Holly Leaf Fletching

[Atlatlista]

So, I was bored, and taking a hike through the woods, and I came across a great many holly trees, and looking at the leaves I couldn't help but think they'd make really cool vanes if you molded them out of plastic or something.  On a whim, I thought maybe I'd just try the leaves themselves and see if they worked for fletching.  So, I got some leaves, halved them, and then stripped the feathers off some broken arrows I had lying around.  This is the result:





Well, I shot the one with the whiter colored shaft out of a 40 pound longbow with a shelf and window, as I figured that would put the least strain on the leaves.  I expected them to rip off, as I'd just used some titebond to glue them on.  My first shot sent the arrow straight and fast and true - and clean through my morrell bag target, as it hit higher than I was expecting.  It carried straight on through the bag and into a bale behind it, so I figured the leaves were toast, but this was the extent of the damage:





Doesn't look too bad, though it did fly a little wonky the second time I shot it, so I switched over to the other arrow.  Besides, I wanted to see what kind of damage I could expect just from passing through the bow, without accidentally sending it through the target besides.



Looks good to me!  It was high, as these are much lighter arrows than the indoor arrows I've been shooting, but it was straight as could be.  As you can see, no damage whatever to the fletching:



I'm not sure that I'm ready to make the switch to holly leaves for my competition arrows, but it was fun, and I think I may make up a batch of these around Christmas time next year with the red nocks and maybe a white and red "candy cane" cresting.

[ionicmuffin]

THIS IS WAY COOL!    you are awesome for giving them a try!

[Atlatlista]

I tested the good one (darker shaft) at 40 and 50 yards, and I noticed no wobbling in the flight.  It was a good arc, flew straight.  Don't think I could have asked for much more from it.  I'm definitely going to make some nice Christmas arrows this year, though I may cast the holly leaf halves in dental alginate and make proper plastic vanes for the sake of durability.  Although, so long as you hit what you're aiming at and don't get a through and through, these things seem remarkably durable.  They're probably even better in summer when they're at their most supple.

[ionicmuffin]

if only there was a way to preserve them, other than turning them into vanes. I suppose you could hunt with them, although by fall they will have fallen off the tree right?

[Pat B]

They might be painful to shoot off your hand! 
 I saw a primitive arrow James Parker made with pine needles for fletching.

[Christian Soldier]

Very Cool Alina. 

Holly leaves are pretty tough. I don't think I'd want to use those on an off the knuckle bow but it seems to work allright with a rest. 

I wonder what other kinds of leaves you could use for fletching?

I think having a light arrow probably helps too. Heavier arrows need a lot more stabilization IME, but you can stabilize a light arrow with fairly minimalistic fletching.

Good work. 

[Atlatlista]

Actually, holly leaves are evergreen, so they never turn brown or anything.  They're just more resilient in summer.

Pat - I specifically did NOT shoot them off my hand for that reason.  Though, I guess if you wear a leather glove on your bow hand it might be okay.

[ionicmuffin]

now i feel stupid lol. guess we all make those mistakes right? maybe not lol
 

[Pat B]

I have a primitive crossbow that came from Viet Nam or the Phillipeans and the split cane bolts have bamboo leave fletching.
Fletching are the steering portion of the arrow so anything that will add wind resistance to the rear of the arrow should work as fletching.
Most hollies are evergreen but each leaf still has a life cycle and then dies and falls off.

[Atlatlista]

Very Cool Alina. 

Holly leaves are pretty tough. I don't think I'd want to use those on an off the knuckle bow but it seems to work allright with a rest. 

I wonder what other kinds of leaves you could use for fletching?

I think having a light arrow probably helps too. Heavier arrows need a lot more stabilization IME, but you can stabilize a light arrow with fairly minimalistic fletching.

Good work. 

Well, Dan, you know the woods pretty well.  Holly is nice, because you can get them year-round and they're relatively stiff and still relatively pliable.  Most leaves are too floppy, and for fall/winter most leaves are too papery and likely to crumble.  So, waxy leaf types like holly and magnolia would work quite well I think.  During certain times of the year, you might be able to get some oaks or hickories that are big enough and stiff enough to be used.  Theoretically, if you coated them in some kind of resin or lacquer you could use any leaf, as the treatment would add to the rigidity.  Just for the sake of using non-ideal leaf types, I'm really researching this plastic vane angle.  If I could make my own leaf-shaped vanes, I'd have tons of fun, even though they wouldn't be quite so primitive.  (Though, as primitive as these leaves are, the glue I used to permanently bond them to the shaft was decidedly not primitive).

[Thesquirrelslinger]

This looks cool. How well would this work on cane or other hollow-materials?
I am thinking of splitting the cane, insert fletch, then make the "plug", tie down pieces and glue, then make self nocks...
This looks a lot cheaper than turkey feathers...
So, these hold up really well?
-Squirrel

[Atlatlista]

I don't know if they hold up well or not.  Certainly not as well as feathers.  I just did it for fun, because I had too much time on my hands today and I like trees.  I wouldn't go through the trouble of splitting the cane and inserting the leaf.  You should cut the leaves in half and only use 1 side of them, either right or left.  Otherwise, they won't spin.  It's like using right and left-hand feathers on the same arrow.  I just used titebond and glued them on, nothing else.  It set in 60 seconds or so of pressure, I added a little extra glue for security, and now the leaf would tear before the glue would come loose.  So all that extra stuff is unnecessary.  If you want to make these, just carefully cut some leaves in half and glue the same-side halves onto the arrow shaft.  Personally though, I wouldn't advise using it as a cheap man's feather.  It was more of a lark than a real everyday shooting type of fletch.

[Thesquirrelslinger]

Well, I will be using it on the world's cruddiest arrows- pieces of unseasoned wood shoots, honeysuckle.
Seasoned... the shafts are very good. also durable.
unseasoned... it is about as strong as string.

[Atlatlista]

I know you're young, so patience is hard, but there is no sense in making "cruddy" arrows to shoot.  You will never be accurate, you will never figure out how to properly aim because none of your arrows will fly properly.  You need a minimum baseline to really begin life as an archer.  Crooked, unseasoned shafts of wood out of the forest, fletched crudely with holly leaves is probably not that minimum baseline.

That having been said, the holly leaves didn't do too badly in the performance category.  My big worry with them would be longevity.  I suspect you can get a dozen shots through them easily, but 3 or 4 dozen?  Hmmm...maybe not.

[Scowler]

Really great use of the materials around you and they look wicked.  That being said I don't think I would shoot them off the hand (ouch!).