Iron Will Broadheads New Bowsite Sponsor
Equipment
Iron Will v100 Broadhead
Iron Will v100 Broadhead
Bill V's Link
As a new sponsor, I would like to introduce myself and my company. I'm Bill Vanderheyden, Owner and Lead Engineer of Iron Will Broadheads in Colorado.
After losing a bull elk when a broadhead failed to penetrate the shoulder blade, I spent several years using the latest engineering methods to develop a better broadhead that would pass through bones undamaged, stay sharp, and have excellent long range flight.
We launched the company just over a year ago and the results and positive feedback this year have been amazing. To learn more, you can check out our website at www.ironwilloutfitters.com. Also, I recently shared the product development story and lessons learned on an episode of the Gritty Bowmen . I also describe what makes a premium broadhead and what you get for the higher cost. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIfdt2Wlqi0t
I'm committed to developing the best broadheads and will be looking for ways to continuously improve our products. I look forward to the feedback from this community.
Outstanding and congrats Bill! After hearing you explain the engineering of the Iron Will and talking more with Les Welch about em I’m sold. With all the time, energy, money and effort we put into getting a shot off...the tip of our arrow should leave nothing to chance. Keep up the good work!
Great website, very informative! I love a quality product. Welcome and all the best!
These fly very well, IME. Anxiously awaiting the non-vented versions.
Thanks Bill! I had one nice Bull elk hit the dirt with an Iron Will head last fall, and I will be using them again this year.
I believe he already has the nonvented versions?
I ordered a couple of packs after you became a sponsor. Thanks for being part of the community.
Just got a three pack. Quick delivery and great heads! Good luck Bill! Gary
Welcome to the one and only Bowsite!
A Magnus Stinger? Other then having a basic two blade design with bleeders, I don't see it. This head looks much more robust. FWIW, I'm not going to buy one because I never see myself paying that for any broad head. But, that doesn't change the reality that there is no way a Stinger is built as robust as this one.
Iron Will s125 Broadhead
Iron Will s125 Broadhead
Thanks for the welcome guys! The solid blade versions start shipping in April and can be preordered now.
Stingers bend and break apart due to the thin steel and cheesy ferrules. You could shoot an Iron Will into a concrete wall and I believe it would still hold up.
I wanted to share that Iron Will Broadheads were chosen as one of the top products at the ATA show this year by Petersen's Bowhunting. You will also see Iron Will in the best new gear reviews in three other magazines soon. Thanks so much to these magazines, as all of this was with no paid advertisement.
Great news! It's too bad some magazines only "review" and rate products from advertisers.
The S-Series Solid Blade Broadheads are shipping now.
Right on Bill - Love the looks of them and your website even if they don't fit into my budget. Until then I'll just drool. In actuality I don't think I've ever drooled over a broadhead as much as these. Went to the website again, and when I google it it shows up purple on my browser. I guess my computer knows I regularly look at the site ;) Wish you best of luck I'm sure they will sell. One day for me!
Yup, when the budget allows I may find myself investing in some QUALITY Broadheads! Great work.
got notification this morning that my S-series solid 150's shipped this morning.
can't wait to run these through a whitetail October 1st.
do you have practice heads or just resharpen after practice?
Just resharpen after practice. We recently did a test where we shot a broadhead 5 times in a Rinehart target and it would still very easily shave hair and we couldn't measure any difference in sharpness down to .0001 inches. We also measured one that had been shot about 200 times into a target and found it to have flattened the edge by only .001", so very little touch up is needed. The 60 RC hardness really retains an edge.
They look nice. I may be interested BUT I have 1 question. I looked at the website and could not find the answer. Are they made un the USA?
Yes. 100% made in the USA.
In my testing, I was amazed at how well the Iron Will broad heads retained their razor sharp demeanor after 20+ shots into the target and still shaving hair with ease.
As I will not shoot a broad head/arrow combo at an animal until I have shot it 2-3 times at 50 yards (building confidence in that particular arrow's accuracy) into a target, the ability to shoot the broad head/arrow combo and still be razor sharp is an absolute key IMHO.
Kudos to Iron Will!
Mark
I have shot a lot of different Broadheads over the years until I finally settled on the one that I use now and have used since the 80's having had excellent results without ever a failure. So see no reason to change now especially to something that would cost me more for one head than I ever spent for 6 heads.
