Slick Trick Broadheads

What Slick Trick makes for bowhunters

Slick Trick makes broadheads and the parts that go with them. On this site the brand covers one product type, broadheads, and the grid shows:

• Four-blade fixed heads: the Standard, Magnum, ViperTrick and GrizzTrick families
• Crossbow heads: the XBOW and crossbow-marked listings
• Pro Series heads in stainless steel
• Replacement blade packs for the fixed heads
• The Assailant, a hybrid mechanical head, per its listing

The maker's own site lists more heads than the grid does, including one-piece and turkey heads and mechanical models. Those aren't in the listings here, so I'll stick to what is.

The grid changes as listings come and go. So this page is about the families and what separates them, not about how many packs are listed this week.

How Slick Trick broadheads are built

Slick Trick's own pitch is short: the original all-steel broadhead, run by archers for archers. Here's what the maker's pages actually specify on its main fixed heads:

• Ferrule: steel, which the maker calls Super Steel (the ferrule is the body the blades sit in)
• Blades: .035-inch steel on the Magnum, ViperTrick, GrizzTrick 2 and XBOW, and on most Standard weights
• Tip: four-edge, which the maker calls bone splitting
• Blade lock: the maker's patented Alcatraz system, an interlocking blade design held by the ferrule
• Weights: 100 and 125 grains on the bow heads, plus 150 grains on the XBOW

Grain, if you're new to this, is a small weight unit: 437.5 grains to the ounce. A 100-grain head weighs a little less than a quarter of an ounce.

The Why Slick Trick page also says steel won't bend or distort over time with standard use and that the blades resist corrosion. Those are the maker's claims, and I'm passing them on as that.

The four-blade families, by cut

Total cut: read this before you compare

Slick Trick measures its four-blade heads in a way that confuses people at first, me included, for about a minute. Each head has two pairs of blades. The maker lists the width of each pair, then adds them up as "total cut". So the Magnum is 1 1/8 inches plus 1 1/8 inches: a 2 1/4-inch total cut.

That's why the grid shows a single width on some listings and the total on others. A Magnum listing can say 1 1/8 or 2 1/4 and mean the same head. Quick math before you compare with a three-blade head from another brand: find out which number each listing is giving you.

Standard: the compact one

The Standard has a 1-inch blade width and a 2-inch total cut, per the maker. It also comes in an 85-grain version with .030-inch blades, alongside the 100 and 125. The maker says the 1-inch four-blade design outcuts larger 1 1/8-inch three-blade designs by 18%. That's the maker's comparison, not mine. The 100-grain Standard is in the grid.

Magnum: one size up

The Magnum steps up to 1 1/8 inches per blade pair and a 2 1/4-inch total cut, in 100 or 125 grains. The grid has Magnum listings in both silver and black, and a crossbow-marked one. If you're comparing a Magnum and an XBOW, they share the 2 1/4-inch total cut on paper. The difference is the weight options and what the maker says each is built for.

ViperTrick: two different widths

The ViperTrick breaks the pattern. Its two blade pairs aren't the same width: 1 1/16 inches plus 7/8 inch, for a 1 15/16-inch total cut. The maker calls it a cut-on-contact design that keeps the strength of a one-piece head with the ability to replace blades. The grid has it in a 4-pack and a 3-pack, both listed at 100 grains.

GrizzTrick 2: the widest fixed head

The GrizzTrick 2 is 1 1/4 inches plus 1 1/4 inches, a 2 1/2-inch total cut, and the maker calls it the largest cutting diameter in the line. The maker also pitches it for long-range shooters. The grid's GrizzTrick listing bundles several heads under one page, with the main variant at 100 grains.

Here's what actually changes as you go up in cut: the path the head opens gets wider, and the head itself gets bigger. GOHUNT's broadhead article puts it plainly: match the cutting diameter to the game you hunt, and remember that fixed blades show any flaw in your setup.

Crossbow heads

The XBOW is Slick Trick's dedicated crossbow head: 1 1/8 plus 1 1/8 inches, a 2 1/4-inch total cut, and 100, 125 or 150 grains. The maker says it's designed to quickly stabilize short crossbow bolts and for today's fast crossbows. It doesn't publish a speed rating, so neither do I.

In the grid, several listings are marked for crossbows, including the 1 1/8 Crossbow 4-pack and one Magnum listing. Your crossbow maker's manual comes first: read what broadhead weight and type it names before you pick a pack. The crossbow broadheads page covers what to check across brands.

Crossbow seasons and broadhead rules vary by state. Check your state wildlife agency.

