In this broadhead review, I tested the VPA 2-Blade double bevel broadhead, which is a classic and has been popular for awhile. I also tested the newer VPA 2-Blade single bevel broadhead.
Let’s go through some of the design features and specifications and then test them head-to-head!
VPA Double Bevel Broadhead
Here’s a look at the 150-grain, 2-Blade Double Bevel Penetrator as they call it, designed for maximum penetration. It’s machined out of a solid chunk of high-carbon steel one-piece design.
The blades of the VPA 2-Blade Double Bevel Penetrator are 0.065 inches thick and they are brought to a Rockwell hardness of 55.
The cutting diameter of the Double Bevel head is 1-1/8 inches.
You can see here the overall short profile of the VPA Double Bevel head, which aids in flight, and then the blades come back up. They are not back sharpened here but they flare up, again, just to lower the surface area and aid in flight.
Here you can also see the ferrule of the VPA Double Bevel extends all the way up to the tip, providing extra lateral support and rollover prevention.
The VPA Single Bevel is also 1-1/8 inches. It’s the same high-carbon steel, but this one is brought to a Rockwell hardness of 57. It’s also a bit thicker than the Double-Bevel, at 0.070 inches thick.
It has the same ferrule that extends all the way up to the tip to prevent rollover. It’s really a simple bevel design, with just two edges that extend all the way up to the front.
Now, here’s the 150-grain, 2-blade Single Bevel broadhead. It’s a very similar design to the Double-Bevel, although it’s single bevel. That’s a big difference I suppose. But, the cutting diameter is the same.
Again, the backs of the blades on the Single Bevel flare up just like they did with the Double Bevel Penetrator, to make it have an even shorter profile and aid in flight with less surface area. The bevel is 35 degrees.
I was really eager to compare these two heads, especially since they are the same weight, the same cutting diameter, and very similar thicknesses, and made by the same company.
In the layered cardboard test, I shot both the VPA Double Bevel and the Single Bevel into layered cardboard to record how many layers each could penetrate.
The Double Bevel penetrated through 55 layers of cardboard.
The Single Bevel penetrated through 62 layers of cardboard.
I shot each head into a steel plate five times. Check out the results…
Here’s a good look at the difference in the wound channels. The Double Bevel on the right has just a straight 2-blade hole, whereas the Single Bevel on the left has that classic “S-cut” hole. And that’s going to be a little bit more difficult to close up as a wound channel.
Here’s the Double Bevel after going through the steel five times. It spins very well. There’s really no signs of wear at all. I mean this thing is in pristine condition except for the tip, which had a slight rollover that would be very easily sharpened out. But overall, it did very well.
Here’s the Single Bevel. You can see it held up very well through five shots into the steel. There’s a little bit of edge chatter along the back edge of the blade, and a little on the top, which will be very easily sharpened out. Aside from that, it held up very well.
I shot both of the VPA heads into a concrete block to see how they would hold up.
Here’s the Double Bevel, it also did fairly well. It got a little bit of tip curl. But, the edges held up well, but not quite as sharp as that Single Bevel for whatever reason. And that tip curl is very slight, easily re-sharpened, and reusable.
This is the Single Bevel after shootingit into the concrete block. It’s also the same Single Bevel head that went through the steel plate. It’s still in excellent condition. The edges are still sharp actually (that’s kind of weird). And the tip is just perfect as well. This could be easily re-sharpened and reused.
So what do you think of this broadhead battle? Which one do you think came out on top?
I have to say, both of them are really good.
But for me, there was no question, it’s Single Bevel.
This is a really good single bevel head with a super-simple design. But man, it’s got everything that I look for in a single bevel. And, I was really impressed how it compared to the Double Bevel in each of the different areas.
So, the winner of this broadhead battle is the VPA Single Bevel. Great job, VPA!
In this broadhead review, I put the Tuffhead 3-blade broadhead to the test.
The Evolution is Tuffhead’s series of broadheads that crosses over into the compound bow market. They already have a great reputation for what they’ve done in the trad archery market.
