If a vast majority of bow manufacturers and string manufacturers use a clockwise twist that will naturally clock the arrow left, why is the industry standard for arrow companies to fletch their factory fletched arrows with a right offset? I know people will disagree on how much this matters, but it just seems like if most bows clock the arrow left, the arrow manufacturers would fletch to the left.
Jeff8788
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Read this once, may or may not be true.
Long time ago, in England, they generally used goose feathers on arrows. No turkeys there back then. And to keep domestic geese from flying away, people would clip the wing feathers, and by tradition, this was done on the left side. So when the geese were slaughtered for food, fletchers would only have the right wing feathers intact for use on arrows. So this has carried on.
Secondarily, the way most single-clamp fletching jigs are constructed, it’s easier to see the glue bond when fletching RW than when doing LW, so it’s a bit faster.
Long time ago, in England, they generally used goose feathers on arrows. No turkeys there back then. And to keep domestic geese from flying away, people would clip the wing feathers, and by tradition, this was done on the left side. So when the geese were slaughtered for food, fletchers would only have the right wing feathers intact for use on arrows. So this has carried on.
Secondarily, the way most single-clamp fletching jigs are constructed, it’s easier to see the glue bond when fletching RW than when doing LW, so it’s a bit faster.
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You did say in your first post that people would disagree on the importance of this “natural direction” thing.
This spin thing is a relatively new idea, and has (as far as I know) very little interest outside of this forum and a couple of Youtube videos. I’ve been in the sport for over 50 years and have never had a discussion about this in person with anyone. I still haven’t seen any PROPERLY DONE test, with no bias, that shows there’s any difference in accuracy due to the direction of spin of an arrow.
I doubt if any arrow manufacturers are going to buy new clamps and readjust all their jigs they’ve been using for decades without a good, proven reason.
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Can he show his data that demonstrates conclusively that he scores higher with fletching attached in one direction vs another?
Like, the results of testing with a set of arrows, half fletched R and half L but otherwise identical, shot at a target a few hundred times in random order (without being aware during the shot if the arrow is R or L), under identical conditions over several days, in order to produce a statistically significant sample size?
I’m not saying he’s wrong. Maybe a specific fletch direction can improve accuracy. But, anything short of an actual test of that type is just an opinion.
Like, the results of testing with a set of arrows, half fletched R and half L but otherwise identical, shot at a target a few hundred times in random order (without being aware during the shot if the arrow is R or L), under identical conditions over several days, in order to produce a statistically significant sample size?
I’m not saying he’s wrong. Maybe a specific fletch direction can improve accuracy. But, anything short of an actual test of that type is just an opinion.
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I missed that one. Just had a quick look at it, and yes, that’s the kind of testing people should do if they really want to KNOW if something is better or not, rather than just THINKING it is, and preaching about it to everyone.
My only caution would be to remind people that a test like this would only apply to the specific equipment (and archer) being tested, and not necessarily to the entire subject. As you said, “…worth the effort for ME”.
Until there have been enough similar tests done by a large enough number of archers across a range of equipment to make it reasonable to conclude that the general principle is universally applicable, we need to emphasize that there is a difference between “anecdote” and “data”. 😄
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Not all of them.
If they do 3 fletch at a time, then they'd have to get all new jigs, not just clamps.
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What about a deer that‘s standing there, looking right at you. You don’t know if it’s going to move right or left - which arrow do you nock? Or do you wait until it moves, then pick your arrow? Might run out of time.I shoot deer moving left to right with right helical and those going right to left with left helical
What if you’re offered a hunting trip to Australia? Same, or the other way around?
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Invent such a device, and then you can post about it directly in the “Bad archery inventions over the years” thread.Decisions ,that's a conundrum right there, I need an arrow that you can turn the nock and it changes the fletching from right helical to left. imagine that an arrow with adjustable fletching
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