K Vanes

[Nick Forster]

I ahve started using these vanes on my acc's I have been shooting 70m olympic round with them and they have tightend my groups quite nicely.
I was using standard straight vanes before.
The only problem I am getting is vane damage on tighter groups.
Any one else out there using these and how are you getting on with them.
Do you use the tape to fix them to the shafts or glue ( I'm gluing them ) as I find the tape aukward.
has any body used the vinyle cresting under these
have fun and keep it tight
Cheers Nick

[joetapley]

K vanes have a very good reputation. A fair number of elite archers use them as an alternative to spin wings. As well as ripping other arrow fletchings to bits they're reported as being able to do the same with archers' fingers so careful.

I used them for a while with my compound on some ACE's. They were easy to fit and I used the tape and fitted them with a fletching jig, having put the tape one the vane first.

They do damage easy. due to this I rejected them as I was replacing them too often. Not convinced they made any difference to my groups, but I did like them.

I ended up going back to EP vanes with the same group results.

I have yet to see one vane or another making any difference to group size. However vane size will at longer distance.

[rfitzgerald]

I’ve started to use curly vanes from alternative sporting services.

Nice bright colours and easy to see in the grass.

Very easy to fit, neat and tidy with now glue involved.

They can be damaged easily but I’ve had good luck with them so far.

The next step will be to make my own for next year!!

[Murray]

Originally Posted by rgsphoto

I have yet to see one vane or another making any difference to group size. However vane size will at longer distance.

In which case, have you tried X-Wings? If they didn't affect my sightmarks so much at 90m, I'd use them in competition... my practice group sizes are definitely smaller with these, and they're so stiff, they're as good as K-Vanes for ripping up the competition's vanes

[Christopher Lee]

Hi Nick,

My 2 cents worth...

K-Vanes PROS

1) Very light.
2) Very STIFF.
3) Very very bright (orange).
4) Relatively faster to apply than most spin-type vanes (forget the supplied mini-clamp - I made my own out of file system spines and they hold the vane far better).
5) Very accurate.

K-Vane CONS

1) Very STIFF - tends to crease permanently and sometimes crack from rear impacts. NOT good for compounders shooting above 1250 as you will tend to have a lot of tight groups - and damaged vanes.
2) Will NOT survive pass-throughs which can be quite common with us compounders.
3) Their stiffness may lead to clearance issues. Set-up fairly critical.
4) Supplied clamp is not very good.
5) Very high cost of maintainenece as you'll find that you have to replace them often.
6) Will rattle in your quiver.
7) All things considered, they are very expensive.


In comparison, the X-Wings made by Sitar&Sitar is slightly more pliable, eventhough the hard version may be thicker* than the K-Vanes. Remember, the K-Vanes will crease more easily and tends to crack because they are harder/more brittle. As regards arrows sticking together with X-Wings/other spin-type vanes, apply some talc after fletching and blow off the access.

I was seriously considering switching to K-Vanes, but after trying them out a bit, and observing the problems a lot of other archers were having, I decided against it. Almost all the archers using K-Vanes in my country have given up on them, notably for primary reasons of un-forgivingness (for recurve), easy and frequent damage and very high cost.





FOOTNOTE:

For the sake of clarity where 'hardness' is concerned ...

K-Vanes are thinner than the hard version of the X-Wings eventhough the hard X-Wings are more pliable.

The soft version of the X-wings are thinner and softer than both the hard version of the X-Wing and K-Vanes, and are a little fragile.

The hard version of the X-Wings will outlast every other spin-type vane, all things being equal.

K-Vanes can be regarded as being hard and slightly brittle (that's why you get the rattling sound in your quiver), will crease permanently and may sometimes break.

*The soft version of the X-Wings appear to be somewhat fragile, creasing and tearing rather easily, although not in the same order as mylar spin-type vanes.

[pyroarch57]

I have always shot with EP vanes but recently thought i would try some K vanes. I shot 6 EP vanes, and 6 Kurly vanes alternately all afternoon and plotted each end. I found no difference whatsoever in my groupings, but at the end of the day i had 5 broken Kurly`s! Needless to say i am staying with my EP`s.

[Christopher Lee]

Forgot to mention that i heard that K Vanes could be glued using regular glues like Fletch-Tite.

I shoot regular stiff vanes for training, but will use X-Wings for competitions.

There may not be much difference in groups if you're already a high-level archer, but for us lower archers, the extra stabalisation helps a lot especially when our release isn't so clean.

The other advantage is that (personal observation) when I have the X-Wings on my Cartel Triple 300s with 120 grains upfront - now I use 140), they act a lot like X-10s in heavy cross-winds in that I don't have to aim off, of if I do have to, probably into the outside of the 9 ring.