Has anyone ran this prop on their 24 outlaw? If so what were the results? The prop has only been out 1.5 years, so not sure if anyone knows about it really, but it was suggested to me over a bravo 1 as it is suppose to give more bow lift over the stock bravo 1.

Sounds like someone is trying to sell a new prop to me. FS is generally used on outboards for the vent holes which would have little benefit on your boat unless you don't have through hull exhaust and have trouble spinning the prop during takeoff.

ealesh33,

Actually our BBLADES OB/F will create more bow lift than the Mercury FS. And much better than that would be a customized Lab Finished Bravo 1 from BBLADES built specifically to your boat.

Ok time for a dissertation. I'll try not to be to long winded


I know the facts because I was involved in creating the adjustments to this propeller before the current team at Mercury were involved with these tweaks.

First, the Bravo 1 FS, XS, and OC are all still made from the Bravo 1 stern drive casting.

Back in the late 1990's and early 2000's, Dennis Cavanaugh and I did many adjustments to the bravo 1 casting. We did these geometry adjustments to this casting to allow it to perform on a variety of stern drive as well a multitude of outboard applications.

The outboard adjustments began when we were building our first 300 HP outboard. This engine was known as the 300 ProMax. This engine has a low rev limiter of 6420 rpm. Because the engine had so much power we needed propeller pitch not available in current outboard offerings like the Trophy Plus or Tempest Plus. However, we did have up to 30 inches of pitch available with the Bravo 1 casting. (It was only available up the 30 pitch then. We didn't have the 32-36 available as of yet.)
The engine also had a unique issue in that the low end was soft. It couldn't spool up the big 30 pitch Bravo 1 but it needed the 30 pitch to keep the rpm in check at WOT.
So we drilled vent holes in the propeller exhaust hub. Problem solved! We started with 3/8" and ended up at 1" holes. So, we have been installing vent holes in Bravo 1 propellers at Mercury and BBLADES for years before Mercury Racing decided to give the Bravo 1 propeller a name and market it as a new prop.

The same goes for the other options / new geometry of the FS and OC. These are simply Bravo 1 propellers with the tweaks we invented many years ago. Mercury Racing just decided to give the props with tweaks names and give them a marketing strategy to fit the tweaks.

All the these Mercury Bravo 1 propellers are basically the same with the differences being the size of the vent holes.

Even though we have been doing all these tweaks for our customers when the application dictates, we hadn't give the BBLADES propeller a name until this winter. At BBLADES we have decided to now market our own offering to compete with these propellers Our Bravo 1 outboard competitor is called the Bravo OB/F. The BBLADES OB/F has some distinct advantages over the Mercury offering.

First, and foremost, BBLADES one propeller, the OB/F does everything the 3 offerings from Mercury do only in a single propeller option.

Second, The BBLADES OB/F has a slightly increased rake angle adjustment desired by so many outboard applications. It is just enough to reduce trim input needed yet small enough to not affect boats not needing too much lift.

Third, our 7/8" vent holes are pluggable. Something not available in the XS, and larger than the FS holes. The OC just has dual holes instead of single larger holes (same prop as the others other than the 2 holes (no distinct advantage).

Fourth the OB/F has a diffuser ring adjusted to what we have decided to be the best fit for all outboards.

There are more points to the story but not worth babbling about at this time.


So, again, you would be best suited to have a propeller built directly for your boat rather than using a outboard version of a stern drive casting.

Let me know any questions and I can be more specific if needed.

Brett