Hi Jack, Thank you for making this video. Your video flowed much more smoothly than the 40 other videos where the guys explaining how to fletch arrows said "um- uhh" every third word. You are beautifully spoken and have a technical insight that few others can express. -Paul
Well explained! Best I've found so far! I was leaning to the longer traditional feather veins, but now see the benefits of the blazer for my shooting style.
After subscribing to AJA...I had a thought process of Bow technology. Bow this and that. Many Bow'vlogs, feature their or the bow. As I have returned to Archery and our Daughters leap into Archery, and a little luck, I stumbled across AJA. Having your Bow tuned in is extremely important...BUT, just buying arrows (Like this guy) and Mechanical Broadheads (This guy)...I have learned the hard-way. he's
Nice job Jack, you are sounding professional! I have shot a lot of fixed broad heads with feathers in the rain, and I have not noticed any loss of accuracy, perhaps its because my bow is tuned. There are quite a few waterproofing products on the market, and I can always slip a baggie over the feathers. You might add that the reason that blazers work well is their height, the down side is arrow clearance and noise. A lot of the plastic vanes have adhesion problems and expensive adhesives are required. My personal vote is for feathers, been used by archers for over 20,000 years!
Becca Irvin Exactly! I don’t like blazers because of the height and noise. I like the Fusion Xii 2.1” which are lighter than blazers and I run a four fletch currently. The Gateway feather dri is great stuff, and I use that on my recurve arrows. For my compound hunting in the wet of western Oregon and using a whisker biscuit I prefer vanes.
And by the way your vids are very informative videos you are the one who made me actually put me over the edge on getting a compound bow and getting into archery
I love the Fusion Xii 2.1” vanes. Lighter and quieter than Blazers, lower profile, tough, and work great in a 4 fletch. They stabilize a 250 grain two blade easily.
At 4:55 you mention "we've now found out that's not true" referring to the necessity of long plastic vanes. I'd like to point out that the advances in technology are the main reason we are able to use less vane and still get good flight. It's not that we were wrong, our equipment just became more advanced. Flex-Fletch came out with durable polyurethane vanes in the late 60's when recurve bows were the way of the world. An archer wouldn't have been able to do much with a short vane trying to guide a broadhead. Nice video by the way, very professional.
Blazors all the way. Target arrows are just knock offs from Amazon, found some decently straight arrows that are 7.8gpi with a 340 spine. Hunting arrows are Easton pro flight. Have to 100 packs of vanes at the ready for when the cheap ones get destroyed during target practice. Already had to heat 3 up to straighten out lol can't wait to switch them and set a few up for small game, spin, cut, fletch and balance. $3 arrows are much easier to shoot at the dirt than a $10 Easton 😅
@@averagejackarchery many thanks, that clear up all my doubt. Regarding arrow rest, can helical be use on blade lizard arrow rest? I always thinking that if arrow it spin that it would touch the blade. Or should I use offset vane for blade arrow rest? Thank you once again for the advice and have a pleasant evening!
Everything is a tradeoff, long vanes still have value and are used today, if that wasnt the case everyone would shoot blazer style vanes at competitions.
I also have a diamond infinite edge pro. I have trouble with my blazer vanes hitting the cables on my bow, or my rest (after market drop away). Would it be fine to shoot the shield cut (due to the shorter height from the shaft) at 70lb?
Do any of the off-the-shelf vaned fletched arrows come with any offset or helical, or are the all straight? Because I am significantly changing and increasing the weight of my hunting arrows this season and moving to heavy right single bevel 2 bladed broadheads, an arrow manufacturer steered me away from their off-the-shelf vaned arrows (because he said they were straight fletched) and I agreed to get get custom arrows fletched with three 3" Bohning X-Vanes with 3 degree right helical. As long as those arrows work fine this season, I am good with the dozen custom arrows that I have ordered, but in the long run (future years) I can't afford to buy custom arrows. I do think I need either right offset or right helical to give the arrow a right spin. Let me know if you have recommendations for off the shelf fletched arrows, or let me know if my thinking is incorrect.
I shoot through a whisker biscuit and I noticed some of the vanes have a wavy look to them now. Is this bad? Does it have an impact on the arrow's flight? I havent really noticed a difference, but wanted to ask.
Is it bad? Not really. But it does show that you're getting some significant contact between your fletchings and your biscuit bristles. Will this affect accuracy? I would wager 30yards and under you won't see much, if any, difference. Which, for most of us archery hunters, is the furthest we'll be shooting anyways! :) Thanks for your question!
Depending on the distance you have to shoot. You can get away with more helical the shorter the distance. But if you're talking FITA distances with a recurve, stick with offsets.
@@averagejackarchery some other respectable youtuber doesn’t recommend feather fletchers for compound bow and opts for plastic vanes, would you be kind enough to do a video on the pros and cons of the two types of vanes vs fletches for compound bows? Thanks in advance 👍
@@h0tkoko I think it's the rest that would make a difference. If you're using a wisker biscuit then you're going to wear out the feathers very quickly. I'd suggest a drop away or maybe tuning it to shoot off the shelf? But I think the latter would make you the weird guy at the range lol
Chch Bang I would say you are a far cry from shooting enough poundage to properly push any mechanical, let alone 2"!!! Stick with a razor sharp fixed blade of your choosing.
Of course you can. Most guys are shooting way too much poundage. They arm themselves for cape buffalo and then they go hunting 160 lbs. whitetails. You can see them in hunting videos where they can hardly get their bow back to full draw and then they have to adjust the entire bow in their hands before they can take a shot. They use arrows with the stiffest spine, way over kill for what most guys hunt. If you are shooting in the mid 50's you should be shooting fine with a 2" swacker.
I bought 2 boxes of barnett headhunter bolts for my PSE fang crossbow. I noticed that the vanes are different in length. One set has a 3" and the other has a 4". Will I notice a difference in performance while hunting with both?
Probably not under 35-40 yards. The extra weight and drag created with the 4 inch ones will slow the arrow down more than the 3 inch ones, but probably won't be noticeable at typical hunting shot distances.
you didn't really address the accuracy of helix plastic vanes vs. blazer vanes vs. feathers and which are best for fixed broadheads.. now I shoot that bear authority @ 55# ready to hunt package with a whisker biscuit. should I be using blazer vanes to lessen the violence of the collision? or is it more important to have spin on my arrow? especially with fixed broadheads, I'm thinking the spin is even more essential?.. I didn't know any of these details, thanks..
aaronwallerj Accuracy is dependent on setup and shooter, not the particular fletching style. An offset, or helical twist of about 2-3degrees is optimal for most archers in their hunting situations.
Average Jack Archery ok.. i'm thinking i'll keep my arrows spinning then.. I like how it looks in the air, plus they seem to handle broadheads well. looking at them now, they are maybe 4inch long, 1 inch high plastic vanes with about a 3 degree angle for spin.. thanks again from southern Ontario, Canada.. not far at all actually.. by the way, getting an entry level compound has been great, though its made me want a sweet flagship bow of bowtech or hoyt, more so the reign and BTX.. the bear authority was great for beginning, because it was mass sold, there are tons of reviews on youtube of people demo'ing their skills.. some really really good.. one kid with touching groups at 40 yards.. but you could tell he was totally self taught with terrible form and habits.. thanks for dropping me a line dude. cheers..
***** wow six inches difference eh? I must be losing a huge amount of speed because the helical vanes smashing into my whisker biscuit would cause a lot of drag on top of the flight, yet I have no wind issues and any broad head flies like a field point. shooting at 20 yards in a heavy crosswind even had no effect. I should get a variety of arrows for different tasks as 90% of our shooting is on a target right? nice talking to you dude, any other tips you can think of would be appreciated.. there is so much to arrows that I didn't know last year..
I'm new in archery just getting in to archery hunting I've Been rifle hunting for a while now but thought I'd try archery I'm only 14 so I can pull 60 pounds
One of the most informative videos I've ever watched on this often confusing and frustrating topic...
I agree,,,answered a lot of questions for me.
Hi Jack,
Thank you for making this video. Your video flowed much more smoothly than the 40 other videos where the guys explaining how to fletch arrows said "um- uhh" every third word. You are beautifully spoken and have a technical insight that few others can express. -Paul
Well explained! Best I've found so far! I was leaning to the longer traditional feather veins, but now see the benefits of the blazer for my shooting style.
Nice vid love your vids I'm just getting in archery hunting and your vids help me a lot.
After subscribing to AJA...I had a thought process of Bow technology. Bow this and that. Many Bow'vlogs, feature their or the bow. As I have returned to Archery and our Daughters leap into Archery, and a little luck, I stumbled across AJA. Having your Bow tuned in is extremely important...BUT, just buying arrows (Like this guy) and Mechanical Broadheads (This guy)...I have learned the hard-way.
he's
Nice job Jack, you are sounding professional! I have shot a lot of fixed broad heads with feathers in the rain, and I have not noticed any loss of accuracy, perhaps its because my bow is tuned. There are quite a few waterproofing products on the market, and I can always slip a baggie over the feathers. You might add that the reason that blazers work well is their height, the down side is arrow clearance and noise. A lot of the plastic vanes have adhesion problems and expensive adhesives are required. My personal vote is for feathers, been used by archers for over 20,000 years!
