# FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



## EPEK (Sep 11, 2007)

Well for a few different reasons, I have not been as active on this board as I know I should be, so.... before I update you on a few things, I will give you the reasons. Reason #1 I have been very busy and trying to short cut every step to get the broadhead "perfected" that I could. Reason #2 "IDIOT" with a bow logged on to this board from my computer and that made me get a new password, and every time I tried to log on, I had to enter the fancy code that never took, EVEN THOUGH I TYPED IT IN VERY CORRECTLY EVERY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do have to say that I am not that good at very technical modern computer and cell phone technology, I recently got a new phone and still haven't taken the time to figure out how to change my ring tone. Reason #3 It is hunting season and I try to hunt as much as I possibly can and that takes away from posting opportunities. 

Now for an update. Update number one. It is done. We have achieved what we were after and things have finally fallen into place to get the results that we were after. In all honesty, it is better than we ever expected. Here is what we were after. First, the concept, I knew we had to achieve perfect aeryodynamics and make sure that we had a perfect field point accuracy dart that hits exactly where it was directed every single time. I truley believe that a large percentage of archery hunters have no clue as to why they missed a shot, or worse, paunched a shot when in fact it was errant arrow flight brought on by their broadhead. Very few archers have their broadhead perfectly tuned to their set up and even the ones that do, have a lot of other factors that can cause errant arrow flight. As much effort that I put in trying to make perfect shots on Vegas face and 3D weekends and leagues or in camp with the guys, I could never accept that a perfectly executed shot at an animal (the whole reason that I do anything archery) might be misdirected by the broadhead screwed on to my perfectly spined and weighted arrow. We achieved this. With out getting into an argument about shot distances, I will say that many of the first 14 animals taken with our prototypes have been launched. The only reason that I would bring this up is that it goes to accuracy. We have not lost one animal and 11 of the 14 have dropped and died with in view of the shooter. Second, durability. As I have spent the last year doing nothing but "testing" broadhead performance I have learned something that I had not before understood. You could not believe the amount of force placed on the sharp end of an arrow when it comes into contact with almost any medium. The fact of the matter is that most all products on the market are at least durable enough to handle North American Big Game. Some can handle this force a lot better than others, but the worse ones out there would do the job on a "well placed arrow". Obviously we wanted to meet this requirement, and at first we had the least durable broadhead on the planet. Our first prototypes failed misserably, but... we learned alot about materials, strength tollerances, physics, mechanics, mechanical advantages, and thru a ton of trial and error, we have proved that we have the most durable broadhead on the planet. I probably wouldn't recommend reusing this or any broadhead after it has been launched, but the one that went thru my antelope and 100 yards beyond the goat and 5" into the dirt is still in my quiver and will kill again. Not every one has come out of a kill shot unscathed, but none of the damage affected the mechnics, or the cutting diameter. We have never broken a blade or any of the pins and the material (annodized T6: 70-75 alluminum) the same exact material and annodizing proccess as mountain climbing products, has held up very well. There are a few things in the design that really enhance the strength of the X-C3, and after the patent office gets back to us, we can go into detail about that. I feel very confident in my acclaim that we have the most durable mechanical broadhead on the planet by far. We achieved and exceed this goal. Third Laceration. Bottom line, this is what kills game with a bow. Laceration simply includes entrance wounds, total measurment of slicing, cutting everything the blade comes in contact with and not allowing "roll off" because of blade angle or blade sharpness, and if conditions allow, exit wound. It also is important to create a trackable blood trail and although shot placement, gravity, blood pressure and many other factors effect the quality of a blood trail, having the largest entrance wound, the biggest cutting diameter including penetration, and greater accuracy lending to better shot placement, I again feel very confident that I can acclaim, we have the best lacerating broadhead on the planet. My personal testimony must include an admission that I made a bad shot on my antelope, and from where my arrow entered and exited, I should have been in for a long day of tracking and hoping that we were not going to "lose" our first animal. Instead, it went 70 yards and piled up deader than dead. When I did a quick forensic check of the animal, I found two very shallow one inch slices in the liver which would have not been acheived with any smaller cutting diameter (ours seems to be greater than 1.75") and that would have led to the above mentioned scenerio, instead, no tracking whatsoever and almost immediate recovery. It was harder finding my arrow than the game it took. We majorly accomplished this requirement, this broadhead blasts entrance wounds and cuts huge and bleeds out fast. Fourth, dependability. This was the hardest to accomplish. Trying to get this style of broadhead to not open from the inertia of the shot and the centrifical force of a spinning arrow and getting it to immediatly open upon any impact was getting to the point of thinking this was impossible. The direction we were going seemed to be working and it seemed like we were getting close, but the machining tolerances included with the change in those tolerances that the annodizing process factored in were getting scarry. Then an amazing set of circumstances came into place and took us in a whole new direction and a speedy solution came into place. I can't get into details for patent purposes, but it is not complicated, it will be very easy to reverse engineer and every one will see this and say, "why didn't I think of that". It is the simplest mechanics you could imagine. You can open and shut this thing with ease and never come in contact with the blades that are really never exposed until it deploys every single time upon contact with little but enough force to blast the blades into full cutting diameter before they make contact with the hide. You can also put it into practice mode with a simple set screw change and shoot it as many times as you want with out dulling your blades, stressing a truley non stressable mechanics, or ruining your target. It goes in and out of a quiver perfectly and does not open the blades in a quiver like many mechanical do, and if for any reason they do open, a simple pull of the shroud locks the blades into shooting mode and this is easier than tightening a field tip. 

