Broadhead Test and Review 2020

Broadhead Test 2020: The Why

Every couple of years I like to test the broadheads on the market and just get a good overview of what, why , how just to make sure I’m shooting the best of what I can out there. Well this time it was a bit more personal I had shot and wounded a few different animals between last season and the beginning of 2020. Of course like normal human nature I needed something to blame because it couldn’t possibly be my fault so I started to doubt I was shooting the best possible set up and that doubt erased 11-12 years of success I had with my existing set up. Which in turn sent me down this rabbit hole. I tell you all this because I want you to know that I took pain staking time, energy and effort to have the most detailed test I could and I wanted to look at it from every angle and do tests that were seemingly redundant or not really important just to make sure my data was accurate. My first goal was to make sure I did a “super tune” on my bow and arrows I would be shooting for the test, I also wanted to have all the best testing equipment and procedures I could to give me the best data I could collect. Lucky for me Arizona Archery club has been developing procedures for the super tune for the past few years and has been amassing the very best in testing equipment.

#broadheadreview2020 #broadheadtest #bestbroadhead2020

Broadhead Testing: The Tests

The following are the parameters of my broadhead test:

Accuracy	3 arrows average group size at 70 yards shooting outdoors/indoors w/ shooting machine
Field point Comp	3 arrows rotating the broadhead with 2 field points at 70yards outdoors/indoors w/ shooting machine
Variance	weigh in every broadhead see weight deviations measure each head and test fit and spin
Durability	number of times shot through  ½ “sheet rock before shows signs of failure up to 6
KE Consumption	plunge test using Edge on up
Quartering shots	3 different angles mdf board covered in carpet to simulate deer hide 30 yards pass / fail
Sharpness	Edge-On-Up Industrial Edge Tester  out of the box
Sharpness retention	Edge-On-Up Industrial Edge Tester  after shooting through MDF board and gel
Penetration	1/4″ fire MDF board into ballistics gel 20 yards inches x 2 = score
Wound Channel	cutting diameter + blade thickness + ferrule diameter + number of rotations x depth of penetration
Aerodynamic Drag	Flight from 0 to 80yrd measured on Labradar aerodynamic drag and retained energy in comparison to field point data

Accuracy: This to me and all those involved was the highest or most important quality to look for in a broad-head. Most experts will agree that shot placement is the most important factor in recovering an animal so it stands to reason you want to have a broadhead with the highest probability to hit its mark. 2nd on the list was field point accuracy the ability to practice with target tips and still be able to screw on your broadheads and head straight out to the field without making any adjustments ranked high for us as well. We shot every head both indoors @ 70 yrds and outdoors @ 80yrds with a hooter shooter machine and I shot by hand outdoors @80 yds every head as well We are only sharing with you the indoor data because we felt the outdoor data was not as valuable due to the conditions changing from the beginning of the test to the end. But I will say this both with me shooting and the hooter shooter the outdoor data for the most part barring some outliers correlated with the indoor data. Below you will find a chart that has the scoring system but I don’t want you to focus on the score, look at the data with some of them we are splitting hairs look at everything that is important to you and formulate your own “prefect broadhead”. If we look at the results The top 7 were all within an 1/2 inch of each other but look at those top 7 and see how they fair in comparison to the field point you will see the #1 Ramcat Diamond back had sub 1″ group but was 5.7″ off from the field points were lets say like the Alien V2 had a 1.5″ group and was 1.7″ off the field points, or the swhacker 207 1.1″ group and 1.6″ off the field point respectively. It takes some doing but read through the data, the group size is listed worst to best and field point is best to worst. Watch Accuracy Video here

