DaveC

Mar-den minimax 3' s, 5 shot are you sure your not on their payroll????

I hope the proofs in the pudding, but when I received my mini 3' s yesterday I was somewhat let-down.
I HAD to assemble the heads, kinda tricky, but not too bad, but still something I shouldn' t have to do.
They don' t stay together off the arrow. Take them off and they become 3 parts. Not ideal to say the least.

Blade sharpness-not, I could only get them to cut hair if I REALLY pushed. I could get my old Satelite Titans sharper than this and quit using them because I felt they weren' t sharp enough!!

FAT body- makes it hard to roll the rubber o-ring on due to the smaller diameter of an ICS arrow.

Blade deployment, with the o-ring all the way down these heads are tuff to open with my finger (haven' t shot them yet- too dark). If I fudged the o-ring as far back as it would stay, blade movement seemed much easier.

Blade location, the blades sit so far forward the look like they are begging to kick out or deflect on a quartering away shot. They are almost even with the head!!!

At this point the only way I' d remotely consider using them is if I was hunting low and only took broadside shots.

5-shot, can you ease my apprehension about these heads???

Stickemup

Dave,
Man, you are stressing WAY too much. After you have them assemled and on the arrow, you can put a fine edge on the blades with a piece of crock stick. It only takes a few minutes to get them wicked sharp. Most times the blades move around in the pack and the edges get rubbed down. This is the only complaint I' ve ever had with these heads.

Put the O ring on the arrow shaft first, then put the broadhead on the arrow and then roll the O ring off the shaft and onto the head. Don' t worry about the blades opening. They will, and very easily.

I' ve shot deer with these heads at all sorts of angles and have never had the least problem with them performing. Just make sure your bow is well tuned.

I think you' ll be pleasantly surprised when you send one through a deer. Good luck!

DaveC

Stickemup, how do you hold these little buggers to sharpen them with a " crock stick" ?
And have you ever shot an animal that was quartering away with these heads?

Rack-attack

A tip I use to keeps heads that fall apart out of the insert is to keep them screwed into some extrs inserts when not on an arrow.

Just unscrew them upside down and re-screw them into the arrow

DaveC

Thanks for the tip Rack, I' ll do that.

Stickemup

DaveC,
I put them on the arrow first and roll the O-ring off the head and onto the arrow shaft. Open the blades and stand the arrow on the nock end so that you can run the crock stick down either side of the blade. I use about a 4 or 5 inch piece of crock stick (I just broke a longer crock stick in half). I' ve never found it hard to get a really good edge on them. You can also sharpen the blades individually with a Lansky type sharpening system by putting them in the clamp. This might be your best bet if you have trouble sharpening by hand.

As for the quartering shots, absolutely! I' ve shot them at all sorts of angles and have never had a problem. On a couple of the quartering shots, it just made a bigger hole, but didn' t fail to penetrate at all. This is the only head I' ve used since they hit the market and I don' t intend to change any time soon.

5 shot

I am sure. Yes they are a bit of a pain to assemble, and yes they won' t stay together unless on the shaft, but they do preform very well. I have tested a bunch of differnt vortex/Mar-den heads and they all would shave hair out of the package. I compare the sharpness to those of a Muzzy blade. I agree the best way to put the O-ring on is to slide it on the shaft, fit the head on then slide it up over the little fat body and onto the head. The proof will be in the shooting, keep in mind now, we are talking about a 3 blade 2" head, so it' s not going to be as durable as a Muzzy or similar head, but for what it is I found them to be excellent. They are however about the most unatractive broadhead I have ever seen. That little fat body and short blades with the big O-ring are not really " eye pleasing" to say the least!

Stickemup

No, they ain' t the purdiest broadhead on the market, but the hole they put in a deer and the blood trail they leave sure is a beautiful sight.

DaveC

Just so you know I' m not trippping over my own feet bumping into walls, I have been rolling the rubber o-ring onto the arrow first. The problem was with the small diameter of the ics arrow compared to the fat body of the head. I have to pull and roll and push and yank to get it on. I might brake out an old bent 2315, cut it down and use it for an 0-ring replacement tool.

3 orings for 3 heads??? wow, talk about generous. I guess I should count my blessings, they could have only sent 1o-ring and forced me to share!!

Aside from that, I put a crock stick(white one) on it last night and got it a little sharper, will now cut paper without pushing it away. I still have to push hard to cut hair (stiff leg hair) They will push most hairs over and only cut a few.
I will try a lansky sharpener next.
I must have gotten an bad batch of blades with my heads, because there is no- way I would compare them to the sharpness of a muzzy.
They are nice and thick though, so I should have plenty of blade surface to sharpen on. I haven' t opened the package of replacement blades yet, so maybe they are better.

If I come off bitter, I don' t mean to be[&:]. I will get these buggers scary sharp somehow!

I do still have the slicktricks on their way also!! (for way up high +20' shots)