New wasp fixed broadhead
Connecticut
Wasp has a new fixed blade broad head ...its made with havelon blades and titanium ....looks awesome ...just like the havelon knives
It’s probably fine, but that V-shaped cut-out in the blade strikes me a Bad Idea.
It doesn’t add any strength, and having something point forward like that is just asking for it to snag on tissue as it passes through. Maybe if they had sharpened everything... otherwise, it’s just more drag and greater potential to increase clotting.
Also, any kind of a vented blade design can whistle.
I just don’t understand why they would take the chance of compromising the performance to add something that’s purely cosmetic... except that of course most guys are suckers for something that looks cool. And I’m not a fan of stuff that was made to sell first and work second....
I held them in my hand and they are anything buy cheap.... Nap makes a solid blade but that is the only one I have seen
Not sure but i heard titanium blades although stronger are not as sharp as stainless.
They are not titanium, aluminum ferrule and stainless steel blades. I shoot the boss 3 blade. Tough broadhead Made in CT.
Agree with Tobywon, I have been shooting the Wasp Boss three blade for years. I have taken many deer with this broadhead. It always does the job if I do my part. I also like that it is made in Connecticut.
Sorry screwed it up....was going off memory ...here is the write up..
CLOSE BROADHEADS REPLACEMENT BLADES AND PARTS APPAREL ACCESSORIES WHY WASP COMMUNITY Search
FAQ CUSTOMER SUPPORT ITEMS: 0 HOME|BROADHEADS|FIXED-BLADE BROADHEADS|WASP HAVALON HV NEW! Wasp Havalon HV Broadhead Wasp Havalon HV Wasp Havalon HV
WASP HAVALON HV Wasp Havalon HV logo $44.99 SKU: 4510 The new Wasp HAVALON HV features an aerodynamic, ultra-compact, aerospace-grade aluminum ferrule that provides field-point accuracy and easy tuning. The .035-inch thick surgical sharp stainless steel blades combine for a 1-3/16” cutting diameter. As with all Wasp fixed blade broadheads, the blades are easily replaced and each pack comes with three complete broadheads and 6 replacement blades
I was wondering if anyone can tell me how they group at 30 or 40 yds? I have killed deer with both the boss and drone and really like how they fly. My issue was the blades do not hold up. The blades were chipping out just from shooting at a 16-1 target. The thicker Havalon blades seem like a great upgrade so I ordered some. I hope they fly like all the other Wasp products. Thank's in advance for any imput.
And Beman is offering up to a $40 rebate on their arrows for 2019.
Thanks Bbb for the info but not sure how that pertains to the thread.
Too lazy to start a new thread.
Ha Ha! at least your honest.
The new Wasp HAVALON HV features an aerodynamic, ultra-compact, aerospace-grade aluminum ferrule
Aluminum ferrules aren't strong as Steel. I'll stick with Slick Trick Mags. All steel and 4 blade not 3.
I hear you nehunter I killed two nice bucks this year with the New Wicked tricks and man do those things leave a hole! The only thing is I can't get them to fly consistently. I have had good luck with the consistency of the Wasps but have always wanted a thicker blade. I guess I am never happy. lol.
I have about 5 different broadheads that I've used over the years and I can't say that any one head was/is better than another.
Taking shots at close range, 30 yards or less, has been my focus and not the shape of the head. I tried and didn't like Rage because the bands sometimes broke while in my quiver. Any quality, sharp head seems to be fine with me.
“Any quality, sharp head seems to be fine with me.”
Makes sense to me! It’s a pretty simple tool with a very simple purpose. Don’t know why people had to make it complicated ;)
Seems odd to see a question about how they fly at X yards... assuming that they all spin true, you will have the same flight issues with just about any head, because either your set-up is tuned or it isn’t.
I suppose a mechanical could forgive a poor tune, but then you hit where you’re aiming with an arrow that may be pointed somewhere else... in which case your penetration will be sub-optimal and your arrow may smack the side of the animal like a jockey’s whip.... both of which can really lighten up a blood trail....
I used to shoot Wasp fixed blade with the lock ring and orange body years and years ago. Then switched to the Wasp mechanicals. Shot deer with both. Both flew and worked great. Switched (for no good reason) to Sonics and now been shooting Rage for the past 9 or so years. I think they all are only as good as the shooter.....And I am no where near the best...average at best. lol...
Love the phrase, "as good as the shooter" when it comes to broadheads. Sums it all up neatly.
I was shooting slick tricks but had a wierd fail on a elk.....I was shootin rage but can't use mechanicals In idaho which is why I'm trying these
Jax, does Idaho outlaw mechanical heads or just the outfitter? I know some outfitters don't like them for elk.
