G.fred asbell recommends helical fletchings. G. fred asbell is great and his shooting style works really well for me. My club coach (one of the 80 yard stabiliser crowd) says that straight fletchings are just fine even for my "hunting style archery" (short and pinpoint). I'm confused. I thought i'd see what the brains here think before I spend YET MORE money on archery kit.
helical fletchings
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Aren't helical fletchings the ones that twizzle around the arrow? Are they not used for shooting tree dwelling creatures so that the slightest wind will move a lodged arrow and hopefully it will drop to the ground?
I think you'll find very little to no difference in performance/accuracy between straight and helical fletching. I personally have had better accuracy and stability with straight fletchings, however, other have had different expieriences. And it definately may be "in my head" too... it may work better for me because I think it will.
Might be one of those things you just have to try and see.
Might be one of those things you just have to try and see.
spamel said:
You are thinking of flu-flus. They are very good for aerial shots because, as you say, they run out of energy and don't go off into the wide blue yonder.
I think what jerv is thinking of is an up to 60 degree offset between the leading and trailing edge of the fletch. It induces more spin causing the arrow to straighted up quicker out of the bow. If you are using very heavy points the spin and drag holds the arrow very straight. You pay for this by a slight loss of range.
I'm told that the loss is not as much as you'd expect because the arrow spends less time flying sideways while it straightens up.
I fletch my everyday arrows straight. If I'm doing something special with big points I put a slight (10 degrees) or so of twist in them
I lost a lot of sleep over the helical question, but for what it's worth, straight or twisted it makes no difference to my accuracy....of course that might say more about my shooting than the quality of my fletching... 
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=13247
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=13247
A lot depends on the type of fletch.
Feathered fletchings, if they are all from the same side wing (left or right) will create a spin naturally even if straight. You can of course add some extra spin with a slight angle if you like.
Plastic fletchings on aluminium shafts always used to be angled to recreate this spin which helped stabilization but this is now less common because the carbon fibre shafts are so much narrower, which tends to exaggerate the effect if the fletch is angled.
Feathered fletchings, if they are all from the same side wing (left or right) will create a spin naturally even if straight. You can of course add some extra spin with a slight angle if you like.
Plastic fletchings on aluminium shafts always used to be angled to recreate this spin which helped stabilization but this is now less common because the carbon fibre shafts are so much narrower, which tends to exaggerate the effect if the fletch is angled.
I think possibly Fred Asbell likes helicals because he hunts. If shooting broadheads a spinning arrow is less likely to be affected by side winds. As Wayland points out, with feathers the arrow will spin anyway if straight fletched but helical may get the arrow spinning faster, and at hunting distance the extra drag will not be a problem. I straight fletch if I am using a jig. If fletching by hand I helical.
Snufkin said:
Hunting has been the main use of my bows for some odd 20 years now also, but I always end up coming back to straight-fletched arrows as being more consistant.
I have a friend who has shot flatbows as long as I have and puts helical on everything and won't/can't shoot without it.
I really believe it's one of those "it depends" deals in the end.
Reading Traditional Bowhunter, I get the clear impression that most hunting arrows (ie, with broadheads) are helical fletched, with a few people opting for offset straight.
For field points, I would just go for slightly offset straight fletching. I certainly would not fork out for a helical jig unless you're intending to use broadheads (abroad, of course).
For field points, I would just go for slightly offset straight fletching. I certainly would not fork out for a helical jig unless you're intending to use broadheads (abroad, of course).
bent-stick said:
Cheers, you learn a new thing every day! I saw them in Ray Mears' first book and took it to be what you were talking about. I didn't realise fletchings were put on at an angle to the centre line of the arrow, I can see how it would put a spin on the arrow though. This helps bullets in flight so I don't see why it won't help an arrow.
Okay I'm semi decided about the helical clamp. Will a right handed jig only work with right handed feathers?
Bit peeved today because in one of my practice sessions I shot off all of my fletchings. The hessian target face I made seems to strip feathers straight off the arrow if you get a pass through.
p.s. why is getting steel field piles in 11/32 so hard!!!
Bit peeved today because in one of my practice sessions I shot off all of my fletchings. The hessian target face I made seems to strip feathers straight off the arrow if you get a pass through.
p.s. why is getting steel field piles in 11/32 so hard!!!
Stovie, I think the guy in your animation needs to replace the centre of his boss!
Over the years I've shot full twiddly bits recurve, compound, HT and primitive bows competitively and used aluminium, carbon, wood and composite arows. Ive tried three fletchings and four fletchings as well as straight an helical.
At the end of the day, I still shot crap.
ALL arrows will spin in flight, though those using a release aid will spin more slowly than those loosing with fingers. The idea of helical fletching is to increase the spin rate and add to gyrostability, though you can go too far and end up with mini fluflus! (also wrappingthem the wrong direction around the shaft has the effect of extr drag and loss of stability).
In my personal experience I found no advantage to spiral fletchings, just makes it harder to glue them back on in the field without a jig. I used fletchings like the curlivanes, but the name escapes me at the mo, when shooting carbons and they worked much better at speeding up rotation than spiral vanes or feathers. With feathers I just stick to straight, they tend to have their own bias (being wing feathers) that helps to sin a little more than plastics.
Make up 1/2 doz of each and have a play, see if you can get any difference on the practice butts. To be honest, unless you are seriously good I doubt you will notice any difference with traditional bows.
just my 2p worth
Over the years I've shot full twiddly bits recurve, compound, HT and primitive bows competitively and used aluminium, carbon, wood and composite arows. Ive tried three fletchings and four fletchings as well as straight an helical.
At the end of the day, I still shot crap.
ALL arrows will spin in flight, though those using a release aid will spin more slowly than those loosing with fingers. The idea of helical fletching is to increase the spin rate and add to gyrostability, though you can go too far and end up with mini fluflus!
(also wrappingthem the wrong direction around the shaft has the effect of extr drag and loss of stability).In my personal experience I found no advantage to spiral fletchings, just makes it harder to glue them back on in the field without a jig. I used fletchings like the curlivanes, but the name escapes me at the mo, when shooting carbons and they worked much better at speeding up rotation than spiral vanes or feathers. With feathers I just stick to straight, they tend to have their own bias (being wing feathers) that helps to sin a little more than plastics.
Make up 1/2 doz of each and have a play, see if you can get any difference on the practice butts. To be honest, unless you are seriously good I doubt you will notice any difference with traditional bows.
just my 2p worth
jerv said:
Hi Jerv,
Next time I'm at home I'll send you the contact details for the poison dwarf (AKA Bob Goss). He turns nice steel points in lots of shapes. 11/32 will probably be a custom run and he asks you to take 2 dozen to cover his set up costs. IIRC he charges about 8quid a dozen.
thanks bent stick. I've ordered some steel points from bowsports as i need some quickly but I'd like as many sources as possible. I managed to trash nearly all my arrows in one practice session yesterday (3 left!!) the cost of buying the new shafts etc means I won't be getting a helical clamp for a few months. I'm quite keen to try helicals with my broadheads though. I think i'll cap these arrows any reccomendations for capping paints?
