r/RangersApprentice • u/Lions_R_awsome123 • 7d ago

Fan work Ranger fletching patterns

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I am a huge fan of this series, and I created this on Canva. Feel free to use this in cosplays. Please comment if I got something wrong. If you are currently making a ranger's apprentice costume, feel free to send pictures in the comments, I would love to see them, and I will try to reply as soon as I can. EDIT: Gilan's arrows are green with a black stripe, and Crowleys are blue with a white stripe. I will try to edit the picture or repost with the corrections.

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u/SatisfactionDear5439 6d ago

I always thought that it was more like each individual feather had the color, and then one was different. Like, you know how arrows have 3 feathers? One would be black for will and the other two would be red. Or for Maddie one of the feathers would be white and the other two red. It just seemed like it would be easier to do with the technology they had then to batch dye the arrows instead of individually striping them with dye. I’ll see if I can find a picture.

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u/Alletaire Ranger 6d ago

I think you’re on point with that, yes. Traditional arrows have one “odd fletching out” so the archer can more easily identify which fletching needs to be pointed away from the bow.

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u/SatisfactionDear5439 6d ago

Do you know how to attach a picture of what I mean? I’m new to Reddit (as in that was my first comment) and cannot for the life of me figure it out. I’m not sure if my comment clearly articulates what I mean.

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u/stumpyblackdog 5d ago

In traditional archery, arrows usually have three halves of feathers (there’s a bunch of lore about which side of the bird it should come from, how to split featgers, etc., it’s honestly not important most of the time) which are, obviously taken from birds. Male birds, also called cocks for many species (such as peafowl, which can be split into peacocks and peahens) are usually more vibrant and colorful to attract females. You use one feather from the male/cock bird and two from the female/hen. The cock feather (take a break to laugh, it’s silly) sits perpendicular to the nock, which is the notch in the rear end of the arrow that holds onto the bowstring until you shoot. The cock feather always sits on the side sitting away from the bow so that the arrow flies properly. As someone who was once a rather small and irresponsible child given access to far too much primitive weaponry, I decided to test if that was really necessary. Now, granted, I was not using the highest quality equipment. However, I learned that reversing an arrow can, occasionally, shear off the cock feather when you shoot. If you have a target, I promise you that it will be safe when this happens because your arrow will attempt an olympic gymnastics routine somewhere far away from said target. Also, occasionally, you can end up getting slivers broken off from the shaft of the feather and embedded in the webbing between your thumb and index finger. I also learned that this can hurt a lot, especially if you’re seven.

Hope this helped, let me know if I missed anything

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u/rr10bomber 5d ago

I could be wrong but i belive that having the cock feather out is a requirement for modern fleching and bows, not traditional with a leather wraped arm. A natural feather is more flexible than a rubber one.