soulcar
11-20-2009, 02:43 PM
I recently had the opportunity to use the 180 count Pinokio Pods at the Fulda Gap game. This was because I was given the chance to try them out by Dbug of Conlee Customs. Here is what I saw and dealt with while using them.
The capacity at 180 is fantastic. It made loading a 200 count hopper easy when is was empty and gave almost a completely full hopper when done. If you were reloading your hopper early and had some paint left in the hopper you might run into what I did at a couple of different times. I would go to load and had extra either left in the pod or at the opening of the hopper. This is when you have to decide on if you want to just remove the pod and let the paint hit the ground or hold the pod in place over the hopper for a few minutes while firing to let some paint escape and give room for the new.
There were times when trying to load the hopper during a fire fight the paint didn’t always want to fall freely out of the pod into the hopper. I would have to shake the pod to get the paint to loosen up enough to fall. This caused issues for me at time when I was trying to cover team mates that were either moving or reloading.
--Side note on this: It should be known how I load my pods. I load them until they are “full”. I then cover the opening with my hand and shake the pod a little up and down to get the paint to allow for more. You might think; “well there’s your problem, you over filled it.” This something that was taught to me when I first started playing by some pro speedball players, and I have always done it. I have never had any issues like this one with my normal pods (which are Dye Lock-Lids).
There were a couple of times when I would try to reload and I would have trouble getting the lid to pop open. I would try using the one hand method, holding the pod and pushing the lid to open with just my thumb. When/if that didn’t work I would try to pop/pry the lid open against the open mouth of the hopper. This didn’t always work at times as well.
--Side note here: this could have been because these pods were brand new, now the lids might open easier the more a person uses them.
If the lid isn’t completely snapped down on all sides and securely in place there is a chance that it could open on you during an inopportune time. This happened to me, when I brushed up against a tree while moving shooting with my team mates. In this case I had the pod in my harness mounted upside down for quick and easy removal from said harness. Now you might be thinking to yourself; “just put it in a pouch (or harness) that has a cover.” I tried that a few different times in different pouches/harness types. What I saw was that and pouch/harness that can accept a 140 count or a 160 count pod will accept these, but, have a hard time closing, either it be a “Velcro” closer or a snap.
These are the issues that I had and what I had to over come. I wanted to share with you all what I noticed, so if you use them you might be on the look out for these and know ahead of time what to expect.
--Side note here: I want it to be known that I had team mates that used some as well, I did not know of any issues they had.
With all of this being said I want you all to know I didn’t want to do a normal review of these where a score is given. I thought it could be misleading and misread. “ I gave it a 7 Mr.Clark and I could really dance to it.” (American Bandstand reference for those who don’t get this little joke.) What I wanted to do again, is tell you all about what I saw and noticed.
Thank you for your time in reading this.
The capacity at 180 is fantastic. It made loading a 200 count hopper easy when is was empty and gave almost a completely full hopper when done. If you were reloading your hopper early and had some paint left in the hopper you might run into what I did at a couple of different times. I would go to load and had extra either left in the pod or at the opening of the hopper. This is when you have to decide on if you want to just remove the pod and let the paint hit the ground or hold the pod in place over the hopper for a few minutes while firing to let some paint escape and give room for the new.
There were times when trying to load the hopper during a fire fight the paint didn’t always want to fall freely out of the pod into the hopper. I would have to shake the pod to get the paint to loosen up enough to fall. This caused issues for me at time when I was trying to cover team mates that were either moving or reloading.
--Side note on this: It should be known how I load my pods. I load them until they are “full”. I then cover the opening with my hand and shake the pod a little up and down to get the paint to allow for more. You might think; “well there’s your problem, you over filled it.” This something that was taught to me when I first started playing by some pro speedball players, and I have always done it. I have never had any issues like this one with my normal pods (which are Dye Lock-Lids).
There were a couple of times when I would try to reload and I would have trouble getting the lid to pop open. I would try using the one hand method, holding the pod and pushing the lid to open with just my thumb. When/if that didn’t work I would try to pop/pry the lid open against the open mouth of the hopper. This didn’t always work at times as well.
--Side note here: this could have been because these pods were brand new, now the lids might open easier the more a person uses them.
If the lid isn’t completely snapped down on all sides and securely in place there is a chance that it could open on you during an inopportune time. This happened to me, when I brushed up against a tree while moving shooting with my team mates. In this case I had the pod in my harness mounted upside down for quick and easy removal from said harness. Now you might be thinking to yourself; “just put it in a pouch (or harness) that has a cover.” I tried that a few different times in different pouches/harness types. What I saw was that and pouch/harness that can accept a 140 count or a 160 count pod will accept these, but, have a hard time closing, either it be a “Velcro” closer or a snap.
These are the issues that I had and what I had to over come. I wanted to share with you all what I noticed, so if you use them you might be on the look out for these and know ahead of time what to expect.
--Side note here: I want it to be known that I had team mates that used some as well, I did not know of any issues they had.
With all of this being said I want you all to know I didn’t want to do a normal review of these where a score is given. I thought it could be misleading and misread. “ I gave it a 7 Mr.Clark and I could really dance to it.” (American Bandstand reference for those who don’t get this little joke.) What I wanted to do again, is tell you all about what I saw and noticed.
Thank you for your time in reading this.