I've never broken a blade on a fixed head.Last year I killed three deer and a turkey with the same head and never even replaced the blades.All I did was resharpen them.I've never been able to re-use any mechanical without having to replace the blades.I've shot deer with a fixed blade where the arrow didn't bury in the dirt but there was always an exit wound.Not the case every time with mechanicals.

Iagree that a mechanical may have an advantage with a gut shot butit would have a big disadvantage if you hit heavy bone so the point is moot.I've contacted heavy bone many times but I've never gut shot a deer.

Again,no one is saying mechanicals are junk or won't kill a deer.Most people use mechanicals for one of two reason.First,they use them because they can't get their broadheads to fly strait.My opinion is that screwing on a mechanical to mask poor arrow flight is a huge mistake and one of the reasons we hear so many horror stiries about mechanicals.My bow shoots in excess of 290 fps and I have no problems getting fieldpoint accuracy with broadheads.the second reason people use them is because they precieve a widecutting diameter as an advantage.In my experience,and I've killed a bunch of deer with wide mechanicals,it makes no differance what so ever.A double lung shot should result in a deer going down within seconds,regardless of the broadhead.In the event of a gut shot,I'll give the nod to a mechanical butI think you're far more likely to encounter heavy bone,especially when hunting from a treestand and a wide mechanical will never outperform a fixed head in that situation.Mechanical work.i've proved it many times but in my excperience,their disadvantages far outweigh the advantage of an easier recovery from the occassional gut shot.

Regarding a gut shot.I've trailed and recovered alot of gut shot deer shot by family and friends.I've also been on hand when a few were lost.In most cases,recovery will depend on how long the deer has been given a chance to lay down and how little it's been pushed.i've seen deer not recovered after being gut shot with a 30-06 because they were pushed too quickly.