Helical?

[Scattergun2570]

I am having a friend of mine fletch up some 2016`s with some parabolics. He shoots Goldtip 35/55`s with a 2% or degree offset,,not sure which is correct. He says I do not need a helical,and the way he does his arrows will be fine. At the moment,I will be just shooting field tips..eventually I will hunt.

[wv lungbuster]

You definitely need helical if your going to be eventually hunting with them.

[Scattergun2570]

Originally posted by wv lungbuster:
You definitely need helical if your going to be eventually hunting with them.

Well,I will not be hunting till at least next season,,it`s my first trad bow,and first set of feathers..will the flight be affected that much? I will be shooting mostly under 20yds.

[Night Wing]

I want to point out what I'm about to say is just my opinion. It's strictly from observation.

I believe a fletched arrow with lots of helical twist helps stabilize a large broadhead, like a Simmons Treeshark, in a good crosswind.

[njloco]

Night Wing is correct, but since you are not hunting as yet or this season I say go for it, some of my best shooting arrows are mounted straight with no helical.

[Scattergun2570]

Originally posted by Night Wing:
I want to point out what I'm about to say is just my opinion. It's strictly from observation.

I believe a fletched arrow with lots of helical twist helps stabilize a large broadhead, like a Simmons Treeshark, in a good crosswind.

Yes,,I agree,,have seen what you are saying with my own eyes.

[Orion]

A little offset will be fine for field points.  As others have pointed out, more helical will stabilize the arrow quicker, but a little offset will also do the trick with field points, and by next year, your arrows will be ready for refletching.  Put more helical on them then.

[Green]

If you won't be hunting till next year these will be fine.  You'll probably want to get a jig and learn to fletch your own in the near future and you can set them up the way you want.  It's easy to learn so jump right in.

[JamesV]

I fletch all my arrows with straight offset and have never had a problem with broadheads. Early on I tried Helical and thought the arrows were too noisy and slowed to fast.

[Austin]

I'm with james. I found helicals to noticeably slower and noisier. The most I'll do is a  2° offset with my straight jig. This seems to have enough rotational stability for any broadhead I've shot.

[cbCrow]

I have always used 3 5" LW shield feathers,left straight offset and never had any problems with stabilizing a broad head. Heck I did not know what a helical jig was till the early eighties. I have played with helical but always wind up back where I started.I remember the first set of arrows I bought in around 1964 and they were offset and just used them forward.Why was the helical jig invented in the first place? Anyone.

[Glunt]

If your arrows are matched well to your bow and your release is clean, offset will be fine with field points or broadheads.  I prefer helical because in a hunting situation with lots of clothes, a wet glove, cold muscles, etc, my release may not be great.  Also, wet feathers lose some effectiveness so a little extra drag makes sense to me.

[JamesKerr]

Originally posted by Glunt:
If your arrows are matched well to your bow and your release is clean, offset will be fine with field points or broadheads.  I prefer helical because in a hunting situation with lots of clothes, a wet glove, cold muscles, etc, my release may not be great.  Also, wet feathers lose some effectiveness so a little extra drag makes sense to me.

X2

[RkyMtn Joe]

I bought whatis nowcalled a jo-Jan multi-fletcher more than 45 years ago.  It was used and it came with 6 straight clamps and 6 RW helical clamps.  Them man I bought them from also sold me young feather trimmer, a cresting jig and a paper sack full of rw feathers.  I paid the princely sum of $25.00 for everything about 1965 or so as I recall.

This old fellow suggeasted i fletch my arrows with the helical clamps which I have always done since.  I have used the straight clamps on rare occasions when fletching arrows for someone else who requested that I do so.

I really like helically fletched arrows and I find they work extremely well for me.  However, I would not argue with those who posted a preference for straight offsets either.  If you are able to do so, try both for awhile and determine which works best for you.

Joe

[Stinger]

You don't need helical to hunt.  Back in the day, we used offest to stabilize broadheads because we didn't have helical fletching jigs and they work just fine.  I have jigs that do both helical and offset and I don't notice an appreciable difference with arrows fletched either way.  I would use greater than 2 degrees offset though for broadheads.

[b44mag]

im new and i bought a grayling with left helical clamp. i took a early 70's feather fletched bear arrow to set up my jig. it has offset marks on the jig.
with the bear arrow it set me up 1` 1/2 lines on front and 1 1/4 on back to reproduce the original
bear feather set up. i guess 3 degrees front and about 2 1/2 back. i stripped the vanes off a set of 80's bear wood arrows and fletched them up. a few with 4in. parabolics and a few with 5in. shield feathers. they fly great and dont make much noise.  broadheads and field tips hit pretty much the same place if i do my part. im using woodsmans and bear razor heads both fly about the same.
hope this helps you im new and just learning
myself.
good luck