I've noticed on many of the pre-finished wood arrows from places like 3rivers and Black Widow all have left wing feathers. I have shot both left and rigt wing out of my bows and have not noticed a diffrence in the way they shoot. So my question is why do the high end custom arrow makers seem to prefer left wing?
QuoteSo my question is why do the high end custom arrow makers seem to prefer left wing? [/QB]
True, you would kinda expect them to be conservative instead!?!?!?!?!?! :bigsmyl:
QuoteOriginally posted by BowHunterGA:
QuoteSo my question is why do the high end custom arrow makers seem to prefer left wing? [/b]
True, you would kinda expect them to be conservative instead!?!?!?!?!?! :bigsmyl: [/QB]
HA. I like that one. The ONLY time I take left over right wing is when fletching arrows.
My reason is simple. My jig is set up to do left and I would have to change some thing to do right. I HATE change.
First, left wing isn't that popular. Most home-rollers tend to do right helicals. Left wing is a bit cheaper because of this, so some of the bigger arrow makers buy lefts.
Second, if you set your arrows up cock feather at 90 degrees out from the bow, left helicals point up and away from the archers hand. It's a little thing, but arrows that nick your customers bow hands don't encourage repeat sales.
It used to be because of availability. Years ago turkey breeders use to clip the right wings on young birds so there were many more left wing feathers available. The way the birds are bred and raised today I doubt there is even a need to clip the birds.
Also, there used to be, and to some extent still is, a thought that right handed shooters needed to use left wing fletching. Since most archers are right handed... etc, etc.
We now know that unless there is a clearance issue such as Jeff mentions, it doesn't matter which wing is used, they fly the same.
I did have a fellow say that at the 60 yd target he noticed he was shooting slightly to the right and that was obviously because I used right wing feathers on his arrows. I just said, "hmmmm," and didn't say anything. No sense in getting into an argument.
Guy
I shoot left handed and shoot right wing fletching.
Besides the psychological aspect of having the arrow spin away from the bow shelf, opposite hand fletching permits me to touch the feather to my nose at full draw, therefore becoming my final anchor point as well as a draw check.
Since the majority shoot right handed, similar thoughts/anchoring techniques may possibly also be a factor in the demand for left wing fletching.
Because "MOST" are Wronghanded ...Right ??? {he he} ...
More right handed shooters out there=more left helical feathers. For right handed bows, the left helical are thought to fly more true off the bow.
Wheelie bow shops almost always carry right wing feathered arrows, at least in my area. I always thought this was because the direction of the arrow rotation on RW arrows tightens the field points. LW feathers tend to loosen the screw in point.
When I started building arrows in the 1990s most wood arrow guys shot LW, at least in my area. LW was a little cheaper and with a glue on point it didn't matter. Chad
Why is left so popular? Because all us Aussies have flogged the right ones!
nobody buyed them so they flechted the commercial arrow with to put down the stock ?
oups ! :knothead:
it's a little known fact that you have to match your helical to suit which hemisphere you are in. think of water going going down the sink. you have to match the direction of rotation.
it's true.....LOL
I am a right handed person with a dominate left eye. When I shot right handed, prior to switching to left, I fletched all of my arrows with a left helical so they would spin away and off of the shelf as quickly as possible to eliminate interference with the shelf. Now I really don't think it amounts to a hill of beans. I was always told to fletch opposite your shooting hand for this very reason.
Left handed,left wing.Right handed, right wing.To make rotation of arrow away from bow shelf,not into it.
QuoteOriginally posted by Tom Mussatto:
It used to be because of availability. Years ago turkey breeders use to clip the right wings on young birds so there were many more left wing feathers available. The way the birds are bred and raised today I doubt there is even a need to clip the birds.
I have heard this too. Since there were more left wing feathers available, more jigs were sold with left wing clamps. Once you get a jig and making arrows, people tend to stick with it to keep things consistent. When I bought my first Bitz jig from a shop going out of business thirty years ago all they had were left wing clamps. They gave me the same reason as Tom pointed out. Anyone starting out now can go either way, there seems to be no lack of right or left wing feathers.
I've heard it has something to do with the arrow's paradox.
A bit more on the clipping of wings, as raising chickens and turkeys in this area is prominent, most people are right handed. The farm workers would hold the turkey down and extend the right wing with their left hand and use their strong (right) hand to do the clipping. Much like using scissors.
