My Rage BH opinion
 

This year was my first year using the Rage 2 blade BH. I took a nice mature doe last nite with one and the jury is still out on these heads. I was satisfied with the size of the entry and exit wounds and the blood trail (sliced through the top of the heart).
The shot was a quartering away shot entering about 3" behind the right front leg and coming out the front of the shoulder. The shaft did not pass completely through but came out within a few yards after impact which confused me because my PSE DNA @ 63# shoot this 405 gr arrow at 307 fps.
I shot several deer with Magnus Stingers and Slick Tricks and had complete pass throughs with enough force remaining to stick into the ground. Granted these heads do not have the cutting surface of the Rage but the animals still expired in the same amount of time.
I will probably still use the Rages on whitetail simply because I have them. But for bear and elk (when I get a tag), I will switch to the Slick Trick Viper Trick heads.

Yes, I think I would also rather have a pass-through with smaller diameter any day over a larger cut non-pass through.

Also, that gets to be a bit pricey when that dangling arrow busts or falls off where you can not find. One of the great things about the pass-through shot is that you don't have to fork out another $8-30 to replace arrow and broadhead.

I can't say anything bad about Rages. Family members friends and myself have been using them since they first came out. There have been deer we haven't got a pass through on but 85% of the time we get pass throughs. All the deer I have seen shot with a rage 2 blade has been recovered and usually within 35-40yd. They work well for me so if it's not broke don't fix it atleast for me. I shot a buck with them Tuesday night and they performed flawlessly for me. Everyone has there own opinions and all broadheads work I have had great luck though with my rages and I don't see myself switching to another head anytime in the near future!!

Deerslayer - If you read the last statement in my post I did say that I will continue to use them on deer because I have them. But now I know that I may not get a complete pass through -particularly on a quartering away shot which was the case here.
I will not use them for anything bigger than whitetails because I may not get the penetration I desire. A good size bear or a mature bull elk is a much larger, thicker animal and with a quartering shot there is quite a bit more tissue to go through. My opinion is 2 holes are better than one for trailing. I would hate to hit any larger animal a little high, not go completely through, bleed internally and have a very difficult if not impossible blood trail to follow.

I've done that with Rage 2 blades, on a white tail doe. Buried the arrow about a third of the way into the ground -- shooting a 65 pound Hoyt Trykon.

Bronko, I know that you know enough about archery and bows to not need the advantage of shooting an expandable out of a bow that is not tuned. Stick with those slick tricks. They have yet to let me down. HD.

Seems the 2 or 3 blade Rages need a lot energy to achieve complete pass thru. I have read articles where "the experts" say you should be shooting between 65-70 lbs of drawweight for some mechanical broadheads . I quit shooting mechanicals about 5 years ago after a bad deal with them with a whitetail doe. Last year I switched to Slick Trick Razors after shooting Muzzy 100 grn 4 blades for 3 years.
I would stick to the Slick Tricks bronco, well built and doubt will let you down.

i thought I would give the rages a try because I got a gret deal on 1/2 doz for $20. Wound was impressive and penetration was good but the quartering shot almost had me not get a pass thru. Arrow stayed in for a bit before being pulled out. would have never had that with a good fixed blade.