As I found myself up against this cover, my teammates were telling me that I had a guy on the other side of the 'pod'.  I had no visual on him, but since I could see my side and I knew that my team members had the right and left side covered, I knew that he was just opposite.

We both stuck our heads out at about the same time and then fired a few shots at each other.  I wasn't sure if he was hit and when I heard the call that he was still a threat, I knew that something had to be done quickly.  I fired two shots down the right side with my AEG to get his attention and hopefully get him 'thinking' about the right side.  Then I immediately switched out to my sidearm and came around the left side behind him.  I took two shots and the threat was down.

Even though it worked, it could have been better... and ultimately 'safer' if I would have had a grenade.  Since I knew where he was and he was only about 10 feet from me, a grenade would have allowed me to be in two places at once to ensure that I would have made the kill.

What I determined afterwards, was that with a grenade, I could have fired a few shots down the right, immediately followed up by a grenade.  Regardless of whether or not that grenade actually detonated, it would have been a visual threat to my opponent.  During the time he was 'figuring' out what it was that I just threw on the ground in front of him.. I would have been right behind him making my kill with the sidearm.  Or, if his reactions were fast enough, he would have turned and ran from the grenade and again.. would have found himself staring down the barrel of my side arm.

Either way, had I had a grenade during that engagement, it would have allowed me to present two different 'threats' to my opponent, from two different positions, helping to secure the kill, but also to give my added security by distracting him for just that split second, giving me additional time to get into position.

****

I was able to pick up one of the Airsoft Innovations Tornado airsoft grenades the other day.  I bought it for the reason above.  I had seen these come out on the market about 6 months ago and I wanted one immediately.  This airsoft grenade has been long awaited.  There have other 'grenades' that have hit the market.  One of them involved water and citric acid, which we tested a couple of years ago.  Unfortunately, we never were able to get a full review on them, due to the fact that we never were able to get a consistent result.  In addition, they were not reusable and just by attempting to get a good 'average' we expended 8 of them.

Which is another reason that we are liking the AI Tornado grenade.  It's reusable, you don't have to worry about buying replacement parts every time you deploy your grenade.  There are other current grenades and 'trainers' on the market, but all of them utilize a disposable 'blast' cap.  So every time you throw your grenade, you're counting how much money you just spent.  And the kicker, is that they aren't any cheaper then the AI Tornado grenade.

So, we haven't even gotten two paragraphs into the review and we've covered two prime reasons why this grenade is a good buy.  So, we'll talk construction now. The body of the grenade itself, is just over 4 inches in length and the top cap (head) that holds the pin is another inch.  The diameter of the grenade is just over 2 inches and unfortunately, I don't have my scale handy, but I'm sure it weighs under a lb. even with BB's.  I'll update this when I can (remember).  The inner body is made from aluminum.  Inside the body is the actual 'valve' that does everything.  By the look of the diagram and what we've heard from the airsoft store we purchased it from.  When you fill the 'valve' with gas, is slowly 'leaks' putting pressure on seals.  When the pin is pulled, it slowly begins to move and once it gets to a certain point, it 'blows' past the seal which then pushes out the BB's through a bottom port.

The outer body of the grenade is made of a hard composite.  It looks to me injection molded and is secured by six small bolts or screws.  I also noticed some silicon at the seal which tells me that it is designed to hold the pressure of the gas as it pushes out the BBs.  I can see that there is an O-ring gasket at the top, which further helps it seal.