I know a fellow who is disabled from working hard at catching chickens and turkeys for a living to load them for processing. Bad on the back all that bending and stooping is...
If you watch slow motion videos of arrows being shot they don't start spinning until they are clear of the bow. Left wing predominance has to do with the previously stated reason of clipping wings so birds couldn't fly.
What tom Mussatto said, Most workers on the farms were right handed so that's the wing that got clipped, hence all the left wings. Heard this from a archery dealer back in the late 60's or early 70's. :goldtooth:
QuoteOriginally posted by ron w:
What tom Mussatto said, Most workers on the farms were right handed so that's the wing that got clipped, hence all the left wings. Heard this from a archery dealer back in the late 60's or early 70's. :goldtooth:
Could be I guess... When I started building my own arrows back in the late 50's I was told "when shooting off a knuckle always use a left wing for a right hand shooter to avoid a quill in the hand."
Left wing/right wing, cock feather in/out, it makes no difference if your bow is well tuned to the arrow. If you are a knuckle shooter as I am there can be contact with the hand (not the bow side plate or shelf) with both right and left wing but it is so slight that with feathers it will not effect arrow flight or be uncomfortable. Vanes is another story. With an elevated rest even vanes can be used with well tuned equipment, which should be a good indication that feathers/vanes do not (should not) contact the bow. Shooting vanes off your knuckle can be a bit painful and destroy good arrow flight.
I have no idea why one wing might be more available or expensive than the other these days. The way the birds are bred and raised today they can't even walk much less fly, so no need for clipping. 10 or 12 years ago I bought several thousand full length feathers, both left and right, and availability/price of both right and left were the same then.
If your right handed and your bow has a grip that puts the top of your hand close to the arrow rest there is a chance of the feathers hitting your hand with right helical. It hurts.
Vise/versa for left handed people.
Because more people are right handed more arrow makers use left helical.
Like I said this is only with certin bows IMO.
Right handed....shoot left helical.
Left handed....shoot right helical.
Hope this helps.
Tenbrook
When I was much younger and shot arrows with screw in tips I thought those fletched up with right wing feathers didn't need as much re-tightening of my tips as did left wing flecthed arrows.
As far as going where I wanted them... no difference.
God bless,Mudd
With the advent of YouTube it's pretty easy to find and watch slow motion videos of arrows leaving bows.
As Joseph mentioned, they don't begin to rotate until they are well away from the bow.
Guy
I agree with Jeff.I did a survey of over 100 people on this site and found that the use of left and right wing feathers was about 50/50. At least of the archers on this site one was not favored over the other.....Interesting I was sure left wing shooters would have been higher.
Im in the "thats what the jig I bought 20 yrs ago is" LW group.......RH shooter, never gave it any thought and never had a problem (even when shooting "wrong" beveled grizzlies)
Have to disagree with Jeff, most guys I know are right-handed shoot LW, pain sometimes as it is tough to keep point tight and lefties shoot RW. Usedto be to spin the feather away from the knuckle to prevent the quill from cutting the top of your hand near the knuckle. I shoot cock vane up and do not notice a difference in point of impact but still shoot LW! Shawn
I shoot right handed and use right wing fletch. If I'm shooting a self bow with no arrow rest and I get cut with the fletching I don't see it as because I'm using the wrong feather, I see it as poor arrow building. Proper prep on the leading edge takes care of the issue.
I've made more than a few dozen arrows and they've all been fletched right wing. I've had exactly one person complain that I should have used left wing and his general skill and knowledge level needed more work than a simple wing change.
Guy
As I long as I don't mix them on a single shaft I can't see a difference :-)
Thats Pretty Subtle there Grey!! :campfire: I have tried the Right Wing Feathers shooting R.H., and My Bows didnt like them. :archer:
There is a reason you can't buy left-wing bevel RFA's. Just sayin.
I cut my hand to pieces if I shoot RW from my longbow. I like to have my hand right up there. I recently tried dropping my hand a bit and I can shoot them fine.
If you shoot left wing you will notice screw in points coming loose in targets because of the arrow spinning counter clock wise.
QuoteOriginally posted by heydeerman:
If you shoot left wing you will notice screw in points coming loose in targets because of the arrow spinning counter clock wise.
A little Teflon tape or Loc Tite solves that issue