[Houstontd]

Does anyone shoot traditional without feathers

 

[strugglesticks]

I use feathers and Trad vanes side by side. I'm not good enough to notice a difference.

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[marcelxl]

Define traditional?

But, all my recurves, especially competition bows get feathers and vanes, longbows are all off the shelf and 100% feathers.

I like feathers but they don't like rain, hence having some vanes for wet shoots

 

[Houstontd]

Shelf makes since needing or not needing feathers

 

[Houstontd]

Definitely don’t need feathers in the rain

 

[Houstontd]

Maybe have a quiver that keeps them dry

 

[Houstontd]

How bad would wet feathers effect arrow flight?

 

[CalBauer]

Congrats you have 24 post as of rn you should have classifieds by tomorrow

 

[Yellow Nocks]

There are good wsterproofing sprays for feathers. Atsko makes an excellent waterproofing sprayn for example.

 

[camperjim]

Which waterproofing treatment works? I tried powders, sprays, even tire black and none of the ones I tried were worth the effort. I have an elevated rest and have tried feathers and vanes. IMO, feathers work better with a poor release and are also much more durable. Arrows with damaged feathers typically shoot just fine but a damaged vane can give poor flight.

 

[3finger]

Which waterproofing treatment works? I tried powders, sprays, even tire black and none of the ones I tried were worth the effort. I have an elevated rest and have tried feathers and vanes. IMO, feathers work better with a poor release and are also much more durable. Arrows with damaged feathers typically shoot just fine but a damaged vane can give poor flight.

Argeed: I've used the same silicone spray used to keep the tent waterproof on feathers.Had nice dry feathers but the spray softened the feather adhesive and had to shoot arrows without feathers. Now-a-days if it's raining I am usually under the canapy waiting for the rain to stop. My feathered arrows take a lot of abuse before refletching is necessary ansd still shoot OK. If I shot vanes I'd be refletching a lot more often. I generally don't shoot over my point on distances < 40 yards. FITA bows all use vanes arrows. Really depends on what the venue is.

 

[Boomer2094]

To me, if you are shooting off the shelf, you should use feathers. The feather won't damage your riser as much as plastic vane could.

If you are shooting off some sort of rest, both feather and vanes are fine. Just depends on which you like the look of the most.

 

[Yellow Nocks]

If you SPRAY the feathers...yes they will loosen off the shaft. Spray into baby food jar(thats been cleaned....)and use a small artist brush to treat ONLY the actual feather fibers, not the quill. A PITA? Yes. But your feathers should stay dry!

 

[c_m_shooter]

How bad would wet feathers effect 113532821, member: 6810"]

Not enough to matter at 3d shoots. I have shot with them soaked flat against the shaft. I do bareshaft group tune out 30 yards though. Broadheads may be an issue.

 

[3finger]

C_M I have shot some of my best 3D and field scores in the pouring down rain. I am talking about when you shoot it looks like an explosion of water droplets off the bow, string and arrow. Why? Not sure. Several targets were shot bare shafts cause the feathers were gone! I wish I could explain it, but can't.

 

[woof156]

If tune properly you can shoot bareshafts pretty well so even wet feathers make it fly even better, they just add wt. Wet feathers shoot surprisingly well at short distances (25yds) barebow but again water makes them heavier. Just knock off by tapping just before shooting, the arrow is ugly but flies pretty well.

 

[stoutstuff]

I can get vanes to shoot off a shelf on most of my risers without excessive wear. A tuned arrow and a low profile vane like the Bohning Impulse helps me achieve that. I will also build up the shelf slightly with additional velcro if needed in some cases.

 

[Josh9284]

Off the shelf and trad vanes here

 

[roosiebull]

When September rolls around, most of my arrows will be 4 fletched with 3” trad vanes.. they shoot just like my 4 fletch rayzrs, and steer a big 200gr vpa 3 blade just fine out to 40yds... well beyond the distance I would shoot a bull.

I like feathers, but the only thing they have going for them around here is aesthetics. Trad vanes are certainly not very tough, but I would rather re-fletch once in awhile than closing in on a bull with completely matted down feathers... they don’t incite confidence.

people can say what they want about wet feathers not mattering, but Broadhead flight suffers a lot... I don’t want to worry about it since I have a better option

 

[oldmand]

Shooting my barebow rig with some trad vanes. Shoot just as well off the elevated rest as do the feathers. Downside is they come loose. I think it's because I used FletchTite glue. Have refletched using AAE Max Bond and they seem to be holding up nicely. They're a definite plus in wet weather, but then again I don't hunt in truly wet weather anymore. I'm definitely a fair weather hunter now.