Anyway, more to come, we are getting ready to finalize and order our packaging, our first shipment of blades are still on their way, but should arrive soon. When we made this final change, we did so with a stock part which works good, but the custom part that we are still waiting for will make it absolutley perfect, not that we will not always try to make it better. Those custom parts will arrive next week, we will only require very little testing and as we believe it will pass with flying colors, we will move on to the most exciting part of this project and that is getting them into your hands. You will love these, they are amazing.

Update number two: Hunting has been a ton of fun, we have seen success on many different levels, and I love being in the hunting industry. I am sure we will continue to see more success as many tags are still 'fillable'. But, my observations say that the Wasatch had more winter kill than what is being reported. They are still there, and the under growth is huge this year hiding alot of feeding and bedded deer, but I know for a fact the numbers are way down this year.

More stories to come.............................


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

Sure, now that my hunt is over.......... :wink:


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

Congrats, it is good to hear your product is finally coming together for you. Good luck!


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## sliverflick (Sep 18, 2007)

Congrats on all your hard work. They sound good and I'd like to try them out once ready. Any idea how you'll distribute these? Will they be available for order through your website or on the shelf at some archery shops? Thx.


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## north slope (Sep 8, 2007)

I did not read that book you just typed, so what's the bottom line, when can I get some Epek fire power?


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## sliverflick (Sep 18, 2007)

Had another question: any idea what the price tag will be for the "EPEK specials"?


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## Finnegan (Sep 7, 2007)

EPEK said:


> Update number two: Hunting has been a ton of fun, we have seen success on many different levels, and I love being in the hunting industry. I am sure we will continue to see more success as many tags are still 'fillable'. But, my observations say that the Wasatch had more winter kill than what is being reported. They are still there, and the under growth is huge this year hiding alot of feeding and bedded deer, but I know for a fact the numbers are way down this year.


Absolutely. Now, here's the deal. Despite low population, I can almost guarantee a kill. I'm passing on both deer and elk because I can afford to. Reports from shareholders don't mean squat. You guys gonna keep soundin' off about how great these broadheads are, or are you going to let us outsiders give 'em a try? I'm a hard core Muzzy/Wac 'em fan. But if you'll let me get my hands on this invention of yours, I'll shoot 'em. My money's good. Cough up or shut up. This is getting old. :wink:


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

sliverflick said:


> Had another question: any idea what the price tag will be for the "EPEK specials"?


One *billion* dollars :mrgreen: !


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## Curley (Jan 29, 2008)

Congrats guys!! Cant wait to see the final product! Ive messed around with those prototypes, and they were SWEEEEET! Let me know when I can give one a try, and hopefully put an Elk down with one!


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