Broadhead	Group size @70yds	Score	Broadhead	Field point accuracy	Score
Field Point	0.7
Northern wide cuts	5.691	3	Valkyrie jag	1.125	62
Montec	5.287	6	Cutt Throat	1.52	60
VPA 3BS	4.699	9	Extract	1.612	58
VPA 3BV	4.122	12	Swhacker 207	1.632	56
Alien Matrix 2BT	3.575	15	Alien V2	1.741	54
AF 4B	3.774	18	Sevr	1.756	52
Helix	3.447	21	TOA XL	1.765	50
Swhacker 262	3.388	24	DRT Nap	1.981	48
Swhacker hybrid	3.266	27	Swhacker 262	1.995	46
Drt Nap	2.696	30	Vandiaman 95	2.006	44
Exodus	2.589	33	Iron will	2.014	42
valkyrie short  jag	2.536	36	valkyrie short  jag	2.017	40
Kudu	2.521	39	Kudu	2.349	38
Extract	2.51	42	Ram Cat hybrid	2.366	36
Ram Cat hybrid	2.354	45	Swhacker Hybrid	2.532	34
Oz cut 2 blade	2.353	48	AF 4B	2.664	32
Annihilator	2.206	51	Alien Matrix 2BT	2.966	30
Northern lil evil	2.168	54	Oz cut 2 blade	2.969	28
Sevr	2.146	57	Helix	2.973	26
AF k2	2.095	60	TOA R	3.118	24
Cutt Throat	2.076	63	Annihilator	3.415	22
Oz Cut Hurricane	2.016	66	Northern Evo	3.56	20
Valkyrie jag	1.978	69	Oz Cut Hurricane	3.506	18
VPA 2B	1.743	72	Exodus	3.606	16
Alien V2	1.503	75	VPA 2B	3.82	14
TOA XL	1.472	78	AF k2	4.288	12
TOA R	1.328	81	VPA 3BS	4.769	10
Vandiman 95	1.255	84	VPA 3BV	4.833	8
Swhacker 207	1.154	87	Northern wide cuts	4.851	6
Iron will	1.108	90	Montec	5.164	4
Ram Cat DB	0.996	93	Ram Cat DB	5.729	2
Shot with Hooter Shooter Shooting machine indoors at 70 yards Mathews VXR 70# 29″ draw 446grn total wieghtÂ
pierce platinum 300 with an FOC of 15.86% 125grn head blazer vane Right helical 3deg all nock tunedÂ
* The valkyrie total arrow weight 464grn, The few 100grn heads we had we use the Fact weight system to add 25grn up front to keep it all consistantÂ

Aerodynamic Drag test: This was one of those redundant tests that correlated directly with field point accuracy and noise level. It just helped us verify that what we were seeing was accurate. There was a direct correlation the higher the % of drag or loss of speed the further away the impact point deviated from the field points. Same went for noise level the more drag the noisier the heads were. We shot every head over a noise meter and the data was inconclusive across the board, we then shot each head passed both myself and my cousin Anthony subjectively assigning a value to indicate noise level. We did not include this data in the results because it wasn’t very scientific but we did include the drag data and I can tell you with certainty the higher the drag the louder they were. broadhead review 2020, broadhead test, broadhead testing, best broadheadbroadhead review 2020, broadhead test, broadhead testing, best broadheadbroadhead review 2020, broadhead test, broadhead testing, best broadheadbroadhead review 2020, broadhead test, broadhead testing, best broadheadbroadhead review 2020, broadhead test, broadhead testing, best broadheadbroadhead review 2020, broadhead test, broadhead testing, best broadheadbroadhead review 2020, broadhead test, broadhead testing, best broadheadbroadhead review 2020, broadhead test, broadhead testing, best broadhead 2020

