the teapot method , piss'es the wife off though :D

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

i use feathers as well these guys have great points.through it all the only negitive is getting them wet. but even a wet arrows fly well out to 20 yards or so ,which were i shot most of my deer anyway. also if its raining that hard to make your feathers that wet you better make a clean kill shot or good luck finding him or her!!!

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

I will always have feathers rain or shine!

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

Feathers shoot great but as stated above they matt together when they get wet. From my experiments feathers are louder going through the air than plastis vanes the vanes made by simms vibration lad make the least amount of noise that I have shot. Do deer jump the string or the arrow buzzing towards them?

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

I don't think so. It's called jumping the string because they react to the sound of the bow. If they can see you, they also react to the movement. I think it's likely that an arrow in flight sounds like another fly buzzing their ears. If they hear it at all.

I keep hearing people say vanes are quieter than feathers and I simply don't believe it. Maybe someone who has a decibel meter could test the hypothesis for us. Put the meter 20 yards downrange, where a deer is likely to be,and shoot towards it. I really wouldn't expect to see more than one point either way between feathers and vanes.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

maybe you could find some goose feathers. there may be a place in england to order them from.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

Have any idea what that place may be? I've been looking to try some, and can't find em.

Arthur, I agree with you to a point regarding feathers and noise. Feathers just seem to "whistle" for lack of a better word. I don't know if feathers are actually louder if read by a decible meter, but I do know this, I can hear them and can't hear vanes. But I also know it makes no damn difference to the deer at all. They do indeed jump the string, not the arrow.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

you may try this place:
Raven Arrows. Birch and fir. Tapered or parallel shafts. Greybar turkey & grey goose feathers. 993 Grays Creek RD., dept tb, Indian Valley. Idaho, 83632. (208) 256-4341.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

There simply is no reason and no advantage to shooting feater with all the modern vanes available today. I wouldn't mess with feathers unless you actually enjoy refletching your arrows all the time. I am getting the same flight as I used to from 4" feathers and I am using the Bohning Blazers. They are the best vanes I've found thus far. Good luck and good shootin'

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

Actually it'snot"whistle". It's "the hiss of death." ;)

Really, how noisy a feather is relates very much to how it's cut (size, profile, configuration), how much helical you put on them and how well the bow is tuned.

Low profile parabolic is the quietest cut. Shield cuts are somewhat louder, butI use them because I like the look.5 1/2" magnum high profile banana feathers are pretty darn loud. But Lordy! do they stabilize an arrow fast! Of course, 6" uncut feathers are the loudest. When you're shooting fluflu's though, who cares?;)

A lot of people, especially traditional shooters, go way overboard when wrapping helical. I used to do it myself, until one day I bought some arrows already fletched up with much less helical and shot them side by side with my hard helical arrows. They weredefinitely quieterand shot a lot flatter at longer yardages than my arrows. And they did practically as good a job with my broadheads. So, I quit making noisy, slow,parachute fletchesand started using quite a bit less helical.

Finally, if the arrow is coming off the bow sideways, hell yes those feathers are going to scream! But they will straighten that arrow out a lot quicker than vanes will.

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

I must respectively disagree with this statment. There are several advantages to shooting feathers over vanes these days. I have shot the Blazers and I do like them. In fact, I carry one hunting just in case I get caught in a downpour. Light rain, and I use feathers with waterproofing powder. However, the overall forgiveness and flight of feathers is amazing. They are also TOUGHER than most vanes, despite what many say. You shoot a vane and it rips. So then you "clip" out the rip. You want to talk about noise in flight; try listening to one of those downrange. With feathers, you just fluff them up, pass them over steam, and you are good as new. They really do take abuse. I shoot them for indoor and hunting, and I am debating switching to smaller ones for 3D. Only issue for 3D is the Kansas wind. When shooting open stakes at 50+ yards, the wind will really move a feather driven arrow. PLus, feather fletches just look awesome.

I would just tell everyone thinking about them to try them. They are not really that expensive, and they do last.

JMAC

RE: Feathers vs. vanes
 

Barred feathers all the way, baby! :D