they are making these again !

Quote from: gordydog on December 30, 2025, 07:47:31 PMI like the discontinued 1918 autumn orange from my 51# Big River longbow. Shot many bucks and a bear with these and they usually bend. Down to less than a dozen now.

thank you very much! I really do appreciate your response!

Quote from: Roger Norris on January 01, 2026, 10:54:54 AMI love this thread.Talk to me about the 3:1 ratio. Why? Not just becasue Howard Hill said so....what is the physics? Why are so many broadheads roughly 3:1?

I can't speak to actual physics and have no real scientific data there but I can't help think that maybe it has to do with a sweet spot where some crucial elements are satisfied,  amounting to good penetration and adequate hemorrhaging to humanly put down critters and recover them.  You figure,  a short stubby head probably would not needle in and track the way a long pointy head would.  And even though only 1 inch at the wide portion of the head,  3 inches of linear cutting edge is better than anything less than that..... more blade length riding through vitals. All this in the design that ALSO has to be in certain mass weight parameters to be useable!  Restricted by only the material or metal suitable to make a head.  Maybe anything longer than 3" and you create structural weaknesses?  Flimsy prone to bending on bone? Wider than 1 or so inches and drag or friction negates some of the attributes of the long slender needle point?   I'm inclined to think that it may have been stated not so much in raw science or physics but simply because Mr. Hill figured it the sweet spot as a result of real world testing and results yielded.   This just me thinking on it 

I see you are using Safari Tuff arrow shafts and shooting a Black Widow.  Give Randy Cooling at Safari Tuff a call.  He is very thorough setting up arrows that are optimized to the bow.  He should be able to help.  IMO you should be able to make your 500 spines to work.  You also should be getting an exit hole with you broadhead/arrow combo.  Seems to me you just have not yet found the right combination of arrow spine, arrow length, and point weight.

I bought 2 Howard Hill quivers for my son and I about 10 years ago
Idk if Howard Hill Archery is still in business, but if they are, I highly recommend them!!

1969

Quote from: Flingblade on January 10, 2026, 02:07:49 PMRay, 
The Journeyman heads that I have seen are convex not concave.  Simmons sharks are concave.  Did you mean to say convex?  I've been shooting Simmons heads for about 10 years now.  Great flight, great penetration and great blood trails.  Win, win, win.
I've shot a lot of different broadheads over the years and the worst I have ever shot were the original Wensel Woodsmen heads.  Every time they contacted a rib or anything hard the tip curled over ruining the head.  I heard some guys were grinding the tip down to make it stiffer, but I just threw them out and switched to Simmons.  The high carbon steel of the Woodsmen sharpens easily but is too soft for a long lean design like that.  Interestingly, I never had that problem with the original Snuffer heads.  Similar steel but less acute angle at the tip is the reason I assume.
I had some Howard Hill heads but never did hunt with them as I couldn't get them sharp enough and finally gave them to a friend.  Very hard spring steel that definitely wouldn't curl.  They were 3 to 1 design.  The Grizzly heads are not 3 to 1 design, close but not quite.  I had some of those but wasn't good at sharpening the single bevel, so they never made it in the quiver either.

Gary (Flingblade),
YES, absolutely meant to say convex! Thank you for catching that (I edited).  I know Hill advocated that concave was best penetrating, straight edge second and convex was third best penetration performance.  It was interesting over time my two blade Zwickey Delta heads became slightly concave because of re-sharpening over and over.  They lasted me a long time. 

Chad,
Thanks for the kind words.  I enjoy doing articles for TBM. 

I've had the HH bug for two years now. Pretty certain it isn't curable. Northern Mist American. Hanging out hoping for a January whitetail.

I've had this Kodiak magnum for about 15 years. Serial number 9k101. How old is it? I put the skins on it about 10 years ago. Killed a couple bugs and one doe with it in the past.

Ray, 
The Journeyman heads that I have seen are convex not concave.  Simmons sharks are concave.  Did you mean to say convex?  I've been shooting Simmons heads for about 10 years now.  Great flight, great penetration and great blood trails.  Win, win, win.
I've shot a lot of different broadheads over the years and the worst I have ever shot were the original Wensel Woodsmen heads.  Every time they contacted a rib or anything hard the tip curled over ruining the head.  I heard some guys were grinding the tip down to make it stiffer, but I just threw them out and switched to Simmons.  The high carbon steel of the Woodsmen sharpens easily but is too soft for a long lean design like that.  Interestingly, I never had that problem with the original Snuffer heads.  Similar steel but less acute angle at the tip is the reason I assume.
I had some Howard Hill heads but never did hunt with them as I couldn't get them sharp enough and finally gave them to a friend.  Very hard spring steel that definitely wouldn't curl.  They were 3 to 1 design.  The Grizzly heads are not 3 to 1 design, close but not quite.  I had some of those but wasn't good at sharpening the single bevel, so they never made it in the quiver either.