Wow! That was really cool to watch. There’s so many vids on KZfaq but this was awesome! Thanks and keep going!

Man, these videos are so helpful!!! 8D

Great video! I have seen some published comments (Trueflight Fletching Guide) as to the left and right wing feather defintion that is opposite of Greg's explanation.

Great video. Thanks

very cool video dude

interesting experiment. thank yew

Greg, good video. So a feather is a feather so shoot what you got and don't worry. Thank you. Alan

Love your videos, even bareshaft proves arrows spin despite helical. Maybe a future test idea?

Good video, I agree with your opinion that the arrow shoots as well as the operator. I've always glued my fletches straight, they will fly as well as I direct them. Shot cycle.

Awsome shooting so close to that expensive chrono ! nerves of steel :P i been wondering this myself. I notice helical produces drag when shooting low 28lbs bow at 50m 2" fletchings.

Good video

First pro shop put on 3 4inch right wing helical. Shot like that for about 3 years. Got used to seeing the same speed, spin, & drop. They went out of business, so went to another shop for replacement feathers. 3 4 inch right wing. I was disappointed to see that they had almost NO twist to them. Worried about stability & release correction. Stepped into their range, & the speed had increased noticeably. Less drop, too. Never chronoed, so maybe it was psychological. But now I need different spines arrows for a new bow, & I'm torn on who or how I want my feathers done.

Would like to see 3 shot averaging for each arrow at each yardage, and you could cut out the 30 yard shots, to save your chronograph from arrow penetration test on it! Also, while we’re at it, would like to see identical arrows with 3 fletch, straight and helical! My bet is on 3 fletch straight! Great video Greg!!!

I twist my six inch Feathers in to the max, for the sound! But i swear after spraying shots all over my targets with my Longbows, i pull out my supertuned sighted Compound for revenge and the Arrows seem to walk, spin slightly towards the right of the target as if the Helical is steering them off course? Beauty A101, great investigation.

Thanks, I am new and shooting a 30# bow and not super far distances .. wondering if it would matter. Now I know I can not stress it.. maybe just keep it simple and go straight arrows.

The helical does have spin to it so overall it has some drag so will shoot a bit slower. In the first place the reason we shoot the helical is to stabalize a fixed blade broadhead. Plus when we shoot fingers there can be an inconsistant release so if we shoot the same arrow several times at the same distance there will be different speeds because of the inconsistancies.

There is a variety of fletching shapes including eastern archery. I would really appreciate a comparison of various fletch shapes in action.

Nice test. Always thought helical would start a faster spin on the arrow plus I always shoot three instead of four fetching if that is of any difference.

Those quad fletchings look classy AF! It would be nice for you to shoot a few through the chronograph to see the spread on speed that the bow naturally gives

Greg how about a three under v split finger on speeds as the tension on limbs is different. Also using split v three under with straight and helical.to see if that makes a difference.

Should you offset straight fletching, keep it parallel with the shaft or does it even matter? I have helical jig now, thinking about getting a straight. Nice video! thanks.

Would be interested to see if there is a difference between 90x90 and 75x105snm, I do notice when I use a marked fletch that my 90s and my 105s spin a different amount but they are consistent within each at 20yds. This was accidentally gathered data as I meant to fletch them all 105 but messed up and happened to noticed that the difference degree fletched groups always had their fletching colors aligned. Using Ozark 2" Target Maxx feathers. Impressed you didn't put one in the chrono, may want to consider plexi-glass shield for it. Thank you for doing such tests for those of us who don't have the facilities or equipment to do so.

Thanks for doing this test. The only question now would be if the helical is more accurate since it should spin better and possibly have a quicker stabilization.

Just getting started with a SouthWest Archery Spyder and I heard (from someone, can't remember) that you should leave your bow strung for 24 hrs with the supplied Dacron string to stretch it a bit. Any truth to that? It'll be 8 days till my Flemish FastFlight string gets here.

A pal told me helical fletching are good for broadheads, they get a little more spin on the arrow and compensate for the extra drag/weight of a broadhead. Thoughts anyone?

Interesting video - couple of thoughts or observations. Small sample size so maybe shooing more for the data set would give a truer result. Second would be speed is only one factor and I wonder if the arrow straighten faster with one style over another. Guess this comes from shooting wooden arrows rather than carbons. Thanks for sharing.

I have a theory that helical will help you shoot straight in windy conditions because each feather gets a chance to be blown around a bit. Same with a two bladed broadhead. A spinning shaft will help even out the side vector of the wind on the large surface of a broadhead. I have no proof. It's just something that popped in my head.

Hi Greg! Interesting video but my question is were you using a bow strap? I see something wrapped around your bow thumb. The reason that I ask is in practicing, this morning, I found that the lighter that I grabbed my bow, the better my groups. Thus I am considering a bow strap or wrist strap. Do you have an opinion on this?

