Rage Trypan or Spitfire
Equipment
Moderate bow, probably shooting close to 250fps, arrows in the 470 range. Short range Whitetail setup, shots no further than 25 yds, ever. Will be hunting in your typical nasty environment where they live, i.e. cattails, willows, tall grass.
Both are flying well. I have some experience with Rage +P @ 1.5" but picked up these two heads from a local store for a good price.
I don't need any fixed blade comments as I've shot them for years.
I'm a big spitfire fan (I shoot the Max heads for whitetail). However, given the specs of your setup I might be inclined to go with the other option. Both are likely just fine though. Good luck!
Trypan may be my least favorite mechanical broadhead on earth. Hypodermic is so much better, in my experience. Killed many animals with the spitfire, never a bad experience.
I'd say Trypan. Interesting what Nick says I've only heard great things about Trypan and it's been awesome on a few uses for me. That being said Hypodermics were so cheap a while back I loaded up on em.
Big fan of the Spitfire's
IMHO the TRYPAN was an improvement on the Hypodermic………….thicker blades and better collar system. Been using them for years. Unfortunately haven’t been able to get the replacement blades in a while. Been buying the broadheads when I can find them on clearance………………..
Put a couple of each in the quiver they both work well
Both are great heads. Spitfires are no nonsense heads that have been working for a long time. I haven't had any Spitfires since Andy Simo sold. I have heard the quality is not as good but I have no idea if that is the case. Another option if you like that Spitfire style head is the Grim Reaper. The 1 3/8" Pro is awesome along with the Mini-Mag (my favorite). The Fatal Steel also looks like a good option, but I have never tried one of those. Either way I think you will be fine with the Spitfire or the Trypan. The only thing I don't like about the original Trypan is they would deploy in my quiver if I wasn't paying attention when putting an arrow in the quiver.
As Bowfreak said, Spitfires are no nonsense heads. A little challenging to replace blades but the trick is to use a toothpick to line up the holes in the blades with the holes in the body of the broadhead. I myself like having 3 blades as it adds to the total length of cutting surface and I've always felt that depending on how a 2 blade was turned when it hit, it could possibly miss hitting a vital of you hit right at the edge of it. The 3 blade averages that out in my mind anyway. I've had a lot of short impressive blood trails with Spitfires.
Some good feedback, I appreciate it. I’m using some elastic bands on the Trypans which not only takes the collars out of play, the head is more streamlined as the blades sit closer to the shaft. I know a couple guys on this site have been long time spitfire users but only the US made versions. The last two years my partner has shot two elk with them, using the non US versions two dead elk. One blood everywhere, the other was a high shot didn’t exit, typical trail to follow which is the only con I have on the spitfires is if I don’t get through. Any feedback on one hole entries with spitfires?
I have wanted to like Spitfires but for some reason they don’t fly very well for me. No experience on big game (killed a turkey with one)
I have used Rage hypodermics with good success, and have a few Hypodermics NC to try out- basically looks like the trypan but doesn’t need the collar. My son has killed a doe with the trypan with good results.
I’m pretty sure both will 99% work just fine as long as you don’t hit the shoulder.
I’m like you and will look for clearance broadheads-to test out. I currently have some B3 exoskeleton half price to test out.
Good luck let us know how it goes
Wildwilderness- that's really interesting that they don't fly well for you. I've never had an issue with mine. What's your setup? How fast are you flinging em? On how heavy an arrow? Just curious...
WW I swear the spitfires out of my bow shoot better than field points, they fly incredibly well .
You believe 270fps is enough to open them up? Curious,,,,
I've shot Spitfire 1 1/2" three blades for many years and killed a lot of animals from moose and goats to coyotes and lots of animals in between. Never had a failure and they are devastating.
When the company changed hands, they did a stupid thing to save a few bucks and boost profits. They used to make two nearly identical heads, one for compounds and one for the new high velocity crossbows. Now they only make the crossbow model and just call it Spitfire. Saves them time and money. The only difference being the little plate that retains the blade. It has a dimple that fits into a matching hole in the blade and keeps the blade locked in during launch and allows the blades to open when meeting resistance. The compound plate is just under .004" thick. The crossbow plate is .005" thick. That doesn't sound like much but in practical terms the effort to open is substantial. I always saved all my components, then in the off season, assemble heads with sharpened blades and salvaged retaining plates. I made a jig to "re-dimple" the salvaged .004" retaining plates. I've got a pretty decent stash of used components and Matt on here gave me nine brand new original heads which I use very judiciously. I don't waste them on bears and coyotes.
I normally get pass throughs on our very large bodied northern mule deer and even when not, the trails are short and easy to follow, if I don't see them go down. I shoot 65#, 29" DL and 425 to 490 grain arrows. I don't worry about shoulder blades or leg bones, because I stay away from them. I'd rather have the forgiveness of a good mechanical under less then ideal conditions that cause form break downs and that lets me hit closer to where I'm aiming. Shot placement is everything.
