Dental Bands?

[xs109c2]

What size Dental Bands does everyone use on NAP Spitfires?

[W.Miguire]

I'm tryen 3/16 seem to be tight enough.
W.M.

[mikej]

Spitfires do not require bands

[longbow joe]

3/16 medium if you must . As mike said wouldnt bother with a band unless you have a 380 fps or above.

[Deaf jeff]

Spitfires do not require bands

maybe not required but some people like a little extra piece of mind and if they dont effect accuracy it might not be a bad idea for a little extra insurance at very little cost
imo

[bigbowman]

NAP’s techs said that banding the Spitfire will reduce greatly the effect it will have going through an animal’s hide & muscles. They are not designed for bands! Will not open on bows with speeds up to 400fps.

[paulaboutform]

I just tried the crossbow Spits for the first time on my Frankenbow. I banded. I'm hoping Ironoggin chimes in on his experience and why he bands his Spitfires. His story certainly influenced my decision to band.

Paul

[Bcxbow]

I had a crossbow version SF open prematurely a couple of weeks ago. I will be banding when using my BD400

[tomcat]

In my experience this is true and false....They will not open if they are brand new with brand new crush spacers. Once you open those blades by playing with them, catching them on stuff etc...with each opening they get easier..and possess less and less friction to hold them closed. Coupled with the fast loading of recurve Xbows, one or more blades often open in flight...
I suspected this years ago in my Vortex when I hit a standing deer at 20 yds in the neck while aiming behind shoulder and seen the shot spin off strangely. I then went home and shot it through paper tuning rack...sure enough a blade was opening in flight and I replaced the shims and it stopped it. I then took the used shims and re-dimpled the friction detents and it also shot cleanly. I duplicated issue by opening the blades a couple times and reshooting through paper...sure enough.

At that point, I removed the shims altogether and used rubber bands from my Rocket Broadheads... Voila! They worked perfect and I killed numerous deer with Spitfires and ExcLiburs over the next 5 years until I switched exclusively to Steelheads because I didn't like replacing bent aluminum ferrules...
They always opened for me and put deer down with a great blood trail...

I'm quite certain that the issue is even more compounded with today's even faster/harder loading Matrix and Micro models...

Just my .02

[Bcxbow]

I agree with you 100% Tomcat, I believe they are probably fine if brand new and undesturbed. I myself must shoot each head at a target before using on any game so either it is change blades and clips each time or use bands.

[Normous]

The morale of the story is "don't play with your Spitifire mechanicals", because if you do you may find the retention clips not functioning as intended and may open prematurely.
I might add that I use one dental band on my 170 gr NAP FOC's because of the violent launch my Kustom Excalibur's exert on the NAP's.

[bigbowman]

I used to use Spitfires but have since switched to Shwackers, Hypodermics and NAP Swingblades. I like bigger cutting area with bigger blood trails!

[venison]

I LIKE TO USE 3/16 DENTAL BANDS ON MY 1.75 SHAWACKERS NEVER HAVE ANY DEPLOY ON ME AT ALL ON BOTH MY GIRLS 380 &350 SHOOTING AROUND 420 ARROWS ..WHEN I SHOOT MY 380 SAME SET UP THE HYPODERMICS I SHOOT THE BLACK SHOCK COLLARS WITH O ISSUES AND 3/16 DENTAL BANDS WITH THE SHAWACKERS GREAT DOWN RANGE ACCURACY GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN BE SAFE ALWAYS

[IronNoggin]

NAP’s techs said that banding the Spitfire will reduce greatly the effect it will have going through an animal’s hide & muscles. They are not designed for bands! Will not open on bows with speeds up to 400fps.

LOL! Well it seems they don't know their own product very well.
I'd be the first to call BS on that intel!!

I've been running with 125 grain Spitfires for a very long time now.
LOVE their Accuracy, and great SHORT blood trails they leave.
Extremely happy with them, and won't likely be switching any time soon.

That said, I band all of mine these days.
Reason being is a few years back, I took what should have been a "Gimmee" shot on an unaware whitetail buck about 50 yards out.
The arrow left the bow, went straight UP, then downwards in a rapidly tightening spiral to land about 30 yards from me. That buck was never to be seen again! The Spitfire was brand new out of the box. And it deployed one or more blades upon launch.

So, I started banding them immediately thereafter. 3/16" it is.



As you can see, I double them over so it is basically a double band.

Since initiating that, I have had zero issues with them opening on launch.
I have also had ZERO issues with them opening on contact with critters.
I have shot many at ranges most would not even consider, and raking shots tighter than a 3/4 turn.
In every single case they have performed flawlessly, resulting in yet another good, and SHORT blood trail.

Like I said, I won't be switching either the broadhead, nor the banding, any time soon.

Cheers,
Nog

[W.Miguire]

So Nog what you are saying is that you double up on one band? or are you using 2 ?
W.M.