Tuffhead Evolution 3 up close and personal
Below is a really good look at the broadhead close-up. The Tuffhead Evolution 3-blade has a double bevel to it. It’s constructed and machined out of a single piece of S7 tool steel, which is an excellent steel to use in a broadhead application because of its incredible resistance to impact. As a result, it is super durable and its resistance to impact is many times greater than that of typical stainless steel.
This is the Tuffhead Evolution Series 3 Blade Head, which has some really unique features…
I want to note here that when I previously tested the 2-blade version of this broadhead, the tip of that head rolled over when it impacted the concrete block.
The Tuffhead owner saw that and he asked me to send the heads back, because he feared there might have been an error in the hardening process.
And, after testing them, he found that was indeed the case. The Rockwell hardness was supposed to be 55 on those heads, but in that particular batch, it was only 48.
The cutting diameter is 1-inch. So that’s relatively small. A 1-inch cut is not going to be a very big hole but the overall goal is to maximize penetration. This head will do that by just having a 1-inch cut. But, remember, this head has 3 blades, so you’re actually getting an inch-and-a-half of tissue being cut.
The blades of the Evolution 3-blade are 0.042 inches thick. The head is 2.1 inches long.
Notice here that the ferrule has a “scoop” design to the ferrule. This aids in flight as well as penetration. It also helps create a nice wound channel as it goes through an animal.
Below you can see the holes in the steel plate and you can see that they’re nice triangular holes that often come with a one-piece steel head like this. So even though they’re only 1-inch in cutting diameter, they are nice holes and not just three slits.
I shot the Tuffhead through a steel plate 5 times to test durability.It made nice triangular holes.
Here’s the head after going through the steel plate five times. Spins perfectly through. Blades are pristine. Just no signs of wear, maybe some slight cosmetic things. But man, incredible durability.
I shot the Tuffhead into a cinder block to see just how tough it really is!
Here’s the Tuffhead 3 Blade after the concrete as well as after the steel plate and it’s just in pristine condition. Excellent, excellent durability! Penetrated very well into the concrete and the tip is still very sharp. There was no rollover and the edges are still sharp as well.
On the weakness side, if you call it a weakness… I’m not a huge fan of really long broadheads like that because it does adversely affect flight a bit. However, they’ve designed this really well to help make up for some of that.
So again, check out the score sheets below and see what matters to you the most. But this head is definitely worth a look. Tuffhead has definitely made huge strides from the trad archery market to the compound bow sector. Great job, Tuffhead.
In this review, I tested the Cold Steel Cheap Shot broadhead.
It’s a real value price head that’s advertised primarily for small game because it’s made out of plastic.
Plastic?
That’s right, plastic. So, obviously I was excited to test it!
I did not test the Cheap Shot head in all the ways that I normally test big game broadheads, because they market this as being a cheap head (hence the name, Cheap Shot).
The Cheap Shot Broadhead Up Close
The Cheap Shot broadheads by Cold Steel cost about a buck each.
That’s right, one dollar!
They say they’re for non-trophy animals. So, you wouldn’t want to shoot at a deer with these, but could try these on small game animals or maybe hogs.
Let’s see how it performed!
So here, you get a good look at the Cheap Shot. It’s a little over 3 inches in length. The cutting diameter is 1 and 5/16″, so just a little bit over one and a quarter inches. You can see the serrations that they have here, which is going to aid in its penetration and its edge retention. Since this head is plastic (they call it space-age polymer), it’s not going to have the edge retention that steel would, but you can make up for that with really good serrations.
Next I shot the head into MDF. Check out the pictures below…
Here’s the head and the hole that it made in the MDF. It’s a decent size hole there.
As you can see, it broke off at the ferrule and left the threading portion of the ferrule inside my arrow. So I had to work a little bit to get that out.
Here you can see in this picture the distance that it penetrated through the MDF. It didn’t even make it all the way through but it did make it most of the way through.
I mean, I’d much rather use an old broadhead or a field point with a judo point or something like that. I just think there are a lot better choices for small game.
But for something fun to try, yeah, I think it’s worth a look for that. So check out the scores. The score sheet is a little bit different because it’s not the typical kind of broadhead that I test. And also, check out my Lusk grade for it.
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