I don’t know if you’re familiar with Annihilator broadheads, but they’ve come out with some really crazy new technology that has worked very well on the 3-blade broadheads that they’ve made.

And, you can check out the tests on other Annihilator heads that I’ve done. They have a few different models and now, I’ve got another one… the Katana!

I was talking to the Annihilator crew at the 2025 Archery Trade Association show in Indianapolis. During that conversation, I saw this brand new head that they were working with and hoping they have ready by Spring 2025.

And they did!

For all the testing, I used my Elite Bows. And then for the flight testing, I used a Killer Instinct Crossbow because I can just put it on a tripod and really get it steady and there is so much less human error involved in the accuracy. The only difference flight to flight is the broadhead that’s screwed on to the tip of the bolt. Then, for all the arrows and bolts, I’m using Bishop Archery products.

First things first… I love the name “Katana.” It refers to a Japanese sword.

I’ve got a couple Katanas from Japan actually, as I worked in the Ministry over in Asia for a number of years, and had some friends in Tokyo.

But this Katana is a broadhead. And man, this is one wicked cool broadhead!

So, I was really eager to introduce it to you, go through some of the design features and specifications, and then put it to the test. Let’s see how it fared (buckle up!)

The Annihilator Katana Broadheads Up Close

So, here’s a good look at the Katana. And man, this broadhead is loaded with innovation! You may think, “Okay, just another 2-blade broadhead.” It has a 2-blade base, but there is just so much more going on!

First of all, let’s start with the materials. Beginning in 2025, Annihilator began using a brand new, proprietary steel in all their heads.

Annihilator has compared their steel that’s used here in the Katana to D2 to S30V to A2 and to S7 tool steels. They showed that in every category that they quantified, (toughness, edge retention, durability, sharpness, and ease of sharpening), that it either equaled or exceeded all those other steels. So, in their mind, it’s way better than any other steel that has ever been used in a broadhead application. Pretty bold claim there. Below, we’ll see how it performed in the tests.

The Katana has a tough, black coating.

The Katana broadhead is coated with a black nitride coating. It’s different than black oxide. It’s much better, apparently, at corrosion resistance compared to other broadheads.

Katana Dimensions and Cut Size

In terms of the dimensions, the 100-grain model has a 1-inch cut. (It also comes in 125 grain model and a 200 grain model). In the 100 grain model, the overall length is 0.76″. In the 125 grain model, it has the same base but it’s a little bit longer. And then the 200 grain model, it has got a 1.25″ base and it’s a little bit longer. It’s a beast!

The Katana has a 1″ width cut…

and an overall length of .76 inches.

All sizes are solid (no venting). But , it has 6 blades to it, which is really interesting. It has these single bevel blades on the outside there (I believe they are a 40-degree angle, but I’m not exactly sure.)

And then, instead of just having a thick ferrule to open up a hole for the arrow shaft to go through, they put in two more single bevel blades on each side. And, in doing that, they created more cutting surfaces and reduced the friction that comes with a material pressing against the flat surface of a broadhead. So, it just creates more cutting areas to cut more tissue.

And then, these are single bevel sharpened as well, but not in the same direction. They kind of just angle towards each other.

Another unique feature of the Katana is the three “scoops” per side that are created by the extra blades.

These blades create three “scoops.” And, then the same thing on the other side. These are the scoops that the Annihilator became known for, and they call it their cavitation technology that not only aids in flight, like the dimples of a golf ball as it rotates, but, it also creates a pressure inside the cavity of an animal, a forward pressure and a pressure behind it that creates huge tissue displacement. That’s their claim, and they’ve got some incredible photos to show it.

I saw this one photo that was sent to me of a deer, and you can see the size of the hole that it put there in the deer. That’s an 8-inch knife next to it, compared to this 1 inch cut broadhead. But apparently, they just open up a really big hole. I suppose it depends on what angle you hit it at, but it has the potential to open up a really big hole.

And then in terms of thickness, the blades are really interesting. I took some pictures to try to highlight it. In the front, the blade is 0.060″ thick.. And then towards the rear, it gets more narrow. And, that just adds more weight forward and more durability forward for that hard impact and then they saved some weight as they go back and it gets a little bit thinner there in the back.

This gives you an idea of the blade thickness of the Katana 100 grain.

So man, just so much going on! A total cut of 1.74″ given these 6 cutting edges, one inch one way, and two that are 0.37″ the other way.

The blades not only open up a bigger hole to allow the arrow to glide through it to reduce the surface friction, but they also provide lateral support to this 2-blade broadhead, not unlike a ferrule that goes all the way to the tip. And, you notice they go all the way to the broadhead tip and almost create a little dimple.

