Grim Reaper Broadheads is a hunting and archery brand headquartered in Provo, Utah.
Jay Liechty graduated from BYU's pre-med program and then taught himself patent law. Early in his career he secured about 20 patents, according to the Utah Small Business Development Center. His company, Grim Reaper Broadheads in Provo, now sells broadheads at $54.99 for a three-pack, and the same program calls it the only broadhead company still owned and operated by its founder.
The problem Liechty set out to fix was the mechanical broadhead, a hunting point whose blades open on impact. At the time, the Utah SBDC says, many of them struggled with penetration and with deflecting on angled shots. He wanted a sharp cutting edge near the tip to get rid of what he called the butter knife effect, which is a phrase no one wants applied to a hunting tool. The Razortip, which the company says reached the market in 2000, put small cutting blades there.
The Razortip also holds its blades closed in flight with a spring, which replaced the rubber bands and O-rings on other mechanicals. The company says the blades need only one pound of pressure to open. The blades are 440C stainless steel, .035 inch thick on the mechanicals, and the heads come in weights from 75 to 125 grains, with cutting diameters from 1 1/8 inches up to a full 2 inches on the whitetail special.
Money was the hard part. Banks were hesitant to help a new business with no track record, Liechty told the Utah SBDC, and the learning curve of running a company took relentless effort and long hours. With counselor Camille Pendleton at the SBDC, Grim Reaper earned an industry certification and put lean manufacturing in place.
Parts are replaceable. The FAQ says every Grim Reaper broadhead has replaceable blades, and the shop sells rebuild kits for $24.99. A practice head costs $12.99 and is, the company says, the identical configuration of its mechanical line, so it flies the way the real one does.
The fixed-blade Hades sharpens both the front and back edges of its blades, and the company sells crossbow heads it tested field point accurate at speeds over 400 feet per second. Most of the performance claims are the company's own. It says its mechanical heads do not deflect on angled shots and give field point accuracy when a bow is properly tuned, and its site warns that counterfeits have shown up on third-party sellers, so it asks buyers to use authorized dealers.
Liechty's advice to other founders is to find an unmet need and defend the answer. He did it with about 20 patents and a slogan: Watch 'em Drop.
Grim Reaper says its mechanical blades are often found closed after a pass-through, because the arrow's sudden deceleration folds them forward again.