I do not buy into all the hype of any of the new heads on the market these days as it is nothing more than advertising.
"I do not buy into all the hype of any of the new heads on the market these days as it is nothing more than advertising."
If you're using a head from the 80's your missing a ton of technology. Open the shades, look around, see what's changed. Do you still drive and 80's truck, shoot an 80's bow, use fishing line from the 80's? The list goes on and on.
I would not drive a truck from the 80's, horrible decade for American vehicles. I still rock out to some music from the 80's though.
Heck yeah Peco, good ole 80's rock!
Les, actually I do shoot bow's and arrows from the 80's and 90's, the heads I shoot came onto the market in the 80's and did go thru some improvements over the years but they are still basically the same. When you find something that is good and works without fail why change? Nothing wrong with older equipment/designs (I actually have a lot of older stuff that has proven to work) all this new stuff on the market these days is basically redesigns of what has been done in the past and proven to work. I believe I am better off shooting the same equipment all the time as it becomes a extension of my arm and I am very familiar with it so no need to think about my form. grip etc. or anything other than what I want to hit.
I actually like these heads so well that bought 30+ dozen of them so that I would be sure to always have them in case they were ever out of stock or discontinued, 150 gr 4 blade, 1 1/2" wide with a 1 1/4" wide bleeder. Had a friend tell me these heads should be outlawed as they are so devastating (he calls them Freddy Kroger heads) and leave great blood trails (which is really nothing more than a result of arrow placement). Would not hesitate to shoot any animal on this planet with them.
Hey Rock/Ron, just throwing this out there, but maybe those comments or tips might be more appropriate on a thread like "what broadhead do you prefer" or a lot of other threads along those lines. There are plenty of them.
Iron Will is a company. They are part of keeping our economy going. They paid their dues here as a sponsor and started a thread about that just "spreading the word." A comment like yours, is likely discouraging for the company owner as well as paints you with a brush of having something against them, as discussing alternatives really wasn't the intention of this thread. That's great you found a broadhead you love from the 80's, keep using them. I've also found equipment from 'days of old' that I prefer over new. But I wouldn't leave a review on Ford's website that I figure I'm way ahead by buying used on eBay. The economy needs new products and companies in business. And Iron Will seems to have found a niche of "extreme" high quality broad heads where only a few companies exist. Good for them! I wish them well
My quiver is currently full of heads that came on the market in 1938. That said, I think Iron Will will continue to be successful and I'm rooting for them. There is something to be said for building a product the best you can and putting cost farther down the list of priorities. Consumers can decide if the value is there. Free markets and free will are great. Hey the "Free Will" model...that's kind of catchy and fitting.
I like the features of this broadhead! As some others have said it's hard to deviate from the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality, but at some point I'll give this broadhead a try.
Bill/Iron Will: don't be discouraged by negative comments here. You could put your exact same broadhead to the market for $1.50 per head and even then somebody would chime in complaining about the price or that their favorite broadhead is better LOL.
Bill: for me at least the link in your original post doesn't seem to work. The link you have farther down does. Not sure if there is a way to edit your first post link but you might try.
A question for you Bill: what are the benefits/advantages of vented versus solid? I.e. what would steer someone to buy a V125 or a S125?
Thx
M. Pauls, I never once made any negative comments about the iron will heads other than the price, which others have made the same comment on. Also I never once mentioned anything about buying anything used on eBay not sure where you got that.
Also I do not wish them anything but success.
I was just likening an example to how I interpret the relevance of your post. I don't want to derail the thread either, as then I really wouldn't add value. I guess your comment "I do not buy into all the hype of any of the new heads on the market these days as it is nothing more than advertising" on a thread started by a new site sponsor introducing himself and explaining his product rubbed me the wrong way. Carry on.
smarba, not going to answer for Bill but some think the vented heads have an audible "hiss" that might scare animals. I personally think that's a bunch of hooey but to each his own. A little hiss after a screen door slams (bow releasing the arrow) seems like misplaced concern. Animals hear little hisses all the time when bugs or birds fly past. They don't jump up and run. But they rarely hear screen doors slam.
From an aerodynamic perspective and as someone who hunts in windy conditions with a lot of helical (trad) and offset (wheelie) I believe the vented heads fly better when spinning in wind than solids, because there's less air displacement. But that might be a bunch of hooey too. ;)
Jaq: I have heard (no pun intended) the same argument that vented heads can be noisy. Can't say any critters I've killed reacted to my "noisy" broadheads LOL.
