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Feathers VS plastic

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#21 ·
I've used feathers and they definitely did not hold up as well as plastic. Liked them, but rippled with hits and wet the lay down and never really come back to what they were. Still, even wet they flew well.............
 
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#22 ·
One missed thing is real vs synthetic feathers

real beat syn in rain. (Loon liquid is slightly better then powder. )

real won’t fletch like soft base syn. They do have the best heli though.

duck feathers are awesome on traditional

vs plastic. Sometimes noisy, to long for brace height, good luck on colors,
 
#26 ·
SonnyThomas said:
I've used feathers and they definitely did not hold up as well as plastic. Liked them, but rippled with hits and wet the lay down and never really come back to what they were. Still, even wet they flew well.............
Click to expand...
+1 That's what I meant by not as durable. In reality they are pretty tough but they do all that Sonny says and get ratty really quick. Most of that doesn't effect how they work but they get loud(er) and they were louder to start with........I prefer not to use loud arrows as a hunter. You can but IMHO it's not as good as a quiet one.
 
#27 ·
I use Ozark feathers and Bohning vanes.

Feathers: Look great, fly and will stabilize any arrow. Glue very well to any shaft. If you shoot and your feather hits a twig, no problem. They are very light and forgiving. Negatives, rain, durability, price, long distance drag and noise. Not so much noise during flight but walking thru the woods they are noisy and get beat up fast. Pricey but i wouldn't shoot any other feather. Ozark makes the best right now. I had hunted in the rain last week and I ended up leaving not because i was wet but because my feathers were soaked. Treatments work up to a point. Past 60 yards you will notice a little drag depending on the size feather.

Vanes: Look great fly great. They are cheap. Its nice to not have to worry about walking thru the woods with them. Gluing them is much easier with a wrap. Weather is not an issue. I have had one hit a twig and change arrow flight dramatically. Another negative is that they are heavy and will change your FOC slightly.

Blazers = my go to vane for 3D archery and light arrows. I use a 3 fletch on a victory carbon with my 3D bow.

Heat = My hunting vane. 4 fletch, super strong and stiff.

Ozark = Victory Target Maxx feather. Absolutely awesome stabilization. These would steer an ax on a stick lol...
 
#28 ·
Daave said:
I use Ozark feathers and Bohning vanes.

Feathers: Look great, fly and will stabilize any arrow. Glue very well to any shaft. If you shoot and your feather hits a twig, no problem. They are very light and forgiving. Negatives, rain, durability, price, long distance drag and noise. Not so much noise during flight but walking thru the woods they are noisy and get beat up fast. Pricey but i wouldn't shoot any other feather. Ozark makes the best right now. I had hunted in the rain last week and I ended up leaving not because i was wet but because my feathers were soaked. Treatments work up to a point. Past 60 yards you will notice a little drag depending on the size feather.

Vanes: Look great fly great. They are cheap. Its nice to not have to worry about walking thru the woods with them. Gluing them is much easier with a wrap. Weather is not an issue. I have had one hit a twig and change arrow flight dramatically. Another negative is that they are heavy and will change your FOC slightly.

Blazers = my go to vane for 3D archery and light arrows. I use a 3 fletch on a victory carbon with my 3D bow.

Heat = My hunting vane. 4 fletch, super strong and stiff.

Ozark = Victory Target Maxx feather. Absolutely awesome stabilization. These would steer an ax on a stick lol...
Click to expand...

Thank You!


I've been using Gateway brand feathers. I was wondering about Ozark.

I have a couple of victory arrows with fletching. Whatever feather brand they used. Its tough. Tougher then Gateway. So I know there's better. I've got maybe 5 arrows worth of fletching left. I need to reup.

My next order, I'm trying Ozark. Solid colors in purple and bright green.
 
#29 ·
From an arrow building perspective, I like feathers. I think my 4" parabolic feather is right under 3 grains. So I can have three feathers fletched and weigh less than one three inch plastic vane. This helps if wanting to keep your FOC up or to offset the weight of lighted nocks. That's my two cents. Flight wise, I haven't noticed much difference between the two.
 
