Manufactured/High Visibility Crossbow Bolts

[Makomachine]

Man, do I love a crested arrow/bolt! Not only do they add a touch of class but they also can help in monitoring the arrow in flight and assist in analyzing a hit with more visible blood sign/type on the shaft. My preference is for a white or light colored vane & white crest but I've found them not to hold up to the abuse that a crossbow puts on them over time. With all that said it leads me to two questions.

First, how interested would the group be in bolts/arrows that have manufactured crest on them which would be much more durable? Something along the lines of the last 8 inches or so of the shaft being white with some fancy banding on it and with light colored fletch? I know I would buy them in a heart beat but am interested in what other think on the issue.

Second, is there already a arrow/bolt manufactured to similar specs that I've overlooked? Would be great if it was already on the market and someone could just point me in that direction.

Wraps are great but I want a more durable option for my shafts. Let me know everyone's thoughts.

[gad]

I was searching for a shaft with a different color than black. Have not found. Any lightned color would be ok.
Also interested on found this.

[Woody Williams]

This practice arrow (P) was painted with 3 coats of white lacquer and has probably been shot about 100 times.

You can see that some paint is rubbing off on the tail end.

The white is still plenty visible though

A painted or wrapped arrow zipping down a rail at 315 – 405 fps isn’t going to hold up too well. Lots of heat and lots of friction.

[Grizzly Adam]

My traditional arrow treatment is white crown dip, shield-cut white fletching and white nock on a gray shaft, without any adornment.

They show up good in flight, and catch good blood evidence.

Best to hide them when hunting during gun season!

[crazyfarmer]

A painted or wrapped arrow zipping down a rail at 315 – 405 fps isn’t going to hold up too well. Lots of heat and lots of friction.

well said;) I dont care how purty my practice ones are. They hold up about the same as yours with my wraps. Maybe not quite as bad. But the ones I shoot at deer I plan on using only once anyway

[Makomachine]

I've used both wraps and paint with the same results. I'm just interested in a more hardened solution that doesn't look like crap after use. You would think the manufacturing process would allow for that. We don't see our camo patterns wearing off at a fast rate on either carbon or aluminum - I just don't need my arrows camo treated. Give me a quality, high visibility shaft (on the back end) and I'd be a happy camper...

[saxman]

I am a camo NUT.I wish Excalibur would camo the whole bow,scope and all but thats another topic.
When I read the post about x-cal switching to Easton Firebolt I wanted to see them so I did a google,I fount some other eastons but not the firebolt,I found one in realtree camo and I saw in another catalog that blazer make realtree vanes so I guess I want camo arrows/bolts (whatever) with white wrap or dip and camo blazers with Tracer nocks.

[KYXbow]

This practice arrow (P) was painted with 3 coats of white lacquer and has probably been shot about 100 times.

You can see that some paint is rubbing off on the tail end.

The white is still plenty visible though

A painted or wrapped arrow zipping down a rail at 315 – 405 fps isn’t going to hold up too well. Lots of heat and lots of friction.

I was thinking the laquer paint video dude said to put on 1 coat of paint. Does applying three coats add too much weight? I could tell that the bolt probably could use a few more coats. Mine started to wear some also by the friction of the rail.

[Woody Williams]

LOL... I've never painted anything in my life just one coat..

A couple more grains of weight would not matter one way or the other.

I shoot the brass 85 grain inserts so I was not worried about FOC at all.

[KYXbow]

Do you use a regular arrow nock glued to a field tip to screw in your crossbow nock when you fletch?

[KYXbow]

I shoot the brass 85 grain inserts so I was not worried about FOC at all.

Is that the Gold Tip #54622 brass insert?

[navaman]

i'm begining to wonder if a lighted nock during the hunt is not the way to go. i just started cresting and i think i'd rather just find a color of vane that's highly visible. maybe the white tiger vane from bohning? all i know is this ; all that time i'm spending in the shop breathing paint fumes could be spent launching instead of painting. anyway, i sure hope to read some more on this topic.

[Woody Williams]

I shoot the brass 85 grain inserts so I was not worried about FOC at all.

Is that the Gold Tip #54622 brass insert?

I'm guessing that it is. They came in the arrows.

I have some from Excalibur and some from TenPoint and they are the same.

[Woody Williams]

Do you use a regular arrow nock glued to a field tip to screw in your crossbow nock when you fletch?

I use an Arizona Ezy Fletch and I just screw in a 8/32 bolt to the proper depth. Not sure what the measurement is, but it was a little trial and error at first.

[Pydpiper]

I have some custom arrows from John, they are very, very visible. Problem is they are so nice I don't want to shoot them.
I would be interested in a manufactured light color.