Fletching

[WTB]

2" Blazers seem to be the fletch of choice. An "extreme helical jig" for blazers will be out soon.

How come Excaliber does not recommend this set up??

[See4miles]

I would respectfully disagree on the trendiness of the Blazer Vane. It is been around a while and is tried and true. The fact that several short vane variations have followed may be trendy, but not the concept the Blazer is founded on. In Europe, where crossbows have been used for centuries (do to not being allowed guns), they have embraced the Blazer Vane as well.
In regards to the North Americas and Europe, one could say crossbows themselves are trendy here in the Americas, moreso than saying the Blazer Vane is trendy.

I would guess it is consistently the most popular vane being used by serious hunters and target shooters alike. That is not being trendy.

Bstout's advice is good, take the Pepsi challenge, then glue on what works the best, whatever it is.

[Dash]

Everyone will have their own opinions on these matters.
But thats why this forum is so good Some people will just go with the flow because its easy. But many of us do a lot of experimenting and comparisons of products, and share all our findings and limited knowllege on the site. All these individual efforts together form a mass of joint knowllege and experience. From this, we can take what we want from it. Many members have posted thier findings with Blazers on this site. Although there are many other arrow specifics to take into account with these tests, I feel confident I'm not just following a trend. The testing and data collected so far looks pretty good for helical Blazers, or even offset for that matter.

[wabi]

When Blazers were first introduced one of the forum members had obtained some extras and offered samples to other members to try. I can't remember who offered them, but my keen eyes locked in on the word FREE, and I jumped at the offer.

I fletched a couple arrows and was initially struck with the appearance. They seem to "fit" short crossbow arrows when it comes to looks.

Up to that time I had used 4 & 5" vanes and feathers and all were good at their intended purpose. The 2" Blazers turned out to be just as accurate, and they weighed much less than conventional vanes, more like feathers in the weight comparison. I think of them as weatherproof feathers because they are similar to feathers in weight, but waterproof like plastic vanes. A win - win situation IMO. Improved FOC (compared to the 4 & 5" vanes) and good in any weather.

I soon re-fletched all my arrows (for the crossbow) with Blazers, and have never had any problems using them.


Accurate, easy to install, weather resistant, good looks - they do the job, and do it well.

[See4miles]

Well stated bstout, and I do agree with you. Those who know me know I am very "gimmick" conscious. I hate them.

I admit part of why I tout the Blazer vane is because I have worked with the Bohning people very intimately for a few years now. I know the entire history of the Blazer vane, how it came to be, and the people who are the family of workers and technicians who are Bohning Archery.

Believe me when I tell you this is a very special company and although they are there to make a profit, integrity is always number one with them. Again though, I defer to the sucess of the Blazer vane, and I'm quite positive it will continue to hold the status it is held in currently. The reason is simply because it works.

[Cossack]

Have tried some 8 different vanes, ranging from 2-5", and feathers. Feathers work but take too much 'babysitting', e.g. can't be straightened with heat gun if damaged. Short vanes like Blazers and Fusion work best for me when the arrow has a high FOC (18-20%). I'm using 110 gr brass insert in GT Lazar II shafts for a total weight of 405 gr.with a 100 gr tip. Helical or 4 degrees offset seem to perform the same.
They fly true for me, are less affected by crosswind and are very tough on passthroughs of target.
BTW Gorilla brand cyaonacrylate ('crazy glue') with blue cap is the cat's meow for applying vanes. Best I've used EVER; latex fortified so it don't crack like most such glues.

[DMc]

I love a feathered shaft. I do not see it as extra work any more then my choice to use archery itself.

Dave

[DMc]

[quote="bstout]Feathers are great for fair weather hunters, (and target shooters) otherwise, not so much.[/quote]

As bow hunters we have already chosen to travel a more difficult path. As individuals within that group we will again choose components based on what we feel strongly about. There was a time when feathers were the only choice but somehow got the job done.

Please, I am not debating the efficiency of vanes, merely that I love the feel, smell and sound of a feathered shaft.

For me, they are worth the extra work.

Merry Christmas all.

Dave

[wheelie]

I kinda thought they would put less drag on the arrow leaving the bow. Liked the way they shot so switched everything to them but my recurve verticals.

[WTB]

I use 2' Blazers on my 60lb HP recurve.

I am new to XBows and will be trying them in my Vortex.

My recurve shoots at just under 200fps and the Blazers,whisker biscuit and Beemans shoot quite well

[Farmer]

Have been using Blazers exclusively the last few years with great results. I just used a jig my friend has. It is called a Helix. It is made by Bohning for fletching their blazer vanes. It worked all right , but was a pain to use with my nock adapter . Here is a link to see the jig.

http://www.bohning.com/store/bohning-bl ... g-jig.html

[wheelie]

I use 2' Blazers on my 60lb HP recurve.

I am new to XBows and will be trying them in my Vortex.

My recurve shoots at just under 200fps and the Blazers,whisker biscuit and Beemans shoot quite well

You use 2" blazers on a recurve vertical bow? Do they not hit the bow? Arrows would have to be spinned pretty light to bend around that much I would think. You get no flack with whisper buscuit on recurve when you go to bow shoots? Reason I ask this is, I have one for bowfishing and am going to leave it on and take it to my recurve leaque and see what they say. Going to shoot 32" arrows, to get used to my full size bowfishing arrows.

Can't beat the Indians up here with their tug boats, so I will join them in the rivers! LOL

[WTB]

No problem with the blazers hitting the bow. I built my bow using an old Ben Pearson riser and PSE CF limbs.

The riser is "center shot" so the biscuit works great.

After paper tuning the set up I was very satisfied. I was using a single pin and a "Peep Eliminater" rear sight. Single pin was good from 0-28 yards

I have not been to a shoot so no complaints as of yet