Now, in terms of resharpening, these little back blades, you just resharpen with a small file and just do your best. They’re single bevel, so they shouldn’t be that hard. It’s not that crucial for them to be razor sharp. But there’s a new Stay Sharp Guide sharpener called The Answer that would work really well on this. It works really well on a lot of different broadheads, but it would do a great job sharpening these edges.

Katana Broadhead Testing

This head looked so innovative and interesting, that I was curious to see if it was just a bunch of gimmicks, or if Annihilator was really on to something special…

Flight Test  

I shot one 1 field point and then one broadhead @30 yds with a Killer Instinct SWAT X1 Crossbow 675 gr Bishop Bolt, at 300 fps

The Katana crushed the bullseye!

Edge Test 1 Initial Sharpness Test

It took 146 grams of force to cut through the polymer wire, which is a 10 on a 10-point scale plus a bonus for being under the threshold of 200.

Penetration Test 1

I shot the Katana broadhead into Clear Ballistics FBI Gel, fronted by a 2/3″ Rubber Foam Mat and 1/2″ MDF. 

It penetrated 9″ which is a 10 on a 10-point scale.

Edge Test 2, Edge Retention Test (Sharpness after Penetration Test 1)

It only took an additional 10 grams of force to cut through the wire, which is a 9.8 on a 10-point scale. And it also got an extra bonus for both the sharpness and the edge retention being under the threshold of 200.

Penetration Test 2 (Layered Cardboard)

The Katana penetrated through 73 layers, which is a 10 on a 10-point scale plus a bonus for being over the threshold of 70. And, it’s the first broadhead ever to penetrate through more than 70 layers! And, on top of that, it’s the first broadhead ever to reach the maximum of 9″ of penetration and 70 layers of penetration in both of the two penetration tests. So it gets an extra bonus for that!

Rotation (Clear Ballistics FBI Gel)

The Katana rotated a whoping 88 degrees at 12″. Man, that is an impressive wound channel right there!

Durability Test (3 shots into 1/2″ MDF)

The head is in pristine condition after the 3 shots through the MDF.  

Durability Test 2 (2 shots 22 ga Steel Plate)

Here is the Katana after the two shots into the steel plate, and the broadhead is just in perfect condition. There are only minor cosmetic scratches on the blades, not to the edge themselves. And then, you can see the holes… man, really nice oval holes. You can even see some of the slits created by those two bleeders on each side to make them extra wide in that way. That’s really cool.

Durability Test 3 (1 Shot Cinder Block)

So here’s the Katana after all the durability testing. Of course, it did perfectly well on the MDF and also on the steel plate. You couldn’t even tell it was shot! And then into the cinder block, man, it put the smack down on that cinder block! I’ve seen cinder blocks break before, but usually there’s a big crack and it’s kind of obvious it’s going to happen. This one, I was surprised because I aimed more down low so the top wouldn’t break off, but really impressive and yet still, it’s just in perfect shape, spins perfectly well, edges are in really good shape, and can be used again. It had perfect durability through all these tests.

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05/02/2025 09:06 am GMT

The Katana… A Record Score!

So what do you think about the Annihilator Katana broadhead?

I had a feeling it was going to do really well. I thought since it had a low profile, it was probably going to fly really well. I also thought that because it had a lot of of cutting surface compact, it would probably be durable and penetrate well. But, I had no idea it was going to do as well as it did!

Early in 2025, I came out with some new bonuses to help separate the really special broadheads from the pact. One of them is if the sharpness and the edge retention tests are both 200 grams of force or under then they get a 2-point bonus, because it’s very rare to have it happen.

Another bonus is if it reaches the maximum penetration of 70 layers of cardboard and 10″ in the gel, MDF, and rubber foam mat tests, it gets a 2-point bonus. That has never happened before now.

Additionally, if it gets a perfect score in durability through the MDF, the steel plate, then the concrete, there’s no deduction. It gets a perfect score and then it gets an extra 2-points. It happens every once in a while and it did with the Katana.

I did not expect one broadhead to get bonuses in all those areas. But, the Katana did. It got the bonus for the sharpness and edge retention. It got the bonus for the penetration, the best penetrating broadhead way through the layers of cardboard and through the gel and MDF and rubber foam mat combo. And it came out looking brand new! I cleaned it off and it looks brand new… incredible!

The scorecard for the Katana was… a new record!

So the Katana literally broke the mold. It scored over 100 points. But, even if you remove the 6 points of extra bonus that it got, it still got the highest score of any fixed blade head that I’ve tested by far.

