# Feathers or plastic vanes?



## sharpbroadhead (Feb 19, 2004)

if you are shooting off the shelf you cannot use vanes - if you are shooting off an elevated rest it does not matter what you use


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## rembrandt (Jan 17, 2004)

Feathers at 4 and 5 inches make arrows more stable with recurves and stickbows. I would recommend using feathers however you can give the vanes a go and see how they perform....

Sharp is right about the shelf and the raised rest tho!


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## Bender (Dec 6, 2006)

Feathers.


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

Either will work fine for an elevated rests, but bear in mind that Olympic archers use vanes. They would use feathers if there was an advantage. Remember folks, the question is which is better, not what do you prefer.


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

jmccord said:


> What is better for shooting a recurve bow? I have a bunch of plastic vanes for my compound so would it hurt to continue shooting them with my recurve?


I'm for feathers all the way.... :grin:


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## minnie3 (Jul 28, 2009)

i like feathers, but i'm only shooting 3d out to 30 yards with my recurves. (i off the shelf, the other with an elated rest and plunger).
i also use feathers with 3d barebow compound out to 30m, mainly because they clear the shoot through cables better.
and they look good with custom wraps.


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## BowmanJay (Jan 1, 2007)

Feathers are proven better than any plastic vane.....


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## Bender (Dec 6, 2006)

Hank D Thoreau said:


> Either will work fine for an elevated rests, but bear in mind that Olympic archers use vanes. They would use feathers if there was an advantage. Remember folks, the question is which is better, not what do you prefer.


Yes but to shoot vanes with a finger release, even off an elevated rest, requires a level of precision tuning that few, if any, newbies will be able to attain. Sometimes we forget that just beacuse we who have been shooting for years can do something, that doesn't mean that everybody else can immediately go out and duplicate our results. 
The very fact that the OP even asks the question is a very strong indicator that he is a newby to stickbows. So, again, to answer the question, "What is best?" the answer to this particular person is Feathers.


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## bigtone1411 (Nov 3, 2011)

I do prefer feathers, because they are more forgiving and they just look "trad" cool. But honestly, I shoot vanes of my metal ILF riser with a NAP Centerest. They fly faster and super quiet. Jmccord, I don't know what your set up is, but if you have lots of vanes lying around try some if you have some kind of elevated rest. I know if I were hunting during a soggy day, the vanes are coming with me.


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## rickstix (Nov 11, 2009)

Feathers or vanes is a question that comes up often…and, particularly in the context of having arrows that were intended for use with a compound. IMO, this approach, while cost effective, would not be something that is factored-in when choosing arrows for their compounds…so it’s usually difficult to envision anything but starting out with somewhat of a handicap. Not saying it can never work (…sometimes it’s surprising what works for others) but generally, I wouldn’t consider some of the juggling between compound and traditional equipment/shooting as an odds-on favorite approach for having an optimum experience/result.

That said, where vanes work with certain archers and their equipment is fine with me…but I wouldn’t count those cases to be in the majority. And, it’s because I’ve seen more erratic flight from vanes out of traditional equipment (…often noticeable at a distance) that I can’t help but suggest trying feathers...and...possibly...new arrows in your future. I do hope you get this all worked out to your satisfaction. Enjoy, Rick.


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