Dan,

I shoot right wing feathers, and on my arrows, the feathers twist around the shaft from nock to tip in a clockwise fashion. Thus the front of the feather is farther to the right than the back of the feather. Hope that helps.

Michael

to add to montanas response the lip of the feather is on the right or left side, one side is smooth all the way to the shaft and the other has a little lip. Or like montana said you can just look at the helical, but I suppose some dude could mistakenly put a right helical on a left wing feather or vice versa, dont think that could happened though?

Dan, I believe Michael has is right. If you sight down the shaft with the nock end up to your eye, the far end of the feather will be to the right or left of where it’s attached at the nock end. If it’s to the left it’s LW, to the right- RW.

One other note- The “Ashby” broadhead is not realy Ed’s broadhead. It’s made by ABS and they only named it after him. He doesn’t get a dime from the sales. I only point this out because some people on other forums who are uninformed are saying that the testing and reports were done just to promote “his” broadhead. Can’t figure for the life of me why some people feel the need to discredit our friend and his life’s work.

Ron

Ron,

Just thought I would add this quote off of Alaska Bowhunting Supply’s website about the Ashby broadhead:

Disclaimer! Dr. Ed Ashby graciously allowed us to use his name on this broadhead with one condition. He insisted that we make it clear to our customers that he receives no compensation for the use of his name on our broadhead whatsoever. His goal is to educate the world on what kinds of arrows and broadheads best penetrate big game animals. He receives no compensation for any of his research but shares the results freely. He wants to educate bowhunters everywhere on what works best on big game animals so the animals may be harvested in the most efficient manner possible. It’s actually more about the animal than the bowhunter. We all owe a great debt to Dr. Ashby for his significant contribution to bowhunting.

From all of us at Alaska Bowhunting Supply, Thank-You Dr. Ed Ashby!

This tells it all, no matter what anybody else has to say about Dr. Ashby.

Michael

We covered this in an early Tip newsletter. The picture might help.

Single Bevel Broadheads 😀

Think of it this way: If you’re looking down the shaft, as Sharpster sugggests, and the fronts of the feathers are slightly left of the backs, as the shaft sails through the air where will the air pressure hit the feathers and what will it make them do? If the feathers are angled left, they encounter the resistance of air on their right sides, making the shaft spin left, and vice versa. Although the amount of twist feathers give a shaft is much less than what a good single-bevel provides passing through tissues, it’s counter-productive to have the shaft spinning one direction in the air then abruptly have to stop and reverse directions when it hits flesh. That’s why Ashby warns that a L-R mismatch can actually decrease penetration.

So far as those saying Ed has done nearly 30 years of research into arrow lethality simply to sell a few broadheads is not only a lie, but like the “elderly death panels” proposed by those against health care reform, it’s mean-spirited and stupid, and illogical. If you’re self-serving and looking to make a quick buck any old way, there are lots of easier ways to make money … like building junk broadheads and calling them “world’s best,” when in fact they’re world’s worst, as dozens of hi-tech mechanical marketers do. Oh well, I need to go sharpen my single-bevels. Elk and deer open a week from today. 😀

I figured that most of us here were aware that Ed won’t accept a dime from anyone but, on some other forums there are underinformed/misinformed folks who think it is Ed’s broadhead and that he’s getting a piece of the profits.

Ron