# RW vs. LW feathers



## Iluvatar (Oct 13, 2006)

Sorry, this is probably a dumb question, but I'm new to the idea of fletching my own arrows and was wondering what the difference is between RW and LW feathers?


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## doublebow (Nov 14, 2006)

Right and Left wing feathers are different because they are cupped inward on each side. They should not be mixed when fletching an arrow IMO

hope this helps


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## TCinLa (Mar 23, 2008)

Right wing feathers literally come off the right wing of the turkey, left wing from the left. Left wing feathers will cause the arrow to spin counter clockwise as it heads towards the target, right wing clockwise. You can't mix the two on the same arrow, but I have shot both RW and LW fletched arrows one after the other without any noticeable difference.


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## NativeOne (Feb 7, 2006)

Also Leftwing feathers spinning counterclockwise will have a tendency to loosen your tips, Rightwing flecthed clockwise will not, will tighten, I always shot with Rightwing because of this reason.


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## mr.string (Jul 15, 2006)

*feathers*

The only way it matters if a feather is rw or lw is shooting instinctive with a long bow or recurve. A right hand shooter should shoot a left wing feather so the ccw twist spins the arrow away from the shelf of the bow and vice versa with a left hand shooter. Off of an arrow rest it does not matter which way the arrow spins.


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## TCinLa (Mar 23, 2008)

I've heard it said about using left wing for right hand shooters, and vice versa for lefties. I can't say I understand the reasoning, because in every high speed video I've seen, the arrow doesn't begin to spin until well after it has cleared the front of the bow, and in my own personal experience I have been unable to notice any difference. I forgot about the unscrewing tips, I've been shooting woods for a while, but I switched to right helical when I shot aluminums for that reason.


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## AKRuss (Jan 10, 2003)

The right hand/left wing idea was originally based on shooting selfbows that have no shelf or rest. With this type of bow (all bows originally) you shoot the arrow off the pointer finger of your bow hand. In this situation, the quill of the bottom fletch crosses your finger at speed and can, in a worst case scenario, imbed itself in your finger. Nearly everyone who has shot in this manner has had some amount of injury ranging from a boo-boo to having to extract the entire feather. Left wing offset, quite easy to do even when fletching by hand, allows some clearance of the bottom fletch from your finger and has become legend. This has no bearing if you're using a Whisker Bisquit, NAP 3000 or other arrow rest.


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## Elk Chaser (Dec 9, 2005)

*Right Wing or Left wing??/*

I made the mistake of using both , I am a right handed shooter Traditional and use only Right wing feathers for the simple reason stated abouve they tighten the tip or broadhead.
Pick one and stick with it .
Bill


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## JimPic (Apr 8, 2003)

mr.string said:


> The only way it matters if a feather is rw or lw is shooting instinctive with a long bow or recurve. A right hand shooter should shoot a left wing feather so the ccw twist spins the arrow away from the shelf of the bow and vice versa with a left hand shooter. Off of an arrow rest it does not matter which way the arrow spins.


It doesn't matter if you're shooting left wing or right wing off the shelf either.The arrow will bend around the riser regardless of what wing used.If you're shooting off your knuckle,then yes,it makes a differance


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