GF- there are a lot of heads out there that aren’t great flyers. Some have significantly added drag and start hitting low at long ranges. I’ve seen some that grouped great but needed to be tuned for, opposed to fly perfectly out of a tuned bow. I won’t shoot a broadhead unless it hits right with my field points, even at long range, outvof a tuned bow. There are a lot of options that fit that bill these days though.
skipmaster1 - I agree with you that broadheads should hit right with feild points - that is some thing I will work on this year. For some reason my slick tricks did not group with the feild points last year, it could be that the bow would not paper tune perfectly. Which broadheads have you found to to hit right with feildpoints.
bb - wow! I'm surprised the entire State doesn't allow them. I read quite a bit about the different broadheads before my first trip to New Mexico and the data seemed to lean towards better penetration with fixed blades, and the G5 Montec was the best choice.
Well, I'd have to go back and check the regs but The state does not allow Mechanical broadheads and I believe lighted sights if memory serves... that's not unusual, there are other states that don't allow lighted pins. It should be no revelation that for species the size of Elk, that many mechanicals by design, are not the best choice for hunting Elk. Fixed blades *generally* have a decided advantage. G5's for Elk as best choice? That certainly leave opportunity for debate. There are certainly better options. There are even a few great options for mechanicals that I would have no problem using. There seems to be a fair number of hunters on this site who like the Wasp Broadheads. (great Company) I was good friends with Dick Malesky when he was alive. I brought him on an Elk hunt with me in Arizona many years ago. I remember when he first started producing mechanical Broadheads. He told me then that he would never use them on Elk. As tough as whitetails are, Elk bring toughness to a whole 'nuther level.
BBB yes its a law in Idaho ...the outfitter had to give me some for the hunt as I got there with rages..... I shot my elk with Magnus stingers....they work well but sail alittle 50 yards.... At 20 or 30/yards things are different than 50 or 60
My Wasp havalons came today and they are very sharp out of the box. I also weighed them and all 3 weighed exactly 100 gr. With the new ferrule and thicker blades they should be an upgrade over the Drones. I hope they fly as good as they look. They definitely look like a stronger head. Unfortunately I just had surgery and can't shoot for a few weeks. I will post again once I can shoot them.
Wasp Archery was the first company to offer a replaceable blade Broadhead. When Wasp first designed the Bullet Series of Broadheads, 100 & 125 grain around 1992. Our company approached Dick Malesky with the idea for a 75 grain bullet series of broadheads which were later offered in 75, 85 and 90 grain (4 blade). Since it’s first introduction to the market place we sell around 300 packs of 75 grain “Boss Bullet” heads per year. In strength testing we shot the head up to 600 fps through Steel 55 gallon barrels and (10) sheet of 1/4” plywood spaced 1” apart from one another. The “bullet” heads were shot through the 55 gallon steel drums (5) consecqutive times with no blade failures, both Muzzy and Thunderhead Broadheads had the blades blown off on impact of the steel drums on the first shot. The Boss Bullet is the strongest and most accurate head we have tested in the last 20 years and is the only broadhead we sell to our customers.
BBB if you want to test / shoot the heads for your upcoming elk trip I will send you several.
Airrow what company do you work for?
Airrow, thanks for the offer but my next elk hunt is on hold. I still have 2 different heads for elk that have never taken an elk. I don't know what happens when you retire and it seems like you have less free time??
BBB my dad says the same thing... You gotta just book it
jax - you're dad is right. I tend to put my family ahead of everything else, so it's tough to justify in my mind. Mind you my family has no problem with it, they tell me all the time to go and do it. My wife doesn't want me to go alone like the last time in New Mexico, so I'm trying to find an outfitter out west in a state with over the counter tags. I guess I just need to do my homework and get it done.
BBB its only a week of me time ....gotta live
Just ordered a pack. The debate was these or the striker v2. The selling point for me was the two sets of replacement blades that came in the 3pack. What does everyone think so far? Jeff.
Shot my first few deer with Wasps... Love those things. Even if I've not used them in years. Maybe Ill get some Jackhammers and give them a go this year...
Looks the Havelon Broadhead was #1 in this test. My favorite Slick Trick was 2nd or 3rd. They didn't test every BH and it looked a little "Commercially" to me.
24 more days till everyone is happy again!
“I’ve always thought of my broudhead in terms lethality/accuracy not so much in durability because they are a one and done for the most part”
Sez who????
We’ve got an Old-Timer on Leatherwall who hasn’t bought new broadheads since 1958; over 300 kills and that’s just the Black Bears.
If your set-up is properly tuned and the blades are sharp, lethality depends on placement and accuracy depends on YOU.
There is no Broadhead that can save your bacon when you screw the pooch.
You can still buy the heads that our Old-Timer uses for LESS than the disposable ones you’re probably using; about 5 bucks a pop. And newer designs won’t do a damn thing that a head designed in the ‘30s will do, except cost extra money, break, or fail outright when you’ve done your part.
If you LIKE the newer designs, then go ahead and use ‘em. It’s your money. Just don’t delude yourself that an arrowhead needs to be anything more than sharp, well-placed, and reasonably tough.
Feels like a good spot to point out that mech's result in fewer lost deer due to wounding. By a solid margin for compound shooters, and very strongly for xbow shooters. (see attached link)
There are many excellent way's to solve problems. And a Model A ford, well maintained will still drive me on an amazing road trip all over this country... But so will my Tacoma. I'm not going back to a Model A just because, when maintained and cared for, it can work excellently.
