What Makes A Crossbow Broadhead?
Leigh Hauck - July 21, 2025
One of the most frequently asked questions I get as the General Manager of a broadhead company is, “What makes the crossbow broadheads different from the regular heads?”
This is a great question, and one with a great answer! In short, the "crossbow heads" are just the broadheads in our lineup that are best suited to a crossbow’s unique requirements. Given their speed, short arrow (bolt) length, and long-range demands, a fixed blade broadhead being shot out of a crossbow must have some key characteristics that compound bow broadheads can often fly without.
Weight Centeredness
At Tooth of the Arrow, we are known for making the most field point-like fixed blade broadhead ever made. That claim comes from the fact that we ‘weight center’ our broadheads better than anyone else.
Basically, a field point will fly perfectly out of any vertical bow or crossbow because 100% of the weight is perfectly in line with the arrow shaft. But when we add blades, that places some of the weight outside the shaft’s centerline.
The goal is to minimize this as much as possible while still having a lethal cutting diameter - not an easy task! The more weight-centered a broadhead is, the more it will fly like a field point without needing extensive tuning or adjustment. And when we’re talking about a crossbow shooting in excess of 400 fps, this becomes even more important.
When you compare our XL and 1” broadheads, the 1” are naturally more weight centered because of the smaller blades. The smaller blades (which still boast a 2” total cut in a square) help a lot with long range crossbow shooting too, as larger blades will want to plane regardless of how perfect your setup is when you start taking crossbow speeds past 60-70 yards.
Between the S-series and V-series, the V-series heads are naturally more weight-centered because the weight removed from the blades (to create venting) gets redistributed into the ferrule - in line with the arrow shaft! But that venting plays another important role…
Vented Crossbow Broadhead Blades Prevent Planing
No matter how perfect your setup is, a solid blade broadhead will eventually start to plane at long range, it’s just the nature of the beast. That effect is massively amplified by crossbow speeds, which is why it's critical to shoot a vented broadhead that allows air to pass through the blades. Your crossbow will treat it more like a field point.
We hear from plenty of crossbow hunters who are having success with our S-series broadheads, and that’s always great to hear - it speaks volumes about the engineering that goes into our products. That said, as a general rule of thumb: a vented head is going to perform better out of your crossbow, especially at extended ranges.
Crossbows Don’t Care About The Golden Rule
The Golden Rule of arrow building tells us to build the heaviest arrow possible while maintaining an arrow speed of around 270–280 fps, the optimal speed at which an arrow will fly. Every projectile has an optimal speed. Think about dart players, they don’t throw their darts as hard as they can. They lob them, taking advantage of the dart’s design and flight characteristics at its ideal velocity.
The same holds true for arrows... unless you shoot a crossbow.
Crossbows simply can’t follow this rule, they just shoot too fast. They’re launching bolts at 350, 400, even 450+ fps. That means we can’t rely on standard archery practices.
Instead, we need to be laser-focused on every other factor that contributes to accuracy, and broadhead selection becomes absolutely critical. When you’re pushing that much speed, even the tiniest inconsistencies in aerodynamics, weight distribution, or blade surface area can create major issues downrange.
A vented, weight-centered fixed blade broadhead like our 1” V-series helps minimize those risks and gives your crossbow setup its best chance at field point accuracy, without sacrificing lethality.
Final Thoughts
Crossbows are incredible tools for hunters, but their advantages come with some trade-offs. You’re working with blistering speeds and compact bolts, which means your margin for error is much smaller than it is with a vertical bow. You are breaking rules intentionally, so you need to be careful. Broadhead selection isn’t just about choosing something "crossbow-rated", it’s about choosing something designed to overcome the unique physics of crossbow setups.
At Tooth of the Arrow, we engineer our heads with those demands in mind: weight-centered designs, vented blades, tight tolerances, and deadly performance. If you want your broadhead to fly like a field point at 60, 70, or even 100 yards, you need to understand what allows that to happen.
Our 1” V-series is THE crossbow broadhead, widely know as being the best fixed blade broadheads for crossbows on the market. It is also a best-selling compound head, for all of the same reasons! This head flies out of any setup, even if your spine is off, your form could use work, or your bow might not be setup to its fullest potential. This broadhead is as forgiving as it gets, for all bowhunters.
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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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