What exactly is the function of arrow wraps? Can’t quite work out if they’ll be beneficial to your setup or not? Andrew Tippins explains!
Wraps and printing can actually make life easier for archers as it can make the arrows easier to spot through a scope
An arrow wrap is a small piece of self-adhesive vinyl that is wrapped around the rear of the arrow to coat the shaft in a very low weight plastic sleeve. The primary function of an arrow wrap is to provide an excellent surface to fuse a vane to. It’s much easier to bond plastic to vinyl than directly to a carbon or aluminium shaft. If an archer decides to strip the arrows in the future they won’t have to scrape the delicate surface of the arrows to remove adhesive, possibly causing damage to the arrow.
The surface of the wrap is printable and comes in a wide selection of colours, which opens up a whole world of cosmetic possibilities to truly personalise your arrows with designs, names, initials and so on. The wrap and printing can actually make life easier for archers as it can make the arrows easier to spot through a scope, and brightly wrapped arrows are much easier to find in the green. Spin wing lines can be added to the wrap either straight or offset so that it’s really easy for you to know where to place the adhesive tapes for the wings, aiding accuracy and consistency.
So there are far more pros to having arrow wraps than cons. One of the downsides though is that if a vane gets damaged and needs removing it can be extremely difficult to remove just the one, and most archers will strip off the entire wrap and refletch. That said, the likelihood of losing a vane on a properly fletched wrapped arrow is very low indeed. I have known wrapped arrows to go through bosses, tunnel underground and spend three months in a river and still come out with the vanes firmly on!
Wraps are relatively easy to apply and come with fitting instructions. However, if you’re all fingers and thumbs when it comes to delicate and precise things you may want to hand them over to someone for a little help until you get the hang of things.
This article originally appeared in the issue 120 of Bow International magazine. For more great content like this, subscribe today at our secure online store: www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk