Anyone shooting feathers from Compound?

[RaggedHunter]

I am curious who out there has ran feathers out of their compounds? I am currently running and really like the AAE max stealth vanes, which is why I am intrigued about trying a similar length and cut in a feather, I just like the idea of trying a ~ 3" parabolic cut feather.

I wanted to see if anyone else has already tried this and what their experiences were. How do they compare to say blazers or AAE max stealth vanes as far as stabilization, noise, broadhead accuracy, etc? Anyone hunt with them? Good experiences? Bad? I live in Colorado so rain/ wet feathers isn't really a big concern for me.

I think I am going to order some up and do some side by side testing regardless. If there's enough interest I will report back here with results.

Thanks,

Cody

 

[Btaylor]

Feathers work great. The only drawback is durability compared to vanes.

 

[Achigan1]

Shot feathers up until last year and am going back this year. Years ago I had a set of arrows made with all three red barred 5" helical feathers and have used the same set-up since other than this run of vanes. They can get wet in heavy rain - silicone dip (for fly fishing flies) will help but I also have a little nylon cover (think it was the stuff sack for an Osprey pack raincover) that I sewed a little section of paracord to - just right to fit over 4 arrows and fletching.

 

[RaggedHunter]

I appreciate the input. I am excited to try some out. Achigan1 that a good tip for keeping feathers dry.
Was there any noticeable difference in noise that either of you noticed between vanes and feathers?

 

[Wirrex]

Feathers work great. The only drawback is durability compared to vanes.

And noise. I shot 4” parabolics with a slight helical and they sounded like a an Easter basket sailing through the air. Long range they will have far more drag. That drag also creates much more stability for broadheads. My shooting was with a 400grn arrow out of a 69lb @ 28.5” vertex. At slower speeds it is probably better.

I see no reason for feathers unless your bow is out of tune.

 

[RaggedHunter]

And noise. I shot 4” parabolics with a slight helical and they sounded like a an Easter basket sailing through the air. Long range they will have far more drag. That drag also creates much more stability for broadheads. My shooting was with a 400grn arrow out of a 69lb @ 28.5” vertex. At slower speeds it is probably better.

I see no reason for feathers unless your bow is out of tune.

Good to know, I could definitely see the noise being a problem. I am curious if the shorter 2.5-3" feathers would be as obnoxiously loud?

You may be right, there may not be enough benefit to justify switching to feathers. But I like to tinker with new stuff. Not sure if theres really much to gain or not but it will be fun to play with.

I'll be shooting a ~520gr arrow in the ~265 fps mark, so likely much slower than what you were running.

 

[Btaylor]

I appreciate the input. I am excited to try some out. Achigan1 that a good tip for keeping feathers dry.
Was there any noticeable difference in noise that either of you noticed between vanes and feathers?

Feathers typically will have a bit more noise than vanes but I have heard vanes make plenty of noise. At the end of the day vanes or feathers is just a tool decision. Neither should take the place of a well tuned rig. Where I would differ in opinion with Wirrex is that I feel feathers give you a lot of additional setup choices vanes dont such as softening spine of a stiff arrow without increasing point weight or increasing FOC while slightly lowering arrow weight rather than increasing it. Ones not better or worse, it generally comes down to what you want out of an arrow setup.

I am of the opinion that bow noise will always be more of an issue than vane, feather or vented broadhead noise. They will always hear the bow before the hiss of death.

 

[Wirrex]

Feathers typically will have a bit more noise than vanes but I have heard vanes make plenty of noise. At the end of the day vanes or feathers is just a tool decision. Neither should take the place of a well tuned rig. Where I would differ in opinion with Wirrex is that I feel feathers give you a lot of additional setup choices vanes dont such as softening spine of a stiff arrow without increasing point weight or increasing FOC while slightly lowering arrow weight rather than increasing it. Ones not better or worse, it generally comes down to what you want out of an arrow setup.

I am of the opinion that bow noise will always be more of an issue than vane, feather or vented broadhead noise. They will always hear the bow before the hiss of death.

How do they soften an arrows spine? I could see them correcting paradox sooner. Is there something I don’t see? I’m not dissagreeing with you at all, just being open to learning something lol.

I do agree about bow noise.

 

[ChrisA]

Feathers are lighter than vanes, therefore softening spine somewhat. At least that's what I think BTaylor was getting at.

Chris

 

[Btaylor]

Feathers are lighter than vanes, therefore softening spine somewhat. At least that's what I think BTaylor was getting at.

Chris

Yes if you keep insert and point weight the same but swap vanes for feathers it will weaken the dynamic spine and increase FOC. If you had a whoops and cut arrows a little short and they show too stiff, swapping out the vanes for feathers may salvage the shafts.

The cool factor is just a bonus lol.



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[RaggedHunter]

Yes if you keep insert and point weight the same but swap vanes for feathers it will weaken the dynamic spine and increase FOC. If you had a whoops and cut arrows a little short and they show too stiff, swapping out the vanes for feathers may salvage the shafts.

The cool factor is just a bonus lol.



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I'm a little confused on the weakening spine also. I've always been under the understanding that adding more weight to either end of the arrow would weaken the spine.

So in my mind using feathers, would lessen the weight on the back of the arrow and thus stiffening the spine? Am I wrong in thinking this?

I'm not trying to argue, just looking for clarification. I know I heard a podcast with Snyder and Dudley and they said opposite of each other regarding this same subject, which leads me to suspect that this may be one of those subjects with a lot of misinformation surrounding it. I'd have to listen back to know for sure but I believe Snyder said that adding weight to the back stiffened the dynamic spine, and Dudley was saying that it weakened the spine.

 

[Btaylor]

If you have an arrow with a standard insert and 100 grain head and 3 vanes and you replace the vanes with feathers you will weaken the dynamic spine of the arrow. If you take the same original arrow with vanes and add a lighted nock in place of standard nock you will stiffen the dynamic spine. Changes that cause an increase in front weight weakens spine and changes that increases rear weight stiffens spine.

 

[Wellsdw]

Feathers changing The spine would be minimal I would think especially to the average shooter shooting less than 60. Just buy a pack, fletch a few. I’ve found
Them durable and easy to work with and shot fine out to 60,( which I tested them to when I shot them) and nostalgic if nothing else. They do have slightly more drag. So does 4 fletch though. I’d consider going back honestly