When using heavy broadheads, do other components need upgrading?

With heavy broadheads, there is certainly an issue that can arise related to the spine or stiffness of the arrow. The heavier the broadhead, the longer the arrow, and the greater the power of the bow, the stiffer the arrow will need to be.

Beyond arrow stiffness, there’s a balance dependent on the durability of each portion of the system.

The arrow shaft, the components, and the broadhead all need to be durable enough to withstand hard impacts.

The durability of the shaft boils down to the outer diameter and then to a lesser degree the wall thickness (same principle as any other structural tubing).

The components reinforce and support the shaft; the length of the internal footing plays a much more significant role than the actual material.

Material is important to a degree, but a 2-inch long aluminum component will typically be able to withstand a larger impact than a 1-inch stainless steel version without shaft damage occurring.

Then the broadhead needs to be able to withstand impact. But the longer the broadhead, the greater the force it applies to the components and the shaft on impact. A 3-inch long broadhead will apply 3x the force against the component and shaft than a 1-inch long broadhead.

This doesn’t mean choose a short head, but it does mean that longer and larger broadheads require better components throughout.

Bottom line, it’s all a system and it needs to work well together. It does no good to have an extremely durable 375 or 775 grain broadhead paired to a component and/or shaft that is going to fail if a hard impact occurs.