someone help me with might be a dumb feather question

[PASQUINELL]

Sort of a newbie but can someone please give me a break down on differences of bannana, sheild, parabolic etc and what they do different from each other or what the advantage of using using one from another is. Is it a technical thing or a personal thing between them? What is the reason for four fletch versus three fletch and 5 inch from 4 etc...

[bigbadjon]

Fletching is mostly a personal preference thing, but more surface are does stabilize the arrow more. Bannana and parabolic have more surface area than shield and 4 fletch gived even more. This also puts more drag on the arrow and slows it faster. I haven't experienced huge differences from shape but have noted some improvement with 4 fletch. It all seems marginal anyway.

[slivrslingr]

Yup, pretty much a personal thing.  The parabolic and bananas are the quietist.  With a properly tuned arrow, you can get away with pretty small fletching, say 3 3" or 4" fletchings.

[Hud]

Larger feathers stabilize the arrow quicker, white, yellow and some colors are easier to see in flight, under hunting conditions. I prefer a 5" to 5 1/2" parabolic, at least 1/2" high. You may find waterproofing the feathers with Thompson Waterseal (spray), 3M helpful in wet weather.