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Written by:
Neil McMahon
Halo vs Egg
Hey, to all my paintball buddies. This review is based on my experience and observations, first hand. Personally, I never thought I would need a top end loader. I run a Bushmaster LCD 2K2. Last year, at the Atlantics (PEI) my team shot 8 cases of paint. I never had a problem with feeding or breaking balls.
Then, I was made aware of the function of the Shock Tech board for the Bushy. It sounded like it made sense. Here is my set-up I had.
- Bushmaster LCD 2K2
- Mac Dev Grip frame(angel)
- Gladiator Reg.
- Mac Dev Red valve(increase flow)
- Low Rise feed
- Mac Dev LPR
Now, with this setup, I should have been able to rock. Little did I know, the board made all the difference in the world. When I installed the Shock Tech board, it was insane. I had to turn the gun down to 20bps. With this insane cycle rate and response, I knew I would need another loader to keep up.
Here was where the decision came. It was either a halo or an egg. A couple of guys on the team have eggs. They seemed to be having trouble with the egg keeping up.(even with the Y board). As for the Halo, I only heard that they had a tendency to put too much pressure on the ball stack. I based my decision on a philosophy I have learned over the years. "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it".
I used the halo for the first time at the Moncton AGTPL. It "Rocked" all weekend. I never had a problem with it.
The Halo
Pros:
- The motor winds the spring in the paddle, making the eye secondary. Hence, there are force fed balls prior to the eyes actual function, which is to wind the paddle.
- The ability to shoot with the gun tilted. Not really necessary, but it doesn't hurt.
- The Low Battery light is very important. As with all battery operated equipment, if the battery gets low unforseen hiccups may occur, causing great stress.
Cons:
- The capacity for the loader is 180 balls.
- The tension that the paddle may also be a con in that if the paint is cheap, the pressure put on the stack may cause ball breakage.
- The batteries required are a 9volt or 6 AA batteries. The latter is preferred, as the 9volt will not last as long. That is the trade off for cutting down on the weight.
- The pressure applied to the stack may cause the ball in the breach to roll forward or back. The forward roll can be eliminated by a good ball detent.
The Egg
Pros:
- The Egg does not put pressure on the ball stack, thus eliminating ball breakage in the loader(feed neck).
- The Egg uses a 9volt battery lowering the weight.
Cons:
- The cover for the egg can be difficult to open as it snaps shut with a small notch to try and open it.
- The balls don't get force by the wheel until the eye sees a gap. This delay has been one of the design flaws.
- With no tension on the balls until a eye activation it is effectively a gravity feed gun until the eye sees a gap then tells the wheel to move. This action causes the loader to go from a force feed to a gravity feed and back again.
The Halo is a constant force feed loader whereas the egg relies on gravity at times.
In Summary,
The Halo is the top dog, with the following precautions:
- Make sure you have fresh batteries in at each tournament. (This will rule out low batteries as a cause of any problem you come across.) There's nothing worse than adjusting your gun, only to find out, you had old batteries.
- Use fresh and good quality paint. Tournament grade paint is usually pretty good, so this concern would likely apply when using practice paint.
This would be my recommendation.
SZ4EVA
Arch Angel
www.teamsubzero.ca
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