The only part of the grenade that I could see as a potential problem, is the top cap area where the pin goes.  The internal valve needs move freely through the head and being that it is aluminum, I can see it getting bent if the grenade were to land directly on it when you deploy it.  So, with that said, my recommendation, is that you should NEVER THROW this grenade.  At least, never in a manner that would allow it to 'tumble' in the air.  Possibly an underhand 'toss' would be best if you find that you 'have' to throw this grenade.  Your best bet, would be to simply 'roll' the grenade at an enemy similar to how you would throw a bowling ball.  Maybe if Airsoft Innovations is kind enough to provide us with a few 'test' grenades, we'll be able to do more rigorous testing on them to see if this is an actual problem or just a concern of ours. (*hint*hint)

The other parts of the grenade would be the bottom cap, aka the valve cover, the valve key, the bumper and of course, the pin.  First off, let me say that this grenade is extremely well though out.  Not only is the function, reusability, design and construction of the grenade impressive, even the 'support' items seem to be well conceived.  The pin is not some hokey pin that look 'cheap'.  It is a decent gauge steel (maybe 16ga) and is connected to a slip ring of the same gauge.  I can tell that this pin will not 'bend' with a simple drop to the ground or repeated use.  The valve cover is made of the same composite as the outer body and is threaded with an O-ring. 

In regards to the valve cover, on the cover itself, it says "DO NOT CROSS THREAD - TIGHTEN FIRMLY TO ARM".  Having worked with composites like this in the past, I can tell you that when they say "do not cross thread" they mean it.  Once you cross thread the valve cover, you might as well forget it because it will be 'done'.  This type of composite is durable, but once it's damaged, it's damaged, no turning back.  Unlike a metal that can be carefully sanded and modified to work.  When you tighten the cover, don't wrench it on.  I'd recommend that you tighten it no more then you can using simply your finger tips.  Any more than that, you'll risk damaging the threads.. Ie.. stripping the threads.  Which is worse then cross threading them.

The "valve key" is made up of a hard plastic, but it doesn't appear to be the same composite as the body.  It definitely looks like it can be used quite frequently.  We have found that a regular retractable ball point pin can substitute in the event that you break or lose the valve key.  I'm sure that you can use an AEG loading rod as well.  Just don't push too hard or far, as the valve key has a specific 'depth' built into it that signals when you've 'reset' the valve.  Really, you're only pushing the valve down enough to clear the pin holes.

The capacity of the grenade, I found to be a total of about 232 BB's.  There are two ports on each side of the grenade.  Using a speed loader, I was able to get 28 pumps in one side and 30 in the other.  Speed loaders load 4 at a time for reference.  The actual capacity may be more or less, but either way, two hundred concentrated BB's is not bad.  When the grenade deploys, it literally looks like a Tornado, hence the name.  The gas expels from a port behind the BB's which pushes them out the loading port.  At the same time, the gas spins the grenade allowing a 360 degree spread of BB's.

During our test, we used green gas.  The handbook says that you should use propane -or- HFC134a gas.  Since Green gas is essentially propane with silicon added, we're pretty much on point.  When the grenade detonated, we got a very impressive spread of about 35 feet.  We were pretty impressed with the distance of the BB's considering that we were using a mixture of .20g's and .25g's.  We were a bit amused though, because during each of our four tests, even with 200+ BB's, a 360 degree spread AND a distance of about 35 feet, we didn't get hit once.  So, be sure you write that into your grenade rules if you use them in a game.  858airsoft.com writes our rules to say that a kill is at 15 feet from the point of action, regardless of whether or not a BB hits you.

The grenade has two 'pin settings'.  The top hole is set for 1.5 second delay and the bottom is set for a 3.0 second delay.  We haven't tested the actual time of the delay but we will and we'll update this when we can.  I will say, that one of my team mates has some and he had a few fail to detonate on him.  I'm not sure of why, but I can tell you that mine, which is new out of the box fired consistently every time.  I'm sure that his is either dirty, needs lubrication maintenance or maybe it was thrown on its head. Something explainable.

I'm told that the top plug near the pin can be used for two purposes.  First, it is there so when you 'reset' your valve, it allows air to enter the valve so that it can reset easier.  Secondly, I'm told that if you 'arm' your grenade but leave the plug out, you get an instant detonation as soon as the pin is removed.  So essentially, you've got a 'trip wire' land mine now.  I have tested this.. and yes.. it triggers immediately, although I don't know how 'good' that is for the grenade in used frequently.  It doesn't say anything in the instructions about that 'feature' so perform at your own risk.

