Comparing feathers and blazers
03-22-2007, 07:17 PM
#11
Fork Horn
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin
Posts: 166
RE: Comparing feathers and blazers
Think about it a drop away will affect your shot a lot less. If there is nothing touching the arrow when it flys through your shelf and you have a bad fallow through it will help. You cant tell me that the less contact you have on your arrow when it is flying the better it will fly.
03-23-2007, 06:14 AM
#12
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blissfield MI USA
Posts: 5,293
RE: Comparing feathers and blazers
Actually some people believe that a little contact or support from the rest while the arrow is leaving is a good thing. Some believe that if the rest drops too fast the arrow will not have enough support and may drop a little.
And you can also set a prong rest up to drop out of the way at the shot. If the spring tension is correct the movement of the arrow will force the prongs down, and by the time they come back up the arrow is gone. Too much spring tension though and the prongs will come back up and hit the back of the arrow as it is leaving. But the most forgiving is to have the tension just enough so the arrow rides on the prongs and they follow the movement of the arrow while supporting it. At least this is what some believe
A lot of serious target archers use a prong type carrier with a spring blade on it instead of prongs. They feel this is the most forgiving rest to use.
My opinion is that once that arrow is launched it's gone. It will go in the direction the tip was pointed when you released it as long as it doesn't hit anything leaving the bow. There just isn't time for the archer to mess up the shot DURING the shot. If you screwed it up you did it BEFORE the shot. Most problems are caused by poor/inconsistent grip, or by anticipating the shot and flinching or dropping your arm. You might think it happened during the shot, but in reality it happened just before you released the arrow and the arrow went right where it was pointing when the string started moving. This is why surprise back tension releases are so popular for target shooting. You don't know when the shot is going to go off, so it's hard to screw it up. You still can though, take my word for it, been there done that as well.
If you have ever seen high speed footage of an arrow leaving a bow you would give up on thinking you can mess the shot up during the shot. The bow, rest and arrow go crazy at the shot. Things are jumping, bouncing and flexing all over the place. Once you release that trigger your part is done. You just can't react fast enough to effect the flight of the arrow.
If you want to believe all the hype about drop aways making you more accurate or being more forgiving then by all means run out and spend a bunch of money on one and put it on. I have been down this road before though ( a few times) and I just don't buy the hype anymore.
You can make any rest work well if you can get good fletching clearance. And that is what drop aways are good at. Letting you shoot lots of fletching with a skinny arrow (which is actually what makes your shot more forgiving, not the rest). It cracks me up when I see someone shooting little straight fletched vanes with a $100 dollar drop away rest. Sort of defeats the purpose, you could have used a $20 TM hunter and got the the same results, maybe better in some instances.
I will say the same thing I said on another site yesterday. Spending hundreds of dollars setting up your bow with fancy rests, sights and other crap is most likely NOT going to make you a better archer. However if you invested a few hundred (if that) and some time into some quality lessons I can almost insure you that you would become a better archer.
Archery is a lot like golf. You don't think buying a 400 dollar driver will really make you a better golfer do you? All the good golfers I know took lessons, same thing with pretty much every other sport I know of.
I have just seen way too many people shooting low tech rigs shoot waaay too good to believe equipment is all that important. I have seen traditional shooters with no rest and sights shoot better than some guys with $2,000 set ups. Sort of makes you wonder doesn't it.
These are only my opinions though, you are certainly entitled to your own.
Paul
And you can also set a prong rest up to drop out of the way at the shot. If the spring tension is correct the movement of the arrow will force the prongs down, and by the time they come back up the arrow is gone. Too much spring tension though and the prongs will come back up and hit the back of the arrow as it is leaving. But the most forgiving is to have the tension just enough so the arrow rides on the prongs and they follow the movement of the arrow while supporting it. At least this is what some believe
A lot of serious target archers use a prong type carrier with a spring blade on it instead of prongs. They feel this is the most forgiving rest to use.
My opinion is that once that arrow is launched it's gone. It will go in the direction the tip was pointed when you released it as long as it doesn't hit anything leaving the bow. There just isn't time for the archer to mess up the shot DURING the shot. If you screwed it up you did it BEFORE the shot. Most problems are caused by poor/inconsistent grip, or by anticipating the shot and flinching or dropping your arm. You might think it happened during the shot, but in reality it happened just before you released the arrow and the arrow went right where it was pointing when the string started moving. This is why surprise back tension releases are so popular for target shooting. You don't know when the shot is going to go off, so it's hard to screw it up. You still can though, take my word for it, been there done that as well.
If you have ever seen high speed footage of an arrow leaving a bow you would give up on thinking you can mess the shot up during the shot. The bow, rest and arrow go crazy at the shot. Things are jumping, bouncing and flexing all over the place. Once you release that trigger your part is done. You just can't react fast enough to effect the flight of the arrow.
If you want to believe all the hype about drop aways making you more accurate or being more forgiving then by all means run out and spend a bunch of money on one and put it on. I have been down this road before though ( a few times) and I just don't buy the hype anymore.
You can make any rest work well if you can get good fletching clearance. And that is what drop aways are good at. Letting you shoot lots of fletching with a skinny arrow (which is actually what makes your shot more forgiving, not the rest). It cracks me up when I see someone shooting little straight fletched vanes with a $100 dollar drop away rest. Sort of defeats the purpose, you could have used a $20 TM hunter and got the the same results, maybe better in some instances.
I will say the same thing I said on another site yesterday. Spending hundreds of dollars setting up your bow with fancy rests, sights and other crap is most likely NOT going to make you a better archer. However if you invested a few hundred (if that) and some time into some quality lessons I can almost insure you that you would become a better archer.
Archery is a lot like golf. You don't think buying a 400 dollar driver will really make you a better golfer do you? All the good golfers I know took lessons, same thing with pretty much every other sport I know of.
I have just seen way too many people shooting low tech rigs shoot waaay too good to believe equipment is all that important. I have seen traditional shooters with no rest and sights shoot better than some guys with $2,000 set ups. Sort of makes you wonder doesn't it.
These are only my opinions though, you are certainly entitled to your own.
Paul
03-23-2007, 04:17 PM
#13
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 9,175
RE: Comparing feathers and blazers
...and they don't drop as much as feathers at long ranges, mostly due to the excessive drag of the feather slowing the arrow down more.
I don't buy into that theoryat all. I've seen it written up in all kinds of media (by people who sell vanes for a living, I suppose), but Ihave never once seenit to be the case in real life. I used to be really gung ho about shooting field archery tournaments, usingvanesin wet weatherand feathers when dry, and never had to even slightly adjust my sights. If the point of impact doesn't changeout to80 yards, I wonder what distance people are talking about when they say 'longranges'! [:-]
That 'excessive drag' stuff is a bunch of hooey. Urban legend. Might be a good one to send to Myth Busters. [8D]
03-23-2007, 04:25 PM
#14
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Jackson, Missouri
Posts: 7,051
RE: Comparing feathers and blazers
If you have ever seen high speed footage of an arrow leaving a bow you would give up on thinking you can mess the shot up during the shot. The bow, rest and arrow go crazy at the shot. Things are jumping, bouncing and flexing all over the place.
03-23-2007, 04:26 PM
#15
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Jackson, Missouri
Posts: 7,051
RE: Comparing feathers and blazers
Totally agreed, Arthur... I pulled some quotes from independent studies by Norb Mullaney and others verifying exactly what you just said for one of these feather discussions; they must have been forgotten. 
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