# Fletching selection for outdoor recurve



## fader (May 17, 2010)

Spin Wing vanes


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

There is a better alternative to spin wings available these days. Elivanes from Italy perform exceptionally well, and ARE MORE DURABLE than the fragile spin wings. They are what I'm using on my Nano Pro 450's at the moment, and I've seen excellent results with them. Only fletchings I've had to replace were wrinkled by the button because of a poor initial setup. Otherwise, nearly all the fletchings I started with are still shooting strong with no maintenance, 1000's of shots later.

If I'm not using Elivanes, or if I need a little more nock-end weight to stiffen my arrow a bit, I'll use AAE Plastifletch Max 2.0 shield vanes. Incredibly durable and easy to fletch (you do NOT have to clean the base of these vanes) and I've shot my personal best outdoor scores to date with these AAE vanes. Once you fletch an arrow with them, you can just about forget maintenance forever. I have some arrows with AAE vanes that have the logos completely worn off from use, and the vanes look brand new.

As far as performance, I've been shooting mylar vanes (spin wings/Elivanes) vs. Plastic vanes for going on 9 years now, and I still cannot see any difference in scores. 

John


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## lksseven (Mar 21, 2010)

John, as of last year the elivanes were still quite expensive - somewhere around $30/bag of 50 if I remember correctly (and didn't include the tip tape). Have they come down in price in the last 12 months?


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

22 -

I've used spin wings, easton tight flight vanes and the aae vanes. This year, I'm going back to 3" parabolic feathers. Just more forgiving and easier to deal with. 

Viper1 out.


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## Flehrad (Oct 27, 2009)

I started with plastifletch, moved to duravane, to spin-wings and now elivanes. I do agree that the elivanes are a lot tougher, but I found my white spinnies were really tough too, seemingly tougher than some of the other colours that I have seen people use around the place. I actually fletch them with the fold-back method so their profile is actually also a touch smaller/flatter so that might contribute to their survival also.


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## rick11743 (Sep 20, 2010)

I use the Vanetec 1.75" FITA vanes on my compound arrows, but from what I understand, they are popular for Oly Recurve

http://www.lancasterarchery.com/vanetectm-super-spine-vanes.html


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## tigersdad (Jun 13, 2009)

Regarding the "3 in parabolic feathers" for outdoor shooting - has anyone already (point me to it if so) taken feathers and then cut them down heighth wise to see at what point does stabilization "fly" out the window? I have taken some four inch feathers and cut the down to just above a quarter inch and gotten good flight out to 35 yards. But that was not serious, just seeing what would happen.


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## Bigjono (Apr 21, 2009)

I have heard good things about the new Bohning Impulse as well.


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## tkaap (Nov 30, 2009)

limbwalker said:


> Elivanes from Italy ... are what I'm using on my Nano Pro 450's at the moment, and I've seen excellent results with them.
> John


John,

Whenever I get tempted to try Eli Vanes, I get sidetracked by their not-completely-helpful descriptions of their options. It seems like most FITA recurve shooters should start with the P3 or S3 and possibly move to S2 if they are comfortable with it. Is this what you've experienced? What styles of their vanes have you tried so far?

-Tony


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## skunklover (Aug 4, 2011)

I'm shooting Eli Vanes, P3. They are really durable, but I'm currently seeking a better adhesive tape for them. The included one does not seem to stick as well as the spinwing ones.


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## recurvist22 (Jan 13, 2010)

wow, now i'm really confused as to what to use lol thanks for all of your input. does anyone ever have trouble with the vanes hitting the plunger or rest?


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## Flehrad (Oct 27, 2009)

nope. appropriate shaft tuning means it should never hit the plunger or the rest. Hitting the riser shelf however is an issue if you have big vanes, typically with the high profile plastic fletches.


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## lastickbow (Nov 13, 2007)

Spin Wing Vanes, nothing better for over 30 years!!


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## st8arrow (Apr 25, 2005)

I used the Vanetec's last year and really like them, but have also had great luck with the AAE'

I notice Lancaster now has Elivanes on their website.


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

The most surefire bet is Spinwings, 1 3/4" for arrows up to ~30", 2" for arrows up to 31.5" and 2 3/16" for longer.

Or pick eli/gaspro or even K-vanes if you prefer durability. Other options may work but all have their drawbacks, usually weight and clearance.


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## Aix (Oct 21, 2009)

Anyone used the Flo-nites? I've had some pretty tight results with them. They seem to be fairly versatile as well. Shot them with Oly Rec at 34 lbs and on my my hunting rig at 60 lbs. Good results with both.


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## recurvist22 (Jan 13, 2010)

Are the Spinwings/K-vanes pretty easy to keep from hitting the plunger/rest? I've heard alot about them getting ripped off and being hard to tune.


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## jhinaz (Mar 1, 2003)

skunklover said:


> I'm shooting Eli Vanes, P3. They are really durable, but I'm currently seeking a better adhesive tape for them. The included one does not seem to stick as well as the spinwing ones.


