Editing Archery (section)

===Types of arrows and fletchings===
{{Main|Arrow}}
[[File:Brazilarcher.jpg|thumb|A [[Rikbaktsa]] archer competes at Brazil's Indigenous Games]]

The most common form of arrow consists of a [[Arrow straightener|shaft]], with an [[arrowhead]] at the front end, and [[fletching]]s and a [[Arrow#Nocks|nock]] at the other end. Arrows across time and history have normally been carried in a container known as a [[quiver]], which can take many different forms. Shafts of arrows are typically composed of solid [[wood]], [[bamboo]], [[glass-reinforced plastic|fiberglass]], [[aluminium alloy]], [[carbon fiber]], or [[composite material]]s. Wooden arrows are prone to warping. Fiberglass arrows are brittle, but can be produced to uniform specifications easily. Aluminium shafts were a very popular high-performance choice in the latter half of the 20th century, due to their straightness, lighter weight, and subsequently higher speed and flatter trajectories. Carbon fiber arrows became popular in the 1990s because they are very light, flying even faster and flatter than aluminium arrows. Today, the most popular arrows at tournaments and Olympic events are made of composite materials.

The arrowhead is the primary functional component of the arrow. Some arrows may simply use a sharpened tip of the solid shaft, but separate arrowheads are far more common, usually made from metal, stone, or other hard materials. The most commonly used forms are target points, field points, and broadheads, although there are also other types, such as bodkin, judo, and blunt heads.

[[File:Spliced feather 0002.jpg|thumb|Shield cut straight fletching – here the hen [[feather]]s are barred red]]

[[Fletching]] is traditionally made from bird feathers, but solid plastic vanes and thin sheet-like spin vanes are used. They are attached near the nock (rear) end of the arrow with thin double sided tape, glue, or, traditionally, sinew. The most common configuration in all cultures is three fletches, though as many as six have been used. Two makes the arrow unstable in flight. When the arrow is ''three-fletched'', the fletches are equally spaced around the shaft, with one placed such that it is perpendicular to the bow when nocked on the string, though variations are seen with modern equipment, especially when using the modern spin vanes. This fletch is called the "index fletch" or "cock feather" (also known as "the odd vane out" or "the nocking vane"), and the others are sometimes called the "hen feathers". Commonly, the cock feather is of a different color. However, if archers are using fletching made of feather or similar material, they may use same color vanes, as different dyes can give varying stiffness to vanes, resulting in less precision. When an arrow is ''four-fletched'', two opposing fletches are often cock feathers, and occasionally the fletches are not evenly spaced.

The fletching may be either ''parabolic'' cut (short feathers in a smooth parabolic curve) or ''shield'' cut (generally shaped like half of a narrow shield), and is often attached at an angle, known as ''helical'' fletching, to introduce a stabilizing spin to the arrow while in flight. Whether helical or straight fletched, when natural fletching (bird feathers) is used it is critical that all feathers come from the same side of the bird. Oversized fletchings can be used to accentuate drag and thus limit the range of the arrow significantly; these arrows are called ''[[flu-flu arrow|flu-flus]]''. Misplacement of fletchings can change the arrow's flight path dramatically.