Mechanical heads are definitely not for everybody. The two main factors that determine this, in my opinion, are your KE levels and how well your bow is tuned. To address the first, if, on paper, your bow is generating acceptable levels of KE...(50-55 ft. lbs on whitetail sized animals)..then you should have no problem using small to average cutting diameter mechanicals.....Steelheads, Snypers, Shockwaves, etc... However, if you start getting over a 1.5 inch cutting diameter and/or the efficient head design changes then you can run into some problems. That is where "extra" KE comes into play. 60-65 ft. lbs is even better to get mechanicals in the 1.5 inch range to work effectively and I would probably recommend a minimum of around 65 ft. lbs if you are going to use a 2 inch cutting diameter head or larger.

Ofcourse, this is assuming that your bow is well tuned and proper shot placement is there. You could have 70 ft. lbs of KE but if your bow is not tuned properly then that KE will not get placed where it needs to and your head will not work.

Most mechanicals on the market today are of very good quality and design though there are still a few that you won't catch me using even with my setup.

1. Check your KE levels on bow jackson's website www.bowjackson.com.

2. Make sure your bow is well tuned.

3. Pick a head that fits your setup.

4. Use proper shot placement.

...and you should have no problem using many of the more popular mechanical heads out there.