Whenever a new broad head hits the market our first reaction is always “we’ll see…”. But when I saw the first advertisements for SEVR broadheads go live on social media in early 2018 I got hyped quick. Titanium ferule, practice mode, replaceable rear deploying lock-and-pivot blades, 2.1 inch cutting diameter, custom quantities, and direct to consumer sales model are all things we love. I ordered a few heads as soon as they became available and upon arrival it was clear that they were not some gimmick but real deal contenders.
This is one of the first reviews I wrote for KOTA that's why the photos suck... Two years later SEVR has even several more models and products and I'm still sending them down range at critters. I have even developed a solid relationship with the crew behind this bad ass little broadhead brand.
This review has seen some updates as my experience with these heads has grown but this all started with the original Ti 2.1 and since those experiences happened at a time when I had zero affiliation with SEVR I chose to keep this article confined to my experiences during that time since it's probably when my opinion was as un-biased as can be.
Features:
- 1 7/8” billet machines titanium ferule
- Patent pending Lock-and-Pivot blade design
- Replaceable rear deploying stainless steel blades
- 2.1 inch cutting diameter
- Practice Lok feature allowing you to practice with the same head you hunt with
- Available in standard 8/32 and Deep Six
From presentation to performance these heads leave next to nothing to be desired. SEVR utilizes a direct to consumer sales model via their website which allows you to order custom quantities from a single broadhead to as many as you would like. We love plinking and trying new products, that’s one of the reasons we started Knights of the Apex. But broadhead testing is not typically a wallet friendly endeavor and at this point in our careers no one is sending us free heads to try (any reps reading this feel free to do so…). So the ability to purchase one or two heads to test is phenomenal for us. There are plenty of great broadheads on the market right now but each design carries with it its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages that may not suit every type of bow setup, game animal, or hunting environment. Dropping $30 for a three pack of heads (a good set of mechanicals will typically run you much more) can add up quickly. Especially if you come to find the new heads you bought won’t even work for your setup. So we really appreciate SEVR’s willingness to let the customer decide how many heads they want and at $13.99 a piece they are relatively affordable compared to other high end mechanicals which retail for $50 or more for a three pack.
Regardless of how many heads you order they come in this well thought out little package complete with pamphlet and stickers. The heads themselves are individually packaged and come with 3 replacement rubber O rings and a set screw. When installed, this set screw locks the blades in place in Practice Lok mode which keeps them from deploying when fired into a target. Practice Lok allows you to, err, practice… with the same head you hunt with (lazy writing I know). Needless to say, being able to go from the range to the stand with the same head is an extreme confidence booster. And yes, they do fly like field points... Seriously!
At rest, the 2.1 inch Lock-and-Pivot blades are retained within the billet machined titanium ferule via rubber O ring. This leave only the deployment wings exposed on either end of the head’s tip giving it an extremely low profile in flight which mitigates both noise and wind drift.
As with any rear deploying broadhead if you insert them into a quiver too roughly or snag a wing you run the risk of deploying the blades. The awesome thing about the SEVR's is they not only come with extra o rings but there are no springs in the design which means you can simply unlock the blades, throw a new o ring over them and your are back in business. I started keeping a spare o ring on my arrow shafts after I deployed a blade or two getting in and out of pick-ups and 4X4's in the dark. Little trick I picked up from Isaac Aleman.
The stainless steel blades and titanium ferule have proven exceptionally durable. I've shot dozens into turkeys, hog shoulders, deer, foam targets, dirt, rocks, through an Iguana and into a dock, and even a sheet metal shed (don't tell my wife, she hasn't noticed the hole yet...) and have yet to break a blade. Deployment wings on other mechanical heads often become malleable and break after a few shots. This hasn’t been the case with the SEVR’s. I've used the same practice heads for hundreds of shots and neither the titanium point nor the deployment wings have shown any signs of significant wear. In fact the only time I have broken a wing is when I hit two heads into one another. I have bent a few ferules after shooting them into animals or dirt but these were all the thinner Deep Six ferules and not the standard 8/32.
We won’t get into the debate on mechanical vs. fixed blade broadheads in this review but when it comes to mechanicals a big concern is always whether or not the blades can be counted on to deploy and will they penetrate enough to reach the vitals or secure a pass through. Now this is a complicated topic because regardless of what head you choose, penetration has as much, if not more to do with the combination of bow, arrow, animal, and shot placement as it does the head itself. Myself and the other KOTA Crewmembers I draw info from tend to run heavier poundage (70lbs+) and mid weight arrows (450-500 grains) traveling between 275-300FPS.
We've killed roughly a dozen animals with SEVR’s. Turkeys, whitetails, coyotes, and even a few Iguanas and the SEVR's fully deployed on every animal and with the exception of some of the bigger hogs, we've gotten complete pass throughs on all of them. My Dad was so impressed he’s completely converted that says a lot considering he’s in his fifties (cough: boomer) and has been a die-hard fixed blade shooter his entire life.
My results with what I would consider a medium weight arrow (450ish grains) on hogs, which are very dense animals, have been stellar. The first hog I shot with the 80# Pro Defiant and 469 grain arrow combo. It was a gut shot at twenty yards that was almost a clean pass through. The hog carried the arrow a little more than ten yards from where I shot it. The whole arrow was caked in crap especially the vanes, so the arrow likely got stuck on the vanes and took a short ride before falling free. The second was a quartering away shot at thirty five yards with the 75# Vertix. The arrow buried halfway and made a mess of the vitals. It left a great blood trail, not that I needed it. The hog only went about fifty yards before falling over.
