Point Blank Quick Tornado Grenade Review with Howe

Point Blank Quick Tornado Grenade Review with Howe

Postby Howe » Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:47 pm

POINT BLANK with Howe

Tornado Grenade $99.95


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When I review equipment I don’t care about what little prissy box it comes in, I care about how the quality of the item. More important than this is how the equipment is going to perform for me when I am trying to kill someone and that person is shooting back. I’m not here to suck up to any manufacturer I’m here to give you a no B.S. Point Blank Review.

MATERIAL 9/10
The plastic material used is very solid. It looks nice and seems pretty rugged. I haven’t had any problems with it yet.

It’s hard to rate the design on this grenade as it doesn’t look like a real grenade but they came up with this specific shape to facilitate the spinning process. It looks good enough, you can tell it’s a grenade so I’ll give it good marks here.

PRACTICALITY 9/10
This grenade is a one shot item, you won’t be using it much on the field, as it takes several minutes to reload. I would be surprised if you use it more than once or twice during a typical skirm (unless you go back to reload a lot.)

ACCESSORIES 10/10
There aren’t a lot of parts on this grenade which I really like. You have the pin, valve key (which are connected) and the end cap. After you throw this grenade there aren’t any parts for you to go and attempt to find. This area was very well thought out.

FIELD TESTING 7/10
This is where things get dicey. I’m sure you have seen the videos at http://www.airsoft-innovations.com/Grenade.html but if you notice all of their tests are on a hard, flat surface. This hard flat surface is what allows the grenade to spin around and throw bb’s everywhere. Now that is all nice and dandy if you are doing a cqc event or at PTOC but what about where you are out on a field?

I tested this in the field below my house and got very mediocre results. One-half of the bb’s shot out but the other half just shot straight into the ground. The grenade was not able to spin. Now if I had thrown this in a bunker with someone it probably would have killed most people in it, but once you get out of a 5 yard radius there is a good chance you won’t hit the MZB (Mutant Zombie Biker) if he happens to be on the opposite side of the way the bb’s are spraying he will live to shoot back.

So in this section I’m going to split my ratings of the two surfaces:

Hard Floor=5/5
Grassy Field=2/5
7/10

VALUE 5/10
Now the grenade price states $99.95 but you have to pay another $20 or so in shipping from Canada which means the grenade is really $120.

I think the grenade delivers most of what it claims it will do. The cost is high in my opinion for what you get.

I would compare owning this grenade with owning a M203. Most people don’t use them much on the field but it is cool to have.

OVERALL SCORE: 40/50

Beginner to Airsoft: Don’t’ waste your time or money on this item. It is not a necessity and you are better off spending this money on a better AEG, boots, plate carrier, etc.

Experienced Airsoft Warrior So you already have just about everything you need to whoop a$$ on the field, except a grenade. There are times that this could definitely come in handy when you are trying to get people out of a dug-in position. My only real objection is that this grenade is overpriced for what you get.

Knowing what I now know about the grenade would I buy it again? Probably yes, I will have fun with this from time to time. I have a generous airsoft budget so it was a no brainier for me to buy the grenade but if things are tight for you financially I wouldn’t recommend you pick this up.

-Howe has spoken
Last edited by Howe on Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:42 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Postby Bigfoot » Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:07 pm

Good Review. It was very helpful.
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Re: Point Blank Quick Tornado Grenade Review with Howe

Postby Nocte » Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:41 pm

Howe wrote:Now the grenade price states $99.95 but you have to pay another $20 or so in shipping from Canada which is a complete scam. It doesn’t cost them anywhere near that to ship. This isn't Hong Kong it's freak'n Canada, eh.


I thought this was supposed to be a no BS review...

State your source on your alleged "scam" in shipping. Airsoft Innovations has detailed their shipping issues with us here on these forums, if you have proof otherwise please post it. Do you have detailed information on shipping rates to/from Canada on a large scale? If not, this is a case of you not wanting to believe what they're telling you, and in that case, you should state that instead of accusing a reputable company of a scam - especially when they addressed this to you specifically before you ever received your grenade.

Airsoft Innovations wrote:
Geschutz wrote:
Howe wrote:I ordered mine, I'll post my thoughts on it when it arrives. $100 for the nade is ok.. but $20 shipping??? That's kinda weak if you ask me for a shipment from Canada.


not to mention the currency conversion from USD and CAD.


Sorry, that's what UPS charges us. We're working to setup a shipping location in the US which would halve our shipping costs and reduce the delivery delay.

We didn't think that anyone dropping $100 on a grenade would be happy with $15 shipping via airmail which isn't traceable and takes 6-12 business days.

The currency conversion is real hurt on me. I get to compete with Asian copyshops banging out junk with currencies pegged to the USD while my currency floats around and does terrible things.

All bitching aside, that's just life. I have to leverage our strengths as best we can and compete in a market space that my competition doesn't do very well in.
Last edited by Nocte on Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby KA-BAR » Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:47 pm

great review keith. cant wait to unleash it at PTOC.
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Re: Point Blank Quick Tornado Grenade Review with Howe

Postby Howe » Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:13 pm

Nocte wrote:
Howe wrote:Now the grenade price states $99.95 but you have to pay another $20 or so in shipping from Canada which is a complete scam. It doesn’t cost them anywhere near that to ship. This isn't Hong Kong it's freak'n Canada, eh.


I thought this was supposed to be a no BS review...

