Fletching size for primitive arrows

[FAW]

Recently I have become fond of bamboo arrows and have been experimenting with fletching. During a tuning process with a traditional bow, I found that these arrows shoot quite well without feathers. That got me to thinking if they shoot well without fletching, how much feather do I actually need to put on these little missiles. Could I obtain some opinions, please, since it is quite obvious, large, 5" - 5 1/2" parabolic, helical, are not really required. Thanks for any responses.

[Pat B]

Ideally you want as little flething as you can get away with. They steer by drag thus slowing the arrow down. Add helical and it slows more. If your arrows shoot well with no feathers I would start with 4" 3 fletching. If you are going to hunt be sure you test your arrows with hunting points attached. You may find that you will need more fletching for hunting arrows as compared with target arrows. Finding a happy medium is what I try for.

[Pappy]

What Pat said,I use 3 4inch feathers straight fletch with just a little  left cant on the shaft.
   Pappy

[Scowler]

I've been experimenting with arrows using 3 feathers, 3 1/2" long, 5/8" high, tied on only, no helical (tied on straight).  They don't spin much, if at all,  but they fly straight.  Since I have to shoot light poundage bows the lack of drag really helps with arrow speed.

[FAW]

Responses very much appreciated, thank you. I have been shaving the feathers down quite a bit, and am finding they all shoot well from 1/8" high to 3/4" now mind you that is with field points at short ranges. Do you have a preference for shape. I do intend to use the bamoo for hunting and have found that the shield cut seem to make more noise in flight, at least with the wood arrows. For that reason, I have always used high cut parabolic for hunting but as I stated, I don't think they are necessary for these bamboo arrows. 

[Pat B]

The shape is a personal preference. I always used shield cuts or my own burn(bigger than factory cuts) and a slightly offset straight fletch. They make a little flutter but the way I see it deer hear birds fly all the time so I don't consider feather noises as a bad thing when shooting at calm targets.
  A good way to tell how much your arrow spins in flight is to tie a 6" or 8" piece of thread on to the front end of your arrow with one end hanging loose and shoot it. See how many times the thread wraps around the shaft at the target. Even an arrow with straight fletched will spin because of the shape and surface texture of the feathers.

[markinengland]

If these were not perfectly regular and straight shoot arrows I would say that helical helps greatly in keeping the arrow going straight. I've not tried shooting bamboo shafts unfletched. if they fly good without fletching they must be well matched to your bow and very fletching at all is really necessary.
The issue is fletching area rather than length. It's quite easy to cut the fletchings lower and an easy way of doing this is some kind of straight parallel cut. I've just finished some long bamboo arrows with black palm foreshafts. These have two fletchings set at a slight offset, each about 3 inches long and three quarters high, basically straight and parallel with the shaft. They fly great.

[Scowler]

I cut mine straight.  I use a cardboard pattern and a sharp pair of scissors.  The total lengh of each fletch is 4 1/4" but since I tie these feather onto the shaft I trim/sand about 3/8" from the front and back of each fletch.  Thanks for the tip concerning thread to measure arrow spin, Pat. 

[JW_Halverson]

Del the Cat in another thread said something to the effect, "Pull it until it breaks, then back off a tad."

From that lesson, you can fletch up your arrows and then keep trimming off fletching until they fly badly, then back off a tad!