AN IN-DEPTH LESSON ON ARROW VANES

I want to talk to you about the whys and wherefores of

arrow

s and I'm going to be specific to veins and a little more geared toward compound archery so you realize that we have a magnitude of veins that we offer at the moment. archery, however, there are also a number of different veins that the industry offers to different people, so if you are new to archery or even if you are at that intermediate level, you may not really understand the benefits , the what and why of all of these. different types of lengths, types of shapes and really how they affect the

arrow

and what they do.

As a general rule, I'm just going to say that in the past, a lot of people have chosen to use longer, bigger feathers because they have a lot of control, there's more surface area, so they trap a lot more air as they go through the air and they start to stabilize a lot more. fast because there's more surface area, like they have you know, a bigger fin in the water, you know if you were on a boat, so bigger feathers are going to give you more surface area and more steerability; However, with more surface area, comes greater resistance and more deceleration at a certain point and deceleration. leads to inaccuracy and more surface area than you can imagine if there was wind blowing through this, although this is a factor, let's not even take into account that this is a large diameter shaft, let's just look at the vein, but a vein that It's that big with one the wind blowing through it would have much more force to deflect this arrow than if you had a much smaller vane that would have much less surface area for that wind to control;

However, with less surface area you get less steerability and more reliability, more reliability in the direction which is actually on the front of the arrow, which is the point that marks the path, so this arrow here is actually the same arrow which I competed with for most of my metals and you can recognize it as a very small wrap but also a very small fletching and This is simply because when I shoot at a longer distance I don't have anything on the front of this arrow that has a surface of its own, for example an arrowhead, so this little ballistic tungsten tip is heavy and is leading the way and is smaller.

Fletch gives stability and rotation to the arrow which helps its accuracy now because it is a target arrow and has a very small diameter again, we don't have a surface on the front that directs, this is perfectly suitable for archery and has the least amount. It drifts with the wind because it has a minimum of fletching, it also has a minimum arrow diameter and it is also quite heavy, so it is very stable. Now, the next one, which is the next step from what I competed in, is one of the pro-max. veins, so this is a little bit smaller vein, it's a shorter profile than the next step type from a hunting standpoint, which is that max hunter, this pro-max is a little bit lower but also it's a little bit taller so this is kind of the middle point and this particular arrow that I'm holding is actually Sharon's arrow so it has a six arrow and this was a setup that Sharon came up with because I wanted her to have the most free space. with its scope, so I wanted a little bit lower profile vein, but because it shoots a fixed blade cut on the impact head, I still need enough surface area back here that will dominate that surface in the front and give me a good rotation in the arrow, so By going to this six arrow configuration, I was able to shoot a small vein but have enough control and steering ability, but also give us vision clearance for that site that goes down for longer distances, so this was a good middle ground and again, by putting six here, it's essentially giving me what would be equal to a vein that was twice as long, one of the things that I found in some of the shorter height bows, that is, where is the string on the stroke and where the grip is on some of the shorter height bows. which is common with youth bows or shorter draw length bows, so Sharon has a very short draw length, so she has a bow with a fairly short brace height and because of that, if her feathers are too long, it actually interferes with the rests of the arrow when it is in the up position, so having the shorter vein gives me the space I need so the arrow can sit properly on the rest when the bow It's hanging on a tree hanger, so that was my choice, it's a bit of a hybrid this particular vein. in a four feather configuration could be a great option for a 3D archer or someone going to an all out archery challenge event where you are shooting an era where you want to have good aiming ability but also want to reduce the drift of the wind the more feathers there are. you add, so here's my old style goal.

This is a long distance arrow. What I showed you first was a very low profile three feather vein and I'm getting some rotation, but not much. too much rotation will cause more deceleration at the down range and for a long distance arrow like this I needed more stability at the longer ranges, not less, so by having three fletches I had enough rotation to stabilize myself, but not too much to where it decelerated. Now Sharon's arrow, on the other hand, will spin very quickly. It looks like a pink golf ball that travels through the air and spins very fast but it also decelerates quite quickly so you have limitations as to how far this arrow will travel but also in a hunting situation how far you could shoot before of that.

The arrow is slowing down to the point where it becomes inaccurate or simply loses the power to kill. However, because she is a short throw, underweight shooter, we recognize limitations and barriers, so this vein fits the barrier we are within that she simply stands within. she's not going to take a shot close to the length of most shots in a total archery challenge or even most shots that the average guy is going to take, she really keeps her shots close or this arrow It turns fast, it turns true, now it doesn't really worry about slowing down. the next vein here is actually a p pm 2.0 which is that front vein there and this is a vein that I personally shoot for most of my archery challenge setups.

This particular vein gives me enough direction for a field point and also reduces due to the amount of wind drift I get on my longer shots, I now want to have a little more spin than if I just had a three feather. I really like the silence and accuracy of a four-feather, so I shoot this smaller vane on a slightly larger diameter shaft than the one I used to shoot competitive archery. Personally, I feel like I go to the total archery challenge events. This setup gives me a lot of benefits as the arrow is a bit lighter so it will give me more distance just because of the speed I'm gaining compared to a hunting arrow, however since this is a So low profile vane and when I shoot through my bow it's in that x formation, I can bring my sight as low as possible so that arrow axis gives me the ability to shoot as far as I can, hitting the arrow that shoots through my bow the pm 2.0 is just a perfect fit for a five millimeter easton shaft, which i really prefer.

I love this shaft. The degree of coincidence is. Great for consistency in both weight and straightness, so in my testing it has proven to be an amazing combination for those total archery challenge events. Now the next step is going to be a vein that looks a little bit like the one I'm hunting with this one here. it's a maximum that's about three inches, this one is a little bit shorter, it's a little bit longer than two, but it's a low profile vein similar to the maximum, it's got a little bit of a reduced ratio now, this vein here has really proven to be very good.

