Anybody switched back from single bevel to double bevel

[SuperK]

With all the great single bevel broadheads being manufactured now and all the impressive "testimonies" from single bevel users, has anybody switched back to standard double bevel broadheads?  Not trying to start anything but just wondering if the only thing you changed in your arrow "set-up" was to screw on a single bevel broadhead, did you see any advantages? (esp. on deer?)  Once again, I'm not trying to start any trouble, I'm just curious what you have experienced.  The reason I'm asking is because several years ago I used single bevel No Mercy broadheads on wooden shafts.  My bow was 50 pounds (46 at my draw) and my arrows weighed 500 grains.  The only deer I killed that year with that set-up was hit in the rib cage with a pass-thru. No S shaped cut, nothing out of the normal.  I tried that combo on a bigger than average buck that a friend had killed.  I was about 10 steps away from the deer hanging up.  I tried on purpose to hit him in the shoulder blade.  When the arrow hit, it made a loud crack, but I was able to wiggle the broadhead back out of the shoulder blade/upper leg bone. Then I read a post about a fellow hitting a deer in the neck and the arrow exiting the hip and I wonder why the big difference?   I'm thinking (but I don't know ...thus the reason for this post) that one needs to incorporate as many "improvements" as possible (as stated by Dr. Ashby) to get the full advantage offered by single bevel broadheads. Have you tried single bevel broadheads and switched back?  What did you experience?  Thanks for your time.

[Orion]

I usually have one or two single bevel and one or two double bevel broad heads in my quiver at the same time.  And have for a number of years.  Which one I pull out to kill a critter is a matter of chance.

I've shot two-and 4-blade Zeikey deltas for a lot of years, and they are excellent heads, but unfortunately, that design does not make for a good single bevel construction.  The front of the head is triple laminated, which makes it strong but it also means that 1/3 of the head is not part of the single bevel.  In fact, it's working against the single bevel.  Also, when you get past the triple thickness point, the thickness of the single blade remaining is rather thin so a single bevel there has very little effect on the broad head's ability to turn in a critter.

I really like Zwickey heads and it pains me to say this, but if you want to shoot a single bevel, there are better choices out there -- Abowyer, Grizzly, etc.

Regardless, regarding penetration, I've found higher FOC and skinnier carbon arrows shaft diameters have a much greater effect on penetration than broad head blade bevel.

[Biathlonman]

I go back and forth depending on mood, also use three blades more then anything else.  I really like the ease of many of the pull through sharpeners, especially the RADA, and they are all set up for double bevels.

[damascusdave]

I have no idea why I might limit myself to one or the other...I shoot both

DDave

[MnFn]

I have both and like them both.  It is maybe a little easier for me to sharpen single bevels.

I normally shoot left wing fletched arrows, but ended up with some right wing fletched arrows.  All of my single bevels are for left wing.  For that reason, I  am using 160 grain Stos double bevel this year.  I really like these heads.

It probably would not have mattered which head I used this spring but I got a complete pass through on my bear with the Stos set-up.  53# Blacktail recurve and a Sitka Spruce shaft.
With broadhead total weight was a little over 600 grains.
For what I am hunting this year I see no need to change anything.

I guess the double bevel is a little more flexible - I can use them on either left wing or right wing fletch.

I would probably go back to single bevel if I get the opportunity to ever hunt elk or larger game again,

[MEsquivel]

I take both.
Two narrow single bevels and two wide doubles.
Never tried 3 blade.

[amicus]

Not all single bevel broad heads are created equal.

High foc and a good single bevel bh is a very serious set up.

Gilbert

[Kris]

Ditto what Orion said.

"High foc and a good single bevel bh is a very serious set up."

X2

I shoot both single and double bevel heads and have lots of both, plus some 3 blades as well...it's fun!

Kris

[ChuckC]

I shoot both.  Most modern name brand broad heads are perfectly fine for deer and any other game we have here is the USA.

What makes the broad head carve an S cut is the differential pressures on the blade bevel.  Having substantial bevel material is what causes it.  The Zwickey has very little metal, compared to most other single bevels and you saw what happens.

