Single Bevel Broadhead Hype?

[HuntNorthEast]

Hey guys, used the search function again and didn't find exactly what I needed.

I started diving into researching heavy single bevel heads. BUT, I want opinions, not manufacturer statements.

Question is, are single bevel broad heads everything they are hyped up to be? Next season I plan on increasing my F.O.C. and I have found that most guys that run hard hitting front heavy arrows are using single bevels...
-How do they shoot, for real though....?
-What brands and styles are the most reliable?
-Are they loud during flight like a fluted fixed blade?
-How close are they +/- grain count for accuracy?
-Do you guys still run heavy inserts with them?

I really like the idea. I got away from fixed blades because they are stupid loud IMO and deer dip them at 40+ yards, or make a detrimental move between release and impact that makes for a good release turning into a terrible shot real fast. I have had good luck with the Grim Reapers but I still like the idea of a more solid head that has a heavier make-up. Prior to GR heads I shot 125gr Montec G5's. I loved what they did when they connected, and how well they held up, but hated the noise off the flutes.

Any info would be greatly appreciated as always guys. Thanks.

 

[swampsnyper]

Only single bevel that I ever used was a grizzly broadhead. I tried them because they were cheaper than the others. And I have been happy with them for several years now. I find they are quiet. I don’t hear any whistling. But I’m shooting a slow longbow and a 600gr finished arrow. I buy the glue on heads and glue on a 100gr steel adaptor to use as a screw on. I don’t like the aluminum adaptors that the screw on broadheads come with. Seems to be a weak point and have had them bend.
I’ve killed deer, hogs and 2 bears with them. I’ve shot deer that didn’t even know they were shot. Made a few hops then stopped to look around, then fell over. I’ve also missed some and they or the other deer or hogs around didn’t spook. So I say they are quiet.
Do they cut or kill better than a double bevel? I don’t really know. I think the edge is stronger. I don’t think it affects the sound in flight. But I have no scientific data to prove anything. I just know I like them and just finished gluing another six adapters and screwing onto some shafts. And it doesn’t hurt as bad when I lose one compared to those high dollar broadheads.

 

[Hunter260]

I’ve never used single bevels, but I have though about it quite a bit and I switched to big boy arrows a couple years back. If you’re a podcast guy you should look up “Lethal Podcast” all they talk about is bow hunting and arrow setups. They had the owner of iron will outfitters on and he is a super smart guy. He had done a ton of testing and came to the conclusion that with old slow compounds and trad bows single bevel was better. Ashby also originally came to this conclusion. BUT, with the fast bows of today he said that there is no difference in performance from single bevel to double bevel. This year I’ve really worked on my sharpening game and I’ve gotten to the point where all of my broadheads are as sharp as scalpel blades. I’ll be shooting some with big 4 blades and some with little 2 blades so I can see the difference or lack there of in penetration, and blood trails. I’m hoping that a sharp sharp sharp sharp head will give way better blood than I’ve had in the past. On single bevels I think that unless you are shooting trad stuff or 50 lb bows or 25 inch draw or something it’s unnecessary. I’d say on single vs double bevel pick the head that you can get sharper.

 

[Razorbak66]

No need to buy those wildly insane priced broadheads that cost 1/2 of a weekly paycheck to kill animals zwickey/Magnus and hills and most definitely grizzly broadheads have killed plenty of animals for me over the years if mounted properly and sharpened correctly (very easily done without jigs) they will kill perfect. They don’t whistle unless vented I feel you hear more of the feather than anything else specially if you use banana fletched as I do sometimes. People say it’s a gimmick in the s cut but it’s not I have purposely used rw fletch with lw blades and vice versa and it does cut the s curve but not as much if properly match. While it might not cut as wide of a cut as some fixed or mechanical heads but I rather go thru the animal than having a arrow stuck in a animal. Tried the mechanical heads over the years but always go back to a head that is cut on contact wether it’s a 2 or 3 blade that I can sharpen myself gives me a reassurance that I sharpen and killed the animal cleanly and the times I shot in the shoulders by chance gives me opportunity to follow up quickly as 2 blown shoulders or even 1 doesn’t always go far

 

[ThumbsMcGee]

Look into Dr. Ashby’s work.

As far as noise, If the broadhead is vented, you can expect noise. However there are plenty of non-vented single bevels.

Flight: you’re not gonna want to hear this, but if your bow is tuned and you’ve got perfect arrow flight you can put just about any broadhead of the same weight on your arrow. John Lusk, Lusk Archery Adventures (YouTube), hits a 70 yard target with nearly every broadhead he tests. Only one I’ve seen him have issues with is the vented VPA 3-blade 1.25in diameter.

Performance: It’s commonly accepted that a single bevel with a 3-to-1 ratio design performs the “best”. I’m not that big of a nerd to tell you what a 3:1 exactly means, but it deals with the blade steepness. Tiff head & Cutthroat Broadheads are an example of this.


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[Bowmanmike]

Look into Dr. Ashby’s work.

As far as noise, If the broadhead is vented, you can expect noise. However there are plenty of non-vented single bevels.

Flight: you’re not gonna want to hear this, but if your bow is tuned and you’ve got perfect arrow flight you can put just about any broadhead of the same weight on your arrow. John Lusk, Lusk Archery Adventures (YouTube), hits a 70 yard target with nearly every broadhead he tests. Only one I’ve seen him have issues with is the vented VPA 3-blade 1.25in diameter.

Performance: It’s commonly accepted that a single bevel with a 3-to-1 ratio design performs the “best”. I’m not that big of a nerd to tell you what a 3:1 exactly means, but it deals with the blade steepness. Tiff head & Cutthroat Broadheads are an example of this.