Broadhead drag test

Broadhead	V0	V10	V30	V50	V65	V80	Percent of drag	Percent of drag over field tip
field point	284	281	274	266	261	257	9.507042254
tooth 1″	286	281	271	260	253	247	13.63636364	4.129321383
cutthroat L	286	281	269	259	252	254	11.18881119	1.681768935
Tooh XL	285	280	268	258	251	242	15.0877193	5.580677045
kudu	287	282	270	260	253	253	11.8466899	2.339647642
Ironwill	286	281	270	261	254	247	13.63636364	4.129321383
Sevr	287	282	272	263	257	253	11.8466899	2.339647642
swhacker 207	291	287	277	267	260	258	11.34020619	1.833163932
swhacker 262	294	287	275	264	257	253	13.94557823	2.605372046
AFK2	286	281	270	260	252	252	11.88811189	2.381069635
AF 4 blade	287	281	270	259	251	239	16.72473868	7.217696422
Extract	281	278	271	262	256	254	9.608540925	0.101498672
DRT	289	283	272	262	254	250	13.49480969	3.987767435
Swhaker hybrid	294	288	276	266	258	258	12.24489796	2.737855706
Vandieman	298	291	278	270	260	258	13.42281879	3.915776538
Helix	287	282	271	262	254	245	14.63414634	5.127104088
Ramcat diamondback	287	280	267	255	247	242	15.67944251	6.172400255
Ramcat Hybrid	298	288	272	259	249	247	17.11409396	7.607051706
northern wide	284	280	271	263	256	248	12.67605634	3.169014085
VPA 2	285	281	271	262	255	254	10.87719298	1.370150729
QAD	286	281	271	261	255	247	13.63636364	4.129321383
VPA 3 vent	285	280	269	259	252	248	12.98245614	3.475413887
VPA solid	286	281	271	262	255	246	13.98601399	4.478971732
Oz cut hurricane	285	280	268	258	251	247	13.33333333	3.82629108
Oz Cut 2 blade	298	291	278	270	260	258	13.42281879	3.915776538
G5 Montec	286	281	269	258	251	247	13.63636364	4.129321383
Valkyrie jag	284	279	270	265	261	252	11.26760563	1.76056338
Short Jag	279	276	268	258	253	248	11.11111111	1.604068858

Sharpness ,Sharpness retention, variance and KE consumption test: At first thought Sharpness would be redundant for penetration but it really wasn’t. What I feel is important about having a sharp broadhead is its ability to cut vessels as it moves through the body so just because a broadhead can penetrate 5 inches further doesn’t necessarily mean it will cut a vessel that it comes in contact with to cause bleeding it only means it moved through and caused damage to tissue. That might seem off or confusing concept to wrap your head around so let me put it like this I have one blood vessel in the middle of a piece of meat I shoot two arrows through this meat both of which pass through both of which contact this vessel but only one severed the vessel the other just nicks it or scratched it because the blade is not sharp the wound with the sharp blade should bleed more and result in a faster recovery. Although some will argue that a laceration bleeds more than an incision for me I’d rather have a sharper blade then not. Again here is the data do with it as you will. The sharpness retention to me was not super important because I rarely shoot the same head after I have shot it into an animal. But some of these heads are pricey and you want to get mileage out of them. Variance testing really speaks to the tolerances and overall quality of the construction of the heads and directly correlates to group size, and field point accuracy. So this is a cheap way for you to tell if your head is quality or not.. weigh em… The KE consumption test was a complete waste of time and did not correlate to penetration what so ever however it did correlate with the angled shots those with very high consumption did not perform as well on the 30 degree angle shots. They seemed to skip along the board a bit moving the point of impact before entering the target. The data is there do with it what you will. I will say this I think having a pointer tapered tip is beneficial over a rounded, steep angled tip not only for quartering shots but cutting through hide but not too pointy because you may get logged into bone versus breaking it. As for the spin testing this was just to see if there was a correlation with accuracy and well balanced heads and as you guessed it there was . Its cheap way to look at a head and find out if its worth shooting or not. Click here to watch the video

Variance testing

Broadhead	sharpness	rank	score	sharpeness retention	loss	rank	score
Kudu	192	2	30	290	98	16	20
TOA XL	291	16	16	382	91	15	20
TOA R	218	6	26	328	110	18	20
Cutt Throat	418	22	10	483	65	10	25
Montec	532	25	7	845	313	26	10
Exodus	131	1	31	324	193	23	15
VPA 3BV	778	30	2	804	26	6	30
VPA 2B	667	29	3	669	2	1	30
VPA 3BS	533	26	6	595	62	11	25
Northern wide cuts	195	3	29	440	245	25	15
Helix	301	17	15	325	24	5	30
Ram Cat DB	320	18	14	360	40	8	30
Vandiaman 125	279	15	17	294	15	4	30
Drt Nap	418	22	10	504	86	13	25
Sevr	195	3	29	207	12	3	30
Afflictor K2	207	4	28	295	88	14	25
Afflictor 4b	210	5	27	301	91	15	20
Extract	265	13	19	461	196	24	15
Oz cut hurricane	345	20	12	469	124	20	20
Alien V2	233	7	25	390	157	21	15
Alien Matrix 2BT	260	12	20	364	104	17	20
Annihilator	350	21	11	477	127	22	15
Ironwill	131	1	31	198	67	12	25
Swhacker 262	238	8	24	431	193	23	15
Swhacker hybrid	341	19	13	458	117	19	20
Swhacker 207	460	24	8	490	30	7	30
Ram Cat hybrid	601	27	5	611	10	2	30
Oz Cut 2 blade	257	10	22	304	47	8	30
Vandiaman 95	269	14	18	295	26	6	30
					0
					0
valkyrie short  jag	258	11	21	336	78	12	25
Valkyrie jag	246	9	23	304	58	9	30

