2'' vanes & fixed broadhead stabilization

[deadeye]

i retired my pro-shop around 1997 & now just modernizing my set-ups with the latest drop-away rest & some changes with vanes due to the contraversary that some say a 2'' vane will not stabilize an arrow equipped with a fixed broadhead. sorry no pic's as im not the camera type along with being too busy to photo. test arrows included 2/2315's radical 2'' helical twist, 2/2315's 2'' very slight offset, 2/2315's with 4''lp moderate helical.test proved the 2'' vanes to be approx 4fps faster than the 4'' vanes. distance's shot were @55,65,75,85,95 yds. in an all day test with rest periods 2 shot groups averaged @55-75yds approx 4'',at 85& 95 approx 6''. the broadhead of choice was muzzy 100gn 3bld & some unknown wasp fixed 3bld broadheads. i was fully expecting the 2'' offset to lose stability but it did not. all arrows grouped approx the same& all were very stable with both broadheads ,even launched a couple @ 105yds. at the end of our day we had stander's off to the side in a safe location to listen @ the differences in sound of the different arrows & i participated also. ironically the 4''lp & 2''offset were much more quiet than the 2''radical. 2'' vanes will stabilize an fixed blade broadhead properly set-up

[ET]

Deadeye

Thanks for sharing that info.
My only thought of a 2” vane is, How stable are they with any kind of wind condition?

Look forward to your thoughts or experience with this.


Ed

[Harley]

Ed, I've shot nothing but 2" Blazers for the past few years and found nothing to complain about.

Harley

[ET]

Harley

Appreciate your reply and I do have some 2” blazers on hand that are on some of my 2115-XX78 arrows that I want to start with. Also have some 2213-E7 and some older 2117’s to try to see what performs best with my Darton Maverick. There are some 3” fusion vanes still to arrive and the small Archery shop about ½-hour drive from here has some 2.1” fusions on hand.

I’m definitely not questioning your comment about the 2” Blazers as you’ve always given good honest advice or comments. This testing with vanes is something I need to do to cancel out some old school lessons about vanes I learned some years back. So far I’m convinced nothing larger than 3” vanes should be necessary. ;D


Ed

[deadeye]

et,dont know for sure but at times we had 5-7mph push & pull & mixing light winds,they survived.glad to hear some archery brothers have interest here,my vanes tested were vanetech 2''hp & a norway 2''vane against my old school 4''lp vane(unknown)

[ET]

Deadeye

Thanks for the reply to my query.

Being away from archery for about 6-7 years a lot has changed and now with the information highway of the NET even more current info is available. So trying to get back on track with a good shooting setup I have a special vested interest.

In the past I have used as large as 5” vanes and knew very little about FOC. As I started my re-education of archery I am amazed at even how much I missed out before on bow tuning, arrow tuning, field point-broad head tuning, etc. At this point in time I consider myself a rookie but not for long. And with the help of individuals like yourself, Harley and Dougedwards to name a few posting valuable information from your experience the new pathway into archery isn’t so intimidating anymore. If anything the fun will soon begin.


Ed

[deadeye]

we'll call it ''timesharing" i guess ;D ;D this board is great!

[dougedwards]

In a crosswind I think FOBs work best although they have their draw backs. The 2" blazers seem to work as well as anything else on the market and they weigh less (6 grains each) helping to maintain a good FOC. I also think that they look nicer than longer vanes.

Doug

[sw]

I shoot Red Hot arrows out of my x-bow. They have either 2" Fusion or Duravanes. They stabilize 125g Thunderheads out to very long distances. I don't know if there is a stabilization difference between a 20" arrow and 28+" arrows.

[deadeye]

this afternoon i wrapped up this test with some pleasant results,with 12-15mph crosswinds with a little treeline cover i decided to shorten to 55 yds.stability was there with all 2 shot groups avg-3''or less& at a few times even clipping my arrows with 2nd shot,noticed the arrows were tailshifted by the winds slightly but did not have time to get my old 4'' helical out for this test. all in all & t thought i'd never say this but 2''did the job,keep in mind this was with broadheads/100gn 3bld muzzy & wasp 100gn sst. i would have never tested this but was adamant about clearance with the new so-called drop away rest. i do feel @ 272fps 4 ''vanes was clipping the rest slightly.

[Harley]

Deadeye, I'm pleased that the 2" vanes worked so well for you; I thought they would.

You said you thought the 4" vanes were "clipping the rest"; I assume you are saying that the rest may not be dropping fast enough to get out of the way of the vanes. I can't quite figure out why the following is true, but Q.A.D. says that using at least a 3" line to the down cable will increase the drop away speed of the rest (maybe it's the change in the angle). How long is yours?

Harley

[deadeye]

harley,you are correct on dropaway possibly not clearing on 4'' vanes,my line is 3.25 on bow #1,approx 3.5 on bow #2,thanks for the qad insight,i got there by luck but will give me more to think about. i also moved my test vanes closer to nock on my bitzenberger to notch #1,with cock vane up no vane to face problems,should give a split-second more. i only am playing with these drop aways for one reason,trying to find the most dependable & silent combined. i tested the drop away's for accuracy vs. my old golden premier w/ prongs. accuracy was great out of both giving no edge to drop-aways. i have noticed with more hunting pressure here for whitetail and even in the mountains for elk during archery the animals seem to be more on edge.have witnessed 3 elk in the last 3 yrs that sting-jumped different bows very clearly. if a person could patent a almost totally silent dependable rest with the improved quietness of today's bows,it would be even greater imo. this is the time of year for testing archery-soon comes training