“Tell me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are” - Assyrian proverb

Fully fletched flu-flu arrow

Step 1 and 2: Applying the double-sided tape.

Step 3: Applying the first full-length feather.

First full-length feather applied.

By Johnny Snyman

Most of us have, at some stage or another, crossed paths with the flu-flu arrow. According to most writings, the flu-flu is made with an arrow fletched with three to four high-profile, five-inch long feathers. The written word also tells us that when an arrow is fletched in this manner, it won’t fly far before the high-profiled fletches rapidly cause loss of speed, and after a “short” distance the arrow will merrily tumble back to the ground. In other words, should an aerial target be missed, albeit a thrown disc or bird-on-the-wing, such a flu-flu arrow can be easily retrieved.

I once spent some time at the farm of a close friend, not far from where I live today. The landscape on the farm is shaped by evergreen rolling valleys, the night skies are sprinkled with stars that look like precious gemstones and the morning air you breathe is crisp and clear. A truly beautiful farm, but more so, the temptation is ever present to fire a few shots with a large-bore black powder rifle, mountain-man style, from the front porch down over one of the overlooking valleys. As the great white cloud of burnt powder subsides and the smell of sulphur tingles in your nostrils, the mountains answer back in delight and salute the man-made thunder with echoes that seem to roll on forever. Life in the great wide open is good!

Among the livestock on the farm is a sizable flock of sheep. So, one sunny afternoon, while lazily perched on a chair outside on the porch, I happened to observe some of them going about their daily antics. As the lambs played and bounced about, two rams grazed on the opposite side of the fence. It was quite clear that one of them wanted to get to the greener patch of grass where his counterpart was grazing. At some point their eyes locked, and with a little imagination, the conversation between the rams could almost be heard to follow these lines: “Baah, baaah ?” Meaning: “Hey! How did you get there?”

Answered from a mouth stuffed with succulent grass: “Beeh?” (“I’m not too sure bro. I don’t know, but this grass sure is tasty, you should try it.”)

And then: “Baaah!” As if saying: “But I really need to get to your side! Can’t you tell me how to get there?”

The other ram answered with another shrug: “Beeh?”…(”Brother, I’m really confused now, I honestly can’t remember how I got here!”)

The bleating conversation went on for another 30 minutes. The ram trying to get to the other side of the fence even poked its head right through the barbed wire, and stretched its neck as long and wide as the grey matter contained in its head, all in a futile attempt to get a mouthful of greener grass. But lo and behold, all the time the open gate was but a few feet away from our woolly friends!

The moral of the story? Well, it’s quite simple: archers and their opinions are on two sides of a fence. Period.

Respectfully, we traditional archers in particular, have for many years been conditioned to believe that the “open gate” of finding out for ourselves what really works, is not really there. When we follow the rest of the pack, the gradual loss and eventual demise of our individualism soon follows suit. To those who wish to pursue the matter further, here is an acid test: observe the number of compounds for sale in the classifieds each month, and notice the number of archers, modern as well as traditional, wearing the same style hat – the baseball cap.

The reason so many compounds are for sale not only resides within better, faster, shorter and more efficient ones that seemingly spring forth virtually every month (the same way fungi do in a forest after a good rain shower), but also goes hand-in-hand with Mr Jo keeping up with his pal Mr Jones. And as for all the baseball caps? Well, that just goes to show how the mark of individualism each man bares nowadays has fallen into the arms of submission of a modern disease known as Image.

Gone are the days when the hat a man wore was made of full grain leather, where the brim kept the rain out of his face and shaded his neck from the sun, or was used to fan life into the dying embers of an early morning campfire to get that warm welcome drink called coffee steaming. Consider this: when out on a faraway trail, would you offer your horse a drink from a baseball cap?

In many ways (stated with tongue in cheek) we are becoming like sheep. Some of the proof lies in the manner we all fletch our flu-flu arrows. And brother, they fly “but on ly a short distance” before tumbling to Mother Earth, right? And we are all content happy campers. Really?

