Feathers-How much do they matter?

[Knawbone]

I'v been shooting woodies with all my bows no matter how much poundage the bow, or how heavey an arrow.I'm now shooting a fast rad. R/D. Question:Would I benifit from a smaller or lower profile fletch than the five in. shields I always use.Just seems to me the 5" shlds. are slowing my arrow too much.

[michigan bill]

i would be impressed if you could see a difference even if, say, you changed to 4" parabolics.
i hope some others chime in on this too.
bill

[Shakes.602]

A Good Straight Arrow Shaft can be shot without a Feather on it! The Feathers basically help slow down the Paradox of the Shaft as it leaves the String, meaning its straightend out a little faster. Plus, Feathers make the arrow much easier to track in flight. More of an Aid for Vision than anything. Just My .02 Cents!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

YES!  If you bare shaft tune your bow and you get your arrows flying right with no feather then the feather you mount need only be large enough to correct the wind shear caused by your BH.  I am shooting little 2 inch razers from gateway on my carbon shafts. They may look odd but I have never had as good of arrow flight as I do now and they make little to no noise in the air. Pictured below are some  2.5 inche feathers I hand cut prior to finding the 2 inch ones sold by gateway
   
these are mounted with in a 4 fletch straight clamp

[Knawbone]

Makes perfect sence to me LBM, Thanks for the info,"all"