Pro Series: stainless steel

The Pro Series heads are the stainless-steel versions. The maker lists a Pro Series Magnum and a Pro Series ViperTrick, both in 100 and 125 grains, and calls them 100% stainless and corrosion resistant. The grid's GrizzTrick listing also covers Pro Series variants.

If your heads ride in a quiver through rain, sleet and a week of damp cabin air, that's where stainless earns its spot. If they live in a dry case until opening morning, the standard heads carry the same blade thickness and cut on the maker's pages.

Replacement blades and "blades" listings

Slick Trick sells replacement blade 4-packs for the Standard (100/125 and 85-grain), the Magnum, the ViperTrick, the GrizzTrick 2 and the XBOW, per its replacement-blades page.

Here's the catch in the grid. Some listing titles name blades: "Mag Blades", "GT 2 Blades", "Xbow Blades". The maker's own blade packs carry similar names. So before you order, read the listing and make sure it's complete heads with ferrules, not blades only. Blades without a ferrule are a very sharp pile of nothing. (Uncle Walt would file that under "spare parts". He'd be right, technically.)

Bowhunter's broadhead prep article makes the point for replaceable-blade heads: the blades are disposable, so the ferrule is the part to check. A bent ferrule wobbles no matter how new the blades are.

The Assailant: a hybrid mechanical

The Assailant is the odd one in the grid. Its listing calls it a hybrid mechanical broadhead, gives a 100-grain weight and a 2 5/8-inch cut, in a 3-pack. The maker's current site doesn't show it, so the listing is the only source here.

A hybrid pairs fixed blades with expandable ones. Archery Business described one design as two fixed blades and two blades that open on impact. GOHUNT's article says mechanical heads use some of the arrow's energy to open, so they're usually not recommended for lightweight setups. Mechanical and hybrid heads aren't legal for every hunt, so check your state wildlife agency. The mechanical broadheads page covers the type.

How to choose within the Slick Trick lineup

Bow or crossbow first

Bow heads come in 100 and 125 grains. The XBOW adds 150. If you shoot a crossbow, start with the crossbow-marked listings and your crossbow maker's chart. If you shoot a vertical bow, start with the four-blade families. The fixed blade broadheads page lays out the type across brands.

Then the grain weight

Match the grain to what your arrow or bolt is set up for. Changing head weight changes how the arrow flies, and that's a retune, not a swap. Bowhunter suggests weighing each head on a digital scale and comparing it to the maker's listed weight.

Then the cut

• Standard: 2-inch total cut, the most compact
• ViperTrick: 1 15/16-inch total cut, two different blade widths
• Magnum and XBOW: 2 1/4-inch total cut
• GrizzTrick 2: 2 1/2-inch total cut, the widest fixed head

Then steel and pack

Standard steel or Pro Series stainless. Then pack size and color. And then, for the third time on this page, check that the listing is heads and not blades.

Tuning and practice with fixed heads

My one opinion on this page: shoot the exact head you'll hunt with before the season, not just your field points. The reason is checkable. Bowhunter recommends shooting only broadheads for two weeks before opening day, with a few practice heads set aside for it. GOHUNT says fixed blades tend to show any flaw in your setup, which is exactly what you want to find in September.

Bowhunter's prep steps, in order:

• Spin-test each broadhead-tipped arrow and watch for wobble at both ends
• Swap the head if it wobbles, to find out whether the head or the arrow is the problem
• Align fixed blades with your vanes
• Weigh each head against the maker's listed grain weight
• Shoot at your longest realistic distance, and listen for extra noise
• Don't shoot fixed heads in tight groups; you'll damage arrows and heads

Think of a fixed head like the lid on a pot. If the pot is a little off, the lid rattles. A field point is a lid that fits anything.

Handling and storage

Keep broadheads covered whenever you're carrying or storing them. Oregon's wildlife agency puts it in one line: make sure your broadheads are safely covered, in a sturdy case or quiver. Only nock an arrow when it's safe to shoot.

Slick Trick facts

Here's what I could verify from the maker's own pages:

• Founder: Gary Cooper, named on the maker's About page as founder and inventor, and described there as considered by some the pioneer of modern fixed-blade designs
• Owner: The Outdoor Group of Henrietta, New York, which acquired Slick Trick in May 2014, per the maker's About page
• Copyright line: The Outdoor Group, LLC, on the maker's site

The founding year, where the heads are made and the warranty terms aren't stated on the maker's pages, so they're left out here.

Write the head, the grain and the total cut on the inside of the case lid. Next September you'll know what you bought without opening the quiver.