The third was most interesting. It was another 35 yard shot with the Vertix and the hog was perfectly broadside. It was last light and on a chilly evening my wife and I were packing up our make shift blind, set just behind some palmetto bushes when I looked up and saw a good size boar trotting towards the feeder. Now I’m sure plenty of you will critique this but being almost dark and aiming at a completely dark target I chose to follow the leg up and put my arrow center mass top to bottom. I figured this bow, arrow, and broadhead combination would be plenty powerful enough to punch through the cartilage shield that covers hog’s vitals. After pulling through my shot I heard the distinct sound of the broadhead opening up but it quickly became apparent I did not get the best penetration. Both my wife and I noticed that my green X nock was hanging well outside the animal as it turned and scurried off into the brush. We thought we heard it crash into the swamp about 100 yards off but when we went to inspect we could not find a single drop of blood. Now it should be noted that on the other hogs I used Axis arrows with the Deep Six inserts. These have a collar designed to produce more strength at the connection point and thus more punching power. On this third hog I was using Axis arrows again but this time with the standard Hiit inserts. These inserts sit inside the shaft and on a few animals in the past we have noticed that both Axis and FMJ arrows will sometimes mushroom or incur damage at the ends when they are fired into bone or other hard objects. Which is normal for any arrow not utilizing a collar or outsert.
A few weeks later I actually found the skeleton of the hog while tracking a turkey. It was only a few feet from where we thought we heard it crash but could not see in the dark of night. I never found the arrow so I can’t be sure but based on the hog's final resting place just 100 or so yards from where I shot it, it's safe to say that I gained enough penetration to push through the shoulder plate and into the vitals. Pretty impressive for a medium weight arrow and a large diameter mechanical head. SEVR just announced three new heads for 2019 including an AP 1.5 model with 1.5" cutting diameter, shorter ferule, and more swept back blades for increased penetration. Available in 100 or 125 grains in 8/32 and 100 grain Deep Six variants I can't wait to see what sort of penetration these heads get on hogs over the coming months.
Oh and that turkey I spoke about? Well I didn't find him but that was all on me. I put an arrow through the upper third of his body while he was at full strut. He immediately shot into the air and flopped hard. When I went to recover him he took off again and I was not prepared to either jump him or send another arrow into him. Rookie mistake. When the bird took off he was dragging a wing and I could see a massive 2 inch hole just behind the joint. I could not believe he was moving but that goes to show you the strength of these little Osceolas. I found my arrow 20 yards behind the bird, head fully deployed and sticking out of the dirt. I can't imagine any head could have performed better. Well maybe one of Rambo's exploding arrows... All and all I'm extremely confident these broadheads can punch through any whitetail or soft game in my sights but if I am chasing after something bigger and tougher I might consider one of the new 125 grain models or wait for a solid quartering away shot.
One thing we haven’t touched on is SEVR’s patented lock-and-pivot blade design. When the blades deploy and lock together they are held to the ferule by a single set screw which allows these blades to seesaw on the ferule. In theory this allows the blades to pivot around bones when passing through an animal without deflecting and disrupting the intended flight path. Deflection is common with some broadhead designs and an issue this writer has experienced personally with an older 3 blade expandable model. Deflection is one of those things that’s best diagnosed post mortem during the butchering process. In all of our kills we didn’t notice any significant deflections but it’s hard to say whether this was due to SEVR’s lock-and-pivot design or just where our shots landed. Regardless the Lock-and-Pivot feature certainly hasn’t hurt this head’s performance so we will put it in the win column.
Overall, we have been extremely impressed with SEVR broadheads. Some broad head companies can boast heads with 2.1 inch cutting diameters, locking blades, practice modes, low profiles, and titanium ferules but none have ALL of these things in a single head. Their distribution and direct to consumer model also makes ordering simple and easy. You can order one of two heads to experiment without breaking the bank. SEVR also has some top notch customer service. Between my Dad and I we have purchased around two dozen SEVR’s. The Big Guy didn’t notice any issues with his heads but two of my Deep Six heads weren’t spinning true out of the box. I take this with a grain of salt as these heads were also part of the first production batch SEVR made available for purchase to the general public. Hick-ups are to be expected with any new product and after a simple call to SEVR’s customer service line I had a return slip sent to me that day and SEVR replaced the heads shortly after.
The broadhead market is seemingly saturated but there are a few models that stand out as superior in design, finish, and performance. In our experiences SEVR stands toe-to-toe with other top of the line mechanical producers and if you are a fan of Rage or G5 style mechanicals you'll probably love these as well. You can check out SEVR’s and purchase them directly from website:
https://www.sevrbroadheads.com/?ref=3
(Updated August 2019) SEVR Launched two new models for the 2019 season a 1.7 diameter All Purpose ("AP") in an aluminum ferule and the titanium 1.5 diameter Max Penetration. These heads feature the same Practice Lok and Lock & Pivot features as the original SEVR 2.1. The 2.1 and 1.5 will also be available in 125 grain models in the 8/32 thread. The 1.7 AP model will not be available in Deep Six and features a hybrid aluminum ferule with stainless steel chisel like tip.