[woodguy]

Anyone ever try lanolin for waterproofing feathers? Ive thought about trying goose feathers to help on those drizzly days, but wondered if the lanolin on commercial turkey feathers would be as good.

 

[13033]

I had my wife sew me up some tubes from camo material , just large enough in diameter to go over my briadheads.

About 6" long.

Waterproofed them

I slip them over the broadheads and up over the feathers.

Hold them in place with a Band Aid adhesive bandage wrapped around them and the
shaft, just before the fletching.

Keeps the feathers dry.

When I want to shoot, just pull it off, over the feathers and drop it.

 

[bleslie]

Absolutely DO NOT put lanolin on your feathers.

I found out the hard way that it will flatten them down on the shaft and could find no way to make them useful again.

Go to your local shoe supply source and look for liquid silicone waterproofer.
Read the label to make sure there's no lanolin in it.
I use some made by SofSole which costs about $1 / oz. and comes with an applicator.
An ounce will put 2 coats on 2 dozen arrows +- (fletch size?)
No smell after it dries, works great and lasts till the feathers wear out.

 

[Dana C]

Another good thing to try is the stuff they use on dry flies for fishing. Some are applied in advance and left to dry, others you apply as needed. (To dry 'em quick, try 'Frogs' Fanny' powder. Restores flies, ought to do well on fletching.)

 

[Bamerabi]

Most trad archery suppliers offer a powder intended to keep fletching fry. I think basically its the same stuff as the fly fishermen use.

 

[Larry Hatfield]

Goose feathers work great if they have not been washed. I split some from the few geese I kill each year after just tossing them in cornmeal to clean them a bit. It's surprising how well most arrows fly, even with wet turkey's, though.

 

[moog5050]

Camp dry seems to work darn good.

 

[Dana C]

https://www.amazon.com/Frogs-Fanny-Dry-Fly-Powder/dp/B002W8IDB6

 

[BijanO]

If you're shooting carbon you should consider giving your arrows a light wax coating (I use nuWax). Carbon can retain a lot of water and that will change your dope.

 

[Rednef]

Camp Dry does work, and for an extended period. HOWEVER I found that with some plastic nock materials, when applied, the solvent or something will attack the nocks and severely weaken them. Once dry its all good. But mask off or other wise shield your nocks before you apply it. I now just drop a short scrap piece piece of steel or copper tubing over the nock and then go for it.

 

[pmn86]

We've used scotchguard or kiwi camp dry with some moderate success shooting in the rain.

(You can see how we quickly spray down and apply at 3:22 at camp using a milk crate to hold a few dozen arrows.)

Not sure anything works 100% perfectly in a downpour for extended periods of time.

May also stiffen fletchings up a little, does not seem to affect flight but test yourself prior to using.

 

[Huntschool]

Cant say much about a bunch of shooting in the rain but hunting in the rain yea. I tried a number of water repellent stuff and really did not like any of it.

Having access to lots of Canadian goose feathers I had a bunch stripped and cut to two shapes and 2 sizes. 4" and 5" shield and the same in a low profile banana shape. They have lasted me quite a while. I dont like to hunt in down pours but ya know how things can happen. So, if it looks like it could rain I take the goose fletched arrows. I really would like to get some Snow Goose wings so I could splice in some white just for the fun of it.

The goose feathers have held up well. Mind you I dont shoot them every day and keep them wrapped up during the off season to avoid bugs.

JMHO