Eclipse Broadhead

[OH at work]

I was wondering who is using the Eclipse broadhead and what your experience has been with them (ease of sharpening, durability, blood trail, etc).

Thanks,
Joe

[Big Dave]

I just started usin them again (I used them when they first came out and were called Journeyman)They are a little hard to sharpen because of the metal,it's hard, but not too hard but when you get them sharp they stay that way. They are very tough.As for blood trail, I only killed one with it and I could almost see him fall but there was enough blood to follow.And they fly real well for me.      

[aromakr]

Joe:
To be honest with you, I doubt you'll find a better head. When you look at all of the major's the only real difference is quality control. And Eclipse is in my opinion the best. They take a little more elbow grease to sharpen as they are about 2 rockwell points harder, but in the same light they hold their edge better.
Bob

[Jack Denbow]

What Bob said.

[Bryan Burkhardt]

I've shot several broadheads over the years and Eclipse is my favorite.  Some very nice animals have been Eclipsed over the last few years!

Bryan

[Mike Yancey]

I used one the first of this month in South Texas to take a good hog. The shot was quatering away going in at the last rib going through the vitals to the front, with no damage done to the head. They fly good and guite!

Mike

[Tree man]

I'm off on a hunt next week and Eclipse will be my heads. They sharpen well but take some work to establish the bevel angles I want. They take a great edge. Ferrules are true. The basic design is long proven. The teflon coating can't hurt..but I'm curious to see if a noticible difference in penetration will result.

[Pat B.]

I was a diehard Zwickey user...
The last eleven critters I took were with the Eclipe and now I'm a diehard Eclipe broadhead user. The 125 grain model is similar in size to an Eskimo while the 145 is more like a Delta in size. I used both and won't be changing any time soon..

[bsh_jr]

Same as Bob, best I've used.
brannon

[JBiorn]

I wonder if the teflon coating doesn't make these as goo as they are? I'm VERY interested now......I'm a Zwickey guy, and it would take a lot to change that..

 Jeff

[longbow357]

i recall that Dr ashby reported better penetration in BONE due to the teflon (but not soft tissue).

either way they are my favourite 145gr head, and as stated above, the quality control is exceptional. they hold up to the rigors of stumping very nicely too.  

[DarkeGreen]

I'm not sure the teflon coating is worth the extra money ($8.00)over the cost of a Zwickey. That's a $1.33 more each, maybe more depending on which Zwickey you buy. When the green paint gets wet it's going to be just as slick and once you get to the ferrule the surface of the blade isn't going to be touching anything. If they were the same price, same hardness, and same quality maybe.

[OH at work]

Are these heads supposed to be shaving sharp out of the package or is extra sharpening required?

Thanks,
Joe

[SlowBowinMO]

Darke, unless you're talking 4 blades, Eclipse are not much more than Zwickeys.  The teflon doesn't have much to do with the price, it's the stainless bleeders, which are outsourced from the Zephyr folks.  The 2 blade Eclipse are very close in price to Zwickey/Magnus, at least they should be.   :eek:  

I really like the teflon, you can run your thumb over it and feel the slickness.  It may debatable whether or not it helps, but it certainly can't  hurt.  Ashby has found it penetrates thick hide better than any other head, which has an application for us hog hunters here in the States I believe.  The teflon is an improved process, a big step above the coating on the Woodsman and other "coated" heads and the original Journeyman.

OH at work, Eclipse need some file work out of the pack to develop a good edge, the factory grind is not sharp.  The steel is very good, and once an edge is developed it does hold an edge very well.  The ferrules are very round also, which is not true of every head.

[jonsimoneau]

I'm typically a 3 blade kind of guy, but I still often use 2 blades for things like hogs, and I used them in Africa too.  The eclipse is my favorite two blade out there.  I've got a sharpening system that works very well for me on these heads, and I can get them SHARP!  When I was in Africa I had 3 people remark at how sharp my heads were.  Anyway, I used them to take a Kudu, a red heartabeast and a warthog with great results.