Everybody's broadhead hits "right with their field points" at the range. It's that very important shot that's not at the range that really counts!
I cant speak for thet Trypan, but i have killed dozens of deer and deer sized aminals with both the spit fires and the Rage Hypodermic. Both put animals down fast. The blood trails on the hypodermics are nothing short of unbelievable.
That said, the Rage Hypodermic No Collars are garbage. I shot a rosie elk and a Columbian blacktail deer with them, the elk was at 35 yards and the blacktail was 15. Neither arrow got more that 1/2" past the broadhead of penetration. I couldn't believe it so when I got home, I tried the last head on a doe and only got about 6" of penetration. Maybe they have changed the no collar design, but I will never shoot them. I went and bought as many packs as possible of the old-style collared hypodermics that i could find so i should be set for life, lol
I don’t know why the spitfires didn’t like my bow. Now I will admit I am not the best at tuning my bow or have the best form. But I can get field points to hit a bulls eye at 60yds.
For some reason I’ve never had NAP heads fly perfect for me, starting way back with Thunderheads hitting 6” off at 20! It may be non concentric inserts (I shoot basic Axis with HIT) who knows. But Rage Hypos and Grim Reapers have always been more consistent for me (I am talking about 60+ yards)
Look at the grim reaper pro series 1 3/8", great head, I killed my elk last year with them, they worked great
I noticed the same thing about the Hypodermic NC njbuck! I bought a pack when I couldn’t find the Trypans but upon examination I didn’t like the no-collar system OR the blade angle! (Not as swept-back as the Trypans) For these reasons I only kept them as “backups” in case I ran out of Trypans. I never actually used them on a deer. Thanks for that insight…………..think I will get rid of them now that I have more Trypans.
I see they have apparently gone back to the collars on the NEW Black Series Trypans
I've shot a few deer with the old collared Trypans with great results. I like rear deploying mechs since you're only guaranteed one hole. That goes for any head. The few I killed were all pass thru's with a 60 lbs. bow.
My first 2 deer this year were with the new G5 T2. All stainless ferrule and the blade retention system is the best I've ever seen. Excellent head so far!
Does it take a lot of energy for the blades to deploy, Nick?
Ambush’s good results got me shooting Original USA 1.5” Spitfires 8 seasons ago. I’ve had equally good results using them on moose, elk, whitetails, Coues deer, black bears, mountain and central barren ground caribou and a big polar bear. Accurate, good blood trails and tough enough on bone to survive a hit in a black bear spine at 271 fps launch ahead of a 471 gr arrow. Also a dead centered rib that was cut-off on entry on a big bodied NW Alberta moose. Penetration to the far side trying to poke out in this case on a 40 yd shot.
He summarized the issue I had with the non-USA made in Taiwan heads….they open harder, at around double the pounds of force required to open the 3 blades. I carefully measured this with my RCBS trigger pull gage. Haven’t bought anymore of them for several years so don’t know anything about the recent heads if they are better or worse. I did modify the dimple plate on the 4 or 5 year old imports to allow easier opening by lowering the dimple by grinding a thousands off.
Never shot Rages but know quite a few good hunters that have stacked up a lot of game with the 2” version and get good blood trails. Not sure which version they like though? They do have more exposed blade surface than a Spitfire so can’t imagine that they fly better than a Spitfire if both are mounted straight to the shaft….no wobble under the spin test.
And as far as the shooting in willows and cattails....I would not, unless you have a clear shooting lane. No broadhead equipped arrow is likely to continue on a straight course to the target if it touches something like a willow or cattail stem, voice of experience speaking here. And most of the deflections were with smaller fixed blade heads....but Chad already knew that I'm sure.
"Does it take a lot of energy for the blades to deploy, Nick?"
Probably stiffer than a Rage but I can't imagine hitting any animal that they wouldn't deploy. One thing for sure you won't have to worry about is having them open in your quiver and there is zero rattle.
Thanks Nick. Sounds good so far.
Lots of good info for sure and some additional brands and types, but I've bought these and I'm going with one of them. They both fly great, maybe a slight edge to the spitfire at 30-40 yds. My intent was to shoot a couple bears this last spring to test them, but never had one in front of me I wanted to kill.
@ Kurt, no shooting through brush ect, my concern is good blood trails through those nasty river bottoms out here with grass and willows over your head which is why I was asking about spitfires and entry only holes only. Last years buck I was on my hands and knees for awhile after what seemed to be a great shot and it was stressful.
In my experience the Spitfire flies better than the Trypan. I think you will be happy using either head. They both are very good.