Broadhead	1	2	3	average weight	Deveation in pack	Score	Deveation from listed grn	Score
Kudu	125.1	125	125	125.0333333	0.1	12	0.1	12
TOA XL	125.3	124.8	125.2	125.1	0.5	8	0.3	10
TOA R	123.9	123.6	123.6	123.7	0.3	10	-1.1	9
Cutt Throat	127.8	126.7	127.3	127.2666667	1.1	6	2.8	6
Montec	121.8	122.2	122.7	122.2333333	0.9	6	-3.2	5
Exodus	122.8	122.1	122.5	122.4666667	0.7	8	-2.2	7
VPA 3BV	122.7	127	126.9	125.5333333	4.3	1	-2.3	7
VPA 2B	123.5	123.9	124.8	124.0666667	1.3	5	-1.5	8
VPA 3BS	122.8	125.8	123.1	123.9	3	3	-2.2	7
Northern wide cuts	127	123.6	124.4	125	3.4	2	2	7
Helix	122.5	123.9	124.5	123.6333333	2	4	-2.5	7
Ram Cat DB	123.1	123.5	123.3	123.3	0.4	10	-1.9	8
Vandiaman 125	123	123.2	124	123.4	1	6	-2	7
Drt Nap	120.1	122.4	122.2	121.5666667	2.3	4	-4.9	4
Sevr	120.4	120.7	120.4	120.5	0.3	10	-4.6	4
Afflictor K2	120.1	120.1	119.9	120.0333333	0.2	10	-4.9	3
Afflictor 4b	119	119.1	118.5	118.8666667	0.6	8	-6	1
Extract	127.5	127.2	127	127.2333333	0.5	8	2.5	6
Oz cut hurricane	126.2	124.8	123.8	124.9333333	2.4	4	1.2	9
Alien V2	125.8	125.6	125.3	125.5666667	0.5	8	0.8	9
Alien Matrix 2BT	125.5	125.3	125.3	125.3666667	0.2	10	0.5	10
Annihilator	123.9	123.6	123.6	123.7	0.3	10	1.4	9
Ironwill	125.3	125.2	125	125.1666667	0.3	10	0.3	10
Swhacker 262	99.2	99.8	99.7	99.56666667	0.5	8	0.8	9
Swhacker hybrid	101.2	100.9	100.9	101	0.6	8	-0.8	9
Swhacker 207	101.2	101.1	101	101.1	0.3	10	1.2	9
Ram Cat hybrid	100.3	100.2	99.8	100.1	0.2	10	1.2	9
Oz Cut 2 blade	98.8	98.6	98.5	98.63333333	0.5	8	0.3	10
Vandiaman 95	93.5	94.1	94.4	94	0.9	6	-1.5	8
valkyrie short  jag	181.6	181.6	181.3	181.5	0.3	10	1.6	8
Valkyrie jag	179.6	179.3	179.3	179.4	0.3	10	-0.4	10

