flu flu fletching

[aero86]

im wondering, there are a few styles for this.  people just use 3 un cut feathers and the spiral wrap a whole feather on the shaft, right?  im thinking of making a few

[Hillbilly]

I like the one-feather spiral wrap ones myself. A lot of people use 6 uncut feathers with helical on them, too.

[Pat B]

Like Hillbilly I prefer the single spiral wrap flu flu.   It really depends on it's use. The spiral wrap will stop the arrow quicker than the standard six feather high profile fletch. For squirrel hunting and other short range shots , like aerial targets the spiral is great. For longer range shots the others might be better.
  Typically the spiral flu flu will travel 25 to 30 yards before beginning to slow drastically. I can shoot then at a 15 yard target very similar to my regular arrows.  I have seen the 6 fletch flu flu travel 50 or 60 yards before falling.

[aero86]

ok, groovy.  so ill just take a couple of my turkey feathers, when i get them, strip off the back webbing or whatever, trim the quill and wrap the whole thing around.  about how long should i make it, or does that matter?

[Pat B]

Make the feather full length and make your spiral with a 1/4" spacing.  After you get it worked out you may want to use bright color feathers for good visibility and ease of recovery.

[aero86]

thanks guys.  your right.  i might paint the shaft as natural turkey might be hard to dye.  ill need to keep a look out for the arrows since im not a very good shot yet!

[Steve Cover]

I dip all of my Flu Flu shafts, and use a white wrap around fletch with a white nock.

Very easy to follow in flight and see in the tall grass.

Steve

[medicinewheel]

I have a half dozen helical 6-fletch that fly really nice. But as Pat says these travel much further than spiral fletched.
The Turks used a combination of three fletched and spiral wrap; these probably have a nice guidance and stop quick... (see TBB4, the arrows chapter, by Mickey Lotz)

[aero86]

so i got my 200 turkey feathers today.  what length and height should i use.  some are shorter at about 1 inch by about 9 inches long.  others are 1.5 inchs or taller and longer than 9.  im leaning towards the ones with the taller vanes..

[Pat B]

The taller they are the more wind resistance and the quicker it will slow the arrows down. You will have to decide what works best for you. Try each to see what you like best.

[riarcher]

Also found that when you do the spiral,,, if you do it so the feather curls forward it'll slow the arrow faster. (sometimes good / sometimes not)
Either way, they sound cool in flight. Like a flock of grouse taking to wing.
Wetting the base of the feather and breaking it over a rather sharp corner first makes it a lot easier to work with too.
If they seem to slow you down too fast, just trim as needed on the height.
I used all the junk shafts I could fine for mine. Spine match didn't seem overly important. Probably because all that fletch made it run true pretty quick out of the chute (?).
That and being 10 yds. and (well) under in range for shots.

[Pat B]

Flu flus are noisier than regular feathers because of more wind resistance and because of the extra length of the feather barbs. Reversing the feather will slow the flu flu quicker and it will be noisier. If you are hunting with flu flus you will want to keep them as quiet as possible because the noise alerts the critters.
  I have accidentally put flu flus on in reverse and noticed they don't last as long because the barbs are bending backwards and not laying down like a regular fletched flu flu or standard fletching.

[Swamp Bow]

  I have accidentally put flu flus on in reverse and noticed they don't last as long because the barbs are bending backwards and not laying down like a regular fletched flu flu or standard fletching.

Good to know!

Swamp

[aero86]

what about if you use the other side of a large feather?  im stripping some turkey feathers, and some of the sides that isnt the side im using, are pretty long.  could i use that?  know what i mean?

[Pat B]

You can use both sides of the feathers but you have to keep them separate because they act like right wing and left wing. Keep the rear portion of the feathers together and the forward portions together and don't mix them.
  With spiral flu flus it doesn't matter because you are using only one feather per arrow and left wing arrows and right wing arrows fly similarly enough.