My concerns with the Spitfires echos what Ambush reported. I've never bought a Spitfire. I found an arrow in the woods with one attached. It had fallen out of a quiver as it was unopened and near the parking area. I was amazed at how hard it was to open. As a guy who has shot a bunch of deer with Rocket Steelheads, I was kind of interested in the Spitfires when Rocket quit making Steelheads. But I did not buy Spitfires when finding how hard they were to open. Steelheads have worked amazing, even when I've gone down in poundage to 51-52#. That rubber band retention system that I've heard so much negative about has never failed. It just works. I would use a Wasp Jackhammer before a Spitfire.
Trypan’s are amazing from moose to whitetail.
Rage Trypan is all I shoot now out of a compound
20 plus years with Spitfires on everything from coyote to a couple of Zebras. Over the years I have gone from a 70lb bow to my current 63lbs (at 76 years the 63 pounds is my max comfort level). I've generally had pass throughs except when hitting large bones.
Trypans are my confidence head. I’ve killed so much stuff with them and every time it’s almost excessive. Nicks comment on them also has me intrigued, I’d love to hear his experience. I’ve had nothing but good and have heard only the same until that comment.
@ Ambush, strange, the 125 spitfires open pretty smooth, the 100s i have are much harder to open so there is some consistency differences between them .
Huge Trypan fan… used them on my last 4 elk. Using the no collar version now.
Gil,
What is your initial impression of the NC? Have you noticed any difference in penetration?
@ Bowfreak, changing subject..... a bit. Have you seen these? The new 1.75" Trypan Black with collars. I tried providing a link but the gods of Bowsite crash. Cabelas, Scheels, all the major outlets have them.
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/rage-black-series-trypan-p-2-blade-mechanical-broadhead?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Cabelas%7CShopping%7CPMax%7CHunting%7CHunting%7CNAud%7CTopPerf%7CNMT&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwpbi4BhByEiwAMC8Jnfx8H5vsPwCty4hQso24zXlxkSp3kH4J9w-cV5C7_jTd3kbFvE-W2BoCoAoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I hadn't seen that head. If it has an even more swept back profile than the Trypan it should be phenomenal. My only issue with the Trypan is them deploying in my quiver. I'm assuming this would be an issue with these (for me anyway) too.
On a side note.....why doesn't someone like Tightspot offer a different quiver hood? If they offered the same material with little nubs in the liner instead of the broadhead slots plus the double gripper there would be zero issues with them deploying in the quiver. I wish someone made a quality quiver like that now. I had an old Bohning double gripper quiver, I believe it was a Lynx, that had these little nubs in the hood. It was perfect for holding arrows and would not deploy blades either.
A nice thing about Spitfires is that the blade edge is always protected. And they don’t partially deploy in any quiver.
Mark, penetration is nearly identical from what I can tell… I got sick of broken tabs. But I love the design.
I keep checking back hoping to see what Nick has against Trypans, but am left disappointed lol.
If I was going to shoot Spitfires I’d just shoot the wasp jackhammer.
SHARP blades, SHARP chisel tip. Blades sit back from the point a little. It’s just a confidence booster for angled shots.
Simple o ring design. No worry about a deployment or partial deployment in the quiver.
Or grim reaper pro series, the blades sit back even further than the jackhammer to aid in angled shots, id say the best over the top bh
Jason, while don’t have a huge sample size with those, a buddy asked me to text them for him, but I think I killed two things. First thing was my buck by accident last year. Thought I was going to get a chance at a doe slipping through the bush so I switched to my “testing” arrow and I forgot to switch back to my Trypan. Anyways, panicked when I got to full draw on my target buck realizing I had a broadhead that I’d never tested before. 10 ringed him and he ran about 30 yards and stopped and stood there for about 30-40 seconds before tipping over. Went and checked the arrow (pass through) and the broadhead ferrule had shattered. Would’ve been ribs at most for bone contact. You can see in the pic that the spring is exposed as well as one blade snapped I did give that head a second try on a doe and it performed great, but the first experience wouldn’t leave me buying any. I will say they all spun perfect and tolerances seemed exceptional. Accurate to 100 no issues
MPauls, that seems to be the theme with those heads No thanks.
I dont have much of a sample size either, one bull elk, they did fine and no damage to the bh. Before I ever used them I shot multiple times through 5/8" plywood and they survived undamaged, that's with a 495gr arrow going 280fps
I had some bad luck with Grim Reapers years back so I just don't like em. I also just see the Rage design as too superior to pull out an over the top mech. If I want to use an over the top it will only be for penetration and would use a Rocket Steelhead. Let's say for moose or something. I won't shoot a broadhead fixed or mech that doesn't have a steel or better ferrule.
The expander cup has been upgraded on the GR. If the finish is smooth on the cup it is the stronger updated version. The old cups were fluted, for lack of a better description.
Went with the rocket type head , worked great full pass through.
I shot a small buck a couple days ago - I literally saw blood explode out upon impact .... like a few video's I've seen
crazy blood trail -
