SECOND REVIEW: NAP's KILLZONE broadhead

FIRST AND FOREMOST: I AM A BOTTOMLINE BELIEVER IN SHOT PLACEMENT! A SHOT WELL PLACED IN THE KILLZONE (no pun intended) with ANY BROADHEAD WILL KILL ITS TARGET! WE ALL KNOW NOT ALL SHOTS ARE PERFECT AND NOT ALL BROADHEADS PROVIDE A QUALITY BLOOD TRAIL FOR THAT IMPERFECT SHOT.

I’ve been searching for a mechanical broadhead that gives me confidence when I walk afield: larger cutting diameter, great performance, and reliability. I’ve tried ONE, before! It made me sick how much I had to “baby sit” it. Pre-deployment, dry rot o-rings/band failure, hard to replace blades, NOISY while in quiver…, ugh! Did I kill game with it? Yes, but I may have killed more!

I currently shoot a fixed blade broadhead -no moving parts, less chances for failure. With a fixed blade broadhead, the only way I will fail, IMO, is due to shooter error and lack of woodsmanship and archery skills (bow tuning, broadhead alignment, fletching, etc.) This is not a post to “educate” you on broadhead selection or tips on tuning your bow, but to give a humble opinion.

The following is my SECOND IMPRESSION on NAP’s KILLZONE broadhead – and to be honest, there will be no THIRD REVIEW – NOT ON A LIVE ANIMAL:

My “FIRST IMPRESSIONS” on KILLZONE broadhead were great. I will spare repeating myself, but quick recap: I was impressed with their options on tips – chisel OR cut-on-contact. Their potential 2” cutting diameter is enough to impress anyone. Now the other “stuff”…….

I wrote about how impressed I was with how quiet they are, no o-rings or rubber-bands. Well here is the result from me shooting the broadhead on a new Block Target. DISAPPOINTED! The broadheads out of the pack flew true with any shaft I used. The reason they ARE SO QUIET, DON’T NEED O-RINGS OR RUBBER-BANDS, AND DON’T PRE-DEPLOY EASILY? – the broadheads' blade retention/locking mechanism is too tight. Too tight for comfort. On their video, they say it leaves a special mark to show they indeed deployed. The video was very specific. Not one broadhead had “that” mark after I shot them multiple times. In addition, the 2” cutting diameter shown on the same video was not present after 12 well placed shots on my target. The actual cutting diameter going in was ½” up to 1 at best. Will it kill a deer if shot is well placed? YES IT WILL! But that’s not the point here. It did not perform as advertised – that’s the point. I will not take these broadheads to the field and test on a live animal!
The NAP’s KILLZONE left much to be desired. I hope they improve on the blade retention/locking mechanism to where it isn’t TOO tight. Mechanical, equals moving parts, equal increased chance for “murphy’s law” to play a role!! In the meantime, I will stick with my ole trusted and proven fixed broadheads. Mark, from SoleAdventure.com, did a test on the Solid Broadhead. Fixed, flew true, and performed as advertised. Sorry mechanical broadheads, IMO, because it’s 10% shooting and 90% mental, I can’t be uncomfortable, unsure, low on confidence, and worried about my broadheads when I am afield.

HuntingFreakzAdventures.com is not affiliated with NAP. This is an independent opinion/review.