Vanes vs. Feathers

[Dick in Seattle]

I got me a problem... I have thought that vanes simply couldn't be used on a trad bow, off the shelf... that you had to have a raised flipper rest to shoot vanes.

   While cleaning the bow room I found a batch of 25-45 Whitetail carbons.   I've been thinking about tryng carbons and decided to take them out back and play with them anyway.   Someone forgot to tell them the rules!   My Pronghorn, at 37#, absolutely loves them!  In fact, I took them out on the club range course this morning and made some great shots.   So, would someone explain to me a little about the use of vanes, please?    I'd love to shoot vanes... let's face it I live in the Northwest and soggy feathers are a fact of life.     One thing I noticed and wonder about... the shelf pad and the striker pad are separate pieces... there's a little gap between them.  Not sure if that's significant or not.

Broadening the question... if you put a raised flipper rest on a longbow, you'd have to raise the nock point.   Does this throw off the tiller significantly?

Dick in Seattle... 70 and still finding things to learn....

[Jerry Jeffer]

Dick, I don't know how much arc your shelf has (if any). You  might consider building up on the shelf with a thin piece of wood instead of a flipper. This way you can keep the arrow closer to your hand. A flipper might bring you up higher then you need. As for the veins, you never know what might work for you. I find in colder weather they tend to get stiff and less forgiving. ( they are less forgiving as it is, compared to feathers). The fun in this deal is to try stuff out and find what works for ya. Just my 2 cents.

[brettlandon]

Diddo with Jerry.  If you are having great success shooting vanes and they better suit your shooting conditions, go for it.  As for the flipper rest, changing the arrow shelf position (which is what the flipper will do) will change the amount of energy each limb applies to the arrow.  How much this will affect the arrow will depend on how long your limbs are (percentage wise) and their poundage.  If you want to try it, I would encourage a stick-on type before you go drilling holes in your riser.  This should make 4 cents.

-Brett

[hs6181]

there was a story in TBM I think about shooting vanes.
The fella used a high nock, something like 5/8 or 7/8 up.

if yours are already shooting great make as little change as possible

[JEFF B]

i have been hearing things a bout vains called rain vains you guys have those over there so i beleve

[CheapShot]

At our last shoot one of our members tried out the rain vanes for the first time. She shot of the shelf with no change in nock height.
I could see a slight kick in the back of the arrow upon release, the arrow recovered quickly however and she shot well with them. I think playing with the shelf/nock height that little kick might be eliminated.

[ChuckC]

Big picture...if they work for you with your equipment... cool !  If not, experiment a bit.

I have no hard data on this, but I tend to agree that as the temps drop significantly, the vanes may stiffen up a bit and that.. may.. cause some difficulties.  Good luck.  shoot straight
ChuckC

[James Wrenn]

I know of several guys that hunt with vanes off elevated rest.I played with them some myself.I am just a feather guy and always have been. :)I have always used them even on wheel bows because nothing is as forgiving when you get a little contact than a soft feather.I don't hunt in the rain unless I get caught out in it but my broadheads will fly well even with matted feathers if I do need to shoot.  

[Rico]

I don't blame ya Dick I'm like JW prefer feathers and only worry about it when getting caught in the  rain. Goose feather has worked well for that,  just make sure you try your broadheads.

[hawgslayer]