[Predator]

I’ve tested a ton of fletching out there.
Lower profile heads like stealth and heat won’t stabilize fixed heads well - need higher profile. TAC vanes frankly suck. Tested 2 of their vanes extensively and they are simply not good.

Answer to you question in Blazers. Every year or so I test options thinking I might go away from blazers but keep coming back. To date nothing will beat them for hunting with fixed blade purposes.

 

[Predator]

Could you describe the extensive testing protocol you put the Tac Vanes through?

Yep. Purchased the TAC Driver 2.75 vanes (all the rage when first came out) and the pen, glue etc. - all the crap - all of which is highly priced.

Tested them on my wrapped RIP arrows vs. blazers for flight, adhesion and durability. Even with the expensive adhesion crap they sell as they admit they are tough to deal with on adhesion and thus require their own "formula" I still had some adhesion problems. A few didn't stick great off the bat but most I was able to get to work. But then with use it wasn't uncommon with any impact or pass-through on target they would start to come off. The stiff material is not very durable - but this was no shock to me as the same is true of fletching like Flex Fletch which I tested many years ago.

Flight was the big thing. Fine with field points obviously but they didn't stabilize fixed heads anywhere near as well as Blazers. I tested them at ranges from 20-40 yards using either 3 or 4 different fixed heads (can't recall for sure which). The TAC vanes were even worse in the wind. It became quickly evident they were a no-go for hunting purposes.

I then ordered the Summit vanes since they are basically a carbon copy of the Blazers but slightly smaller. Same issues on adhesion and durability of course but they did work better with broadheads. I would say they were very close to the Blazers but not quite there. But then they cost way more than Blazers, require special glue nonsense, don't stick as well and aren't as durable.

Sold it all - simply not worth it. Frankly even if they were just as good as Blazers they wouldn't be worth it given the high price. I was hoping they'd be better, in which case I would have been happy to pay the price. But they didn't even measure up so there is zero chance I'd ever use them for hunting nor would I recommend them to anyone.

 

[Predator]

Anyone use the TAC adhesive and pen?

Yes...waste of money (same as the TAC vanes themselves)

 

[Predator]

Max Stealth vanes are 2.7" long and .5" high and Blazers are 2" long and .57" high... they really aren't a small or low profile vane. I agree with the heat vanes, because those are 3D or mechanical only IMO, but you should not have had any issues with the Max Stealth vanes. I wonder what happened there.

Sorry, to be clear, while I've tested lots of vanes I haven't tested these. I have tested Max Hunters and actually hunted with them for a season or two - decent vanes. I perhaps unfairly grouped Max Stealth with Heat as low profile but clearly they aren't as low profile as Heats. They are, however, lower profile than Blazers. Height is the key to fixed head stabilization and the Blazers are 14% higher than Max Stealth heads but they Stealth is longer so maybe the additional surface area makes up for it. Perhaps I should test them and see what I get. One problems with the Stealth is that they are heavy and I already have enough weight on the back of my arrows. You are adding a solid 9 grains of total weight to your arrow, all in the back of the arrow just to get arrow flight that is, I suspect, no better than Blazers.

 

[Predator]

I have read a report that the Bully Vanes were noticeably quieter than the Blazers. Have you noticed any difference in noise?

I've not heard that but it's possible. Bully Vanes are almost a complete replica of Blazers so I suspect they probably perform as well. I may have to do some testing on these new vanes over the winter here. I mean they are literally the same so I'm not sure why they'd be more quiet but it is possible based on the material used or something. One thing I don't love is they don't have many color choices. In particular they don't have pink which I have come to like using because there is almost nothing in nature that is pink (I mean other than in a flower garden but where you typically shoot you won't find pink which makes it a little easier to pick out if looking for an arrow on the range or in the woods).

 

[Predator]

Oh the irony - back on the TAC vanes.
Last night I watched an episode of Bowlife where Levi was hunting whitetail in NE. The first buck he shoots in the episode he gets a pass through at about 10 yards. They do a close-up of the arrow stuck in the ground where you can see blood in the snow right at impact. What you don't notice unless you look carefully (I thought I noticed this but had to rewind and freeze on the shot to confirm) is that one of the vanes was ripped off. LOL!

Now, I'm a big fan of Levi but that doesn't mean I'm a quiver sniffer and think every product he pushes is good. As many know, he was involved in the introduction of TAC vanes and I'm pretty sure he has an equity interest in the company. He pushes the vanes and was shooting Drivers which are ok for hunting purposes when you are only shoot Shwackers like he does (another of his sponsors - so he doesn't shoot fixed heads). But when the top sponsor of the company and backers of the company can't even get his vanes to adhere any better than that you know there are issues. I've shot blazers through many deer and don't recall a single instance where all 3 fletches weren't still attached.

 

[Predator]

I have to disagree with the comment above saying it's vane height that steers broadheads. It's overall surface area that creates drag. A 3" lower profile Griff-X steers my fixed heads just as well or better than the taller 2" Rapt-X and Fusion ii vanes I have.

That would be incorrect. Lots of history of testing from many sources have validated the fact that higher profile vanes stabilize fixed heads better. It's absolutely not just about surface area.

 

[Predator]

Do you think a 2" Blazer would steer a broadhead as well as a 3" V-Max vane?
Blazer is .57 tall and the V-Max is .49

Yes, absolutely.

 

[Predator]

I haven't tried the V-Max but I wanted to provide this feedback. If those two vanes can't steer a broadhead, your bow isn't tuned. I think when people struggle with broadhhead tuning, it's a bow problem most of the time, not a vane problem. Naturally you can't expect to use a 3D vane to steer a large broadhead, but pretty much any vane designed for hunting should work well in my opinion.

I largely agree with your assertions but there are shades of grey here which I'll describe in a moment. When I test it's always out of a very well tuned bow and agree that often people reach incorrect conclusions about some aspect of their setup (vanes in this case) when there is a fundamental tuning issue causing the problem.

But.....there are degrees of stabilization between different vanes supposedly designed for hunting. And I emphasize "supposedly" because I don't necessarily trust that just because the brand trying to sell the vanes says it's designed for "hunting" actually means they are ideal for that purpose. As noted above, Levi is hunting with drivers which is fine because he shoots nothing but expandables. So then you have people who believe they are good "hunting" vanes and they throw a big fixed head on their arrow and wonder why their arrow flight is all over the place (and sometimes don't even discover that until they start shooting at live animals because they failed to even test their flight just assuming their vanes were "hunting" vanes and thus should suffice).

But, the other nuance is shooting in the wind. I've discovered certain "hunting" vanes perform well enough with "most" fixed heads out of a well tuned bow when there is no or low levels of wind. But when I then test them on a windy day I start to notice some very meaningful differences.

 

[Predator]

Yep...So what I read about "TAC" vanes mostly is that they don't really bond to a carbon shaft using the brands primer and cement..SO..what have you archers done to get around the bonding problem and having a great outcome in bonding "Drivers" to carbon shafts? Besides not purchasing them..LOL

Not purchasing them is the only good answer. They also don't stick that well to wraps which should be easy.