Contributors to this thread:
I am begrudgingly going to try some blazers veins today. I'm shooting a gold tip 7595, so I have some room to work with. My question is, can I hope to get any helical and all? Or am I just looking at offset? Any help would be great thanks
I fletch my blazers with the arizona ez fletch jig, puts some good helical on them
I have a good helical on mine.
Helical for me with blazers..
I use the bohning helix jig and puts on plenty helical
I can put a pretty good helical on my AAE maxhunters with a bitz......you should be able to as well with blazers
Grandson shoots blazers,straight with cock vane up.they fly good from his compound on bloodline carbons.
I also use the Arizona E-Z fletch mini. Puts great helical on short vanes such as the blazer.
You can get a good amount of helical with blazers.
With that said I've been using some low profile vanetecs in a 4 fletch. They are quieter than blazers and fly real well
Hijack!
I'm just leaving the Blazer camp as well, after a number of years. They are stiff and tall and I am geeting contact on my cables sometimes. I fletched up six shafts with a lower, softer four fletch and they fly good. Not sure what vane they are as the shop just had them in a bag, unmarked.
Can't decide which vane to commit to, or if .320" X 2.250" is tall enough for broadheads?
Day in and Day out- Blazers have proven to be performers.
Bohning's X vane is a good alternative. I use a Bitz and get a good helical with the 3" vane. I shot fusions for a while and gave up on the issues I was having with them sticking. They have excellent adhesion, are .5 inches tall and have handled any broadhead I have put on the end of the arrow.
Never cared for Blazers. the ones I had were very inconsistent. FlexFletch on all my arrows. No complaints. And I am hard to please. Or so I have been told.
EZ Fletch Mini is the way to go for great helical on the short vanes.
Blazers are VERY noisy in flight...JS
Never liked the Blazers. Went with Fusions many years ago. At the time, they had more gluing surface than Blazers. I don't know if Blazers ever ripped off that Fusion idea yet. Below is an add off of EBay for the Fusion II's.
The Fusion II® Vanes from Norway Industries are a modified version of the Fusion vanes in 2.1" size. They are .55" height and 7.5 grains weight. This is a Pkg of 36 Green vanes FUSED BASE AND BLADE The Fusion II® series still utilizes the patented Co-Extrusion process that is unique to Norway industries. We maintained the profile and decided on a black base instead of the clear base to set them apart and give them a unique look. Of course the Fusion II® vanes can be used with any type of shaft or wrap, making it ideal for Crossbows and Compound bows. Even recurve shooters will find these vanes useful in their fletching kits. No cleaning or preparation is needed for Fusion II® Vanes.
NO PRIMER ON THE VANE Because our blend of materials requires no primer or any other material on the base of the vane for adhesion, Fusion II® vanes have an unlimited shelf life.
With a 1.8" length, straight offset or helical, makes no diff. I posted pics several years ago of arrows fletched both ways. No one could tell the difference.
Gotta call BS on a couple claims.
"With a 1.8" length, straight offset or helical, makes no diff. I posted pics several years ago of arrows fletched both ways. No one could tell the difference."
Don't know what you used to fletch your "helical", but it certainly wasn't an Arizona E-Z Fletch Mini.
"Blazers are VERY noisy in flight...JS"
Neither I, or any animal I've ever shot at, have ever noticed any additional "noise" caused by a blazer. If an animal reacts to a shot, no doubt in my mind it's in reaction to the unnatural thump of the bow.
Call BS all you want. I used a Bitz jig, with a RH helical clamp and I can put as much helical on as will physically fit on my Axis ST arrows. You CANNOT tell the difference between max straight offset and max helical. There just isn't enough length to make the difference.
You need to have your eyes checked.
Bowbender, we need to clarify something. Are you calling offset straight offset, or are you referring to straight, offset, and helical? I've never heard offset referred to as straight offset. I'm not home right now, but when I get there I can post some pics of my helical fletched blazers if you'd like.
This is a 5MM Easton Axis fletched with an Arizona E-Z Fletch Mini. Couldn't ask for, or need, any more helical.
This is a 5MM Easton Axis fletched with an Arizona E-Z Fletch Mini. Couldn't ask for, or need, any more helical.
Another
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Wyo,
Straight offset refers to straight (no helical) applied 2-3 degrees offset. Because of the very short nature of Blazers, visually it appears the same as helical. I use Blazers. They stabilize my 'Tricks and Magnus Stingers quite well. Usually use my RH helical clamp, but still have some arrows fletched straight offset that I shoot with no difference.
Bowbender, now I understand what you were referring to. I thought you missed a comma and were saying you couldn't tell the difference between a straight fletch and a helical. I can't comment on the offset since I've never used anything but helical. Sorry for misunderstanding.
I've always understood "offset" to mean a 1 degree helical. That's how it was explained to me from the guys at Lancaster and they know their stuff. I have several arrows that have Blazers that are "offset" 1 degree and some that are 3 degrees helical and there's a big difference.
Idly,Wyo,
When I bought my Bitz from Lancaster Archery in 2000, they explained I could either use the straight clamp and set the offset to the max for whatever arrow diameter or use a helical clamp and an appropriate offset on the jig. Since I have always shot smaller diameter shafts (ACC's and Axis) the degree of offset was always on the small side. With 4" feathers that I shot for years, it was always easy to see which was which. LAS referred to straight offset as I described above.
Just to clarify some vocabulary here:
There are "straight" clamps and "helical" clamps. Straight clamps are, well...straight. Helical clamps are shaped like an "S".
The degree of offset refers to the relationship of the clamp to the long centerline of the arrow shaft.
Both types of clamps can be fletched straight, or varying degrees of offset.
When using a long clamp like that of a Bitz jig for short vanes, there is very little if any difference between the straight clamp and the helical clamp because the vane is only on less than half of the "S" shaped clamp. To get a "true" helical shape on a short vane, one must use a jig designed for them like the AZ Mini.
When I fletch Blazers with my Bitz jigs, I use a straight clamp set at about 3-4 degrees offset. I also have an AZ Mini, but I don't like that much spin on my arrows (I don't need that much spin on my hunting arrows) Other guys may have different needs.
The AZ mini puts a much more dramatic helical on Blazers than the helical Bitz clamp and is definitely easy to see. I have all three jigs/clamps being discussed I agree it's difficult to tell the difference between the offset and helical on the Bitz but not so with the AZ mini.
I use a left helical and have more than a 3 degree helical on mine. I use a bohning jig and fletch only one fletch at a time with a left helical clamp. Using the adjustment knobs on the clamp base will allow you to get more of a helical. I have had no issues with the blazers. They fly great!
Can you actually put more helical on than what your clamp has built into it? I use the cheap standard Bohning jig with a right helical clamp. I can't increase the helical on the clamp. So I think I have a combination of helical and offset. My Blazers guide my arrows very well the way I fletch them up.
Another vote for the Arizona mini. Puts a great helical on with all short vanes. I've had good luck using it on Easton FMJ's.
You cannot adjust the helical, it is set. You can adjust the offset of the helical clamp.
That is what I thought xman. I hear so many guys say that I put as much helical as I can on my fletching. Well, I always thought you couldn't put any more or less than what your clamp can give you. Then it is offset after that.
