I contacted a Pathologist I used to work with and asked him this question. I explained that I was bowhunting and using arrowheads that were razor sharp, but got to wondering if using a super sharp head was necessary? Dr. Bennet has conducted a few thousand autopsies in his career with over a hundred of them where the victim died by the means of a sharp instrument. The short version of what he said was that if penetration was an issued, the sharper the head the better because the blades would not drag as much. If penetration is not an issue then a duller blade actually does more damage. A scalpal makes a neat cut which will close back upon itself when finished while a dull blade actually rips and tears tissue. This ripping and tearing causes more bleeding because it causes more damage.

Thats clear as mud. While it makes a lot of sense, it also says I' ve wasted my time sharpening and polishing the edges of my broadheads.

What opinions do you have????

Cut your finger with something razor sharp and then something that is dull.

You' re going to bleed like crazy and not clot from the sharp object cut. Believe me...I seem to always have 1st hand/finger knowledge of this.

Nope, a broadhead can NEVER be too sharp.

An animal is killed with a broadhead by severing viens, arteries, and vital organs. A sharp head is going to cut through these tissues, whereas a dull head is more than likely just going to push them aside as it passes through or into an animal.

In many Bowhunter' s Ed classes they take a few pieces of rubber tubing and stretch them between 2 boards to simulate the veins and tissues of an animal. When you pass a dull broadhead through them, they are just pushed aside. However, when you pass a sharp head through them they are severed.

Broadheads kill quickly and efficiently through loss of blood and the sharper they are, the more damage they are going to do.

I think your missing a very important point there rcd. Razor sharp broadheads thru the vitals, kill deer. Marginal shots with sharp blades give the animal a very good chance of healing up the wound and surviving. Dull blades and bad hits equate to lost animals. They then can suffer for days or weeks while infection sets in and takes them down slowly. Ever get a razor or paper cut? Ever tear some of your flesh? Which heals faster?

Do ya now?[]

In bowhunting, it’s all about the broadhead. It must slice cleanly with little or no bruising or tearing of the tissue. In very simplified terms, when a razor-sharp blade slices living tissue (muscle and/or organs) without bruising or tearing the tissue it has sliced, the brain fails to initiate the process which causes blood coagulation, resulting in extreme hemorrhaging.

the sharper the better.

Don' t rationalize what a pathologist does with bowhunting. A dull blade creates resistance, therefore resisting penetration. While the point itself may create the initial penetration, with sharp blades.........besides not only cutting they will allow for increased penetration. I would never go in the field without razor sharp heads....thats one of the main rules of bowhunting.

So with all this talk of sharpness, what do you guys think are the sharpest blades? I use Muzzy' s but I think they could be sharper coming right out of the box. So then what do you guys use to sharpen your broadheads?

Yep... The Sharper the head the better... If for nothing more then penetration. A cut is a cut, both are going to bleed... but the more cuts you make the better... The more holes inside the better... and 2 holes is always better then 1, especially from a treestand...

Never too sharp.. Befor you use them, pass them lightly over a rubber band. If it snaps quickly it won' t pass by any arteries. And I always thought that ripped and torn injuries clotted quicker than cleanly " sliced" ones.

Greg