Harsh Helicals?

KentuckyTJ · July 18, 2011, 07:16:00 AM

From some of you all that have put some real harsh helicals on your fletchings. Do they make more noise? Have you done any speed comparisons, do they slow down the arrow any? Do you think they are more stable in flight?

Night Wing · July 18, 2011, 07:24:00 AM

My Jo-Jan MultiFletcher makes eleven degrees of helical twist. The arrows aren't as fast a straight or offset fletch, but at 20 yards, it doesn't matter to me.

In my opinion, the "harsh" helical does help a lot in a stiff crosswind with a large and/or heavy broadhead. This is the main reason why I use a "harsh" helical.

No noise from the feathers either. They will get noisy, a hissing sound on the way to the target, if the feathers start getting very worn and ratty looking.

broketooth · July 18, 2011, 07:33:00 AM

tj, last yr i started shooting some beman carbons. they were fletched with 4" parobolics from batman. very fast arrow from my aneewakee recurve. i never did chrono the settup. this yr i bought some new bemans and decided to use 5 1/2" shield cut. i did get to chrono these arrows at a local 3d event. im getting 179 fps. bemans are full length with 145 grain field points. my scores have improved alot. partly due to me shooting 3 under also. im guessing, that the small diameter of the bemans in combination with the 5 1/2" sheild cut feathers give it a more dramatic helical appearance. arrow flight is very stable with this settup. hope this helps

RkyMtn Joe · July 18, 2011, 11:18:00 AM

I also use the jo-jan multi-fletcher with as much helical as I can get on a 5 inch feather. Stablizes the arrow really well and since my maximum hunting range is 20 yards or less, it doesn't slow my arrows enough to matter.

Joe

Gary Logsdon · July 18, 2011, 11:29:00 AM

TJ, I too have used the Jo-Jan 6 arrow multi-fletcher for many years with as much helical as I can get on 5 inch feathers. My feathers are a modified shape, AKA the "Fred Bear shield", which is a farly high profile fletching. I have no significant problems with noise, speed reduction, or shelf contact issues - proper tuning takes care of that. Whenever I release an arrow toward a target with a dark background I immediately see a tight spinning yellow blur making it's way toward the target.

Charlie Lamb · July 18, 2011, 11:34:00 AM

Went through this same thing years ago. One of my first fletchers was a Hoyt Tri Heli Fletch. Neat jig but didn't put hardly any helical on the fletch... I was pretty much forced to stay with narrower broadheads.

When I finally got my first Bitzenberger I bent feathers around the shaft as much as it'd do. Man did they spin the arrow.

At the same time I was experiencing a lot of "string jumping" critters, both large and small.
After having a cottontail move out of the way of my arrow on a long 40 yard shot I decided to mess with the helical.
It was obvious he had reacted to the sound of the arrow.

I was able to back the helical way off, still get a dead stable arrow, and arrow noise went down dramatically.

There may be small speed gains.

KentuckyTJ · July 18, 2011, 12:00:00 PM

Thanks guys looks like I have some experimenting to do. First wanted to tap into the TG knowledge base as I knew you guys have been there before.

NoCams · July 18, 2011, 12:11:00 PM

Oh snag....... where are ya on this one bud ? Would like to hear you chime in on this one.

gto_guy · July 18, 2011, 12:14:00 PM

I tried a really harsh helical in my bitzenberger and it just looked silly.I backed it off a tad.Still fairly harsh but they fly great with no noise.At first I was trying to get as much helical as possible and found that more isn`t always better,

pauljr · July 18, 2011, 12:20:00 PM

I am shooting axis fmjs and fletch with a bitzenburger. I set the jig to give the maximum helical i can with a 5.5" feather. I havnt noticed any noise and i cant speek to speed as i have never chronographed a bow but it sure is a stable arrow with any broadhead i have ever tried. I havent had the string jumping problem Mr. Lamb spoke of but im sure i havnt shot as many animals as he has.

Stumpkiller · July 18, 2011, 01:04:00 PM

I set my Bitzenburger to the same helical as my Jo-Jan.

I have done a lot of indoor shooting this past year in my basement and the largest contributor to arrow noise I have found is a gap in a fletch from missing barbs of the feather. I had my wife confirm this (from a safe side-line spot) by asking her to compare arrow noise.

So if you have any tatterred fletches - strip & replace before deer season.

steadman · July 18, 2011, 01:27:00 PM

I have the same experience as everyone else. Though that may be why my broadheads never plane, big fletch and lots of helical. Let us know what you find TJ.

Gary Logsdon · July 18, 2011, 01:50:00 PM

If Charlie would stop yelling "Look out!!" before each shot those bunnies might hold still a little longer . . . . Just kidding Charlie.

snag · July 18, 2011, 02:03:00 PM

Sounds like you guys have done like I do. I have set the bitz for max helical and then back off a little. You can get a far amount of helical without any noise problems if you do this.

ron w · July 18, 2011, 02:45:00 PM

I have a cheap Martin fletching jig. Right or left wing you can barley tell there is any helical, just a bit. Seems to work fine,I do get bet flight with bigger feathers or 4 fletch.

wapiti792 · July 18, 2011, 09:57:00 PM

Got some new purty feathers from a fellow Tradganger in a trade and did my best to wrap as much helical as I could on a skinny carbon and 4" feathers with my fletcher. Now that arrow will spin, but it sounded like an RPG as it was traveling down range. I am going to work mine back from there and try to find a happy-medium or a deaf elk...whichever :p

KentuckyTJ · July 18, 2011, 10:11:00 PM

Ok guys, here is my first attempt. I cocked them over about as far as my jig would go and still keep the fletch bases down on the shaft. Shot with a couple broadheads inside tonight and I really like the flight. I even tried it out of a bow that if you don't hold the grip just right won't give me perfect flight like I like and the harsh helical really improved the flight (with broadheads) from it as well.

I'll take my testing out to the yard tomorrow in hopefully a little crosswind and compare to my old fletch angle arrows and see.

No noticeable noise increase either.

tradtusker · July 19, 2011, 05:43:00 AM

Thats about how i have mine TJ. Mine is maybe a little less.

Plenty of control over the broadhead and correction from a poor release.

we did a bit of testing through a Chrono for speed when we played with amount of helical, i dont have the exact figures here, but there was very very little difference in speed out to 20m, however there was a big difference in noise, amount of helical and height of feather giving the biggest increase in noise.

Rob DiStefano · July 19, 2011, 08:36:00 AM

with 4" banana 4-fletch on carbons, i just use a few degrees of offset, no helical, and the arrows fly dead quiet and fast.

with 5.25" shield 3-fletch on carbons or woodies, i've been using a fair amount of helical and have noticed much better arrow control if my release isn't perfect, but the arrows are not dead quiet in flight - nor are they perceived to be real noisy.

feather shape plays a role in feather noise, too. swine backed feather shapes (parabolic, banana, etc) are more aerodynamic and less prone to leaving a "vapor trail" of noise. shield and other pointy back shaped feathers will make more noise as those butt ends vibrate like a rattler's tail.

it's all a compromise of sorts, of form versus function.

Bowhunter4life · July 19, 2011, 09:49:00 AM

I use a Bitz, I'm kinda in the middle of the amount of angle/curve I can put into the fletch. No noise to speak of, or I guess hear of... Arrows spin quite a bit and are very stable in flight. I also use right helical, just because I always have and had no issues and that is what my jig is. Don't see any difference in a left helical unless you get bow/rest contact at the shot with either.