Fletching & Vanes

Fletching & Vanes

Your arrow’s not steering itself. That’s what fletching does – those three or four little fins on the back end that spin your arrow and keep it flying straight.

Plastic vanes are the most common. They’re waterproof, durable, and don’t care if you shoot in the rain or leave arrows in your truck bed. Sizes range from tiny 1.5″ vanes for indoor target shooting up to 4″ for fixed blade broadheads that need extra stabilization. Most hunters run 2″ to 3″ vanes.

Feather fletching is the traditional choice. Lighter than plastic and more forgiving if your arrow makes contact with your rest or cables. Recurve shooters and traditional archers prefer feathers. The downside? They get destroyed in wet weather and you can’t shoot them in the rain without them going limp.

Right helical, left helical, or straight – that’s your spin choice. Helical adds rotation for better broadhead flight. Straight works fine for field points. Match your bow’s setup and you’re good.

Need to refletch arrows? Buy loose vanes. Building from scratch? Get pre-cut feathers. Either way, fresh fletching fixes most arrow flight problems.