Shield vs Banana vs Parabolic & Noise

Roger Norris · July 27, 2012, 07:23:00 AM

Has anyone ever done a study on the actual noise levels of these three fletch types? I was messing around yesterday....unscientifically, to my ear....they ranked from quietest to loudest:

Parabolic (high profile 5.5 inch)
Shield cut (high profile, 5.5 inch)
Banana cut

I shot the bow myself, both outdoors and indoors, and then listened as my son shot, both outdoors and indoors.

The banana fletch, which I think looks neat as heck, had a distinct HIIISSSS as it went downrange.

I'm interested in your observations, especially if they are different than mine...

Tim Fishell · July 27, 2012, 07:43:00 AM

Roger, I've never used Banana fletch before but I do agree that the Shield cut is louder than the Parabolic. Of course like you this is just an observation while I'm shooting my own arrows.

dnovo · July 27, 2012, 08:13:00 AM

Everyone talks about how loud my bananas are. The one thing I have noticed over the years, (I've been shooting banana fletch for probably 20 years or more) is the reaction of deer. A deer I've missed with a parabolic fletch reacted more that a deer missed with a banana. I don't know what to make of this and don't miss near as many deer any more and the ones I hit only react to being shot, never the sound of the arrow.

rastaman · July 27, 2012, 09:37:00 AM

Feather noise factors

Not a scientific study but some factors that contribute to feather noise..

DayTripper · July 27, 2012, 09:42:00 AM

I always have traditional cut on mine. IMHO, I think the parabolic and shield cut because of their larger surface areas compare to the banana created more noise but they provided better stability.

Jim Wright · July 27, 2012, 09:52:00 AM

I have only had one dozen arrows with banana fletching and do not remember them being noisy. I have made and have had made for me many dozens with both shield and parabolics on wood and carbon. It is my impression that parabolics are quiet and shields are quite often noisy in flight. I believe the only really quiet shields I have had were some custom low burns on some Beman MFX carbons by Rod Kelley in Kalispell, MT.

Easykeeper · July 27, 2012, 10:08:00 AM

One thing I've noticed is that they are all quiet after they have been shot for a while. Brand new feathers of any shape make a bit of noise, and my preferred shield are noisier than parabolic. Not sure it really matters, especially since I can't really hear any of them after they've been shot a few times.

DoubleB20 · July 27, 2012, 10:10:00 AM

Can someone explain or show me a picture of the "traditional cut"? I recognize all the other shapes, but don't really know what a traditional shape is.

LITTLEBIGMAN · July 27, 2012, 10:50:00 AM

those are big feathers, not sure why one cut would be noisier than another but I am sure the larger the feather the noisier the arrow!

JamesKerr · July 27, 2012, 10:56:00 AM

If you are keen on using the banana cut feathers try cutting some with a low profile. Any 5.5" cut high back feather will be a little noisier than a standard 5"

BWD · July 27, 2012, 12:23:00 PM

Some of the noisiest feathers I've ever tried were 5.5" high back bananas.

Shedrock · July 27, 2012, 03:30:00 PM

Is your banana cut the high profile, or low profile? I love my low profile banana cut feathers. Pretty quiet to me anyway. I know the high bananas are noisy.

Hermon · July 27, 2012, 05:07:00 PM

For those of us that may be looking at getting a chopper/burner. How tall is a "high" cut and how tall is a "low" cut?

Cory Mattson · July 27, 2012, 05:26:00 PM

when creating fletch designs the two most important factors we use are - profile styled after a natural bird wing (talking owl, hawk diving, fast waterfowl spin) - then we consider the trailing profile and its ability to bounce back to form the instant it leaves the bow window understanding in must collapse for a milisecond.

as mentioned shooting them in will quiet an exagerated helical or design.

we have had zero problems with noise from fletch design - and we even apply some fletch with a sharper angle than standard. Some of our custom designs are similar to what look like banana - sheild - parabolic - straight edge - some pretty high. We even have done batches of hybrid flus and had no noise issues.

could it be something else causing noise ?

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Roger Norris · July 28, 2012, 09:31:00 AM

The bananas I used were just something I had in stock from years ago.....I THINK they were high profile, not sure.

I think I may break out the burner and mess around with some banana-like shapes.

It just doesn't make sense to me that to my ear they are louder (I could be wrong). It seems like the low cut of the back end would eliminate noise, not create it.