For me, in places where I know I am hunting and there is the possibility of longer distance shots and also in areas where there is more open country and there is more wind to worry about now, if I photograph this particular setup, what will you say is, I I would make sure to shoot a very compact expandable style head, so this arrow will give me minimal wind drift compared to this one, it will be lighter because there is less material that the four arrows will provide. I have very good rotation and a lot of steering for an extendable that is completely enclosed and compact in flight, so this was a good option, however, it doesn't really give me the option of having enough steering ability when the speeds are too high with the hunting broadhead or when you choose to shoot a fixed blade broadhead which then has its own steering capability on the front of the shaft so the following fletching is the one we offer in our pre-fletching division for arrows because this is the number one setup I have been using for several years to hunt this particular vein size and the combination gives me the most amazing options on what type of broadheads I want to use last year I shot several different types of broadheads throughout my fall and this particular size and vein configuration just gave me enough stability and direction to have plenty of options for what was in front.

Now, the next one here is again a very long vein that goes back in time, a four inch vane is going to cause some problems on current equipment because again, if you have a bow with a shorter brace height, let's say your bow has a brace height of six inches and the arrow rest is a little bit behind where it is behind the shelf, now it has points that are in an up position with veins that are a little long and they're kind of sitting there so when you draw They will collide with the canal when you back up.

Now my experience with fletching types and configurations is quite extensive, in fact there was a time like that. it's a box of arrows that I have from a hunting season that I actually plotted and tested a lot, where I had four different types of arrows and also four different brands and types of fletching that were plotted on targets to show me the results. of a shorter high profile vein, a slightly quieter style, a long longer shape that could offer better direction for a fixed blade head, etc., and how all of these types of fletchings performed on the shaft lighter or heavier, and I can tell you.

That from all those tests I have decided on what gives me the greatest ability to be able to have an accurate arrow with a variable magnitude, it is really difficult to talk to someone specifically about what fletching is perfect for them when you take into account the different variables that some people have, for example, some people have more facial tissue or have more facial hair. If they were to shoot a very high profile vein that is short and tall like this, you have the ability to have more contact with your face. because of your fletching clearance, that person might benefit more from having a little bit of a lower profile shape, you know something that's been shifted back or maybe even adding some extra fletching to your system now, one of the things that We offer is that we have a sample package. of veins at knockonarchery.com which gives you multiple veins in all different types of shapes and for those, what I recommend people do is take five or six arrows and fletching them all with a different length vein or vein configuration and be able to go Shoot them not only at 20 yards but also at greater distances and you will be able to recognize how they group together, which is really important, if not the most important, and how much one style of vein drops compared to another. in that it has more surface area, catches more wind and starts to drop lower than the target compared to something that is not only lighter but also lower profile and has less overall resistance, now what you will find is that although you will love this. one vein in particular, might you know that it shoots two yards better for height compared to a longer profile vein?

What you may find is that as soon as you put your preferred broadhead on a high profile short vein, it may not actually be as accurate as what you are seeing in marketing in comparison. Regarding these other setups, now what I will say is the arrows that we offer as a background experience and the jigs that we offer are set up on what I believe is the best neutral ground to deliver a super stable arrow that is incredibly accurate and performs at a magnitude of draw links, arrow shaft diameters and arrowhead options and that's this setup here that you see me hunting with all the time.

This is the maximum vein, I think it's 2.8 inches or 2.7 inches in a four-feather setup at 2.5 degrees offset, and I personally shoot mine on a right prop versus a left prop simply by how you squeeze an arrowhead in the air shaft and how I want thatarrow rotate in the air. Now what I will tell you is as you increase. The angle or helix of your feathering will stabilize faster because it captures more air as it propels, however it will also decelerate faster so you will have to play it. I want an arrow that will benefit the most from a distance. a b or I want an arrow that if I have to shoot at distance c it starts to decelerate to the point where it actually falls off the map and you can't reach those longer distances because of the rotation or you know you're starting to lose accuracy because of that deceleration too, so I've tried everything from no propeller and no offset up to one degree to one and a half, two, two and a half, three, and literally a wrapper that looks like it's just spinning. around the arrow certainly, if you want rotation, the higher angles or greater degree of offset will give you that, however there will be a range of deceleration downwards which will cost you accuracy again for me of all of these for my tack hybrid . bow or the bow that you see me shooting during the off season that I go withThese shorter veins in a four fletching setup again with a two and a half degree offset and for hunting I am choosing the maximum in this 2.8 which is again at two degrees and a half for a trip, but that gives you the pros and cons. to different types of veins and how they affect different types of arrows, different types of bow setups depending on whether you are a short draw, low draw shooter versus someone who shoots an average weight or someone who shoots a larger diameter shaft like this one, so before I finish, if I were shooting indoors and I was shooting with a large diameter shaft like this and I didn't want to shoot this long four inch fletching because of my rest clearance, then all I would have to do is go to this shorter one and continue. to a four feather setup that you've seen me shoot indoors, so instead of having three four inch feathers, I have four three inch feathers, so the total surface area is the same, which gives me the rotation that I need to stabilize a large and heavy arrow. so at that short distance that I do for indoor archery, but it's great to play with all of these.

If you like to experiment, I can tell you that one of the things I tell people I like is to learn ballistics and learn. Ballistics and how veins, vein shapes, and vein configurations can affect accuracy is really something only you will know for your particular setup. If you go out and try the different variations yourself, you now know what the pros and cons are. a sample pack, go out and see for yourself what works best