Arrow Components: What are Fletching and Vanes

Part One We will begin our series on arrow components with a discussion on vanes and fletching. This part of the arrow is most commonly depicted in movies and history books as being made of feathers. In the modern times of the arrow, you can also get a rubber-based version of fletching. These vanes are located on the end of the arrow and they usually come in groups of three. They should be evenly spaced around the circumference of the arrow. The purpose for the fletching is to stabilize the arrow during its flight, which is important if you hope to have any accuracy in the field. If this arrow component did not matter then you would see bare arrows, and the only attribute that would differentiate them from the rest would be their broadheads (tip of the arrow). The advantage to fletching is that it helps the arrow slice through the air and allow it to have a better overall flight. Since the arrow is straight, your fletching is going to be directly behind the tip of the arrow during flight. If there is some deviation to where the back end of the arrow and the tip of the arrow are not right in accord with one another, the vanes will help to correct this issue. There is not one type of fletching that will be perfect for every shooter and every arrow. You can get the vanes in almost every shape size and color that you could think of getting. 4’’ vanes are the standard size that most shooters use on their arrows. With that being said, you can choose any size vanes that you would like. You should consider a few things before coming to a conclusion on vanes and fletching. In the following parts to this article, we will discuss these arrow components further. Should you get feather or plastic based fletching? In which way should your fletching be positioned for optimal flight?