A few months ago a gentleman called me up, stating: “ I am going on a wing shoot soon and need a set of darn flu-flu arrows that fly as the books say they’re supposed to, but have yet to find even one that does what its purported to do!” Those words, a cry for truth in practice, not only somehow opened “the gate” for me, but also eventually tore down the entire ruddy fence! I accepted the challenge to make up some flu-flu’s for him “that would fly only a short ways”. Forty yards was the limit, and afterwards the arrow had to lose complete interest in flight. Those were the gentleman’s requirements. A tough one, for the only flu-flu’s I knew were the ones found somewhere out on the sheep farm…

My search for the “perfect” flu-flu led me to where I understand the first writings thereof were recorded.

Back home in the mountains one night, with the only background music that of a lone Night Jar and the occasional hooting of two Spotted Eagle Owls, I paged through Maurice Thompson’s classic book “The Witchery of Archery”, first published in 1878. Among the pages of this marvellous little book, the origin of the word flu-flu became clear. In chapter XIV Maurice accounts for an adventure where he spent “three weeks of savage life” with a Native American whom he named Tommy. On page 204 Maurice remarks, upon viewing some of Tommy’s arrows: “He had a very broad-feathered arrow which he had named ‘floo-hoo’, on account of a peculiar roaring sound it made while flying through the air.” This arrow Tommy used to successfully shoot birds on the wing.

Among the pages of some other old archery literature that through the years found their home on my bookshelf, I also noted the similarities between the fletching methods of the late Fred Bear and Ben Pearson. The styles featured three feathers applied around the arrow shaft in a semi-to-tight spiral. I opted to try the latter and set about on a trial-and-error venture.

As no fletching jig could possibly apply the feathers in such a manner, everything had to be patiently done by hand. As matters progressed, I noticed the summer sun casting its last light over the forested mountains as I peered through the workshop windows. But come low light or starlight, I needed to know how this type of flu-flu behaved. An hour later the first one was ready for a test flight. It was well into darkness by then, so I opted to shoot at a large sand heap some distance from the workshop, dimly lit by a nearby light. After pacing out 30 yards, the arrow was loosed from a 45-pound recurve, the same bow weight it would be destined for. The results were remarkable: the arrow flew in a perfectly straight line, but consistently hit the same mark almost two yards below the point of aim… A further ten yards away, the blunt-tipped flu-flu consistently met with the concrete paving, dropping a further few yards short of the mark.

As I walked back to the workshop, in the faraway distance I was sure I could hear the echoes of a thousand sheep bleating. Fact is, the flu-flu arrow fletched in the traditional manner has its place in the skies as it roars its way through the air. But even more so does the true flu-flu have its place and right to ride in your quiver. So read on, the “open gate” is just around the corner!

How to…
You need the following:
1. Slightly more brains than a sheep, plus a good sense of humour
2. A few full-length feathers in the colours of your choice
3. A bare arrow shaft, prepared and ready to be fletched
4. A bench vice
5. Some double-sided fletc hing tape

Step 1 and 2: Gently secure the bare arrow shaft into the bench vice. It is better to pad the jaws of the vice with some strips of thick leather. Pre-cut and trim three full-length feathers to equal lengths. You need as much of the total length of the feather as possible. Apply the fletching tape to the base of the feathers.

Step 3: Peel off the thin film of tape from the facing adhesive side and, starting half-an-inch away from the nock at any position, begin to apply the rear end of the first feather onto the arrow shaft, following a spiral as tight as the diameter of the arrow shaft will allow. If you are using left wing feathers, the spiral will helix anti-clockwise down the arrow shaft and vice versa. Note: the tighter the spiral and the longer the feather, the more resistance the arrow will have to flight. You may adjust these angles and lengths to control arrow flight. By doing so, you are customising the arrow flight to suit your needs

Apply the remaining two feathers in the same manner with even spacing. Once done you may “spot weld” the front and rear feather ends with a drop of fletching cement. Now separate the feather barbs from one another to create the effect as illustrated.

Congratulations, you now have a real flu-flu! If you live in an area were space is a problem and you need to practise in the back yard, this style flu-flu could well be a solution. And if you can hit a barn, aiming point-on from a distance of 50 yards loosing the arrow from a longbow or recurve, I will trade my wide-brimmed leather hat for a baseball cap.

What’s more, I will do the rest of the explaining to my dismayed horse…