# light weight vanes



## atjurhs (Oct 19, 2011)

Hey guys,

I want to lighten the overall weight of my arrow. 

The main way I plan to do this is to use lighter points (I'm currently using 120grain SS break-off points). If I reduce their weight down to 100grains I've saved 20 grains, but I will also change the spine, so I also need to change the weight on the rear of the arrow, so I plan to switch away from pin nocks and reduce the weight of my vanes. So....

What are some of the lightest weight vanes that I can use on MKII shafts? I'm currently flying either 2" Flex-Fletch or AAE Plastifletch Max Vane (I don't remember), and I don't want to deal with Spin-Wings


Thanks for your help, Todd


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## dchan (Jun 29, 2004)

Too bad you don't want to go with spins or kurlys. The Mylars are about 1 gn for a set of 3.. compared to 1-3 grains each for almost every other vane out there.

There is the "delicate" nature of them however..

And what's your string setup? have you looked at if you can lighten up the string? Same affect as lightening up the back of the arrow (as far as effect on spine) 

Switch from brass crimp on nock locator to tie on. Shorten center serving. Less strands? etc.


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## atjurhs (Oct 19, 2011)

yea I delt with Spin-Wings and really found them to be a major pain in the @$$ so I'm not willing to go back to them.

yep, my sting is already very light. It's only 10 strands of 8125 with minimal serving; although I will swithout the brass string tied nockset, good idea, thanks!


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## KenYeoh (Feb 21, 2010)

I found elivanes to be much more durable and easier to work with than spin-wings. You might want to give those a go


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## atjurhs (Oct 19, 2011)

BTW, what nocks, other than pin nocks, fit the MKII shafts?


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## atjurhs (Oct 19, 2011)

the problem I had with Spin-Wings was getting them set-up correctly so not to strip off one every other end. I'm not sure how elivanes would solve that.

so I'd like to stay with a tradtional glue-on vane


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## Old Newbie (Apr 14, 2011)

If you mark your arrows with straight lines, install the Elivanes and then check the nocks to match the clearance of the button, you should have no problem. I agree, Elivanes are the way to go. They're ultra durable and ultra light.


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## >--gt--> (Jul 1, 2002)

KenYeoh said:


> I found elivanes to be much more durable and easier to work with than spin-wings. You might want to give those a go


I found about 20% of the ELI vanes in three separate packages to be defective. Not a very good reputation ATM.


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## gumibears (Jun 1, 2008)

Questions: why are you trying to lighten the arrow? Stiffen it I assume.

You could switch to a smaller glue-on vane like a 1 3/4" (not too sure how much that lightens)

If spinwings keep getting ripped off, maybe your nock on the arrow is rotated slightly off or your tune is not exactly tuned. Sometimes the Hoyt super rests also rip off vanes when not tuned.
Which vanes would rip off? Top one (you hit the plunger; rotate nock CW slightly)? Index(you went through the clicker; dont shoot through clicker)? or bottom right one(plunger hit or arrow rest; rotate nock CCW slightly)?

I personally wouldnt go with elivanes until you solve the tune/clean releases. If both of those are generally solved, spin wings do just fine. Right now, the Plastifletch will help you not lose vanes, but you also wont know if they are contacting w/o some tests using baby powder or lipstick or one of those indicators.


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## icehaven (Nov 30, 2010)

>--gt--> said:


> I found about 20% of the ELI vanes in three separate packages to be defective. Not a very good reputation ATM.


i swear by Eli Vanes, but i agree that there's often defective ones. However, since i've only bought one pack in the last year and recycled the vanes, they've saved me a lot of money. I used to buy a pack of spin wings ever 2-3 months. But after a year of using Eli Vanes, i'm never going back.

To the OP: The difference between eli vanes and spin wings is that Eli vanes are a lot thicker and made of a different kind of plastic. This means (and i can confirm this many times over) that a shot through the clicker will not damage the eli vanes where as it will strip the spin wing clean off.


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## Old Newbie (Apr 14, 2011)

I haven't found a 20% defect rate but I can say that when my Spinwings® used to go through the hay bale, that was it. It was a wrap (pardon the pun) for that fletching. I don't have that problem with ELivanes®. OP, you know what's best for you. We're just sharing.

BTW: What is the weight of your 'too heavy' arrow?


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## rick11743 (Sep 20, 2010)

Where is the love for feathers? Gateway 2.5" Parabolic Feathers - less than 1 grain each & chicks dig em

http://www.lancasterarchery.com/gateway-2-1-2-parabolic-feathers.html


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## atjurhs (Oct 19, 2011)

feathers would be fine if I wasn't wanting to shoot a flat ttrajectory out to 60 or 70meters.

Just doing a little bit of looking on the web, Duravanes appear to be a good choice. Does anyone have experience with these?


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## icehaven (Nov 30, 2010)

atjurhs said:


> feathers would be fine if I wasn't wanting to shoot a flat ttrajectory out to 60 or 70meters.
> 
> Just doing a little bit of looking on the web, Duravanes appear to be a good choice. Does anyone have experience with these?


i've used them when i needed to stiffen my arrow. they're quite heavy, and putting 3 of them on added quite a bit of mass (about 20gr worth). But they're definitely durable, as their name suggests.


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## KenYeoh (Feb 21, 2010)

atjurhs said:


> feathers would be fine if I wasn't wanting to shoot a flat ttrajectory out to 60 or 70meters.
> 
> Just doing a little bit of looking on the web, Duravanes appear to be a good choice. Does anyone have experience with these?


