New VPA 2 Blades on the Way!

[Gary Logsdon]

Getting ready to sharpen, shoot, and take photos.  The weather cleared this morning so I can finally begin playing with the new heads.  I drove to my uncles's meat processing plant this morning to obtain a few "targets" for my homespun tests. Luckily he was in the middle of processing a beef and huge hog!  I managed to talk him out of a few target worthy tidbits, including a shoulder section, ribs, and brisket with fresh muscle tissue, tendon, and fat still intact on each. I had him cut these into multiple pieces so I could slam more than a few arrows home.

FYI:  I will be shooting each arrow out of a 58 pound Tall Tines recurve using a 580 grain Easton Axis shaft.

Please remember that what I am doing isn't intended to be an any way definitive in nature.  It is what it is, simply one bowhunter's rather crude methods of gathering an initial impression of a new 2 blade broadhead design.  Hopefully it will provide some useful information.

Time to let-r-rip!  Photos will be posted today.

[BradLantz]

I am most interested in how easy you can sharpen them.

By the looks, they'll be almost impossible to tip curl/break

[Gary Logsdon]

I can already speak to that Brad.  They're extremely easy to sharpen.  I ran one of those handheld sharpener knife shapeners (V slot) across an out-of-the package edge and it quickly produced an edge that will cut hair.  I sharpened the other side using my KME broadhead tool, using a coarse and medium stone which produced an edge that rolled hair without effort. I use light, alternating forward strokes on the med. I'll be posting sharpening photo too.

[BradLantz]

sweet ... I'm needing new broadheads this season, I am a firm believer in 2 blades, and I want a head that gives me the least likely chances of failing (think tip curling, ferrule bending/breaking etc)

these VPA's are pretty tanto tip extreme ... but Ashby studies have proven good to me over the past few years, don't doubt them now right?  


I'll keep reading ...... look forward to what you post on them

[Gary Logsdon]

I just finished with my first tests and all I can say is WOW!  Pictures within the hour.

[Blaino]

gary i hate to be the stickler type but its been over an hour!!!  :D  lets see the results.

[Gary Logsdon]

You're not going to believe my luck, but I logged in to post the results and my DSL was DOWN.  Been on the phone to Windstream and now have things working, so here goes.

[Gary Logsdon]

Here's a description of the photos to follow. The same broadhead was used for each shot. I sharpened it after removing it from the package and again after the bone and wood shots were completed. An Axis N-Fused 340 was used for most of the shots, however I did switch to a Beman 340 for one or two shots just to see how it flew. Neither shaft was damaged in the least.

I used my current hunting setup, a 58 pound Tall Tines recurve and approx. a 580 gr. arrow. As far as sharpening, I established the edge I prefer on the head before and after the tests using a KME broadhead sharpener. This is what I currently use and my intention was to do a few simple tests for myself to share with you guys. As I said earlier THIS IS WHAT IT IS and you are certainly welcome to draw your own conclusions. Hopefully you can find something useful in what I have done.

FLIGHT

I unscrewed my 250 gr. field point and replaced it with a new 250 gr. VPA 2 blade. After doing two spin tests, one on the tip and the other using a spin check (ZERO wobble), I proceeded to shoot one arrow at a time into a dense black foam broadhead target. Each time on release I picked up a tight spin off the bow all the way to the target. The black background and yellow fletch made that possible. No wobble, flip, unusual noise or other funnny business. Good enough to go.

Suffice it to say that the 2 blade head flew just like my field points do at 15 yards, at least I can't shoot or see the difference:^)

"Flesh, Bone, and Wood Plank Shots"

For each of these I mounted a piece of "fresh critter" (the first was a shoulder blade) against an unused section of broadhead target in order to provide the most resistance. The idea was to see one, how the arrow penetrated the "tough stuff", and two, how much farther it would then penetrate into the dense foam - which obviously is a harder material to slice through than the body cavity of a big game animal filled with soft tissue. I also took the time to mark the points on the shaft where each arrow met the bone and also measured the total pentration using a tape measure after I carefully pulled the whole thing from the target.

After those shots I placed a 1 inch thick piece of pressure treated deck board against the dense foam. I took a shot that hit with the grain and another smacked against the grain. Both easily split the thick board.

Upon examination I found that - other than dullen edges, the head was no worse for wear. The tip remained perfect, and a quick spin check found the head to still be true. That tip is a BRUTE.

Finally, I went back to my KME and a well oiled coarse stone to bring the edges back to life. First, with a push-pull motion to "make a burr", then a series of forward strokes only, getting lighter and lighter as I alternated sides. One photo shows how easily the resulting edge cut hair from my forearm - using only the course stone.

What can I say at this point other than so far so good. I'm actually pretty impressed with the toughness, flight characteristics, and sharpening ease of these heads.

(NOTE: Hit the F5 key to refresh the page if any photo fails to download!)

[Gary Logsdon]

[Gary Logsdon]

[Gary Logsdon]

[Blaino]

looks like this head will be around for a long time and take loads of game.  i'm ready for my own  :D

[Gary Logsdon]

That last photo shows the cutting results AFTER the head had been shot into the bone, flesh, and wood. I resharpened the head using a KME sharpener and coarse stone.  After several light, alternating, forward strokes on the single stone it did this to the hair on my forearm.  Not a catch and pop type of cut either, I'm talking rolling it off without a single snag.

NOTE: If any of the above photos fail to load, hit the F5 key to refresh your page.

[Boomerang]

Great review Gary. Thanks for taking the time to put it through its paces.

[Rob W.]

Thanks for the review. Added another thing to my want list.

[Friend]

Informative and entertaining positive results.

The only downside could be that I wasn't at all surprised.

These heads, I suspect, will most definately more than substantiate their effectivenss and toughness as years go by.

[Rob W.]

Searched the other threads but still have a couple questions. How long are the 175's and are these going to be color coded like the others?

[azhunter]

Thanks Gary, Look forward to receiving mine soon. Ready to get the KME out and do some sharpening.

[Gary Logsdon]

I haven't measured one Rob, but it's noticably shorter than the 250, although the same width.

[Gary Logsdon]

I didn't do anything unusual when I sharpened and re-sharpened that head, other than perhaps stopping after working it only on the coarse stone. Basically, I did approx. 15 short back and forth motions on the stone to establish a consistant angle and burr, then did the same thing on the other side.  Followed that up with 8 med pressure, forward strokes on one side and the same on the other side. Did 3 forward strokes on each side, then went to a lighter and lighter pressure as I flipped sides using single strokes.  It went very fast and the hair rolled without any effort.  I will play with the med and smoother stones later, but I wouldn't have any problem hunting with the edge I created using only the coarse stone.