My Dad shoots Gravediggers from his crossbow. I shoot fixed from my compound. His arrows come in at 400 grains, mine around 580 grains. The issue I had for years with mechanicals or hybrids is deflection. We hunt from ground blinds so it’s a level shot. Dad put a perfect shot on a doe last year at 20 yards and the video showed the arrow exiting down instead of straight through. We never found her. Anything can work if placement is good but nothing is perfect. And in most cases the animal you’re aiming at is trying NOT to die. When they move as you shoot, it changes everything. The heavier arrow and fixed blade worked well for me last season. The reason Dad switched to the gravediggers from NAP was deployment issues. With a fixed blade leading the way, you don’t worry about deployment…. As much maybe. And we got every deer he shot last year except that first one so…. A head scratcher at best.


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Question to enhance my own knowledge.

I was just looking at the array of Grim Reapers broadhead selection and the Hybrid caught my attention, looks nice, but it got me thinking.

What is the purpose of a hybrid head?

The reason for mechanicals is to be more accurate right, due to the field point like profile.

Then the reason for fixed is for enhanced penetration or durability.

But a hybrid head with both a fixed head and a mechanical action tends to take both cons but leave out both pros don’t they?

With the fixed head on there it’ll be more affected in flight than a standard mechanical so it negates the field point like profile of a mechanical. And with the mechanical blades, it’ll take away from the penetration aspect. Also, a lot of mechanicals, not all, but a lot tend to be a one use head, so that takes away from the durability aspect of the fixed head portion.

I know hybrids work well at harvesting game, and if you shoot hybrids and like them that good, keep shooting them, but I was just thinking about it and it just seems more like marketing than practical as it seems like it takes the cons of each without the pros.

Thoughts?


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You’re right on with your thoughts.
Nothing more than another sales option.

One and done= trash in my book.
Quality, stout and sharp= winning combination.
Just gotta step up the archery fundamentals (tuning & form) and screw on any choice of the winning combos out there.

 

I'm of the same mindset, and don't see the benefit of them. Hybrids seem like a weird compromise head. I feel like they're designed for someone who shoots mechs but are worried about reliability but aren't willing to give up the cut diameter.

 

This has been my thought process on hybrids as well. I have some mechanicals and a bunch of fixed.....each has its purpose. Turkeys are a prime example of a mechanical head application, as noted above by XX78. The hybrids seem to try to cover too many bases and hit the weak spots on the seam. Waiting to hear someone who shoots them report on their experiences.

 

I will be honest I usually have two types on broadheads in my setup. One is a fixed blade micro hades (made in the U.S), and the mechanical with great engineering testing behind it is the Swhacker. i am sitting right around 530 grains total. Worth looking into. Most of this is personal preference to the shooter.

 

You'll never regret shooting fixed 3 or 4 blade broadheads from a perfectly tuned bow. My fixed hit exactly like field points out to 80 yards. It's all in the tuning. Fixed broadheads zip through ribs and lungs like they're made of butter. If you hit bigger bone, it shatters and you still get lethal penetration. Hybrids are for the birds--- turkeys.🤣

 

Crossbows are tricky. No helical on fletching.it gets tricky trying to get a big 2 blade tip to fly at 400 fps. I'm no expert on tuning crossbows so I use the same expandable head for my compound as my kids crossbow. Her Ravin shoots the Wasp Jak Hammer like a dart. They punch big holes. I don't re use them on deer I just use them to practice with till they break. For 10 bucks a head its hard to beat.

 

For the people that are on the fence and can't decide.

 

I took the deer in my avatar with the grim reaper hybrid. Have been shooting grim reapers for years and decided to try the hybrids last year.

 

My hybrids have always shot like field points.

 

I don’t know anyone that shoots mechanicals for accuracy. They’re generally shot because of the huge holes and blood trails they leave. A hybrid just adds extra cutting surface to a mechanical.

they’re not really hybrids in my mind. They’re just mechanicals with extra blades that don’t move.

 

To answer the OP's question. the fixed /bleeder blades are smaller then fixed head blades, so not as affected in flight as much as a fixed blade.

The 4 blade Hybrid GR will give you a 40% increase in creating a better wound then a fixed 2 blade

 

To answer the OP's question. the fixed /bleeder blades are smaller then fixed head blades, so not as affected in flight as much as a fixed blade.

The 4 blade Hybrid GR will give you a 40% increase in creating a better wound then a fixed 2 blade

I'm not so sure about that, most fixed blades I see are 1" to 1-1/4". The 4 hybrids I checked had head diameters of 7/8" to 1-3/16". Not to mention most of the mech components have a bit hanging out...

 

The grave digger all steel 125 grain chisel tip is bad medicine when it comes putting critters down and spilling lots of blood.
I killed 6 decent sized pigs with 1 head and it was ready for a 7th when I gave it to a buddy.
The small 2 blade flies really well and opens a slot to increase penetration by the 1 7/8 blades. All my kills with this head were pass throughs with blood trails that were awesome

 

I won a pack of Grave Digger CoC a few years ago. They work very well at taking game and leave excellent blood trails.

When I got the first pack, I used them to tune to see if I could get them to fly..... and they tuned really well for me. So I bought another pack for hunting. I took a buck, a doe and a 225# hog with them. It took a slight bump on my rest and they were hitting with field points out to 40 yds.

My biggest complaint is they seem to be a "single use" broadhead. (at least I never felt comfortable enough to try a second critter with the same head)

I've since moved on from them because of cost. $40 for 3 single use heads vs $40 for a 3 pack of Tooth of the Arrow heads that can be resharpened and reused.

ETA - Here is the ribs from that big hog I shot.... There's no denying they work and work great from my experience...

 

Good for people that can’t make up their mind …