They are quite well built but are significantly heavier than a spinwing (6.2 grains for their smallest 3" vane). I have had success shooting them at 70m with an ACE and a fairly flat trajectory.


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## Chris RL (Oct 30, 2011)

Using Gas Pro vanes and am very happy with them, both in performance and in durability. I had three sets of fletchings on my X10s at one time - AAE vanes, Spin Wings and Gas Pros and the Gas Pros are still on them whereas the others were replaced with Gas Pros as they wore out/tore/fell off...


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## rick11743 (Sep 20, 2010)

atjurhs said:


> feathers would be fine if I wasn't wanting to shoot a flat ttrajectory out to 60 or 70meters.
> 
> Just doing a little bit of looking on the web, Duravanes appear to be a good choice. Does anyone have experience with these?


I ain't a scientist or nuthin, but Spin Wings/EliVanes are considered to be the best option for long range oly recurve. However, if Spin Wings/EliVanes are not an option, I don't see why duravanes would be better choice than feathers at 60/70 meters


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## icehaven (Nov 30, 2010)

Chris RL said:


> Using Gas Pro vanes and am very happy with them, both in performance and in durability. I had three sets of fletchings on my X10s at one time - AAE vanes, Spin Wings and Gas Pros and the Gas Pros are still on them whereas the others were replaced with Gas Pros as they wore out/tore/fell off...


is there an easier way to get gas pro vanes than alternative services?


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## Chris RL (Oct 30, 2011)

K1-archery.com


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Love my elivanes.


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## atjurhs (Oct 19, 2011)

guys, I think this thread has digrest.

I'm asking for help finding the lightest vanes, not Spin-Wings or any of it's cousins, but the lightest "traditional" glue-on 3 vanes.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Feathers.


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## atjurhs (Oct 19, 2011)

feathers would be lighter BUT won't the drag be higher, so at 60m I'd think I'd be penalized more heavily than a heavier arrow.

btw, my current MKII arrows as they are weigh 264grains. I can easily dump 20grains from the tips and I'm hoping 10grains from removing the pins and pin nocks then switching to G-nocks, and lighter vanes. So hopefully 30grains or more lighter


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## atjurhs (Oct 19, 2011)

so in doing a bit of web-research it looks like VaneTec Super Spine 1.75" FITA vanes are only 2.6grains.

does anyone have experience with them?


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## Ronin Conan (Jul 4, 2011)

i'm using the vanetec's for compound, I'm quite happy with them. Another one to look at would be the bohning micro blazer vanes, only 2gr per vane (just impossible to find).


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## rick11743 (Sep 20, 2010)

atjurhs said:


> feathers would be lighter BUT won't the drag be higher, so at 60m I'd think I'd be penalized more heavily than a heavier arrow.


Why would the drag be higher?


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## atjurhs (Oct 19, 2011)

imo, the drag would be higher on feathers because there is more surface area from all those "ridges" on the sides and edges of the feathers. all those edges will disrupt the laminar airflow over the surface of the feather more so than the vane.

but this thread is not about drag, it's about the lightest weight vanes


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Yea, you're right. I was just kidding with you. Feathers are a great lightweight solution but create excessive drag vs. a plastic vane. 

Lancasters usually lists the weight of vanes. I have no idea which ones are lightest these days.


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## Bob Furman (May 16, 2012)

>--gt--> said:


> I found about 20% of the ELI vanes in three separate packages to be defective. Not a very good reputation ATM.


And just how were they defective?


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## Bob Furman (May 16, 2012)

atjurhs said:


> the problem I had with Spin-Wings was getting them set-up correctly so not to strip off one every other end. I'm not sure how elivanes would solve that.
> 
> so I'd like to stay with a tradtional glue-on vane


Sounds like you may of had a clearance issue if they wud strip off that easy. I would re-visit your tune setup and maybe give thought to trying sspin wings, elivanes again


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## Bob Furman (May 16, 2012)

Try these:

http://vanetec.com/products/vanes/super-spine-series

No affiliation, I just stumbled across them. They are also carried by LAS.

• LOW PROFILE VANES DESIGNED FOR ALL TYPES OF TARGET SHOOTING
• SPACE-AGE RIGID MATERIAL FOR MAXIMUM STABILITY AND DURABILITY 
• VIBRATION DAMPENED, TEAR RESISTANT BLADE WITH EXCELLENT MEMORY
• INSTANT BONDING, NO PREP REQUIRED
• UNAFFECTED BY "BISCUIT-TYPE" RESTS
• NARROW BASE (.110")
• AVAILABLE LENGTHS:
FITA 1.75" (2.4gr)
1.8" (4.4gr)
2.3" (5.0gr)
3.0" (7.0gr)


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## grantmac (May 31, 2007)

atjurhs said:


> so in doing a bit of web-research it looks like VaneTec Super Spine 1.75" FITA vanes are only 2.6grains.
> 
> does anyone have experience with them?


I've shot them and didn't like them. Very borderline stability and high enough profile that they were not terribly easy to get good clearance with.

Switched to Bohning Impulse vanes and couldn't be happier, but they are 4gr each.

-Grant


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## cc46 (Jan 22, 2005)

""use on MKII shafts"" ""so I plan to switch away from pin nocks""

Didn't see an answer to your question around lighter nocks but

Easton g nocks fit the MKIIs and are about 6.5 grains.
vs
Pins are about 8 grains and the lightest pin nock is 2 grains, a Beiter pin out nock is about 6 grains, so potentially, just a G nock could save you 3 to 7 grains.


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