Artificial feathers?

Hyarmendacil · Post by **Hyarmendacil** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 2:17 pm

Does anybody know of any archery supplier that carries artificial feathers--that is, vanes made of thin polymer strands attached to a synthetic base to mimic the shape and performance of natural feathers? Some of the arrows in my archery club may be fletched with this kind of material, since they don't feel like any kind of natural feathers I know, and I'm curious about whether my suspicion (that somebody is actually producing artificial feather for archery purposes) is right.

Ashbow · Post by **Ashbow** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:02 pm

Never heard of artificial feathers

That sounds curious. I can't help you though, I'm soory.

Are those arrows you metioned modern ( I mean made with man-made materials) or wood/bamboo??.
If they are not self made but provided by some supplier he should tell you something perhaps. Did you talk to the owners of the arrows?

I wonder if there is any benefit in developing arrtificial feather as the natural feather is quite complex thing, maybe for water-resistance purpouse (holding the shape under wet condidtions).

Hope you will find the answer to your question soon.

Regards

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:43 am

Could they be turkey feathers? They look 'too good to be true' - especially when they are dyed in bright colours.
I can't think of any technology that would be cheaper than cutting real feathers, of which there's no shortage.
Some people are even talking of converting feathers into biofuels. In the Philippines, a scientist has developed a high strength building material made from the waste feathers of the poultry industry.

Orda Khan · Post by **Orda Khan** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:37 pm

Not to mention they would probably be more expensive than real feathers and archery suppliers are already charging quite a price for feathers.

Hyarmendacil · Post by **Hyarmendacil** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:12 am

Ashbow wrote:Are those arrows you metioned modern ( I mean made with man-made materials) or wood/bamboo??.

They're modern target arrows, but made of wood or bamboo (because aluminium/carbon arrows are way too expensive for most Indonesian archers).

If they are not self made but provided by some supplier he should tell you something perhaps. Did you talk to the owners of the arrows?

Some of those arrows were my own. And I did talk to the bowyer who supplied them, but the supply seems to have dried up lately (now he only carries solid plastic fletches and feathers that feel unmistakably natural) and it didn't seem polite to press too far because, after all, I might to be a competition of sorts to him....

I wonder if there is any benefit in developing arrtificial feather as the natural feather is quite complex thing, maybe for water-resistance purpouse (holding the shape under wet condidtions).

I don't know either. Maybe resistance to damage? I'm looking for them because they're not as fragile as the definitely natural feathers used on most of my arrows, and it seems like a good idea to use them for shower-shooting experiments that'd require me to squash the feathers inside my drawing hand.

Stephen Selby wrote:Could they be turkey feathers? They look 'too good to be true' - especially when they are dyed in bright colours.

I don't know. Most of the arrows in the club are fletched with painted turkey feathers that look pretty thin and natural. The mystery "feathers" are a bit thicker and more plasticky in feel, though I know that still doesn't entirely rule out the possibility that they might be natural as well. I'll try to get a picture of them and post it here the next time around.

Hyarmendacil · Post by **Hyarmendacil** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:25 pm

All right. Let me do a reality check first about my preconceptions and all. Do these look like dyed turkey feathers? The closest thing I've been able to find are Trueflight feathers, and they say it's turkey all right, but I just want to be sure.

Orda Khan · Post by **Orda Khan** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:44 pm

Look like turkey feathers to me.

Ashbow · Post by **Ashbow** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:02 pm

Those above are definitely NOT artificial feathers

I don't give my head they are turkey, but they are real, no doubt

Just look at the barbs of the vanes, and how they are worn, It looks unmistakable like natural stuff.
Also you can see each rachis (the 'base' of the feather) is coloured from outside and white from inside (the rough side of the feather), this is because the rachis is usually trimmed (the 'inside' part of it) in width after dyeing and natural white colour of the inside of rachis appears after trimming.

Often bright colour dyes give feathers this 'plastic' look.

Hyarmendacil · Post by **Hyarmendacil** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:24 pm

So far so good. I'll get a picture of the really weird feathers, then--somehow I keep forgetting to do that.

Ashbow · Post by **Ashbow** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 4:48 pm

Oh,
I thought that those above are the strange feathers we are talking about...

look forward to see those starnger

ones

Hyarmendacil · Post by **Hyarmendacil** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:39 am

Nope. I wasn't too familiar with turkey feathers because (as far as I know) turkeys are not native to Indonesia, so I wanted to check first about them. They're certainly not as plasticky as the mystery feathers I'm still wondering about (and, for some reason, have forgotten to photograph yet again).