Penetration and Wound Channel : This is what everybody seems to be the most interested in and quite frankly it was the most fun. We used FBI clear gel and 1/4″ high grade MDF to get our results. Leading up to this I made many of my own gels and tested different combinations of media to shoot through from card board to different foams in the end this simple set up would give us the most accurate usable results. I was a bit floored the heads I expected to penetrate better didn’t and ones that I though wouldn’t …. did. I quickly learned that friction and surface area of the head played an important part in the performance and that mechanical advantage didn’t always mean deeper penetration . This is a slippery slope because lethality and blood trails don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Meaning The heads that that inflicted the most trauma didn’t necessarily have the deepest penetration thus in theory not leaving as good a blood trail (2 holes). So let me put this in a real life scenario for you I have been shooting swhackers for a long time and because of the design if you don’t have a pass-through the blood trail can be minimal because the entry hole is 1″ but the internal damage is far greater than if I was to shoot for instance a double bevel 1″ single blade and achieved the pass through. I shot a buck one time where the head logged itself in the opposite shoulder the buck ran 30 yards and died however there was almost no blood. Conversely many years ago I shot a buck with an equally good shot with a muzzy got a pass through had great blood but needed to track the buck for about 150 yards. I know what you are thinking one deer is different than the next the shot is different all true valid points but my reasoning for bringing this up is don’t put all you eggs in one basket, don’t rely solely on penetration or wound channel consider something well balanced or if possible that gives you both. Watch video here

Broadhead Penetration

Broadhead	Penetration	Cut	blade thickness	ferrul	Twist		Wound channel
tooth 1″	15.5625	2	0.038	0.293		2.331	36.2761875
cutthroat L	14.75	1.045	0.05	0.337	0.75	2.182	32.1845
Tooh XL	14	2.2	0.038	0.321		2.559	35.826
kudu	15	1.25	0.05	0.303	1	2.603	39.045
Ironwill	12.625	1.7	0.062	0.24		2.002	25.27525
Sevr	13.25	1.5	0.032	0.317		1.849	24.49925
swhacker 207	13.875	2.035	0.032	0.325	0.35	2.742	38.04525
swhacker 262	13.875	2.199	0.032	0.417		2.648	36.741
AFK2	15.6875	1.85	0.07	0.275		2.195	34.4340625
AF 4 blade	15	2	0.07	0.275		2.345	35.175
Extract	14.375	1	0.058	0.306		1.364	19.6075
DRT	13.125	1.785	0.05	0.293		2.128	27.93
Swhaker hybrid	13.187	2.5	0.032	0.325	0.25	3.107	40.972009
Vandieman	16.25	0.99	0.062	0.3	0.65	2.002	32.5325
Helix	13.875	1.15	0.07	0.32	0.65	2.19	30.38625
Ramcat diamondback	14.5	2.13	0.03	0.32	1	3.48	50.46
Ramcat Hybrid	12.687	2.74	0.03	0.298		3.068	38.923716
Northern wide	13.875	1.169	0.046	0.329		1.544	21.423
VPA 2	13.687	1.1	0.063	0.324		1.487	20.352569
QAD	14	1.65	0.04	0.345		2.035	28.49
VPA 3 vent	12.062	1.65	0.042	0.321		2.013	24.280806
VPA solid	12.125	1.65	0.042	0.32		2.012	24.3955
G5 Montec	12.25	1.67	0.069	0.32		2.059	25.22275
Oz cut Hurricane	13.5	1.58	0.057	0.369	0.55	2.556	34.506
Oz Cut 2 blade	16.875	0.958	0.055	0.316		1.329	22.426875
Alien V2	14.9375	1.458	0.056	0.345	0.65	2.509	37.4781875
Alien Matrix 2BT	14	1.21	0.056	0.345		1.611	22.554
Annihilator	14.25	1.28	0.365	0.465		2.11	30.0675
Valkyrie jag	11.5	1.36	0.045	0.332		1.737	19.9755
Short Jag	12.25	1.38	0.045	0.332		1.757	21.52325
prototype	15.25	1.16	0.075	0.32	1.1	2.655	40.48875

Broadhead review : my thoughts

So I’m sure you are wondering which I would pick after all this… I really couldn’t make up my mind 100 % I will say I was very impressed with the Ironwill, Valkirie Jag, Kudu and the Alien archery V2 in the fixed blade category. I didn’t test enough mechanical on this round mainly because there were many that would put the heads up against what we were doing. I had at least 5 companies commit then I sent them my testing rubric and they backed out. So for now I’m sticking with Swhacker in the mechanical department .

