feather wear

[Pack]

How much, or any, feather wear is normal?  I know the lower hen feather wears quickly if my nock point is too low, and the upper hen feather starts to show wear quickly if my nock point is too high.  I have even had the cock feather wear when my spine and/or nock point is way out of whack.

So should I expect to have completely clean feathers with no ragged edges or missing quills if the bow tune and form are good?  Is some wear to be expected since most of us are shooting off the shelf?

[Stumpkiller]

I usually get a bit of wear on my low hen (I shoot off a seal fur shelf pad) after a couple hundred looses.  But they work just as well it seems.

But the fletches last for many years.  Sometimes I slit them off broken shafts and re-use them.

I have some I bought from Howard Hill Co. in 1980 that I am still shooting.

[Pack]

Wow!  Many years!  I can't imagine feathers lasting that long.  I need to figure out what I am doing wrong.  

Maybe everything I am shooting is too stiff.  It would seem like shooting less spine would be the only way to get more clearance.  I will try that.

[Stumpkiller]

How are you setting your nock height?

Do you leave a gap for fletch clearance between the shelf pad/rug/fur and the riser side plate?

Note that for most of my shafts (cedar or fir) I taper the last 10" down to 5/16.  That also gives better clearance on release for less shelf pad AND fletching clearance.  But I have old parallel shafts that still wear the original fletching.

And I shoot daily, year-round.

I'm shooting 65-70# and 70-75# in recurve bows of 45# to 55# (125 gr heads on all).

Once in a while I get a fletch feather that goes soft quickly.  They are a natural product.  

And smacking them with the next arrow takes a toll as well.  ;-)