#30 ·
The key here is to just get some feathers and try them, it won't take long and you will find out if you are a feather guy or not.

I have been shooting the razor 2 inch feathers for hunting and 3d competition and indoor for years and love them. Once I glue them on I have little to no maintenance for months and months and they take a freaking beating. Overall I think that my feathers are more durable than my buddies vanes, guys think that vanes are more durable but I find them messing with them and fixing them way more than me.

In fact the cool thing about feathers is that once you super glue them on the super glue soaks into the quill and if the feather gets knocked loose it holds its shape of offset and helical so you can simply add some glue and stick it back down with your fingers right on the course and it is ready to go. With a vane once it pops loose you loose the helical and offset and you got to replace it with a blitz.
 
#31 ·
Now, after shooting feathers for a long time here is why I don't think guys like them.

If you are a guy that washes his truck and harley and uses wax and you keep it shiny, you will not like feathers. Feathers after a while start to get a personality and they don't look nice a perfect anymore. Now me, I haven't washed my truck or jeep or dirt bike since I bought them. And no, I didn't polish my harley. I throw my leg over my harley and enjoy the ride out in the country.

So, I am telling you even when a feather has sections missing and they are all nice and fuzzy looking they will still shoot the same as when they were brand new. So like I said try them out and you will find out if you are a feather guy.
 
#32 ·
Since I use them for 3d, here is a really good trick.

I carry a gallon zip lock in my 3d stool so if it comes a rain storm I put the zip lock over my arrows so the feathers of the arrows I am not using are dry. This way after a few targets I can rotate arrows and keep fresh dry feathers.

I will say that slightly wet feathers fly the same as dry ones and I have won many tournaments with wet feathers but in a total down pour it can be a issue. '

I have never bothered with the powder or the silicone spray, I bought some spray one time but never got around to using it.
 
#33 ·
My best flying arrow. Its been refletched since because if a strong wind hit it. Cork screw flight. One off bareshaft. The others wobbled but this one. It flies the way it wants. For which is really good. My best. This fletching is hundreds and hundreds of shots old.

7297271
 
#34 ·
The best feathers I have ever seen are turkey feathers, my dad made a stamper and when he kills a turkey he uses the right feather and stamps out feathers and then trims up the quill.

The natural oils on the turkey feathers is so freaking awesome in the rain and so much better than the powder or silicone spray.

I think that companies that make feathers are required to clean the feathers and this strips off the natural turkey coating. I am just guessing though.
 
#36 ·
As far as types of feathers they are way different from company to company. My favorite store bought feather is tru flight, they really are a nice durable feather and they are cut and shaped very nicely compared to gate way. But, I currently shoot the gate way razor feathers simply because they have a slightly smaller profile cut and they are more of a shield cut. But the gateway feathers are not as nicely shaped and they are a beefier feather that is not as durable as the tru flight.

If you do get some feathers here is another trick you need to use with them.

Feathers are not exactly the same like a vane because they trim them and shape the quill and the length will slightly vary. So you can not get a good looking fletching job if you line up the end of the feather to a mark on the blitz clamp, the front of the feathers will be totally uneven and look stupid.

So, make two marks with a sharpie and then when you put a feather in the clamp you center the feather between the two marks and then when the arrow is done it will look really good. Kind of a average thing.
 
#37 ·
7297290
Just went back to feathers again on my new arrow setup trying to increase my FOC, as I’m a believer in Nockturnals. South Shore Archery built these with Trueflight 3” right wing 2 degree helical. Just something about feathers for me, I like the looks and nostalgia of them. I do like to hunt in the rain though, coated these with the Bohning powder as I’ve always done. It’s been five years with Blazers so next time I head home from hunting in the rain I’ll stop at the archery range and compare wet/dry @ 40 yds.
 
#40 ·
Made my own duck since I duck hunt and can shoot up to 6 a day. Can’t sell them but get a good batch of mallard each year.

they run mor like low profile shield been years since I did though. Not even sure I have the tool any more

used to mail in squirrel tails to meps for lures as well.
 
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