Well, I've pretty much went over the grenade itself.  I haven't had a chance to use it in a game myself, but when I do, I'll add a skirmish report to this and functionality review.  Just by doing some controlled bench testing, the grenade definitely seems to be worth the current price of $100.  (Edit) You can purchase some of the consumables such as new pins, valve covers and similar by going to www.gungas.com.

*****

Let me go ahead and give a quick how to on the grenade, although the enclosed instruction book covers mostly all of it.  There are a few things that aren't in the instruction manual that you'll find here.. but nothing too extreme.

1. This is what your grenade looks like once you take it out of the bag.

2. You'll need to unscrew the valve cover.

2a. According to the instructions, every second deployment of the grenade, you need to apply some of the Airsoft Innovations Tornado Grenade oil directly to the gas chamber.  You're instructed to place two drops directly to the sides, but if you can get it nearest the 'joint' of the valve itself, it will speed up the distribution of the oil.  The oil is sold separately, which is kind of a bummer, but it's not too expensive.

** The grenade comes with the pin in, so you won't need to 'reset' the grenade out of the box, but we'll just pretend that it has been deployed. 

3. After you have taken off the valve cover, you'll need to pull out the plug on the top.

4. Assuming that the grenade has been deployed, you won't have the pin in the grenade, but if you do for what ever reason, pull the pin out now.

5. Then you'll take your valve key and carefully yet firmly push down on the valve that you'll see through the top 'bumper'.

6. After you have 'reset' your grenade valve, you'll need to insert the pin.  There are two settings, the top one will give you a 1.5 second cook off and the bottom will give you a 3 second cook off.  We chose the 3 second cook off.

7. The instructions don't tell you to, but one of the things that I've been told to do, is to gently push up on the valve to 'seat' it against the pin.  We tried to gas the valve without 'seating' it against the pin and we noticed that it didn't make much of a difference, so it's your call.

8. Now you'll gas it up.  The instructions say propane or HFC134a, but green gas will work just as well.  It fills just like a gas pistol magazine and holds about the same gas capacity.

9. After it has been filled, replace the valve cover.  Be sure not to cross thread it.  Secure it tightly but do not over tighten.

10. Now replace the plug you removed in step 3.

11. Your grenade is technically 'armed' at this time, but you'll still need to fill it with BB's.  If you use a simple speed loader, it will be faster then using a loading rod.  Remember, the grenade holds 200+ rounds, so use an AEG mag type speed loader to save time.  We also found that if you 'stuff' the loading nozzle in at an angle, the BB's go straight in.

12. Now, for the most part, you're ready to rock.

******

We found that the size of the Airsoft Innovations Tornado airsoft grenade is about the same size as a flash bang pyrotechnic.  As such, it fits perfectly in a pouch made for flash bangs.  Here we show our grenade in at Blackhawk Industries MOLLE flash bang pouch.

The next thing that we had to figure out was what to do with the pin after you pull it out of the grenade.  For a quick 'no brainer' we simply attached a carabiner to our rig and after you pull the pin, connect it to the carabiner.

And what about the valve key?  Well, you can attach it directly to pin if you like.

But then.. how will it fit in the pouch?  Easy, just tuck it on the side as you insert it into the flash bang pouch.

One thing that we did notice after we did only four bench tests, was that around the BB fill hole, dirt had begun to accumulate.  This is a guarantee due to the oil you need to put in gas chamber, but it is something you'll want to keep an eye on. Too much dirt and it may enter the BB chamber and could cause a jam.

Other than that... here are some pictures of the instruction manual we took.

And here is a picture of end of the valve cover that warns you not to cross thread it.

And last but not least, here is a video of the grenade during one of our bench tests.

And here is a video demonstration of the Airsoft Innovations Airsoft Grenade
by the San Diego Airsoft Team - Quick Response Team (QRT)