Kill’n Stix Arrow Review

After spending two seasons shooting Kill’n Stix arrows, we are switching arrow companies for the 2019 season. I will outline the reasons why in this review.

My experience with the Kill’n Stix arrows is a bit more in-depth than just buying a dozen arrows and shooting them. We installed our own inserts, messed with weight forward, and experimented with fletching configurations on both the Original series and the Ventilator series. 

Last year, we took it a step further and used a spine tester to check straightness, spine index the arrows, and then sorted the dozens to match weight by <1 grain of difference. 

Let’s start with the standard .246’ ID Original shafts. We shot these arrows in 2017, using a 75 grain brass insert up front and then we experimented with multiple vane options, finally settling on AAE Max Stealth vanes and nocturnal lighted nocks.

These arrows sit right at 8.7 grains/inch and we cut these arrows to 29 inches, so with a standard 100 grain point our total arrow weight was 478 grains. 

The Kill’n Stix Originals price is what drove us to give them a try. We ordered the dozen fletched with blazer vanes and then stripped them off after to experiment with different vanes. A dozen of these fletched were only $164. The heavier brass inserts had to be special ordered in and I believe were around $20 for the dozen.

With these arrows, we had fairly good arrow flight and our groups were much more consistent, although a lot of that was likely due to better form and our new bows that were set up correctly. If you look closely at the photo below, the flight of the arrow has some significant wobble all the way to the target.

As far as durability, I harvest two deer with the originals and the arrows were both unharmed. Since then, I have used them as my grouse hunting arrows and have been fired into trees, stumps, and the ground multiple times and I have yet to break one.

For a good budget arrow, these did the trick for us. 

In 2018 we decided to move to a smaller diameter arrow, the Kill’n Stix Ventilator. This model is a .204’ Id arrow. We ordered these bare shaft as we already knew we were going to fletch our own arrows and this would save stripping the blazer vanes off right away. We also ordered the stainless steel half outs instead of the standard aluminum ones. 

These shafts are a bit more expensive with a dozen arrows costing around $174 for fletched arrows and the half outs I believe were $30.

After getting these arrows in, we spin tested the bare shafts to identify if one end was wobbling more than the other. We settled on cutting 3/4’ off the back end of the arrow shaft and the remaining amount off the front of the shaft. After doing this we were able to take the .003’ straightness Ventilators and cut them to our length of 28.25”, resulting in a .001” straightness arrow as we saw with a spine tester.

The next thing we did was to spine index the arrows, doing this we hang a 2 lb weight from the center of the arrow shaft and determine the stiff side and weak side of the spine and make a mark on the stiff side so that you can have the cock vane right on the spine. This allows for a consistent launch from your bow so that all its force is down the stiff portion of the spine.

Looking back on this experience, it would have been nice to have another arrow brand there to see the difference in spine consistency. As I remember it, there was a few thousandths of an inch deflection difference as we rotated the arrow. Each arrow was noticeably different with some real consistent and others as much as .01” of deflection. After seeing more arrows tested in this manner, the higher quality arrows hardly show a difference as you spin the arrow. 

This spine inconsistency was highlighted when we were trying to get our fixed blade broad heads to tune.

The next issue we had with these arrows were the inserts. The overall fit of the inserts inside the shaft was very poor, as the inserts were quite loose. A good fit would allow the insert to have some resistance going in and even without glue, the inserts would not fall out of the arrow shaft. These could almost rattle in the end of the shaft and would not stay in the shaft without glue. Due to this loose fit we had to re-glue the inserts using quite a bit more glue as they were pulling loose when shooting bag targets.

Along with the poor fit, 7 out of the 24 inserts had thread issues, so the only way to get a field tip would be to cross thread the points. This caused these arrows to spin very poorly making them unusable for a hunting arrow.

After shooting these arrows for a full year, mainly shooting into 3D targets and a Cabelas high-density foam block, only 3 of the arrows still spin true. The wobble is noticeable even without a point in the arrow, meaning you can see the outsert wobbling. Without removing the outserts and installing Easton HIIT inserts, it is tough to tell if it is the shaft itself that is also bending. My gut feeling is that it is the outserts and the potential of them being slightly off center due to the poor fit.

Overall, for a budget arrow I see no issue with the Kill’n Stix Originals, but with the poor quality components that are offered with their micro diameter shafts I would avoid their smaller diameter shafts altogether.

We like the idea of supporting a local company but with the cost of arrows we want to get more than a season out of our arrows. Our other main concern is the spine consistency, arrows that do not flex the same way cause your groups to be irregular and this is magnified when you throw a fixed blade broadhead on your arrow. With our main focus of building a reliable hunting arrow, consistency and tune-ability is critical.

Additionally, for those who are in the Calgary area, there is also no current dealer as OC archery in Airdrie has closed.

If you have any questions about this review reach out, I would love to hear about your experiences as well!!

-R