Trad vanes are definitely legit but I still love the looks and feel of feathers so I compromised. On my carbon arrows I use the trad vanes while on my wood arrows I stick with the feathers.
I know I'm late to this thread, but hopefully this is still relevant to this group. I've shot both feathers and the AAE trad vanes. I can't tell a difference in the shooting performance. I can tell a difference in the durability. Hunting in potentially damaging conditions isn't nearly as stressful. They also last a lot longer; I have a few arrows going on three years now.
