Granby

I love my Bitz. As far as glue, most everybody I know around here uses Goat Tuff, and I use Blazers as well.

Silver Fox

Authur, thanks for the input. Sounds to me like I should get the Bitz with right-helical. I could use 4" vanes or the 2" Blazers.Ever tried the AAEPlastifletch vanes? They are supposed to have a textured surface forbetter steering.

Also, have you ever tried the QuickSpin vanes (2", 3.125"or 4"). The only thing is they are supposed to be fletched straight so I would have to get a straight clamp also.

Arthur P

I've tried the AAE vanes and, frankly, didn't think they were really worth the extra cost. Didn't notice much difference between them and basic Bohnings as far as flight and stabilization. Never have tried the Quickspins for two reasons... I don't have a straight clamp and they always seemed a little too 'gimmicky' for my tastes.

Bailsuk

I got a Bitz as my first jig and can honestly say ,its great . I use Quikspins and had to trim a bit of the clamp where the kicker made contact ... other than that .... Brill

98Redline

Arthur....we will have to agree to disagree about the 35 yard thing. I can shoot well out past 90m in my yard and during the summer months do it quite often. That being said, keeping everything the same except for the helical vs. offset, I start to notice the difference in POI right around 35 yards. By the time I am out to about 70 yards, I can't even hit my rinehard 18-1 with my normal sight marks and helical feathers.

Think of it this way. The benefit of the helical fletch is that it increases the drag in the rear of the arrow by exposing more of the surface of the feather to the air. The big benefit is that it stabilizes the arrow very well as arrows are drag stabilized to begin with. More drag = better stability.......up to a point. The extra drag causes the arrow to slow down faster, thus causing the arrow to drop more at longer distances.

I think in your dry vs wet weather conditions argument, the difference or lack of difference may have been more of a factor of the weight of the water on the string and or fletching than the normal flight characteristics of helical vs offset feathers.

bloodcrick

I just got the bitz, ill let you know

Arthur P

Disagree with me on this topic at your peril, 98Redline. [8D]

If you'll reread my post, you'll findyour results are very much in line with what I mentioned about using too much helical.

Think of it this way.... If you put too much wrap around the shaft, so much that the leading end of each feather is overlapping the direct line to the trailing ends of the adjacent feathers, you don't have good air flow. Instead of steerage, you've got a parachute. A mini-fluflu, if you will. But rather than blame themselves for a poor fletching job, many people prefer to blame helical fletched feathers for poor long range trajectory.

If you keep the helical down to a moderate level, so that there is clearance between the direct line between the leading end of each feather and the trailing end of the adjacent feather, then you've got good air flow around the fletching, andgood steerage with no, or at least minimal,parachute effect, and downrange trajectory just as good as any other fletching configuration will give.

brucelanthier

I understand what you are saying but if the clamp is setup for a certain amount of helical how would you be able to change that? Are you talking about not offsetting the helical fletch too much? Also, is there more of an inclination to have this overlap with four fletch as opposed to three (I would think so). Sorry for my confusion, just trying to add to my little bit of knowledge about this.

Arthur P

Correct. I want to be able to eyeball from the point of the arrow all the way down and see clearance between the leading end of one feather and the trailing end of the adjacent feather. If they overlap, that is too much. Too much.... In my opinion, that is. When they overlap, that is when you start seeing poor long range trajectory, excessive arrow drop, etc.

It does a great job at quickly stabilizing a broadhead at short range though. If that's what you need, and don't intend to shoot much beyond 30 yards,then that's how you need to fletch.

See, you can customize your fletchings according to your tastes, according to the amount of clearance you need, and custom fletch according to the application you intend for the arrows and application is probably the second most important consideration after clearance. You want quick stabilization of big broadheads at short range and don't intend to do any long distance shooting? Then big fletchings and lots of offset. You want flat long range trajectory with target points? Small fletchings with very little offset.

brucelanthier

Thanks. I'll fletch differently when practicing in the off season as I regularly shoot at longer ranges then but for hunting I am a 25 and in guy so I'll be good to go with the way I currently fletch.

I will pay more attention to leading edge and trailing edge though, that is some excellent info and good insight into the details of fletching an arrow.