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This is spot on. Get a solid head without vents and there will be no noise. I bought vented grizzly samurai 125 gr and i can hear them just a little. They are much more quiet than my montecs i used last year,but the bow is slower with the heavier arrows.
I like the two blade single bevel because two blades will go through bone better than three blades. I have no real life experience on single vs double bevel though.

 

[TNbowhunter]

Look into Dr. Ashby’s work.

As far as noise, If the broadhead is vented, you can expect noise. However there are plenty of non-vented single bevels.

Flight: you’re not gonna want to hear this, but if your bow is tuned and you’ve got perfect arrow flight you can put just about any broadhead of the same weight on your arrow. John Lusk, Lusk Archery Adventures (YouTube), hits a 70 yard target with nearly every broadhead he tests. Only one I’ve seen him have issues with is the vented VPA 3-blade 1.25in diameter.

Performance: It’s commonly accepted that a single bevel with a 3-to-1 ratio design performs the “best”. I’m not that big of a nerd to tell you what a 3:1 exactly means, but it deals with the blade steepness. Tiff head & Cutthroat Broadheads are an example of this.


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As I understand it, the 3:1 ratio describes the slope of the broad head from tip to end, and it means that for every 3 units (whatever your measurement unit is) back, it only goes 1 unit wider. Practically, it means it’s long and pointy, not short and wide. By comparison, a 1:1 sloped broadhead would be a 45* angle. I’ll try to roughly show that here:
3:1 broadhead
..../\
.../..\
../....\

1:1 broadhead
...^
/......\

(Dots there just to fix the spacing)
The 3:1 slices through meat easier and creates less drag than the 1:1 (or 1:2, like Rage expandables), which *should* lead to better penetration. The knock on the 3:1’s is that, all else being equal, they don’t create as wide of a wound channel.

 

[d_rek]

Lot of trad guys have been shooting single bevels for decades now. I think they're maybe getting a little more recent spotlight from compound shooters due to ranch fairy. Can't speak to flight or performance personally, but Kevin from Deerhunter podcast put a cutthroat through a doe a couple seasons ago and it did the job plenty well from what I remember. Good wound channel and plenty of blood to follow.

 

[Weldabeast]

According to Ashby there is no difference between a single or double.......until u contact bone...then the single uses it's mechanical advantage to apply torque to the bone causing it to react (break, split, crack etc)

I have a couple different lower end brands but all the same basic 3:1 shape and they are quiet as far as I can tell... The feathers are louder IMO

Either read or podcast Ashby reports and make up your own mind.... Just know that it's a process and it may be difficult to get things to tune.... But not so difficult that a dummy like me couldn't figure it out... Next time I have to go through the process I'm setting it out over a week.... It's easy to get false reading if you've shoot a bunch and your tired... I also build and tune 3 at a time so I can concentrate on each arrow individually and not get ahead of myself

Main benefit to building heavy is u have to increase the structural integrity to get the weight up unless u just buy a really heavy head

 

[HuntNorthEast]

According to Ashby there is no difference between a single or double.......until u contact bone...then the single uses it's mechanical advantage to apply torque to the bone causing it to react (break, split, crack etc)

I have a couple different lower end brands but all the same basic 3:1 shape and they are quiet as far as I can tell... The feathers are louder IMO

Either read or podcast Ashby reports and make up your own mind.... Just know that it's a process and it may be difficult to get things to tune.... But not so difficult that a dummy like me couldn't figure it out... Next time I have to go through the process I'm setting it out over a week.... It's easy to get false reading if you've shoot a bunch and your tired... I also build and tune 3 at a time so I can concentrate on each arrow individually and not get ahead of myself

Main benefit to building heavy is u have to increase the structural integrity to get the weight up unless u just buy a really heavy head

Makes sense, thanks for the input!

 

[Deerhunter81]

I will post on this later. There is some good advice above. I will add more, need more time than I have at the moment.

 

[swampsnyper]

The longer the broadhead, the more it slices compared to a short broadhead the same width that will chop more than slice.
If you are shooting upper 200fps or into the 300s, it really doesn’t matter. Tuned and integrity of the whole arrow will make the noticeable difference as stated above.

 

[Deerhunter81]

In my experience....I have learned the true broadhead flight is easiest to obtain above 15% foc (especially long range say 70-100 yards). If you get above 19-20% if you arrow is coming off the bow clean and straight (perfectly)...I honestly think any broadhead will fly exactly with fieldpoints. I prefer 2 blade cut on contact Broadheads. I have never had an issue with blood trails with SHARP Broadheads. You don’t have to have a “2 blade rage” hole to have a trail. Usually my deer act like they have no idea they are even shot. So no blood trail is needed.
Solid blades are quieter in flight, no doubt. I also prefer a helical fletched arrow, matching the single bevel (doesn’t matter for single bevel). I like the helical in less than perfect weather conditions, good weather, it’s more all the same. My current hunting bow and backup are both about 335-340 ibo, 29” draw one is 67# and 1 is 71#. My arrow is 28” Black Eagle Carnivore .250 spine, ethics archery 200 grain insert outsert (2 piece, both glued), 3 helical fletch flex flex 2” vanes, and 125 grain Alien Archery Australia Matrix SBT XT (single bevel). Bow bow shoot broadhead perfect to 60 yards, haven’t shot past that yet..but I will! If you have any specific questions, let me know. I will try to help!

 

[Deerhunter81]

Sorry I forgot...my arrow weight is 623 grains and 23.2% foc!