I would choose Blazers over TAC vanes any day of the week....and it's not even close.

 

I agree with 1/2 bubble off, I shoot the black sky blazers because they are stiffer, and they are bullet proof, the blazers will hold up over the tac vanes and it’s not even close !

 

It’s crazy lower profile and lighter but the blazers group Better and hit higher. The tac vanes aren’t bad by any means but I was just surprised.

 

Dan at elk shape just did a video using the aae hp( aae’s blazer) and tac vanes and the tac vanes consistently hit lower for him at all distances even though they were lighter

 

Yeah I’m kind of mad now I have to scrape the tac vanes off and re fletch. May just leave them and use them as back up arrows at total archery challenge I’m sure I won’t go through all of them Anyways. Just broke two of the ones with tac vanes when my target fell over. Though the arrow flight with the tac vanes isn’t that great I’m probably pushing 300 plus fps so I can’t expect them to fly that good but the blazers at 60 yards are like a 2” group right where I’m aiming on the dot. Don’t think I need to look any further or do anymore testing with vanes 😂

 

I bought some of the black sky blazers to test out and so far they are noticeably quieter than the original blazers. Bohning makes some of the best sticking vanes on the market as well.

 

Yeah they are. These tac vanes I had zero issues with I read the reviews of people saying they can’t get them to stick. Even when they tore through my old target they’re intact and they were deformed for about 2 minutes they went back to their shape. I may have just gotten lucky I guess. But blazers always stick great with any glue. I’ve got 6 of the blazer and 4 of the tac guess for the really long shots I’ll use the TAC vane ones and the shorter ones use the blazers just because the tac vanes are shorter and give me more wiggle room with the scope housing. When I get a chance I’ll post pictures when I’m able to get back out there of the difference may help someone out with vane choice.

 

Anyone have actual pictures of the Black Sky vanes on an arrow? Specifically the neon yellow?

 

if you look up Chris bee with the x3 black sky vanes same color same material Ofcourse. I think I’ll be grabbing the black sky blazers for my hunting arrows. Same color too the neon yellow.

 

Double check your bareshaft / broadhead tune. I'm not a Tac vane guy, but I'm wondering if the lower profile vanes are not correcting the arrow as much as the blazers at launch, in effect turning it into a sort of bareshaft test at 60 yards.

 

Bareshaft hits with fletched at 30 yards that’s usually the max distance I’ll shoot with a bareshaft by then the vanes should be taking over if they really even need to. Could be that I was dropping my bow arm after shooting for so long.

 

Blazers work really well in almost all situations and stick great with a really simple glue up process. Also they are available at almost any shop. The only problem is they aren't the latest and greatest sexy gear so people don't think they are cool any more.

All I can say about TAC vanes is I have had some issues getting the TAC drivers to stick even when following the protocol they recommend.

 

Yeah I kept hearing that and almost decided against them but I got lucky because like I said I slammed through my target and my
Carpet back stop and they stayed on and they went back to their shape after a couple of minutes. Haven’t had any issues so far. I’ll leave the tac vanes on and use them for the longer distances and the blazers for the closer shots. Basically anything past 90 is praying it hits the target anyways 😂

 

I guess I deleted it…. I have some of the x3 2.25 which is the same color and material in a flo yellow wrap

 

I shoot 3DHV and RIP XVs with 3 fletch Bohning Air Vanes with no issues. On that small shaft, with that much front weight…I would assume either vane would be more than enough. I don’t like TAC vanes, but I wouldn’t think they wouldn’t “fly that great” either.

 

It could’ve been me I was sighting in and having a hell of a time getting it just right by the time I had my 60 yard figured out I could’ve been dropping my bow arm. Going to test it out again tomorrow.

 

This is the flo yellow on a flo yellow wrap with the 2.25 x3

 

It’s a little brighter in real life than in the pics for some reason

 

Here’s the black sky Flo yellow

 

Thanks. Those look much better/brighter that the stock pics show. May have to give them a try sometime.

 

Blazers are the vanes I leave behind to go try something new and cool then always come back to because they just work so good...no other way around it.

Sure they're a little noisy, sure they're old fashioned, but they've probably killed more deer than any other vane in the last 30 years and every vane manufacturer has a version of it.

If I'm not using Bohnings version it's Q2i's Raptors.

Just simple and effective.

(Admission: I love AAE max stealth as well)

 

Blazers are the vanes I leave behind to go try something new and cool then always come back to because they just work so good...no other way around it.

Sure they're a little noisy, sure they're old fashioned, but they've probably killed more deer than any other vane in the last 30 years and every vane manufacturer has a version of it.

If I'm not using Bohnings version it's Q2i's Raptors.

Just simple and effective.

(Admission: I love AAE max stealth as well)

The max stealths are great. I usually throw them on my hunting arrows with the mini max jig.

 

I've gone to using Q2i Rapt-X vanes over Blazers, if I'm wanting a Blazer vane type profile. The Rapt-X is a stiffer material and thus quieter in flight. They are .55" tall vs. the .57" of a Blazer. All Q2i vanes glue on as easily as a Blazer vane, no primer needed.

I just bought some TAC vanes in 2.25" Driver, wanted to try them and see how they steered a fixed. Mostly due to boredom and wanting to mess with something archery related, no real need to be honest.
On a side note, I was impressed that the 2.25" TAC's supposedly only weigh 5 grains each, that is 2 grains lighter than a 2" Rapt-X vane. Trivial and not something I was worried about, but I rolled my eyes at the 5 grains each. I'll be darned if they didn't show up and my scale is showing the average weight of them to be 4.2 grains. Q2i vanes are always on the other side of that.

This thread now has me interested in where they'll hit in comparison to the Rapt-X's my hunting arrows currently wear.

 

I've gone to using Q2i Rapt-X vanes over Blazers, if I'm wanting a Blazer vane type profile. The Rapt-X is a stiffer material and thus quieter in flight. They are .55" tall vs. the .57" of a Blazer. All Q2i vanes glue on as easily as a Blazer vane, no primer needed.

I just bought some TAC vanes in 2.25" Driver, wanted to try them and see how they steered a fixed. Mostly due to boredom and wanting to mess with something archery related, no real need to be honest.
On a side note, I was impressed that the 2.25" TAC's supposedly only weigh 5 grains each, that is 2 grains lighter than a 2" Rapt-X vane. Trivial and not something I was worried about, but I rolled my eyes at the 5 grains each. I'll be darned if they didn't show up and my scale is showing the average weight of them to be 4.2 grains. Q2i vanes are always on the other side of that.

This thread now has me interested in where they'll hit in comparison to the Rapt-X's my hunting arrows currently wear.

So was just shooting and my post is wrong and should be deleted. I’m guessing I was dropping my bow arm. The 2.25s were hitting either with the blazers at shorter distances or just above today at longer distances. Time to shave off the blazers and go with the TAC vanes.

 

TACs are interesting. I bought some Summits for my new arrow build. So far so good. Similar profile to a Blazer, way more stiff and lighter though.

 

I use Nitro Vanes, by Pine Ridge, stiffer then Blazer, no noise flapping in the wind,

 

The only issue I’ve ever had with them is the older ones crinkled when shooting through a bag or other target and mine never would pop back to original shape.

 

I found the TAC vanes hard to fletch due to the skinny base and also had issues with them getting deformed and not returning to original shape.

 

 

These are blazer black sky’s, they are stiffer than a blazer and a lot quieter! They really fly well!

 

Black sky blazer on a flo yellow wrap