I thought helical and X wings type of fletch are for arrow flight to be more stable not for speed?

the idea of the vanes is not to create speed its about aerodynamics and keeping the arrow on its flight path. There will always be a for and against argument. It will always be down to personal preference

can you do this with a broadhead test please. helical broadhead flight vs straight broadhead flight

So no real speed differences seen at these shorter distances, i suspect there not to be much more accuracy either? I imagine the size of the fletching at this range is more a factor to increase accuracy instead of the shape? Thanks for the lesson!

Distance shots are the only real way to see which is better. Both at 70 yards, to test their speed and accuracy

It looks like you are using some sort of lanyard on your bow hand. Can you do a video on it? Pros, cons, ect. thank you!

What is best for shooting arrows 25 pound or 40 pound

More surface area, as long as the arrow is not spinning around its axis.

just wondering if the helical are more accurate than straight in windy conditions.

Is speed the only factor (advantage) to helical fletchings? What about accuracy?

I would have liked to see you shoot 6 Arrows with the straight Fletch and six arrows from helical at the same distance and then get an average

I noticed that on your helical fletched arrow that it looks as if you have used right wing feathers...I find that these normally impart clockwise spin on the arrow. It is odd then that you have used left offset on your helical fletching..which creates anti clockwise arrow rotation, they are in conflict with each other are they not?

Wait, this should have been common knowledge lol you lose speed with a helical, but you gain accuracy. Great video either way!

Fletchings APPEAR to be a bit forward of "normal" position? Seems like they should be no more than 1" or 1-1/2" from the base of the nock??

I was waiting you to hit the reader..........

Just seems that some common sense plays a bit in this stuff. I realize that bullets need spin to fly straight as they have no correction or stabilization except speed and spin. Kind of like the F-4 fighter jet proves any shape can fly with an unlimited power source. The bullets projectile, about the shape of an arrow point, obviously doesn’t have a feathered or vaned stick attached to its rear to drag it down. It just seems that 40 yds and in, trad shooters need only straight fletches. I want my hunting arrow to hit with zero spin and let the bevels created the spin once contact is made. A spinning BH hitting flesh at 170+ fps is like and brake pump at impact, where a straight, non_spinning impact should hit and maintain a higher kinetic energy. Just saying. All I really know is it is so much fun learning about what works for different people and why. We don’t realize how much the shooters influence is.

Wish that He had used 3 fletch on 2 arrows to see how THAT went???

The video asked the wrong question imo. It should be asking: straight versus WRONG helical, is there a difference? Not speed specifically but ANY difference that we care for. The answer is yes. First, obviously one may ask what do I mean by wrong helical? Without going into a great length of explanation, it is suffice to say that your bare shaft arrow will have a natural spin depending on the twist of your string and other factors. Having said that, if your arrow has the wrong helical, meaning the feather causes it to spin opposite to the natural spin of a bare shaft, the arrow will momentarily stop spinning at some point in its flight before spinning the helical way. So yes, THAT is the difference. The straight fletching will continue its natural spinning though you may not notice it because it may be very slow for the eyes to see. But at least there is no opposing force to deal with. Opposing centrifugal force causes a change of direction of spin, which is perpendicular to the direction of flight and that can potentially create instability in the midst of flight. That I can assure you will create havoc to your grouping. Unlike speed, that becomes too important to shrug off even for traditional archery.

I guess your tip weight drags the arrow along so your feathers dont have much impact. Try out lighter tips.

But the idea behind the helical is that its rotation makes it more precise; it is not about speed!!!

Before watching the video, I thought there would probably be little or no difference. Your results sort of bear that out, with a caveat. Since you did not eliminate the human variable, you may or may not have demonstrated that it made no difference. I think we could say that it made less difference than the human variable. If you used a machine to draw and fire the bow, so that every shot cycle was identical, and if you weighed the arrows (yes, carbon arrows vary a bit), and if you then fired several times with each arrow at each distance to perhaps rule out atmospheric variables, would you see a difference? Perhaps, but I'd bet it wouldn't be enough to make a nickel's worth of difference. One other thing that may make a difference: arrow speed. The faster the arrow the more drag will affect its speed. I know you shoot light bows. Under 150 fps is pretty slow compared to modern compounds that can and often do double that speed. Would the increased drag of a helical fletch make a difference on a speed bow? My guess is, yes, it will slow the arrow measurably more than straight fletch. Will it really matter? I'm going to guess that same nickel's worth. Interesting experiment though. Since pretty much all the archery hunting seasons are closed now, it gives us something to further addle our brains with, lol!

here is somthing to think about test your arrows bare shaft at 5 yards to see witch way the arrow is naturally comming out of your bow then fletch arordantly if you put right helical on a arrow that shoots left rotation naturally it will have a hard time to correct it self witch means it will slow down because it is fighting it self to correct it self like ur test appersheate your videos

So many problems with your test

Are they heavy arrows? Seems kinda slow. I shoot a 40lb and 45lb recurve. With around a 430gr arrow, my speeds are usually around 160-165fps with the 40lb and 175-180fps with the 45lb. I have a roughly 29.25" draw.