Becca Irvin Exactly! I don’t like blazers because of the height and noise. I like the Fusion Xii 2.1” which are lighter than blazers and I run a four fletch currently. The Gateway feather dri is great stuff, and I use that on my recurve arrows. For my compound hunting in the wet of western Oregon and using a whisker biscuit I prefer vanes.
And by the way your vids are very informative videos you are the one who made me actually put me over the edge on getting a compound bow and getting into archery
I love the Fusion Xii 2.1” vanes. Lighter and quieter than Blazers, lower profile, tough, and work great in a 4 fletch. They stabilize a 250 grain two blade easily.
At 4:55 you mention "we've now found out that's not true" referring to the necessity of long plastic vanes. I'd like to point out that the advances in technology are the main reason we are able to use less vane and still get good flight. It's not that we were wrong, our equipment just became more advanced. Flex-Fletch came out with durable polyurethane vanes in the late 60's when recurve bows were the way of the world. An archer wouldn't have been able to do much with a short vane trying to guide a broadhead. Nice video by the way, very professional.
great video! more clearer now. thanks!
Blazors all the way. Target arrows are just knock offs from Amazon, found some decently straight arrows that are 7.8gpi with a 340 spine. Hunting arrows are Easton pro flight. Have to 100 packs of vanes at the ready for when the cheap ones get destroyed during target practice. Already had to heat 3 up to straighten out lol can't wait to switch them and set a few up for small game, spin, cut, fletch and balance. $3 arrows are much easier to shoot at the dirt than a $10 Easton 😅
Thank you it helped me out a lot
So your saying there is NO advantage to a 5" vane over a Blazer?
If I using compound bow, using whisker arrow rest, for target. Which one I should be and do I need for use helical or just straight ?
I'd use helical for all situations.
@@averagejackarchery many thanks, that clear up all my doubt.
Regarding arrow rest, can helical be use on blade lizard arrow rest? I always thinking that if arrow it spin that it would touch the blade. Or should I use offset vane for blade arrow rest?
Thank you once again for the advice and have a pleasant evening!
@@ArisRiazis You can use helical with a blade.
What a bout just a expandable but I will stick with a fixed I am using the Nap DRT and a WAC em 4 blade
Everything is a tradeoff, long vanes still have value and are used today, if that wasnt the case everyone would shoot blazer style vanes at competitions.
I use 4" Bohning Impulse Vanes
So , do you think they’re all the same as far as vanes . Given roughly same length and height…..shield or parabolic…
I also have a diamond infinite edge pro. I have trouble with my blazer vanes hitting the cables on my bow, or my rest (after market drop away). Would it be fine to shoot the shield cut (due to the shorter height from the shaft) at 70lb?
Oh for sure that's not a problem at all!
Coy Leigh Yes! One reason I used the Fusion Xii vanes on my Bear single cam. I did the 2.1” in a four fletch and they are fantastic!
Do any of the off-the-shelf vaned fletched arrows come with any offset or helical, or are the all straight?
Because I am significantly changing and increasing the weight of my hunting arrows this season and moving to heavy right single bevel 2 bladed broadheads, an arrow manufacturer steered me away from their off-the-shelf vaned arrows (because he said they were straight fletched) and I agreed to get get custom arrows fletched with three 3" Bohning X-Vanes with 3 degree right helical. As long as those arrows work fine this season, I am good with the dozen custom arrows that I have ordered, but in the long run (future years) I can't afford to buy custom arrows. I do think I need either right offset or right helical to give the arrow a right spin. Let me know if you have recommendations for off the shelf fletched arrows, or let me know if my thinking is incorrect.
One more thing, I am using a whisker biscuit for my rest. I hope that doesn't cause any problems with the arrows I selected.
I shoot through a whisker biscuit and I noticed some of the vanes have a wavy look to them now. Is this bad? Does it have an impact on the arrow's flight? I havent really noticed a difference, but wanted to ask.
Dont know how much it affects but you can fix them with some hot air. Not too hot tho. Use a hairdryer or something.
Is it bad? Not really. But it does show that you're getting some significant contact between your fletchings and your biscuit bristles. Will this affect accuracy? I would wager 30yards and under you won't see much, if any, difference. Which, for most of us archery hunters, is the furthest we'll be shooting anyways! :) Thanks for your question!
I just wanted to ask you a question about mechanical broad head
Which is better for recurve target archers,offset or helical feathers?
