# Age old question: feathers vs. veins?



## wantinadarton (Jan 23, 2006)

I have been told two different thinks. Are veins really slower and less accurate than feathers. Please help. Also, I am going to try some Axis ST to see if they work better than what I'm using now. Any ideas on those too? 
:tongue: 
:beer:


----------



## pearsonpride_05 (Jan 31, 2006)

First question, yes vanes are invariably slower then feathers due to the weight increase. Feathers recover faster and therefore can stabilize your arrow quicker and better then vanes, however stiffer vanes minimize this and either scenario is neglible if your bow/arrow setup is properly tuned. I shot feathers for quite a while because they are slightly faster and are fun for customizing your arrows, splicing and such. I have switched back to vanes because personally I think they are less maintinence. Never used the axis so no comment.


----------



## woodchuckssuck (Aug 7, 2006)

if you go with vanes, give Vanetec v-max a try. they stick right to carbon using fletch tite platinum and have yet to bend or ripple for me even after some pass-through shots! one happy customer here


----------



## 2-STROKE (Aug 17, 2006)

i thought feathers were slower, b/c of there increased drag? never shot them in my bow - for me its 2" blazers. I have shot them thru coke cans, water bottles, and targets. use some AAE fastest gel, and you CANNOT tear them off with your hands.


----------



## KOZMAN4907 (Sep 23, 2004)

*I use both...*

I have one arrow in my quiver with vains( for rain). The rest are feathers. I just like feathers better. To be honest both shoot about the same.:wink: I have never used that ACC arrows( gold tip). I really like GT arrows.
Koz


----------



## wantinadarton (Jan 23, 2006)

*Thanks for input*

Thanks for everone's input. I would still like to hear some more opinions out there...ttt


:beer:


----------



## 88 PS190 (Sep 26, 2006)

Feathers will be faster due to initial weight but at long range the drag causes them to slow the arrow down sooner, so at really long distances vanes will be faster.

I like feathers.


----------



## nuts&bolts (Mar 25, 2005)

Depends on what kind of shooting you do.

30 yds and less and need maximum stabilization for a broadhead:
Blazer vanes or large feathers (4 or 5 inches) or large vanes with helical

Indoor spots
large vanes or large feathers with helical

NFAA field (max distance of 80 yds)
small vanes like the VaneTec mini-FITA or Flex Fletch 187s

FITA outdoor (max distance of 90 meters which is nearly 100 yds)
spin wings or Kurly vanes or VaneTec mini-FITA or Flex Fletch 187s


At long range, say 50 yds and greater,
your pin gaps should be less with vanes.

Feathers have too much drag and the arrow starts to rapidly lose
speed at the medium to longer distances. It depends on the IBO speed of the bow. Generally, you should start seeing a difference at 50 yds or so in terms of arrow drop.


----------



## harleyryder (May 2, 2005)

try both for your self and you'll see that feathers are the way to go. but they are more spendy.seems like I read somewhere that the feathers are faster out to like 60 yards then the vanes start to catch up BUT it's something 90 yards before they do,Don't quote me on that and I should've done some research on that first ??I've used both but feathers just stabilize better for me.never a problem with contact.lighter (allows you to use a lighter broadhead) and just flat out look BETTER !!!


----------



## mnjeff (Jun 19, 2004)

*feathers vs vanes*

Well been long time feather user. played all summer with blazers if i had any contact at all fixed blade heads would not group. 4" aae vanes work better for me. still get light contact on rest, but still seem to work. I always know feathers will work. As a finger shooter feathers are my best choice. 

My question to all is do the forgiveness and controll of a feather out weigh the the chance of noise or water proofness?

During the national field a few finger and some release shooters used feathers. To keep them dry they put plastich bag over them when not shooting. 

I am going to use 3" feathers indoors and try some field with them.


----------



## harleyryder (May 2, 2005)

to answer your question Jeff, YEP at least to me.


----------



## Silver Pine (Dec 9, 2005)

I changed to vanes when I realized how much quieter they were thru the brush and accuracy has never been a problem but I still think feathers look better.

Go to http://www.bowjackson.com
Arrow KE & Ballistics
Ballistic Table Calculator 

Input your arrows data (remember to change fps) and do a compare between
Feather Fletch: 
and 
Plastic Vane Fletch:

:cocktail:


----------



## jakano (Aug 23, 2006)

can you use feathers with a wisker bisquit? i just ordered some of the patriot rocket 300's and didnt notice i have to fletch them. a friend of mine uses feathers for his traditional arrows and he could fletch these for me.