I was thinking the same thing with crosswind and vents, but not sure there's enough difference to matter much. Heck the turbulence from air flowing through the vents may offset some benefits for all I know. Rockets and planes don't have vented fins.
I'd assume the solid have to be a tad stronger. But are the blade dimensions the same? to weigh differently 100/125 either the blades or ferrule must differ. I didn't see specifics on the website to determine whether the vented has slightly larger cutting diameter or slightly more robust ferrule, or vice versa.
Was just wondering if Will had reasons to steer a buyer one way or the other.
Jaquomo+1
In addition I prefer the 100 grain option and the Titanium ferrule on the vented.
"But are the blade dimensions the same? to weigh differently 100/125 either the blades or ferrule must differ. I didn't see specifics on the website to determine whether the vented has slightly larger cutting diameter or slightly more robust ferrule, or vice versa."
There is not a 100 grain solid, as it would change the structure of the head. The 125 grain solid blade is essentially the 100 grain head with the solid blades. The extra 25 grains comes in leaving the blade solid. Blade and head dimensions stay the same. I don't mean to speak for Bill, hopefully he will chime in and confirm, but this has been my understanding.
Les
The vented IW are not any louder then any other head of similar size. In fact I think they a little less noisy then the Soilds I been shooting for the last 6 or so years... and I only killed abou two dozen animals since I been using solids. The noise hasn’t bothered any of them. The IW I think are an even better head. I can’t wait to contuine using them this year. They really impressed me the end of last season.
Les: with your explanation I understand looking at the IW website now.
Basically with the same ferrule going from vented to solid adds 25 grains. At first glance I didn't notice the difference in ferrules but I see it now looking at the pics on IW website.
Thanks for answering the questions guys. Just to confirm, the S-Series (solid blade) has the same dimensions as the V-Series (vented). You can swap blades even, but the solid blade weighs 25 grains more. (The v100 becomes the s125, both use the same titanium ferrule.)
The solid blade is very quiet and stronger, but the vented blade is extremely strong also. In theory, the vented blade should be slightly less likely to plane or be effected by a cross wind. In practice, they have been grouping very well together, at long range and with wind. I expect the performance to be very similar and more a personal preference.
Rock, I'll bite. Tell me which broadhead you are using and I'll compare it to the Iron Will, just the facts based on engineering.
I get a lot of question about what makes Iron Will a premium broadhead and why does it cost more. Two very important benefits are sharpness and edge retention. We use A2 tool steel with a hardness of 60 HRC. We do a triple draw heat treatment and cryogenic treatment to get the maximum performance from the steel. This allows us to get a very high hardness along with a high impact strength. Higher hardness allows us to get a much sharper edge and maintain that edge longer. We do a three stage grinding process where the final stage is a super fine honing. Here are some high magnification photos (200X) of five very popular broadheads along with ours in the lower right.
Many broadheads that start sharp are dull by the time they go through hide and for sure through a rib. I recently did a force test, pushing broadheads through a tanned deer hide and into a piece of foam. After two passes through hide, the two other broadheads that started sharp ended up looking like the first two photos. They were made from 420SS with a hardness of about 50 HRC (by far the most popular broadheads blade steel). There was no measureable change to the Iron Will broadhead (far right). This demonstrates the advantage of a premium blade steel at high hardness. It is cutting all the way through, not pushing tissue aside, to maximize bleeding for good blood trails and quick kills.
I just ordered a pack of the solids. Excited to check them out
Like to shoot every arrow and broadhead you are going to hunt with? No problem. A recent study showed no measurable difference in our edges to .0001” after 5 shots in the target, meaning no touch up required on 5 shots or less. I wouldn’t recommend this with other broadheads, but our A2 tool steel at 60 HRC hardness has incredible edge retention. After 100 shots we were still sharper than most broadheads out of the box.
Here is the edge picture at 300X after 5 shots in the target.
Good stuff here with the science to prove it.
Quite impressive, If they fly great without too much tuning, I'm sure they're worth the money.
Hope they’re as good as they say they are! Just ordered 6 and the travel case this morning.
I was strongly considering buying some too...then I didn't draw an elk tag this year :o(
My travel case with 6 just arrived. Very impressive. They will be taking a trip to Wyoming with me in a few months.....
A more exciting unboxing can not be had :)
