3 Reasons to Switch from Mechanicals to Fixed Blades This Season!

Leigh Hauck

February 20, 2025

Change is hard, we get it. You may have clicked on this blog as a mechanical shooter thinking “why would I change from mechanicals? They shoot just like my field points; this guy better have a good reason”. I do, if you keep reading!

What if I were to tell you that you could maintain that field point accuracy that you’ve gotten used to with your mechanicals, but you could also reap the irrefutable benefits of fixed blade broadheads such as durability, no chance of failure, ease of sharpening and reuse, and better penetration which ultimately leads to bigger blood trails and more recoveries? It is entirely possible, and it’s not that hard to get there! Keep reading!

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1     Fixed blades expose issues in your setup

If you have shot fixed blades in the past, found that they didn’t fly well out of your bow, so you settled on mechanicals because they fly just like your field points, I have some news for you… There is an issue in your setup that you are covering up by shooting mechanicals.

Here is the truth: any quality fixed blade broadhead will fly exactly like a field point out of any bow if the bow is well setup, the arrow is tuned and well built, and if the shooters form is excellent.

If fixed blades ‘don’t fly well out of your setup’, then one or more of the above three conditions is not being met in your setup. Now, you might be saying “why would I go to the effort of figuring out and fixing an issue that I can just ignore by shooting mechanicals?”

Here are a few reasons that you should:

-              You are losing efficiency in your setup, reducing your flight quality, accuracy, and penetration

-              You owe it to the animals that you hunt to have your tools be setup as well as they possibly can be. You are putting an animals life in your hands, that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

-              You owe it to yourself to be as perfect as you can be in every area of your life. Are you really the type of guy or gal who is okay with being average?

Even if you plan to keep shooting mechanicals, you need to fix your setup. You wouldn’t fly in an airplane that had a problem with one engine, even though it can technically make the flight on a single engine.

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2    Fixed blades do more cutting than mechanicals

Yeah, I know. You are probably thinking something along the lines of “there is no way this can be true, my mechanicals have a 2” cutting diameter”. Yes, they do – and that is exactly the reason that they don’t penetrate as well as fixed blades.

Let’s compare your 2” mechanical to a 1” fixed 4-blade like the Tooth of the Arrow 1” series. Per inch of penetration, your mechanical does exactly 2” of cutting along the X axis. My 1” 4 blade fixed head is also doing 2” of cutting per inch of penetration, with 1” along the X axis and 1” along the Y axis. So far, we are equal (except that a 4-blade opens a square-shaped wound channel, which is infinitely more lethal than a 2” slit, but that may be a blog for another day).

Next, we know that compact fixed blades penetrate better than wide mechanicals. If you don’t believe it, just go test it in a newish block target, you will only need to take two shots to prove it to yourself.

Mechanical broadheads lose energy while they are opening, sucking up valuable penetrating energy that your arrow could be using to greater your chances of a pass through (and therefore, recovery).

While your mechanical is opening, my fixed blade is driving in the fast lane – and it is going to penetrate deeper. So, while they have done the same amount of cutting on the horizontal (X and Y) axis’, the fixed blade has also penetrated deeper and done more cutting on the Z axis. Plus, the fixed blade will be ready to resharpen and return to your quiver for your next hunt, while your mechanical will leave you cautiously trying to find the busted blades wherever they decided to break off in the animal. 

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3  You wouldn’t buy a truck that is designed to be driven once and fall apart

Yup, I said it. Mechanicals are not designed for reuse. Lots of moving parts equates to lots of room for failure. It doesn’t take much time spent on an online archery forum to find threads upon threads of horror stories about mechanical broadheads failing to open and failing to kill.

I get calls along the following lines every single day: “I am tired of my mechanicals breaking and not opening in animals, I have some questions for you about switching to your broadheads”.

I have not once in 5 years at Tooth of the Arrow gotten a call that was along the lines of: “I am not happy with your fixed blade broadheads, and I will be switching to mechanicals”. If that call ever comes, I will be buying a lottery ticket that same day.

No moving parts means no room for failure. Tooth of the Arrow Broadheads are machined out of a solid bar of American tool grade steel. The steel that makes the tools that you put your trust into helping you earn a living every day is the same steel that we use to make broadheads that have got your back on your hunt. Hardening through to Rockwell 45 gives our heads the perfect balance of durability (not being brittle) and resharpenability.

I got a message the other day from a bowhunter who just took his sixth animal with the same head… that made my day!

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If you have any questions or would like to discuss the topic further, please feel free to reach out to us at sales@toothofthearrowbroadheads.com

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