----------



## Buksknr53 (Mar 30, 2006)

For the last few years, It's been feathers all the way for me. I got tired of vanes coming off. What really helped me to make up my mind about vanes vs feathers, was a deflected shot at a deer in a thicket. The deer's vitals were exposed through an opening. It was a shot that I know I could have made, but my vane fletched arrow clipped a small limb and deflected badly. Had I been using feathers, the feather would have laid down on contact with the limb, popped back up and continued steering the arrow resulting in a hit deer. 
When hunting, I treat my feathers with Bohning Feather-Dri. It does a good job. I do however, carry one arrow with vanes in my quiver, just in case. 
This year, I switched from a WB to a drop away just to experience the drop away craze. The only gripe I had with the WB and feathers was that it wears down feathers fast, but I do shoot a lot. The drop away is more accurate, but the WB is the better all around rest for hunting due to it's simplicity, but that's just my opinion.


----------



## MUZZY3 (Oct 12, 2006)

*Feathers*

I Shoot Feathers And Love Them, I Shot Plastic But Went Back To Feathers, They Make My Muzzy 3 Blade 100 Gr Shoot Right With My Feild Tips. Pluse They Just Plain Look Good. All Jokes Aside If You Really Want Good Broadhead Flight Use Feathers. I Have Herd The 3 Inch Blazer Plastic Are Also Good For Broadhead Flight, But I Like Feathers They Are As Natural As You Can Get And Really Forgiving And Can Be Waterproofed Real Easy.


----------



## jakano (Aug 23, 2006)

so for the arrows i ordered do you guys have a suggestion as to what feathers would be best, three inch, four inch that type of thing?


----------



## harleyryder (May 2, 2005)

4 "


----------



## Pheonix34 (Sep 5, 2006)

jakano said:


> can you use feathers with a wisker bisquit? QUOTE]
> 
> Yes. I shoot 4" offset straight fletch feathers through a bisquit and haven't lost a single one.
> I tried vanes once. It was like visiting the dark side.
> ...


----------



## jakano (Aug 23, 2006)

hey phoenix, thanks for the info. thanks to everyone else to. you guys have pretty much sold me on feathers now i just need to pick out the ones i want to use.


----------



## rraming (Aug 5, 2006)

I have a dozen st axis and do not like them - why - I don't like the HIT technology, I think it is hard to square the ends with the stone, tips and broadheads don't fit as well as I would like, to narrow for most broadheads (I use NAP crossfire heads made for HIT tech) Flight is good and they are fast but,in my opinion, No good
Gold Tip - Blackhawk are both favored by this archer. Carbon Express I am not willing to pay for. Beman well that is Easton - Is there anyone else - not really


----------



## crackshot1952 (Sep 19, 2006)

vanes are heavier then feathers and the arrow would start slower, but feathers have a greater drag in the wind and over the greater distance will slow the arrow down more. what your will find is that they both will fly very close to eahc other unless you have the fletch set at a helical or an offset greater thatn 3 degrees. Vanes are impervious to water and feathers are a mess in an all day rain. Take a chronograph and check the speed every 10 yards and you will see the difference. out to 30 yards you should have no problems. Good luck! I have used both , I like feathers better, but use vanes because they are more dependable in bad weather.


----------



## lvandev (Oct 10, 2006)

I bought a fletcher to answer the question you asked. I fletched quick spins, blazers, and feathers. They all shot well with field tips. I did not like the quick spins because the vanes wrinkled and did not hold up well in my opinion. They are also more expensive. I liked the feathers because they just seemed cool. I did not have any fletching clearance issues so that advantage was not needed. For hunting and outdoor 3D rain was an issue with feathers. What I did not like was the noise. For some reason two of the three I fletched with feathers were noticeably louder than the blazers or quick spins. I decided to use the blazers and I have not been dissappointed. They are durable, arrow flight is good, no rain or noise issues, and they are not expensive. I am just now shooting 100 thunderhead broad heads with them and they seem to be doing fine. If a problem develops I will try the feathers again.


----------



## fletcher4life (Nov 3, 2006)

i prefer feathers over veins, not so much as a speed deal, but more for the fact that feathers hold up better than vanes, any slight nick to a vein changes its flight pattern, where with a feather peices could be missin so long as there was still fletching on 3 sides it would still fly the same it just wouldnt be as pretty....hope that helps


----------

