Anyone shooting vanes?

[Stone Knife]

I want to pick some brains about shooting vanes off an elevated rest, I was thinking Blazer vanes or Dura vanes. Has anyone had some experience with them? I'll be shooting them off a flipper II.

[painthorse]

Most of my wheel shooting friends have gone to Vane Tec or Flex Fletch vanes.If you want to shoot a blazer type I believe both make a copy.Both these handle a fixed blade real well.

[ranger 3]

A friend of mine shoots a 68" Treaday and shoots Wally world carbons with vanes and they fly great. I have tried them and they fly like #*"@

[woodchucker]

Jim,

I've had good luck shooting vanes over the years. Shot them off of a Bear Weather-Rest,and a Flipper II and they fly GREAT!!!!!

You can also shoot them right off the shelf.....If you by pre-fletched arrows for the wheely bow forked rests,(that nock cock vane down)just flip them over and shoot them cock vane up.  

[jacobsladder]

a high nocking point will help with clearnace..but i'd stick with feathers

[mcgroundstalker]

I remember reading in TBM that you can shoot vanes off of the shelf if ya raise your nock point up some. Should be OK off a flipper rest.

... mike ...

[JSimon]

I shot the Blazer vanes with my compound and they are a stiffer material than most vanes, which allows them to be smaller than most vanes and still work very well. But, since they are stiffer, they may be less forgiving of clearance issues. I think Blazer vanes are also taller than most vanes which could also cause clearance issues. Have not tried them out of a recurve, though. I have some duravanes I've been meaning to try since I use a Bear Weather Rest all the time anyway.

[FJTOYMAN]

I shoot vanes. I use both the bear weather rest and the flipper II. On my Toelke bows.
I'm shooting the 5" Flex fletch right now. I've tried the blazer vanes but I think the 5" flys better in the wind. I went to vanes after getting tired of fighting wet feathers during the late blacktail hunt here in Oregon.

[Guru]

Never saw any need to shoot them, but they should work just fine off a rest....

and something to keep in mind Jim....they are not allowed at Muzzy

[Longbowz]

I often use 5" vanes during the late season here in Washington.  It's pretty much wet all the time in December.

The ones I use are the softer brands off a weatherest.  Any flipper type rest should do as well.  I've tried some of the stiffer brands like Bohning killer vanes but they tend to kick a little when passing over the rest.  Blazers aren't really made for a flipper type rest.  They were designed for fork style rests that limits the amount of helical a normal vane can have.

Vanes like rests have been around for a long time.  They weren't invented just for compound bows.  Find the type and size that works for you and enjoy their advantage in wet weather.

[Str8Shooter]

I switched to vanes this past winter. For a variety of reasons I've come to prefer shooting them. I do shoot off a rest (centerrest flipper) with a riser that is cut well past center (Hoyt Excel). I'm shooting the Blazer vanes and I love them. I get excellent flight in all conditions and there is a noticeable difference in long range trajectory. For hunting I like the weather resistance and the additional quietness the vane provides.

If you do try Blazers you might find the clear better with a marginally weak arrow. I find they stiffen up the arrow more than feathers and they recover very fast. I get perfect flight with a bareshaft that hits app. 4-6" to the right of my fletched group. Initially I tuned them to hit very close to my fletched group but found they would act fairly stiff. Tuning them to be more weak than normal works for me.

Good luck if you try them.

Chris

[southpawshooter]

I use vanes.  I've found the best flight and speed with broadheads is with the Blazers.  They appear to recover faster and that helps the accuracy.  They take a little more care in tuning because they are both stiffer and taller than standard 4" vanes.  AAE Plastifletch or Norway Duravanes are softer materials and are good alternatives.  Vanes offer better downrange speed than feathers due to less drag.  Since I get good flight and have zero worries when hunting in any weather, I stick to vanes.  I've shot the softer 4" vanes off a number of longbows this year and had no trouble with flight as long as they were cock feather in.

Didn't hear they are not legal for Muzzy, I'll have to check that out when it gets a little closer.

[adirondack46r]

Has anyone every tried a hybrid solution, i.e. 2 vanes and a feather? I have considered it to get the best of both worlds. If you shoot them cock feather in, and 2 hens (vanes) they should theoretically come off the shelf the same as a 3 feather fletch, but have a little more stability if you end up in a downpour. It would be interesting to see what kind of flight that would produce.

[Hornseeker]

I have played heck trying to get my vanes to fly good off the shelf, but get fantastic flight off the flipper...and that was on a bow cut to center, so the flipper was not anywhere near center...

With a bow cut 5/16 past center, vane clearance is a piece of cake!

Goood Luck!!  Id like to hear more about vanes off the shelf!!!

[JC]

Papalapin shoots vanes off of a Howard-style feather rest...and does so quite well I might add.

[Timberghost]

2 Vanes and 1 Feather will work.  I've tried it. Ain't pretty,  but it will work.

[Ike 403]

I shot vanes for a few weeks through my Montana (Wally World CE's...all I had at the time). Flew OK until it ripped my shelf and rest material off. Also left a rubber residue on my shelf. Never occurred to me to raise my nocking point...

[Cavetroll]

I picked up a dozen Easton Gamegetters XX75 400's from Gander Mountain. They came with 4 inch vanes. I shot them full length cock vane up with 175 grain FP. Great flight out of my Fox LB. Just as good as my Axis. Just lower, because the total arrow is 100 grains more. 639 grains.

[Tdog]

Dam I'm glad no one at the Muzzy checked my vane's I mean feather's...LOL....Jim justed stay with the feather's. Keep it simple..hey you sellin your Bob Lee?

[Hattrick]

I could of used some vane Fletch arrows to day , got soaked to the bone at a local 3d shoot ruin my all my feathers  :mad: