# Right helical vs left helical fletching



## fish'n

I shoot right handed. Does it matter if my arrows has fletching that is right helical or left helical?


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## mikegallo

I converted to left-wing, can't tell much difference.


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## JINKSTER

fish'n said:


> I shoot right handed. Does it matter if my arrows has fletching that is right helical or left helical?


According to Traditional Legend & Associated Rumors?....yes...it does...where they advise an archer to shoot a helix that is opposite of whatever hand they are.

Ex: Righties shoot LW/Lefties shoot RW

I'm a righty who's shot LW for decades over that rumored legend above...and secretly wished I was a lefty so I could stop worrying about screw-in points loosening up! LOL!

Now 3 decades later?....here's how important it is to me....

Last year I broke down and bought a RW Clamp for my 30 year old Bitzenburger Fletching Jig...reason?...Bass Pro (10 minutes from my house) only carries right wing feathers. LOL!

That said?...I have tons of LW feathers but not always in the colors I prefer...where my choices are either order and wait several days for LW in the color I want or?...a 10 minute trip up the street and for bonus points?...I don't have to thread lock my points. 

That's how important it is.


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## Easykeeper

It doesn't matter, use whatever you want. I'm right handed and use left wing since that's what the first Bitz jig I bought over thirty years ago came with. I've never had any reason to change and any chance of points coming loose with left wing helical is easily eliminated with a pliers and a good twist.

I would recommend a helical over a straight clamp though.


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## gnome

fish'n said:


> I shoot right handed. Does it matter if my arrows has fletching that is right helical or left helical?


With rotateable nocks, No it does not matter if its lw, or rw. You can usually fix an fletching contact by turning the nock one way or the other.
And it's funny about what has been commonly held beliefs, as I had always heard left handed shooters need LW, and right handed needed RW.
Slow motion photography has shown that the arrow does not begin to rotate until a few feet after leaving the bow. So shoot what you want to.
I have taken and fletched 5 LW, and 5 RW, of the same shaft, and as a Left handed shooter, I have found that I like shooting LW, over RW . 
I justify that by saying I also like Dodge over Ford, and the color blue over red .


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## fish'n

Easykeeper said:


> It doesn't matter, use whatever you want. I'm right handed and use left wing since that's what the first Bitz jig I bought over thirty years ago came with. I've never had any reason to change and any chance of points coming loose with left wing helical is easily eliminated with a pliers and a good twist.
> *
> I would recommend a helical over a straight clamp though*.


Thanks. So what is the advantage of helical over straight?


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## Easykeeper

Feathers have a natural curl, that's why there are left wing and right wing fletching jig clamps. A helical clamp lets the feather follow it's natural curl on the shaft. Plus, many archers including myself feel that the spin produced by the helical fletching helps in stabilizing an arrow, especially arrows tipped with broadheads.

I use the maximum helical my Bitz will apply, but then all of my arrows may at one time or another be used with broadheads. With well tuned arrows, especially with those with field points, the demands placed on the fletching is reduced so the amount of helical and certainly the length of the feathers can be reduced to maximize the long range trajectory. In my opinion hunting with broadheads is not the time to try to minimize drag by reducing helical or feather size, and that's assuming you have well tuned arrows to start with.


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## Cwilder

I shoot both off the same bow with no difference 
It's all personal preference


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## longbowguy

Well, it doesn't usually matter. But sometimes it does. If you shoot a longbow off your fingers, or if you have a longbow or recurve with a low shelf, and slightly stiff shafts, one wing or the other might be likely to cut you. I had such a combo once and still have the scars. A couple of times with worn arrows I had to pull a bit of quill out of the skin on my knuckle. Then I had a brain wave and shot that combo with the cock feather in. - lbg


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## olddogrib

As LBG points out, when I shot long bows with narrow shelves I'd get cut on the web of my thumb by the sharp leading edges of the cock fletch. I'm RH and switched to LW and never looked back. There are likely other fixes that would have worked just as well, I just never needed them. I put string wax on the threads of screw in points to take care of Jink's issue.


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## 5 Arrow

Really depends on which wing of the turkey the turkey owner wants to clip. Helical fletch gives the arrow a fairly significant angular momentum. Being able to turn nocks for rest clearance is by far more significant to arrow flight than is feather handedness.


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## dan in mi

As implied above by longbow guy and olddogrib, the "standard rule" came from the days of shooting off you hand or vey little shelf. Using the opposite wing of your "handedness" prevented getting your bow hand stabbed with a the quill of your feathers as the arrow passed by. Rarely a concern these days.

Regarding flight. It does not matter.

Straight versus helical. The more helical the more drag/correction. Even dead straight the difference in surface of the feathers two sides will create some rotation.

Another old time feather issue was RW used to cost more than LW. The theory at the time was the guys trimming turkey wings to keep them from flying were right handed so they held the bird from behind and cut the RW feathers. Thus creating a slight shortage of RW versus LW. That price change went away inhte 80's or 90's. Did a different method of preventing flight come about, or are thy making more money on LW now???


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## BarneySlayer

What everyone else said.

I would only add, helical, in having more angle (and a curved one), not only impart more rotation, but stabilize the arrows more quickly in the event that shot form/setup is deviant from the optimal tuned state. There is in fact more drag, so that if you're doing a lot of long distance shooting, it might not be the most of what you want, but if you want to optimize the 'forgiveness' of the setup, particularly shooting broad heads, it's pretty ideal. Of course, getting the bow actually tuned to your form, and getting your form consistent enough to actually tune, is a prerequisite to even worrying about it.

Just to repeat one of the above points, nock rotation, in terms of fletching clearance.... If you're brushing the feathers, not a big deal, but if can avoid it, feathers will last longer. If you actually bounce the quills of the shaft, the back will ricochet, and not only mess with arrow flight, but give you false indications as to the effect of the dynamic spine, and finding the best arrow combination.


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## Bill 2311

I have 3 of each in the quiver. No difference out to 30 yards. 
I have both jigs so I run whatever I can find in fletching.


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## scienceguy

olddogrib,
Thanks for the tip of string wax on the threads. I never thought about trying that. I'll give it a "shot" tonight!


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## Pete53

I have ask`d this same question to some of the top older target archer`s in the world " jim ploen was one " their answer was no difference in right wing or left wing, but many preferred right wing because the spin keeped the field point from screwing off better


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## fishgutzy

I'm lefty. But I couldn't even tell you which way the feathers go on my arrows or if they are hel or str8. I haven't paid any attention to that.  

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk


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