Waterproofing Feathers

[Eaglearcher]

As a newbie to using feathers i had my first shoot in the wet a couple of weeks ago and i was amazed just how much the wet affected the speed of the arrows. On the longer shots my gaps closed up considerably and everything started hitting the top of the butt or sailed clean over.

What do you guys use to waterproof your feathers? :help:

There are a couple of products available over here but everyone says that they dont last a days shoot. Most people i have seen put a plastic bag over their arrows when they are in their quiver and then spin the arrow when they pull it out of the target so its as dry as possible when they put it back.

The birds seem to be able to keep their feathers dry in the rain so i am sure that a race as intelligent as man can do the same!

[thisbucks4u]

Bob Gordon made the suggestion to use Black Magic tire shine. I tried it, I like, I use it. Good stuff. I dont know if this is availible across the pond, but I think that any silicone based tire dressing would be just as effective. Just spray the fletching, give it a gentle rub to work it in and let them dry. You can litterally put the fletch underwater, shake it off and shoot it. As far as longevity goes, I used some arrows I treated last year just recently on a rainy day, and they are still waterproof. Hope this helps.

[James Wrenn]

I have an arrow that I put the Black Majic on 3 years ago and it will still shed water in a rain.I left it stuck in a target butt for 2 months during the winter and then dunked it into a bucket of water, shook it off and it was ready to shoot.Good stuff.

[swampy]

I tried that black magic also and while it worked ok I didn,t like the overall effect it left on the feathers after a season of hunting.The smell also doesn,t go away IMO,if I can still smell it I,d bet a whitetail will too.I had that and powder side by side thru the season of draggin them thru the brush,I like the powder even if it didn,t work any better.

LAst season I used a mini catquiver with powder on the fletch......Now thats the hot ticket right there.Fletch is well protected and arrow removal is easy and quiet.Putting them back in isn,t that bad either.

[James Wrenn]

I think it works good but I seldom use anything on my feathers.I f there is enough rain to bother them, most times it is too much for me. :) On hunts where I might be away from home with a chance of much rain I use my tube quiver and everything stays dry until I shoot it.After it is shot I don't care what the feathers look like. A well tuned bow will still shoot a good arrow at hunting ranges for me with matted fletch.jmo

[swampy]

I guess I should say what exactly it was I didn,t care for besides the smell.

In the field arrows in a quiver that leaves the fletch unprotected get dragged thru brush regardless of how careful you are unless ofcourse ya only hunt the open areas and can get to the easily. The BM treated arrows had more dirt cling to them than the powder treated arrows.After the season they were not only dirty but seemed to have less stiffness to them.Ya know when you brush feathers backwards or ones that have been shot on targets alot,they get weak and stay standing this way or that way instead of locking together like new feathers do. Not sure if I explained what Im trieng to very well but remember I had both treatments in the quiver for the whole season for a back to back comparison.
The BM seamed to hold it,s waterproof abit longer but not enough for me to justify the other effects.

By the way I,ve completely submerged both powder treated and black magic treated.A fresh coating of powder was just as effective but does need to be reapplied after a few weeks.That was in an unprotected quiver,in the cat I put 1 dusting of powder and it lasted very well thru the whole season

[DAS]

There is a class of new waterproofing products on the market called DWRs. It stands for Durable Water Repellent. They are made to be semi-permanent on fabrics, shoes, etc. They are teflon based instead of silicone. They are odor free and invisible. There are several brands, but the one I use is Tectron. Ski shops are usually the best place to find it. I think REI carries it too. Once treated, water literally flies off! It's like there is a force field or something. I treat my string silencer puffs with it, shooting glove, etc. Good Stuff!