I've used 'Bohning Feather Fletching Tape' on Spin Wings, Quick Spins, Flonite, and feathers.....it holds very well on each of them. - John
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/bohning-feather-fletching-tape.html


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## fader (May 17, 2010)

recurvist22 said:


> Are the Spinwings/K-vanes pretty easy to keep from hitting the plunger/rest? I've heard alot about them getting ripped off and being hard to tune.


If your rig is tuned then you should never have a problem with any vane hitting your rest - spin wings included. They're not hard to tune. Tuning requires the same methods as any other vane.


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## massman (Jun 21, 2004)

Mylar vanes be they Spinwings (Preferred) or Kurly Vanes...

The only real issue I have with mylar vanes is that the manufacturers bend the vanes (as needed) but fail to concentrate on the area of the vane that attaches to the shaft. I'd love to see these vanes have a curl on them where they attach to the shaft. If they had a radious to match X10's or ACE shaft diameters then the surface of the vane to tape and tape to shaft area would be greatly enhanced.

Personally I shoot EASTON ACE670's (28 1/8" shaft), 100 grain (long) steel points, with 1 3/4" White Spinwings. and pins with pin nocks.

My Best


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## OldSchoolNEO (May 11, 2009)

limbwalker said:


> ...
> As far as performance, I've been shooting mylar vanes (spin wings/Elivanes) vs. Plastic vanes for going on 9 years now, and I still cannot see any difference in scores...


John,
Do you see much of an advantage to either in wind drift?
Thanks.


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## recurvist22 (Jan 13, 2010)

ok, i'm leaning towards some kurly vanes, any tips for putting them on?


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## massman (Jun 21, 2004)

I use a home made fixture:

The fixture is a piece of smooth plywwod app. 6" x 6". To this I secured 2 small paper clips using appropriately sized sheet metal screws.

The paper clips are angled inward somewhat towards each other. They are positioned so as to hold a mylan vane down flat and allow access to the area/edge that gets the double stick tape.

I place a vane under the clips. Peal off a piece of tape (leaving one of the paper sides intack) and under a bright light (my eyes...) I place the sticky side of the tape onto the mylar vane. I then use a modelers razor knife to trim off the excess double stick tape. I make us a number of vanes and then apply them to the shaft. You can do this to vanes and then take the spare vanes with you, in order to do a field repair if needed.

Regards,

Tom


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## fader (May 17, 2010)

recurvist22 said:


> ok, i'm leaning towards some kurly vanes, any tips for putting them on?


Make sure you don't buy the dayglow orange. The visibility on them is amazing. But, the color on those vanes comes in the form of a coating that tends to come off on the adhesive requiring you to reapply the vane or use a new one. I'm guessing it's the same with all the dayglow colors. But, orange is the only one I've had personal experience with.


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## jtremolo (Feb 11, 2009)

The Beiter wing holders are excellent for putting on kurlys or spin wings and they really aren't all that expensive. If you are going to go with a mylar vane I feel the adhesive that comes with the spin wings tends to hold a lot better than the kurly vanes. The kurly vanes do come in some really nice colors though


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## jhinaz (Mar 1, 2003)

+1 for Beiter Wing Holders.
Having said that, you don't NEED a wing holder....you can mark the lines (I prefer using a silver-lead artist pencil but you can use a paint-pen or something similar) on your shaft using a normal fletching jig (or Beiter Tri-Liner). Cut the tape in strips to the length of your Spin Wing or Kurly and place it on the shaft, leaving the paper on the surface-side of the tape. After you have all three strips of tape placed on the shaft then remove one surface-side-paper and place your Spin Wing/Kurly directly on the tape. Move to the next strip and repeat. - John


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## archeryal (Apr 16, 2005)

Texas Archery has a how-to document on mylar vanes with pictures, etc. Good stuff:
http://www.texasarchery.org/Documents/Mylar/mylarvanes.htm


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## eagle man (Jun 7, 2011)

I found the perfect tool for applying spin wings. I wish I new the real name of these things. They are the paper clips that are black metal and there is a wire loop on each side that you squeeze to open it. I believe they are called "binder clips" These are the kind of clips that hold a large number of papers then once you grab the papers you flip the wire loops down on to the paper. Anyway they come in lots of sizes. I use one that is 1.25" long for putting on 1.75" and 2" spin wings. I have been able to put them on very easily and accurate this way.

Good shooting in 2012


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## Seattlepop (Dec 8, 2003)

eagle man said:


> I found the perfect tool for applying spin wings. I wish I new the real name of these things. They are the paper clips that are black metal and there is a wire loop on each side that you squeeze to open it. I believe they are called "binder clips" These are the kind of clips that hold a large number of papers then once you grab the papers you flip the wire loops down on to the paper. Anyway they come in lots of sizes. I use one that is 1.25" long for putting on 1.75" and 2" spin wings. I have been able to put them on very easily and accurate this way.
> 
> Good shooting in 2012


I tried those but found the wire loops hard to hold on to. These clips work great for me...


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## lksseven (Mar 21, 2010)

jhinaz,

That's exactly how I apply my spin wings. It's a tad tedious, but it's easy.


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## julle (Mar 1, 2009)

they're called bulldog clips i think, 









This is what i've been using for years.


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## recurvist22 (Jan 13, 2010)

Ok that doesn't sound too hard, i'm gonna have to try these out


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