There are multiple good options in most areas, broadhead selection not being immune.
Shoot a head you believe in, feel good about and are excited to hunt with. With those things in place, you are most likely going to be able to put that head where it should go and have the best possible outcome for the deer, and you. The rest of it... Just fun to debate.
You don’t read too good, do ya, Kid? LOL
Larry doesn’t sharpen his heads on a rock; he uses a file and a stone like any intelligent person with the skills to do so. I said before that he also had the skills to flatten out a bent head on a rock.
And he doesn’t lose too many arrows because A) he doesn’t miss much and B) he hunts very different cover than we have here. He also no doubt started off with quite a good supply of those heads, since he was making his living with them. Point is, he’s never found a plain, old 2-blade to be in any way lacking or deficient when it comes to lethality.
Will - the Tacoma analogy doesn’t hold up. You like your comfy ride and your bucket seats and your automatic transmission, power mirrors, AC, stereo, etc. Fine. Makes getting from Here to There a lot more pleasant. Nothing wrong with that.
A Broadhead ONLY has to be sharp and well-placed. There is no benefit to looking good or cushioning your back-side or cranking up the surround-sound satellite radio in air-conditioned comfort (or heated seats??) while doing it. No deer or Elk has ever refused to die because it was shot with an unfashionable Broadhead, but a lot have failed to expire in a timely fashion when they were shot with a Really Cool Broadhead that had a significant performance liability.
I’d agree that a lot of people probably do make out better with mechs than fixed, but JMO, that says a helluvalot more about the Users than it does about the heads. It’s not a shortcoming of the Head, but the Hunter. If a guy can’t follow a deer without a heavy blood trail, or he’s prone to taking shots he should really probably pass up, then yeah, maybe he’ll find more of the animals he hits if he uses a big mechanical. But you’ve gotta realize that a lot of guys manage to lose deer that have been hit hard with RIFLES every year, too.
A guy who can’t sharpen a blade to where it’ll shave hair probably ought to use replaceable, pre-sharpened. Thunderheads are EXCELLENT in that regard, IMO. And they’re tough as hell and they fly great.
None of my bows have the poop to reliably run a big mech clean through a deer, I suppose, but from seeing some of the Horn-Porn shows, neither do many of the most powerful compounds.... I’ll take two holes over one EVERY time. And if people want to talk about short recoveries, you can’t dismiss all the reports of animals shot with 2-blades which had no idea they’d even been hit... They just flinch a little, then stand there or slowly walk off and tip over. Never seen a mech-shot deer that didn’t run like it had been shot out of a cannon....
Anyway... a lot of guys don’t seem to be able to hear anything Good about one thing with imagining that they’re hearing something Bad about the other.... And that’s not the point....
A beat-up Tacoma will take you places that a Model A could never have gone on its best day ever. But the most that any Broadhead can do is to kill an animal quickly and cleanly, and there is no technological marvel required to do that. Just put a sharp head through both lungs and let it run itself out.
Kid, GF is a good dude. In fairness I only "know" him from here... but he's been around for a long time and has a LOT of good info. I dont think he was trying to bash. I think he was presenting a different view of it, which can help you affirm what you know, or help you expand your way of thinking. All good... And definitely work to find the set up you really enjoy. Because THAT is what sets you up the best. Keep well Will
Ha - GF we must have posted at about the same time! I hadn't seen your reply. Good points. The goal, and the need, are the same - sharp object through vitals = quickly dead deer.
How you do that can be accomplished a number of ways. knapped flint works great based on several thousand years of human evolution. So does a modern Mech. The study I linked above shows how more folks find hit deer with mechs than fixed blades. I like those odds since I'm one of the 2 most likely things to do something which negatively impacts shot placement and effectiveness, the other, being the deer.
I'm with you on the TV folks. I dont know if it's true, but I have often read they often shoot relatively low # to ease drawing. Speaking personally, I feel comfortable, and see my arrows sticking 12" into the dirt after passing through deer often enough, to know that my energy is adequate. My wife though, there is a zero percent chance with the energy she is shooting that she could get good penetration with say a 1.5 or 2" cut mech. Likewise many recurve/longbows... Though it would be neat to see what a really heavy arrow (say 600-700+ grains) could do in that situation with a simple mech head.
I'm getting into the weeds though, just because it's fun stuff to talk about. In the end, there are a LOT of good heads today. If you feel confident in your gear, then you are in a good spot today.
Agreed!
1) Don’t buy anything on Clearance, because there is a REASON nobody else bought it!
2) Don’t buy anything that hasn’t been on the market for AT LEAST 3-5 years, and the longer it has remained unchanged, the better.
3) Don't shoot a mechanical without a truckload of KE and ample weight behind it.
4) Just so we’re all being honest... let’s not forget that it is not physically possible to get steel as shark as properly knapped stone.
Only placement can trump sharpness, and in the latter regard, we are still trying to catch up with the Stone Age.
I wonder how many generations have had this conversation?
LOL
