Leaving for a Colorado alpine mule deer hunt on Thursday and KNOW I'll be getting wet. Please weigh in on your preferences and any negative experiences using one or the other.
Thanks!
No sno. It rains here and that is the best I have found other than keeping fletches out of the rain.
If you use spray silicone, I found out the hard way that the stuff I used liked to release the glue on my fletches...
The no snow works pretty good.
The powder also works but be careful not to breath it in.
I've been tempted to try NeverWet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZrjXSsfxMQ
From what I've read online about the product (which has been around long before pairing up with Rustoleum) it is supposed to work exactly as advertised but wears off quickly with abrasion. I'm thinking about treating my 4 hunting arrows with this product this year as they shouldn't get too much abrasions prior to shooting them.
Just use unscented hair spray. A lot cheaper.
I did some testing a couple years ago when i was trying to figure out the best way to waterproof feathers and was not happy with any of the products out there especially when you are rubbing feathers against clothing, bushes, etc.
What i did find that works awesome is to wrap a piece of seran wrap around the fletching if each arrow. then use the little clear rubber bands that girls use to finish braids in their hair (one of the perks of having a little girl in the house...lol) to hold the seran wrap forward of the fletching. when you are ready to shoot just yank the seran wrap off the back of the arrow and you are ready to go. dont worry about the little rubber band that stays on the arrow it will not affect anything. The seran wrap is pretty quite and does a gerat job of keeping your feathers dry until you are ready to shoot.
I even leave the weran wrap on the feathers when i am in a tree stand and the arrow is on my bow. then when i see a deer i can pull the seran wrap off as i grab the bow.
Its the best system i have found so far. I will actually be doing a video about this soon and will post it whe i make it. I just wnated to make sure and tell you about this option incase you wanted to try it for you hunt.
If you are heading to to SW colorado you will need something. I just cut the bottom out of a ziplock and rubber band above and below he arrows on the quiver. This seems to work the best for really heavy everyday rain like we have been getting. Good luck and maybe we will see you out there.
DK
No Snow. It's an aerosol and works great.
I find that ScotchGuard works the best for me.
rain x
Wow! Lots of options. I checked out the NeverWet link. Pretty impressive! I picked up some at my local hardware store, ouch! At $23 it's an expensive experiment, but the YouTube video looked pretty convincing. I think I might treat one with powder, one with No Snow and one with NeverWet and see what holds up best.... I'll have to look in the garage to see if I have any RainX
Has anyone tried the Kiwi Camp Dry spray?
Just a bit of warning for those who wear glasses, silicone spray works great on fletching , but if you get it on your lenses, you might as well plan on a new pair on glasses.
I tried silicone last season, and even by being as careful as possible still transfered a bit of silicone onto my lenses........needless to say, that after trying everything possible to remove it, i had to scrap the glasses and get new ones.
Revivx air dry the stuff in a aerosol can recommended by Gortex for on there garments. This stuff is amazing that is what I use. Widow
I use liquid rollers it for boat trailer rails it water proofs drys fast and is slick to the touch works awesome
Yes, the NeverWet is very expensive for what you get but the videos and reviews seem convincing enough that I am trying it. I am putting some on my fletching, some on my wool hat, and some on my Asbell mackinaw. I figure the hat and mackinaw will probably wear off by the end of the season from forging through the brush but I'm expecting the fletching to last all season.
I use something from fly fishing called "ginks" you put it on the fletch pretty good and let it dry...very good product used for dry flys...but works equally well on fletching...
Great thinking. I started fly fishing many years before I ever shot feathered arrows and Gink for water proofing fletching has never crossed my mind. I'm sure that would work very well.
I bought some stuff years ago, stay dry or something like that, trout fishermen used it back then. It worked great in the rain, but my feathers got to be very stiff and brittle when the temps got below 20 degrees. I tried Schotch Guard it was good for the day and that was about it. Do not use underarm antiperperant spray deoderant, what a mess that made.
QuoteOriginally posted by pavan:
,,,Do not use underarm antiperperant spray deoderant, what a mess that made.
Pavan, did you use that on your arrows or your arm pits?
:laughing:
Arrows on a rainy day when I could find the scotch guard. I don't even use it for my arm pits anymore. So upset I was that I only use a crystal rock looking thing now, which works sort of, for my pits. I have not tried that on my arrows, yet.
:thumbsup:
Don't use the spray silicone if your feathers are put on with fletch tape. I makes them come right off.
Well tuned arrows=no need for junk on fletchings.
Baby bottle liners.
I still have several bottles of the old school Dri-Tite I brush it on and forget about it.
Dan Toelke put me on to Elmer's "Slide-All" Aerosol dry lubricant which works great to seal and rust-proof sharpened carbon steel broadheads. Yesterday I treated the fletching on an arrow with it and today stuck it out in a drizzling rain, shot it a bit in my garage and repeated the process a couple of times and was impressed. The fletching still slightly separates and stands up a little on impact but it does not mat down at all and look like a drowned rat like wet fletching usually does. I simply sprayed it on and wiped away the dry film left on the shaft between the fletching, the tape is unaffected after a day,
Goose feathers