Feathers are a little faster out of the bow....however downrange they also slow down faster than a vein does.
I went to veins for the rain reason too.
Still debating on quickspins, or 5" feathers for indoor.......

 

Had the same brand/model of arrows fletched with feathers and with vanes.

Results:

vanes fps - 267
feathers fps - 276

 

Had the same brand/model of arrows fletched with feathers and with vanes.

Results:

vanes fps - 267
feathers fps - 276

That would probably be enough for me to stay with feathers. Anyone else experience this much speed lose?

 

NO!
4fps here...not 9...

 

I could live with 4fps. You jarred my memory I have heard that vanes are faster downrange. With 4fps my pin gap would probably not change at all.

 

something to consider about quickspins vrs. feathers for indoors......

maybe i'm entirely wrong here, but i though i'd throw this out for discussion. i saw the neat qickspin display at vegas and was initially super impressed, but then i got to thinking about how long the arrow is in flight, amongst other things, at 20 yards. now, the display had an arrow inside a tube with a stream of air being pushed past it to simulate the arrow in flight, all well and good and entirely lagit as there was also a fletched arrow spinning in it's own tube right along side the quickspin for comparison. and i'll be the first to say that the qs arrow screaming as far as revs go. but lets consider the time of flight for an indoor shot, what? 3-4 tenths of a second?. how much faster do you think the qs will get the arrow spinning in this amount of time? remember the display had these arrows in a steady state air stream, as though the arrow has been in flight for the last hour or two. i am questioning qs's ability to get more revs out of an arrow that starts out from a dead, non- rotating start.... it makes an immense difference in that 3-4 tenths of a second. secondly if it did get a few more revs in that time frame would they be of use considering the increase in spine derived from the comparatively heavy quickspins? everyone shooting fat shafts are running boarderline out of control stiff as it is, do we need/want something that increases this already difficult problem?. to me it seems like a vicious circle of... not to offend...gimmickry, once again...... put on the qickspins, gain some weight, slow the arrow down, stiffen it up, add some point wieght to get some control back, slow the arrow down some more, all this detracting from the advantage of accelleraton, which is needed to give the quickspins a chance to spin the arrow a few more times.....
as i said, maybe i'm off base, but from my limmited knowledge of aerodynamics and physics, it just don't seem to pan out.

 

I had also been told vanes were faster down range but i think my feathers are just as fast or even faster than my vanes. Here is the funny thing, i switched to them for the increased stability NOT speed at all. I am really focussing on spot shooting and speed is the last thing i need. Feathers are much more forgiving than vanes as well as being lighter. This may be one of the reasons we are seeing increases in speed, not just the static weight but the shift in COG. This might help explain some of the 9 FPS gain.

 

this is off subject a bit, but i have a couple of my arrows done up with feathers, not for the lighter weight, but i really like the traditional look, i'm using the wood grain traditional Gold Tip with a crest wrap and barred feathers, i was shooting out of a tree stand yesterday and the feathers are pretty loud compared to vanes, they shoot my broadheads perfect, even with bent blades, so at 30 yards or so, and about 275 fps, do you think the noise from the feathers is anything to worry about ?? thanks, Brad.

 

Every deer, elk, ect I have ever shot, was with feathers...I really dont think they care what you kill them with.LOL

 

this is off subject a bit, but i have a couple of my arrows done up with feathers, not for the lighter weight, but i really like the traditional look, i'm using the wood grain traditional Gold Tip with a crest wrap and barred feathers, i was shooting out of a tree stand yesterday and the feathers are pretty loud compared to vanes, they shoot my broadheads perfect, even with bent blades, so at 30 yards or so, and about 275 fps, do you think the noise from the feathers is anything to worry about ?? thanks, Brad.

I know that feathers are noisier but I also have never had a problem spooking deer with the sound. I really think feathers are a better all around choice but I don't like getting them wet. I have also have people tell me that vains are more durable. I will say though the other day I shot a deer and didn't find my arrow until the next day. I didn't get a pass through since it was a big body deer and I have a light setup but it was lying where the deer was. I am not sure why I did not see it, too excited I guess. Anyway the fletching was still in perfect condition. I test shot it, put new blades on and it is back in the quiver. I have to decide by tomorrow because I don't have a jig I am going to have them fletched at my dealer.

 

Other than moisture it's pretty clear feathers are far superior to vanes.

One comment on the spin-vanes and their brethren. They are probably not as much help indoors as they would be on a field or 3D course where there are much longer shots.

 

Feathers vs Vanes

Feathers are faster out of the hole but after 30 yds their trajectory drops off fast in comparison to a Vane of equal length.

Expect a much tighter pin gap with vanes.

As far as steering and forgiving goes its pretty hard to beat a feather . Durability as far as I'm concerned is pretty much equal as long as time is taken during installation.

Everyone is praising the Blazer Vanes for hunting , I've yet to try them but will be in the near future.

 

I have a friend that loves the Blazers. I wished I could use them but I want to shoot the same fletch for hunting and competition. At our local shoots I can't use a vane that short, too bad.