So, let me tell you, this is a really impressive head.

The only knock that I would give on it is I wish it has a little bit wider cutting diameter to make a little bit wider hole. However, I think it more than makes up for that with all the cutting edges with the vacuum. I’m interested in testing the vacuum that it creates. The internal damage, the rotation, and the incredible rotation; I wasn’t expecting all that.

If you’re looking for something to penetrate deeply, or maybe you have a light setup or are hunting a big animal or even you just want to cause massive internal destruction and use a really low profile broadhead, man, this is one really worth considering.

So, what more can I say? What a fantastic broadhead!

You can’t have too many broadhead tests. So, I’ve got another broadhead that I tested that I want to share with you… it’s a classic head with a twist. It’s the Muzzy Trocar TI 100 grain.

For all the performance testing of the Muzzy Trocar TI 100, I used my Elite Era compound bow. But, for the accuracy testing, I’m using this Killer Instinct SWAT X1 Crossbow, because it eliminates so much human error.

The Muzzy Trocar Ti 100 Grain Broadhead Up Close

Here’s a good look at this head. It’s just a nice, proven design. It has a lot of cool features. I’ll start with the materials.

It’s got a titanium ferrule, which is lighter than most steel and allows for putting weight into some other parts, even though this is just a 100-grain head.

It also has a nice chiseled tip, which I really like.

And it has a type of threaded retention collar, if you will (I believe it’s aluminum).

The blades are, of course, stainless steel and a stout 0.0408″ thick, so relatively thick blades there. The cutting diameter is 1.25″, even in this 100-grain model. So, the total cut is 1.875″.

Another cool thing about this head is that the blades are offset, meaning they don’t all just point toward the center of the ferrule. They’re a little offset. What that does is that it creates a really nice rotation, both in flight, as well as within a medium or animal, to make an even more wicked wound channel.

Another neat thing is that you have a choice of whether you want the blades to rotate left or right by changing the offset. Now, you want to make sure, just like with a single bevel head, (though this is a double bevel head), that the blade offset matches your fletching. So, for example, if you have a right helical or right offset fletching, then you’d want to be sure you put the blades in the right rotation position. And, vice-versa if you have a left helical or left offset fletching.

For resharpening, I would use the Stay Sharp Guide Replaceable Blade Kit. That works really well with broadheads like this.

I was really eager to put this head to the test and see how it performed. So, let’s see how it fared in the various tests…

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05/02/2025 02:41 am GMT

Flight Forgiveness Test  

For the flight forgiveness test, I shot one field point and then one broadhead, at 30 yards, out of a Killer Instinct SWAT X1 Crossbow, with a 675 grain Bishop Bolt, at 300 feet per second.

The Trocar got the 9-ring.

Edge Test #1: Initial Sharpness Test

In this test, I checked how many grams of force it took to to cut copolymer wire.

It took 132 grams of force to cut through the wire, which is a 10 on a 10-point scale, plus a bonus for going under the threshold of 200.

Penetration Test #1: Ballistic Gel and MDF

In this first penetration test, I , shot the head into ballistic gel, fronted by 2/3″ Rubber Foam Mat and 1/2″ 1/2″ MDF.

It penetrated 8-1/2″.

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05/02/2025 12:25 pm GMT

Edge Test #2: Edge Retention

In this test, I checked the sharpness of the blades after penetration test #1.

It took an additional 57 grams of force to cut through the wire, which is an 8.86 on a 10-point scale.

Penetration Test #2: Layered Cardboard

It penetrated through 56 layers, which is an 8 on a 10-point scale.

Durability Test #1: 3 shots Into 1/2″ MDF

The head is in perfect shape after the 3 shots through the MDF.  

Durability Test #2: Two Shots Into 22 Gauge Steel Plate

And here is the Muzzy Trocar Ti after just one shot through the steel plate. I didn’t shoot it a second time, because on the very first shot, all the blades came out. And, if you look closely at the base of the ferrule, you can see where the blades have made a little divot back into that retention collar that I feared was a weak point. And, indeed it was, because it backed up just enough to then fall out of the little locking mechanism at the top. So, that’s unfortunate. Now, it did make a nice hole, that you can see here. You can also see that rotation from the offset blades. But, it just lacked the durability to stay together.

Retention Test: Clear Ballistics FBI Gel

It rotated 90 degrees at 12″. Really good rotation.

Durability Test #3: One Shot At Cinder Block

Here is the head after all the durability testing. You saw that the blades all fell out in a steel plate, because this retention collar is just so soft. The blades backed in and cut into it, and then there was nothing to hold them in place. But, I went ahead and shot it into the cinder block like this, and you can see that the ferrule held up well.

