2 Blades vs 3 Blades vs 4 Blades:

Pros and Cons

December 17, 2024

Leigh Hauck

Options, options, and more options! It’s one of the greatest parts of the archery lifestyle – the never-ending options when it comes to our gear. There may not be one area of the archery industry that has more options than broadheads. Mechanicals, fixed blades, hybrids, 2-blades, 3-blades, 4-blades, and all sort of ‘unique’ designs that come and go with the wind, we have seen it all! While it’s obvious that we at Tooth of the Arrow are big proponents of fixed blades over mechanicals, it may not be clear how we feel about the different types of fixed blades. Here are all the pros and cons of 2-blade, 3-blade, and 4 blade broadheads.

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2 Blade Fixed Broadheads:

What was once the standard of our ancestral bowhunters is making a strong return in the market of the modern bowhunter. Two blades are perhaps the most simple design – at least at first glance. Among 2 blade broadhead options you will find single bevel and double bevels.

Single bevels have only a single edge sharpened, causing the broadhead to truly rotate its way though a target. Don’t believe me? Watch this video Double bevels are sharpened on both sides, and their rotation stops the moment the arrow makes impact with a target.

Pros of 2 blade broadheads

Highest penetrating design. There simply isn’t a broadhead design that will penetrate better than a 2 blade fixed broadhead. For this reason, they are often the choice of low poundage archers and almost always of traditional archers.

Reliable in every way. 2 blade fixed broadheads almost always fly well even out of suboptimally setup bows. They always fly, they always penetrate, and they almost never incur damage due to their robust designs.

They are a bowhunters insurance. On a mistakenly placed shot into that thick front shoulder of a big buck, elk, or moose, a 2 blade broadhead is your best chance of getting through the armor and into the vitals. Less surface area means less resistance, its as simple as that.

Cons of 2 blade broadheads

Blood trails can take longer to open up. With less cutting surface, less blood vessels are going to be cut resulting in less bleeding off the hop. This does not mean they are less lethal, we have all seen animals who pile up in 20 yards or less without much of a blood trail. 2 blade blood trails can be nasty, they just tend to take a little bit longer to open up.

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3 Blade Fixed Broadheads:

A staple in the world of modern bowhunting, you are unlikely to find a seasoned bowhunter who has never shot an animal with a fixed 3-blade broadhead.

Pros of 3 blade broadheads

Easy to sharpen. This biggest point that 3 blades have in their corner is this. Any common flatstone will work, or even a sheet of fine sandpaper on a granite countertop. No need to hold an angle or buy anything extra, it is just so easy.

Proven for decades. They just work, it’s been proven over hundreds of thousands if not millions of archery hunts over the decades.

Cons of 3 blade broadheads

They aren’t 4-blades. There is really no reason that 3-blades are better than 4 from a lethality standpoint. While they may penetrate slightly better in theory, we have no practical evidence to prove that.

4 Blade Fixed Broadheads:

The design that made Tooth of the Arrow famous for a reason! 4 blades are an extremely reliable and lethal option, with the right design in mind (we have it figured out).

Pros of 4 blade broadheads

Maximum cutting surface. It’s quite simple. More blades means more cutting, which tends towards bigger blood trails.

Square wound channels. Tooth of the Arrow has made 4-blade square wound channels famous. It is next to impossible for a 4-blade wound channel to close up.

Cons of 4 blade broadheads

You need a specialized sharpener. Thankfully, we have made one for you. However, for other 4-blade broadhead brands, you may have difficulty sharpening them.

As you can see, there is no benefit that doesn’t come with a tradeoff of some sort. I suppose that is true of most things in life. It is up to you to do your research, testing, and apply your personal philosophy of archery hunting to your broadhead decision.

The great news is that we at Tooth of the Arrow have engineered our broadheads all to fly the same! As long as your bow is setup well and your arrows are well built, every broadhead in our lineup with fly the same – allowing you to test every design and not have to settle on just one! There are thousands of loyal Tooth of the Arrow bowhunters who carry multiple models in their quiver at all times, allowing them to capitalize on any specific design feature when the moment calls for it.

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If you have any questions or would like to discuss the topic further, please feel free to reach out to us at sales@toothofthearrowbroadheads.com

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