When comparing 3 to 4 FIXED blade broadheads. (NOT COMPARING BRANDS AGAINST EACH OTHER) For the same weights....is it better to have 4 blades with a smaller cutting diameter OR a 3 blades and have a larger cutting diameter? I tend to think a larger cutting diameter to cut a deeper laceration is better than. My wife(RN as a human anatomy goes) says it's better to cut 4 lacerations at a lesser cutting diameter. Thanks, MOBU
I tend to agree with your wife. I've shot Phatheads with bleeders~4 blade~Smaller cutting diameter. Great blood trails and short track job. I've shot G5 Montec~3 Blade~more cutting diameter. Lack of blood trails and longer distance track job. Many people have complained about Montecs not leaving a good blood trail, maybe that has something to do with it. Interesting thought.
Total cutting area is a better indication then diameter. Your looking at two vs three plains. You can have a head with a smaller diameter yet it has more cutting area.
Good point! I was thinking that the Montecs had more cutting surface than the Phatheads. I just went and measured, G5 was an 1-1/2", Phathead was an 1-3/4".
Thanks! My 100 gr MX3 measure 1.43" cutting length, a 100 gr MX3 mathematically would be 1.60" cutting length. A complete pass thru would be ideal in my book, from my experience making an exit wound(second hole) bleed out MORE than twice as fast.
also depends on how much KE you are pushing. 4 blades = more cutting surface = more drag = less penetration through the animal. Just something to think on. Difference may be negligible on an animal like a whitetail but then again maybe not.
I am an avid Prime bow shooter, but do not care for the Montecs at all......from field experience. The NAP Hellrazor is a much better head of the same basic configuration that sharpens easier and holds a better edge. Having killed a bunch of game with 2,3 and 4 blade heads, I have found that 3 blades tend to fly the best for me and make very nasty holes in game. Probably the most gruesome blood trails of my nearly 40 years of bowhunting came during my trad days with a Wensel Woodsman 3 blade head. It had a longer profile than the Montec/Hellrazor/Snuffer/VPA, but man did it put the whammus on deer. The past couple years I have been launching Trophy Taker Shuttle-T's at game and will have them in my quiver this coming fall. They don't make a huge hole, but they are extremely accurate and put game down on the ground.
3 blade Muzzie and Montec CS have done well for me in the past then shifted to slicktrick four blade. very pleased with the four blade performance and all things being equal, believe the fourth blade does give an edge.
I go with 3 blades. Aerodynamically... 3 blades have the same lift/drag on each blade, regardless of the blade position. When you go with 4 blades, depending on the blade position, they will not fly the same. ie: two blades perfectly horizontal will have all the lift and the two vertical will have no lift, only drag... Only way to have same lift/drag ratio on a four blades design is to have them at a perfect 45 degrees.
In my experience this isn't true at all. 4 blades tend to tune way easier than 3 no matter how the blades are. As far as the OP question I have shat many three blade systems. All have done well. Then I started using Slick Trick standards and I'm not going back. They fly better, easier to tune and leave great trail. I think the easier tuning has a lot to do with the smaller diameter, and with a 4 blade you still get more cutting surface than 3 blades of the same and slightly more diameter.
After seeing this thread I went out and shot I have the montecs which are 3 blades and my girlfriend has slick tricks which as we know are 4 blades shot both and the slick tricks are consistantly more accurate only by about and inch.. The montecs are usually about an inch high and the slick tricks are dead on if that helps at all
I thought the same thing when I read that line....... There have been a few times after eating Mexican food that I felt a bit like that however.
Four cutting edges compared to three? Always listen to your wife. You know she's right, most of the time anyhow.
