Broadhead (disambiguation)

Overview

A Broadhead[1] is a type of projectile point attached to an arrow that is sharpened and larger than the arrow shaft to make the weapon more lethal.  Historically they were commonly made of bone, stone, copper, bronze, and iron before steel became the material of choice during the Middle Ages.

A variety of shapes for broadheads exist with the most common being a triangular or lanceolate shape with two distinct cutting edges.  From the earliest broadheads dating back over 64,000 years, this has been the shape of choice for causing death by exsanguination.

Modern broadheads follow a similar pattern to historic examples but may have three or more cutting edges designed to create a large permanent wound channel to bring down game quickly.  While many hunters still choose traditional styles made of high carbon steel, mechanical broadheads are quickly gaining popularity.

A mechanical broadhead is designed to deploy its blades on impact, usually by kinetic force, to create a larger wound.  The intent behind the mechanical design is to provide arrow flight characteristics closer to field point arrows that are often used for practice.  This way a hunter can practice with inexpensive alternatives rather than risk damage to more expensive hunting arrowheads.

While it is unclear when the first true modern broadheads were created, it was likely sometime around the turn of the 20th century but the credit for the style most commonly used today is attributed to Fred Bear and his ‘Razorhead’ broadheads.  Though invented in the 1960s, they can still be purchased in a very similar pattern to the original.

Though the first mechanical broadhead was invented sometime in the mid-1950s it wasn’t until the advent of the ‘Rocket Aerohead’ in the 1980s by Greg Johnson that they began to gain traction in the hunting community.  For game like deer and larger fowl like turkey, a large percentage of hunters have moved from traditional style broadheads to a mechanical broadhead though the largest game such as elk and bear are still primarily hunted with standard broadheads. 

Types Of Broadheads

  • Cut-On-Contact Broadheads
  • Chisel Point Broadheads
  • Fixed Blade Broadheads
  • Expandable Broadheads
  • Removable Blade Broadheads

Broadhead may also refer to:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Broadhead guide
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.