Fletching length, old vs new?

[Kees]

#131244

The cover photo of this month’s TBM has an old wood arrow with what to me looks like 3″ fletching, if not shorter.  Other photos I have seen from way back also show comparatively short fletching.  Then I look at the 4″ or 5″ feathers on arrows in more recent photos and it seems like there has been a shift to using larger feathers.  Am I correct in this, and why would this have happened?  If the shorter fletching stabilized arrows back then, why not now?

-Kees-

[Stephen Graf]

#131246

Those arrows equipped with short fletching were likely for target shooting.

Flight shooting involves even shorter fletching than target shooting.  And some, back in the day, advocated for the center of mass to be located toward the nock instead of toward the point.  Their reasoning based on the assumption that a heavy tail would cause the point to ride up and the arrow to plane (like a boat I suppose) through the air just a little farther.

None of that would be good for hunting.

[grumpy]

#131291

I use 3 1/2 inch  With shorter fletches you can have a smaller brace height.

Actually I take a banana fletch and cut 3/4″ off the front and 3/4″ off the back.  I’m shortening by 1 1/2″ but not taking much off the surface area.  With a closer string the string pushes the arrow longer, and the cast is improved.

Grumpy

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