Feather lenght question....

[Onestringer]

Hey quick question for those smarter than me, which is just about everybody.

For years I shot 5" feathers, just because thats what  I shot.  I started chopping my own feathers a few years ago, tried some 4" and I could not tell a difference in arrow flight.  For the last couple of years I have been shooting 3 4" feathers.

So just for fun I fletched up some 3" in a 4 fletch configuration to see what happens.  Again I can't tell a difference in arrow flight.  

I posted a couple of pics to give you an idea of what I am talking about.  I just think they look kind of cool.

So the question is really whats better.  The 3" are 3/4" tall and really don't taper off that much.

[Javi]

They look good, but I expect that the extra feather and the added height on the fletch will equate very closely with three 5" feathers that are ½" tall.. they may even slow the arrow more.. You would have to shoot through a chronograph or shoot them side by side with a 5" to see if they drop more or less..

[RedShaft]

think about this.. if you have good arrow flight and perfectly tuned arrow shooting straight bare shaft. a minimal amount of feather is all you need for target points. what you must have is a well tuned arrow       For broad heads i would stay about the 5in.

I used to shoot a 5 1/2" Banana's. Of course I was shoot heavy overspined arrows with a big broadhead.  Now I tune my bows and find that 3 or 4" feathers work fine.  Like RedShaft said, if your arrows are tuned to the bow, it doesn't take much feather to do the job. Bottom line is if they fly well and you like'm--shoot'm.  :^)

[Onestringer]

Thanks, I think I will try a few and see how it goes.

Scott

[BobCo 1965]

The larger fletch will stabilize the arrow faster which could help make a difference in poor form, bad release, etc.

But, if you really do not see a difference, personally, I would go with the smallest amount of fletch or drag that I could get away with.

Personally, I use 3 - 4" feathers for hunting.

[Timbuck2]

I use 3 - 4" feathers on a 32" aluminum arrow.
4 inch feathers work well for me.  

[Bowtie]

Onestinger, as mentioned in previous posts, bare shaft testing makes for a good performing arrow.  I shoot 4 4" fletch arrows and 3 5" fletch arrows.... great flight from both.  Just haven't tried 3".  Maybe I will.

[Zradix]

First off I doubt I'm any smarter than you so I hope you don't mind me putting in my 2¢.

I don't have a perfectly consistent release.
Sometimes I pluck it a bit.

Anyway, I've played around with quite a few feather length, height, and number of feathers combos.

I found without any doubt after a lot of testing the larger the feather surface the less my arrow would wander when I purposely made a bad release.

Those extra feathers just "absorbed" more human error.

Also, having more (read higher) feather closer to the nock end of the arrow gives the fletch more leverage to do it's job. I know, I know that's nit picky but why not be?

Right now I'm shooting 4-4.5" with full size height T-Hawk.

Next time I might go a little longer on the feather....I was running out of feathers at that point.

I chose the t-hawk because it has the height in the back rather than the middle, but still the feather tapers down nicely in the back which helps keep the noise down a bit.

Good luck to you!

...btw..I do like the looks of what you're doing.