Arizona Archery Enterprises' Fletch III

I love my local pro shop, but it charges $3 per shaft for arrow fletching. That's $36 a dozen, not counting the cost of vanes! At those prices, fletching my own bullets is a simple task I'm more than happy to do myself. There are several good do-it-yourself fletching jigs on the market, but you'd be hard pressed to find a unit that offers a better combination of simplicity, performance and value than Arizona Archery Enterprises' Fletch III.

The Fletch III is very easy to use, accommodates a wide variety of shaft sizes and vane lengths and retails under $20. The compact, portable unit weighs just 4.1 ounces and consists of two main pieces -- an arrow base and vane clamp that slides into the base for consist vane placement. To fletch a shaft, you insert the nock into the end of the base unit and lay the shaft in the X-style rest.

Then, place a vane into the clamp, apply adhesive and push the clamp down into the base unit until the vane contacts the shaft. After waiting 30 seconds or so for the vane to adhere, simply press the end cap behind the nock and rotate the shaft 120 degrees to the next vane position.

Yes, it's just that easy. The Fletch III adheres vanes with a fixed, 1-degree offset and fits shafts from .240-inch to .370-inch in diameter, which accommodates most popular styles from small aluminum-carbon composites to larger all-aluminum varieties. The X-style shaft rest on the base unit is reversible and marked with an S on one side for smaller shafts and an L on the other side for larger shafts. The vane clamp can accommodate vanes up to 5€‰½ inches long, and cleanup is a snap thanks to impregnated Teflon and silicone that prevents glue from sticking to it. MSRP: $19.99

Contact: Arizona Archery Enterprises, 928-772-9887, www.arizonaarchery.com

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