[doctorbrady]

For what it's worth...and to me it's worth a lot, the guys that make Eclipse heads are also top notch guys.  They are traditional bowhunter like us, and support the industry.  You will find that their heads are exceptional as well, as everyone who posted above has said.  Dr. Ashby speaks highly of them, saying that they outperfomed any of the similarly designed heads (magnus, zwickey).  Their competition consisted of very good heads (again zwickey, magnus, etc) which tells me they are EXCELLENT. I will be shooting them in Africa this year...ON VIDEO, so supposing I can stick them in some critters you can watch the results.  Best wishes, Brady

[Dr. Ed Ashby]

What Docbrady said is spot on. The Eclipse is a true 'best quality' broadhead. They are the top penetrating convex profile single blade BH I've tested. The Teflon coating is an Eclipse 'plus factor' that I wish other BH makers would take note of. The only modification I make to them is to add a Tanto tip. The factory needle tip can curl on heavy bone, and even on lighter bone at extreme impact angles.

The Eclipse has what is, perhaps, the most consistently precise ferrule taper I've encountered. I use an Eclipse as my 'taper test' BH when I'm grinding tapers on wood shafts. After grinding, I just slip the Eclipse on and do a quick spin test. If the shaft has a true taper on the Eclipse, I did that one right!

I've not tested the bleeder blade versions, but am not big on the idea of most bleeder blades. Most bend on impact with ANY bone, and that KILLS penetration. The original Bear bleeder blades worked the way Fred said he intended it to, "It's purpose is to open a bigger hole in the skin, to reduce shaft drag and promote better external bleeding. IT'S MADE FROM A VERY BRITTLE STEEL SO THAT IT WILL SHATTER ON ANY BONE IMPACT, allowing the broadhead to penetrate like a normal single blade." Now, that 'quote' might not be precise, word for word, but it's the essence of what I heard Fred say around the campfire, some 40+ years ago. I think the concept has been lost by most of those employing bleeder blades.

Ed

[DarkeGreen]

My understanding is that the ferrule acts as a wedge removing contact and resistance to the face of the blade. Is that not true?

Do you contribute greater penetration to the coating? Do you find it aids in both bone and muscle?

[Dr. Ed Ashby]

Darke, There's no doubt that a long ferrule taper which fades smoothly into the blade aids penetration. How much of this increase is because of: (1) the reduce resistance resulting from the smooth fade-in of taper into blade, (2) the higher mechanical advantage of the longer ferrule taper and/or (3) any lifting effect the ferrule exerts on the tissue, forcing it away from the blade's face would be most difficult to quantify.

More than a 'lifting effect' from the broadhead's face, in soft tissues I THINK that the ferrule spreads the cut crosswise, tensioning the tissues along the broadhead's cutting edge. This makes the tissues taut at the tissue-cutting edge interface, allowing the broadhead to slice the tissue with more ease. I BELIEVE this is where a really thin, extremely sharp cutting edge is a marked advantage, requiring less force, or tissue tension, in order to slice - as opposed to an edge sharpened at a more abrupt angle.

Regardless of the precise 'why', the end point is that a repeatedly consistent difference in outcome penetration exist for every BH profile tested when the ferrule has a long taper which fades smoothly into the blade's face.

In very fibrous tissues, there is a MARKED penetration increase with the Teflon coating. When considering all COMPARABLE shots, the average and median outcome penetration with the Teflon coating shows a SIGNIFICANT increase over uncoated broadheads of similar profiles.

Each of these test shots would have both hard and soft tissue impact in consort. I haven't tried to isolate them to 'all muscle' or 'all bone' impacts, simply because such hits are fairly rare in a hunting situation. There's usually a bit of both on most hits. In order to get valid outcome-driven test results, it is ESSENTIAL to have all the possible variables randomly in play on all shots, then look for what can happen, how often it really does happen, and under what conditions it's likely to happen.

I’ve also buffed the Teflon coating off a couple of Eclipse and conducted a limited Eclipse vs. Eclipse focal test, with the same outcome. The Teflon coated heads CONSISTENTLY out-penetrated the ones from which I had removed the coating - 100% of the time. There seems little doubt that the Teflon coating offers a penetration advantage.

The other thing I like is that the Teflon coat reduces a lot of surface rust on the broadhead's face in the tropical climates I'm often in. Still have to pay close attention to edge rust though!

Ed

[DarkeGreen]

No doubt about it...You are the Man!

Sorry about all the questions. I'm just one of those people that like to know why. I find too many times people contribute an effect to an unrelated cause. Although it would be interesting (to me at least)to have high speed film showing exactly what the ferrule is doing to help the cutting action, you've more than satisfied any doubt I had with the test you conducted. Mainly I wondered if you isolated teflons effects. Now I have to go buy some and give them a try.  

Dang you're good!