Still a great head, but there is a lacking in that department.

Single bevels are tools, not magic.  What happens to my shot, this one time, may never ever happen again, with ANY set up.  The stars aligned for that one described to happen. Don't count on that to happen for you.  

And please. .  aim for the lungs, not the shoulder ( unless it is already dead).  (That sort of) Testing on live critters is really not what we should be doing here.
ChuckC

[alligatordond]

I have killed critters with both an this is my purely anecdotal experience:
One elk, 3 whitetails, with single bevel has yet to produce much of a blood trail. HOWEVER, each animal I either saw or heard fall and they did not run off like a "bat out of hell"
Now many many deer have been taken with double bevels Zwickey Deltas and most produce an adequate blood trail, though there were some poor ones too. The deer I have shot with the Zwickeys travelled farther but with better blood trails.  
So I am still experimenting with but are not yet sold on the single bevel, mostly due to the the fact that I have recovered and heard fall every animal I shot with singles.
But the short answer is yes I have switched back to double bevel Zwickey Deltas

[Kris]

"one needs to incorporate as many "improvements" as possible (as stated by Dr. Ashby) to get the full advantage offered by single bevel"

Not necessarily.  If you were to change just the BH to a long narrow single bevel, in theory you are going to improve your penetration potential w/o changing anything else. The one caveat to this is, you have to make sure you match the spin of your arrow with the bevel rotation of your head i.e. left wing with left bevel, right wing with right bevel.  

You do not say above, whether you matched your spin with your bevel?  A hanging deer carcass can be a cold, hard thing...much different than on the hoof.  Not an apples to apples comparison.  And yes...in this case other arrow improvements could have made the difference.  

There is no cost (relatively) in incorporating as many of the beneficial options to your arrow setups as possible.  I spend all year working on arrows and setups...it's a hobby.

Kris

[schlaggerman]

Let me start out by saying my experience with single bevel heads is limited to say the least, but due to all the hype I had to give them a try. Two years ago I shot a mule deer buck with a Strickland Helix single bevel broadhead. Now this broadhead has a fairly substantial bevel edge to it. I literally made a perfect shot on this deer, straight through he heart with a complete jpass through, my hunting partner can vouch for me as he watched me pull the heart out of the chest cavity with the two blade slice right through it. The cut had a slight "S cut" to it, not much. But here is the rub; the deer ran about 100 yds. and never dropped a single drop of blood. After the field dressing we back tracked the trail again thinking somehow we must have missed the blood trail, nope, not a drop did we find.

The kill was efficient, the blood trail was not acceptable in my opinion. Needless to say I have gone back to my four blade Magnus or three blade VPA broadheads for deer hunting.

Now my latest experience. Last fall I shot a whitetail buck, yes again, straight through the heart with a complete pass through with a four blade Magnus broadhead. The deer traveled about 60 yards through heavy brush and was down in seconds just like the mule deer from two years ago. However, by the time I had tracked him down my pants legs were totally covered in blood from brushing against the blood laden vegetation along the blood trail. I will continue to shoot multi-blade heads at deer size game in the future. My hunting companion for several years used two bladed heads and I have helped him out on several different blood trails. I won't say the blood trails were non-existant like the mule deer's but they were all slight.

[Overspined]

I usually just post pics of blood trails, but I'll just say there is no reason to go back to DB when blood trails are so big and spray so wide that I'd not go back unless I couldn't sharpen them. Not that DB don't work, just ridiculous how good SB work when sharpened properly. I've shot a LOT of deer. There isn't a comparison in my opinion, just shooting griz 2 blades. Not even with any 3 blade I've ever used. I'm including all deer with any bow weapon and broadhead.  Some have been 2 1/2" wide 3 blade. I'd take a griz every time. Obviously I've been trad only for a lot of years. I remember a trad hunter that posted arrows from over 50 deer killed, never stepped away from that design.  What works works. Not saying DB aren't effective but I would never go back.  I've never used anything but griz though. I can think of one lung hit deer that made it more than just out of sight, and it was a hit high and back and I was thrilled to track it and kill it.  Most go around 40-60 yds and are dead.