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Final Thoughts On Muzzy Trocar Ti Broadhead

So what do you think about the Muzzy Trocar Ti in 100 grains?

Man, there’s a lot of great strengths to this broadhead. It performed well in a lot of different areas, including cut size, blades, and the ability to change the rotation of the blades. Additionally, I love that rotation of the offset blades, the ferrule, and chiseled tip.

But man, I’m concerned about that retention system. When all the blades came out, that was a shocker to me.

Maybe I got a bad batch or something, but that’s just something to keep in mind before you use them. I know shooting them in the steel plate, that’s a pretty big shock, but still, most fixed blade heads breeze through that like butter.

I hope you enjoyed this review. Be sure to check out all the other broadhead reviews.  

In this review, I test a classic… It’s a broadhead that hunted with many years ago, many, many times. I’ve taken quite a few animals with it.

But, I realized I had never done an official test on it, and that is the Slick Trick Standard.

So, let’s dig on into it and I’ll show you all the features and then we’ll test it!

For this test, I used the Elite Era bow for most of the shooting. For the flight test, I used the Killer Instict SWAT X1 crossbow. And, then, I used Bishop FOC King Arrows for most of the shooting and Bishop FAD Eliminators for the really hard impact shots. [And for the crossbow stuff, I used the Bishop Bolt called the GOAT.]

Slick Trick Standard 125-grain Broadhead

Let’s take an up close look at the Slick Trick Standard 125 grain head…

Here’s a good look at the Slick Trick Standard. And man, this is just a nice-looking broadhead. It’s hard to believe this was kind of revolutionary when it first came out with its super short design as it is, but so much to like about this broadhead!

First of all, the materials, you’ve a one piece steel ferrule. They call it a super steel. It’s like this super hardened steel there. And then you got the blades that are 0.035″ thick. The cutting diameter is 1″ so pretty small cutting diameter. But you got 4 blades so you’re getting 2 total inches of cut. Really short design. That was what was kind of revolutionary in the beginning. Its length beyond the edge of the arrow is 1.1″. That’s just going to aid in flight as well as penetration.

For resharpening these blades, the best way to resharpen them is to use a Stay Sharp Guide replaceable blade sharpener. And you can use that for pretty much all of the Slick Trick replaceable blades. They work really well with that.

Man, the Slick Trick Standard 125-grain head is just a no-nonsense design. Typically, these fly very well, penetrate very well, and hold up really well in durability. But I was eager to put this to the test and see how it performed…

Slick Trick 125 Flight Test

In this test I shot 1 field point and one broadhead from 30 yards, using a Killer Instinct SWAT X1 Crossbow and 375 gr Bishop Bolt at 300 fps):  

Here’s the shot with the field point…

And here’s Slick Trick Standard… a bulls-eye!

Initial Sharpness Test

In this sharpness test, I check to see how many grams of force it takes to cut a copolymer wire.

It took 166 grams of force to cut through the wire which is a 10 on a 10-point scale!

Penetration Test 1 – (2/3″ rubber foam mat, 1/2″ MDF, FBI Gel):   

The Slick Trick Standard penetrated 9-1/4″, which is one of the deepest I can remember, especially when the blades are so close to the tip.

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05/02/2025 12:25 pm GMT

Edge Test 2, Edge Retention (sharpness after Penetration Test 1):

It took an additional 82 grams of force to cut through the wire, which is an 8.36 on a 10-point scale.

Penetration Test 2, (layered cardboard):

The Slick Trick Standard penetrated through 61 layers of cardboard.

Durability Test 1, (3 shots 1/2″ MDF):

The head is in excellent shape after the three shots through the MDF.

Durability Test 2 – (2 shots 22 gauge steel plate):

And here it is after the two shots through a steel plate. It’s just in perfect condition, except the tip got slightly blunted there.

Durability Test 3 – (1 shot into cinder block):

Here’s the Slick Trick Standard after all the durability testing, and it did just very well as expected. Did very well through the MDF and then very well through the steel plate, and very well into the cinder block as well. Still spins very well.

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Final Thoughts on Slick Trick 125 grain Broadhead

So, what do you think of the Slick Trick 125-grain broadheads?

Man, these are awesome heads!

Check out the score for the Slick Trick 125 grain head… 10 golden arrows… wow!

I mean, no wonder I used it for so many years out in the field. It just performed extremely well in every area and it got one of the highest scores of any head I’ve tested, and close to the the highest of any fixed blade head. Really, really impressive!