Broadhead	Accuracy	Field point Comp	Variance	Durability	Quartering 30	quartering 45deg	Sharpness	Sharpness retention	Penetration	wound channel	Aerodynamic drag	KE Consumption	Score
tooth 1″	81	24	19	10	8	12	26	20	31.125	36.72	4.13	2	269.845
cutthroat L	63	60	12	10	12	12	10	25	29.5	32.18	1.68	13	268.68
Tooh XL	78	50	18	10	4	12	16	20	28	35.82	5.58	1	272.82
kudu	39	38	24	8	12	12	30	20	30	39.04	2.34	22	255.04
Ironwill	90	42	20	12	8	12	31	25	25.25	25.27	4.12	20	292.52
Sevr	57	52	14	4	8	12	29	30	26.5	24.49	2.33	8	258.99
swhacker 207	87	56	19	2	12	12	8	30	27.75	38.04	1.83	5	294.79
swhacker 262	24	46	17	2	4	12	24	15	27.75	36.74	2.6	6	209.49
Aflictor K2	60	12	13	6	12	12	28	25	31.375	34.43	2.38	12	236.805
Aflictor 4 blade	18	32	9	6	12	12	27	20	30	35.17	7.22	3	204.17
Extract	42	58	14	10	8	12	19	15	28.75	19.6	0.101	4	228.35
DRT	30	48	8	4	4	12	10	30	26.25	27.93	3.98	15	201.18
Swhaker hybrid	27	34	17	2	8	12	13	20	26.374	40.97	2.74	9	202.344
Vandieman	84	44	13	8	12	12	17	25	32.5	32.53	3.92	15	283.03
Helix	21	26	11	6	12	12	15	30	27.75	30.38	5.13	21	194.13
Ramcat diamondback	93	2	18	2	4	12	14	30	29	50.46	6.17	7	255.46
Ramcat Hybrid	45	36	19	2	8	12	5	30	25.374	38.92	7.61	10	223.294
northern wide	3	6	9	2	8	12	29	15	27.75	21.42	3.17	16	135.17
VPA 2	72	14	13	10	12	12	3	30	27.374	20.35	1.37	17	216.724
QAD	33	16	16	8	8	12	31	15	28	28.49	4.13	11	197.49
VPA 3 vent	12	8	8	10	12	12	2	30	24.124	24.28	3.46	20	145.404
VPA solid	9	10	10	10	12	12	6	25	24.25	24.39	4.45	24	145.64
G5 Montec	6	4	11	4	12	12	7	10	24.5	25.22	3.83	23	118.72
Oz cut hurricane	66	18	13	12	4	12	12	20	27	34.5	DNH	DNH	219.5
Oz Cut 2 blade	48	28	18	10	8	12	22	30	33.75	22.42	DNH	DNH	234.17
Alien V2	75	54	17	10	6	12	25	15	29.875	37.47	DNH	DNH	282.345
Alien Matrix 2BT	15	30	20	10	8	12	20	20	28	22.55	DNH	DNH	187.55
Annihilator	51	22	19	10	4	12	11	15	28.5	30.06	4.13	DNH	203.56
Valkyrie jag	69	62	20	12	12	12	23	30	23	19.97	1.76	25	285.97
Short Jag	36	40	18	12	8	12	21	25	24.5	21.52	1.61	18	220.02
Prototype	85	58	24	12	12	12	15	30	30.5	40.48	DNH	DHN	321.98
Accuracy	3 arrows average group size at 70yards shooting outdoors w/ shooting machine
Field point Comp	3 arrow field tip group and measure the broadhead group in relation to them
Variance	weigh in every broadhead see weight deviations measure each head and test fit and spin
Durability	number of times shot through  ½ “Dura rock before shows signs of failure score
quartering shots	2 different angles mdf board covered in carpet to simulate deer hyde 20 yards
Sharpness	Edge-On-Up Industrial Edge Tester  out of the box
Sharpness retention	Edge-On-Up Industrial Edge Tester  after shooting through MDF board and gel
Penetration	1/4″ fire MDF board into ballistics gel 20 yards inches x 2 = score
wound Channel	Penitration x toatal cut +number of rotations
Aerodynamic Drag	Flight from 0 to 80yrd measured on Labradar aerodynamic drag and retained energy in comparison to field point data

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