Depending on the distance you have to shoot. You can get away with more helical the shorter the distance. But if you're talking FITA distances with a recurve, stick with offsets.
Average Jack Archery Thank you.
Hi again, would I be the weird guy if I shoot 4”feather fletched carbon arrows on my target compound bow?
Nope. Perfectly normal.
@@averagejackarchery some other respectable youtuber doesn’t recommend feather fletchers for compound bow and opts for plastic vanes, would you be kind enough to do a video on the pros and cons of the two types of vanes vs fletches for compound bows? Thanks in advance 👍
@@h0tkoko I think it's the rest that would make a difference. If you're using a wisker biscuit then you're going to wear out the feathers very quickly. I'd suggest a drop away or maybe tuning it to shoot off the shelf? But I think the latter would make you the weird guy at the range lol
I shoot 49 pounds about to go in the 50s do you think I can shoot a swacker 2 inch
Chch Bang I would say you are a far cry from shooting enough poundage to properly push any mechanical, let alone 2"!!! Stick with a razor sharp fixed blade of your choosing.
Of course you can. Most guys are shooting way too much poundage. They arm themselves for cape buffalo and then they go hunting 160 lbs. whitetails. You can see them in hunting videos where they can hardly get their bow back to full draw and then they have to adjust the entire bow in their hands before they can take a shot. They use arrows with the stiffest spine, way over kill for what most guys hunt. If you are shooting in the mid 50's you should be shooting fine with a 2" swacker.
What about those 2" razor feathers for compounds???
They're great!
What about razor 1.5" feathers for fixed three blades?
They'll work great!
You should do a vid where you hunt with those diy lumenok
Whats the fuction of twisted arrow fleching,
Techno Craft To get the arrow to spin in flight. Ultimately to stabilize it better as it goes downrange.
I hear that all feathers have a natural curve to them. So do you put them on strait or helical?
I still go helical. Making sure to match right wing with right helical.
can you cut blazer vanes to act like feathers
2112inuyasha I wouldn't try. it would most likely ruin the continuity of the vane and it's still probably too stiff to fully fold down in the end.
tried that on an old arrow last night and it felt like it was cogging on the shelf. So I pretty much answered my own question.
I bought 2 boxes of barnett headhunter bolts for my PSE fang crossbow. I noticed that the vanes are different in length. One set has a 3" and the other has a 4". Will I notice a difference in performance while hunting with both?
Probably not under 35-40 yards. The extra weight and drag created with the 4 inch ones will slow the arrow down more than the 3 inch ones, but probably won't be noticeable at typical hunting shot distances.
you didn't really address the accuracy of helix plastic vanes vs. blazer vanes vs. feathers and which are best for fixed broadheads.. now I shoot that bear authority @ 55# ready to hunt package with a whisker biscuit. should I be using blazer vanes to lessen the violence of the collision? or is it more important to have spin on my arrow? especially with fixed broadheads, I'm thinking the spin is even more essential?.. I didn't know any of these details, thanks..
aaronwallerj Accuracy is dependent on setup and shooter, not the particular fletching style.
An offset, or helical twist of about 2-3degrees is optimal for most archers in their hunting situations.
Average Jack Archery ok.. i'm thinking i'll keep my arrows spinning then.. I like how it looks in the air, plus they seem to handle broadheads well. looking at them now, they are maybe 4inch long, 1 inch high plastic vanes with about a 3 degree angle for spin..
thanks again from southern Ontario, Canada.. not far at all actually.. by the way, getting an entry level compound has been great, though its made me want a sweet flagship bow of bowtech or hoyt, more so the reign and BTX..
the bear authority was great for beginning, because it was mass sold, there are tons of reviews on youtube of people demo'ing their skills.. some really really good.. one kid with touching groups at 40 yards.. but you could tell he was totally self taught with terrible form and habits..
thanks for dropping me a line dude. cheers..
***** wow six inches difference eh? I must be losing a huge amount of speed because the helical vanes smashing into my whisker biscuit would cause a lot of drag on top of the flight, yet I have no wind issues and any broad head flies like a field point. shooting at 20 yards in a heavy crosswind even had no effect. I should get a variety of arrows for different tasks as 90% of our shooting is on a target right? nice talking to you dude, any other tips you can think of would be appreciated.. there is so much to arrows that I didn't know last year..
I'm new in archery just getting in to archery hunting I've Been rifle hunting for a while now but thought I'd try archery I'm only 14 so I can pull 60 pounds
What kind of glue do u use for ur blazer fletching wrapped and unwrapped
shadow jester666 ua-cam.com/video/TvkCf-zVghc/v-deo.html
Ok thnx
Try some FOBs you’ll love them
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