NAP Shockwave 100 Screw In Broadhead:
Construction: Aluminum Ferrule, Stainless Steel Blades
Weight: 100 grains
Blades: .030 Stainless Steel
Cutting Diameter: 1-1/4
Heads Per Package: 3
Cost: 19.99 (BassPro Shops)
Head Type: Screw In
Overview:
This is a straight froward mechanical broadhead design. The blade retention is provided by a rubber o-ring. The most unique feature of this broadhead is the Tri-vex tip which upon first look is rather large next to most other mechanical heads and the other is the position of the o-ring which is back behind the blades pivot point. This product follows along the lines of most NAP products with good quality and a unique spin on a proven concept.
Rating system: 1 = poor, 10 = best.
Durablilty: 8 - Overall this head is well designed and holds together good. As with most mechanicals the blades can break and bend upon a hard impact. The only thing I really do not like about rubber 0-rings is their durability, they simply do not have a long life and dry rot easy. The tip should have no problem with anything it comes into contact with.
Quality: 8.5 - Overall these are nice built heads with a little more wiggle in the blades than the spitfire. I think the spitfire is machined to a little better standard that the shockwave. This really dosn't bother their performance, just a point I wanted to expres since I used the spitfire as the head I judged these against.
Flight: 9.5 - They fly great but did not hit where my field tips did. Very close but not dead on. Other than that they did great and only require a small amount of adjustment. I wish they had practice blades like the spitfire.
Price: 9 - As far as mechanicals go this is one of the best deals on the market. A pack of 3 can be purchased for around 20 bucks which is a deal next to the spitfires.
Total Score: 8.75
Final Comment:
A nice head that has a good price and outperforms it's bigger brother the Spitfire. I have found that mechanicals with a 1-1/4 cutting dia. seem to provide much better penetration than heads that are larger. The Shockwave seems to yield good penetration and the tri-vex tip can take a pounding and keep coming back for more. The only problem I see is that the tip is stronger than the ferrule and could break off with a very hard impact. Penetration with this head also seems good and much better than the Spitfires. All in all I like this broadhead and think it is a good for choice for game deer size and smaller. As always 50-55 lbs. of K.E. or better should be the rule.
Please Note: My test results for any broadhead is based on the quality, inovation, and basic durability of that broadhead. My reviews do not include any penetration tests. I am not concerned with that, if you want more information on those types of test please search for 5 Shots broadhead penetration test.
Edited by - moonge on 05/13/2002 14:22:47