State your source on your alleged "scam" in shipping. Airsoft Innovations has detailed their shipping issues with us here on these forums, if you have proof otherwise please post it. Do you have detailed information on shipping rates to/from Canada on a large scale? If not, this is a case of you not wanting to believe what they're telling you, and in that case, you should state that instead of accusing a reputable company of a scam - especially when they addressed this to you specifically before you ever received your grenade.

Airsoft Innovations wrote:
Geschutz wrote:
Howe wrote:I ordered mine, I'll post my thoughts on it when it arrives. $100 for the nade is ok.. but $20 shipping??? That's kinda weak if you ask me for a shipment from Canada.


not to mention the currency conversion from USD and CAD.


Sorry, that's what UPS charges us. We're working to setup a shipping location in the US which would halve our shipping costs and reduce the delivery delay.

We didn't think that anyone dropping $100 on a grenade would be happy with $15 shipping via airmail which isn't traceable and takes 6-12 business days.

The currency conversion is real hurt on me. I get to compete with Asian copyshops banging out junk with currencies pegged to the USD while my currency floats around and does terrible things.

All bitching aside, that's just life. I have to leverage our strengths as best we can and compete in a market space that my competition doesn't do very well in.


I looked it up on the Canada Post Website:
The most expensive shipping I could find was $13.00 I don't remember it coming UPS, but I could be mistaken. But I do know that I get stuff faster from Hong Kong than I did from Canada for similar shipping rates.

But I'll change the word scam, I am NOT questioning the integrity of the company.


My reviews are no B.S. I pay for everything I review. PERSONALLY I have trouble with many reviews (I AM NOT pointing fingers at AP here!!!!, just speaking in general terms with the industry as a whole) as I feel that if people get to keep the item they are reviewing that they aren't going to tear it apart they way it should be. If a reviewer trashes an item from a manufacturer then the reviewer will have to worry if the manufacturer will donate another item in the future. If the reviews are nice then they will keep getting free stuff. I see this over and over in the magazines I read.

Some people like my reviews some don't. I write my reviews the way I wish they were written in magazines. I try to keep it simple, I attempt to keep a formula, so you can compare similar items in an analytical way, and above all I give my honest opinion of the item I'm reviewing. If I can help a few people make a more informed decision on whether to purchase an item or not then I have accomplished my goal.
Last edited by Howe on Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Kendodude » Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:27 pm

$20 is nothing. I had to pay $20+ shipping and duty fees later for a $40 DVD from Japan. :(
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Postby Howe » Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:31 pm

I accept that I went too far with my comments on shipping. I changed the review to reflect your valid points.
If there is anything else I can do to improve the review I am happy to accept constructive criticism. I don't want this post to turn into a whole shipping debate.

Thank you
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Postby Kendodude » Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:41 pm

Howe wrote:I accept that I went too far with my comments on shipping. I changed the review to reflect your valid points.
If there is anything else I can do to improve the review I am happy to accept constructive criticism. I don't want this post to turn into a whole shipping debate.

Thank you



Just beware... OF THE DUTY FEES!!!!! BLARRRRRG!

You might be lucky as alex or as unlucky as me!

Infact I haven't heard much of duty fees in a long time... It's scary... I'm scared...
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Postby Eyes On » Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:01 pm

That one SMALL point aside, this is exactly the way one should write a review. Thank you Howe, excellent information presented in a clear, organized format which was obviously planned prior to sitting at the keyboard. I generally ignore "Just out of the box" reviews all together. This review was a welcome exception.

I'd like to know how it holds up over time in a follow-up in 5-6 months.

B-Z!

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Postby Geschutz » Sat Jul 05, 2008 10:09 pm

Overall I am happy with my tornado grenade. I bought .12 bbs just for this. they blast waay farther. I used some glow bbs and set it off at night and it had a far spread. I can agree on the terrain situation. In grass the effectivness leaves much to be desired. But I intend on using it for mainly cqc purposes where it has the best effect.
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Postby Haloeclipse » Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:07 pm

good review
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Postby Airsoft Innovations » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:42 pm

Thanks for the review Howe.

It's unfortunate, but UPS does charge us about $22 to ship to locations in the US. We haven't finished negotiating with our warehousing service stateside yet so we're still shipping individual shipments out of here in Canada. IRC we do offer the $13 Expedited parcel option in our shipping engine, but it does take 8 business days (read one week and two calendar days) so many customers pick our UPS ground option at 4-5 biz days. We do not charge handling fees.

We'd like to make our grenade more effective on the grass, but we run into a safety issue. Blasting through grass takes a fair bit of muzzle energy. Try taking any of your favorite AEGs and see how far they shoot when you lay them sideways and shoot through grass. We have to limit the power of our grenades to be safe with many clear line of sight hits in a small area (say the grenade lands right next to you) so it unfortunately kind of sucks in tallish grass. You get almost no reflection from downwards shots in grass.

We do find that heavy pellets work a fair bit better than light pellets. Light pellets don't take up as much momentum which degrades the grenade spin. They also carry less energy so they hit less hard. It's odd, but our grenade is not a constant energy device like an AEG. Heavier pellets can pick up more energy than lighter pellets in the discharge phase.

We're working on a "getting the most out of your Tornado Grenade" guide for our site, but it's turning out to be quite a production. We're going into maintenance and performance issues. We hope to help our users get the most out of our product. Because it's so new, it's even new to us. We're continually learning more about how our users handle our grenade and we hope to share our findings soon.
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