 

Reply to subject

Hello All
I always shape my feathers by burning and shot 4 fletch.

Still would , if feathers hadn't got so high in cost.

When hunting with feathers kept a bread rapper over them.

I feel feathers are more forgiven .But i will say vains have come a long way .

Also feel with the drop rest 4 fletched arrows would really make a differance indoors.

My Thoughts
Later
Unk

 

If you go veins...use Flex Fletch, well worth the higher cost.
I got sick of refletching arrows all the time.

 

Thanks for all the input.

 

Try Kurly vanes...made of mylar, they are lighter than feathers, stiffer than vanes, and look great to boot. I gained well over 10fps by going to Kurlys from 4" vanes! They spin the arrow MUCH better than normal straight vanes/feathers so you can use shorter vanes as well (even LIGHTER!)

 

I use feathers never had any trouble with them. I also use a water repelent on them no sent so the dear cant smell them for a fact. And i can dunk them in the water and they come out perfect. But i bought some acc's for a friend with the speed vanes and yes i seen first hand the same demo and yes the speed vanes are spinning faster. One thing it dident domo. was the cross wind i saw first hand in my back yard at 30yds. When the arrow was about 8yds from the bag the cross wind kicked them bad. So in theroy if the vanes is going clockwise and the wind is comming from the left it will slow down the spin. Plus i know why i went to feathers 10yrs agao was the vanes tear and will not shoot the same. I can tear 1/2 of the feather off and still shoot with the rest of my shafts.


FEATHERS #1

 

Feathers slow arrow down faster than vanes, unless vanes are set at a helical or maybe quick spins- anything using the energy from the bow to rotate the arrow or create more drag will take away from the forward momentum. When the arrow leaves the bow you have X number of ftlbs of energy- use it as you see fit, but you won't get more down there at 40 yds! Feathers fold down easily, but try pushing one from the side! Vanes fold easily from the side, but try folding them down from the front! Which way do the vanes or feathers hit your rest? Some from the front, some just touch the side. All these things determine your choice.

 

Of course how the vanes feathers bend when hitting a rest is a moot point with a drap away...or even a WB.
The direction of the wind will not speed up or slow down the arrows spin (at least not a side wind) the spinning vanes will be spinning into the wind at some point, and wawy from the wind 180 degrees later (counter clockwise, "left" crosswind...a vane at the top of the arrow will be hitting into the wind...the vanes at the bottom of the arrow will be moving with the wind)
The only vanes I know of that seriously change speed in a cross wind are the Kurly vanes, and spin wing vanes. being that they are in a 1/2 circle when mounted on the shaft, the vane on top (in the clockwise/left crosswind example) folds down reducing it's resistance to the wind, while tha vane on the bottom of the shaft extends, increasing its resistance to the wind. The more sideways a Kurly or spin wing, the faster it will spin.

 

Try the Blazers!!

I recently fletched a few of my arrows with some Bohning Blazer vanes just to use during bad weather. They only weigth 5 grains (just a bit more than my feathers) so my pin placement went unchanged from my feathered arrows. Also, broadhead flight is terriffic with these! And, talk about quiet! These things fly like darts!
Now I'm trying to find a reason to keep my trusty feathers at all!(besides just being sentimental for them) Try the Blazers - you'll love 'em!

 

Blazers for me. I really like these vanes. they are also extremely easy to fletch, I have not had one ocme off yet. I tried the Quik Spins, they were hard to keep on the shaft. they are too expensive for any benefit they may have.

 

I also switched from 4" feathers to the Blazer vanes. I switched because of I was constantly replacing feather due to just normal use, also rain and noise. While I agree that feathers do work great, I like the Blazer vains much better. They hold up better, rain is not an issue, and they are very quite. I only lost 3 fps.

 

Experiment with Quick Spins

I have been experimenting with Quick Spins verses 4" feathers. This was for indoor shooting. I have not tried 5" feathers. After one shooting against the 4" feathers, I went home and took them off and refletched with QS. The Quick Spin groups were so much tighter than the feathers!!!!!! I did not consider putting on 5" even as a trial. Feathers are more prone to wear than the vanes. I was using Line Jammer 350s @ about 29 1/2" with heavy points.

I was talking to the representitive at NAP and he said the 4" QS were designed for hunting primary and was not ment to be used at distances greater than 35 yards. There is too much drag and the trajectory starts to fall off fast above this distance. They will be coming out with a smaller version early next year which will be designed for target shooting including FITA.

I am using on all my hunting arrows and indoor arrows, now. I have found that inside of 40 yards there is little difference except BH tend to fly better. But, when you get out to 60 yards the drop is extreme.

The more drag you place on an arrow the faster it will straighten. Spin creates drag. The more drag you have the faster the arrow will decellerate which will lead to more drop. So, it is a balancing game. You will have to do some experimenting for your bow poundage, draw length and planned distances to shoot and then determine what you feel is your best setup for both control and trajectory. I prefer the use of vanes in general, because of maintainence ease. But, each to his own. No one setup is best of all conditions.

 

I switched some of my golg tips from feathers to vanes and they lost 10 fps.