This weekend at the Battlefield Blanding Charity event, I had a chance to try out a great piece of kit - the Pinokio.  Now, I’ve used just about every loader on the market, and while the scenario crowd has some different needs than the tourney crew, this is one loader that can meet the needs of both worlds.  Honestly, after using it all weekend I was psyched.  I’ll gush out some bullet points for loader shoppers out there to consider:

• Battery life.  OK, face it, battery life means very little when you’re playing 20-30 minutes total, or even if you get in a couple of hours at a local field during walk-on play, but if you want to hang with the scenario teams who stick it out for the entire game, you need a loader that’s not going to eat batteries left and right.  I’m not the gentlest player on my gear, and to further put this loader through the test, I dropped two fresh nine-volts in before game-on on Saturday then “happened” to leave the hopper in the on position all day, whether I was at dinner break, on the field, wherever.  No problems from the Pinokio - still going strong at the end of the weekend.  Their product tests claim a battery life of 37 cases of paint!  I might also mention - you can access the batteries without tools.  Simply pull open the battery drawer in back.  It’s really that easy.
• Speed.  These days, my scenario gun shoots just as fast as any capped tourney gun.  Heck, my scenario gun IS a tourney gun!  At 15 balls per second, the Pinokio kept up as I mowed some enemies in the woods around Blanding.  No skips or hesitations, except when my fingers slowed down.
• Durability.  As I stated earlier, I’m not easy on equipment.  I’ve cracked loaders, busted lids, ripped off feed necks - if there’s a way to mangle something, I’ll probably do it.  Once I locked my feedneck around the ribbed neck of the Pinokio, it stayed in place.  End of the weekend - no damage.
• Ease of operation.  Here’s all you need to know - one button.  Tap it once; it’s on.  Tap it again; it’s off.  The button is large, and even with gloves on, you’ll have no trouble clicking it.  Outside of the VL Revolution, this is the easiest motorized hopper I’ve ever used.
• Jams?  Nope.
• Pinching paint?  Nada.
• Final battle.  OK, this one is special.  I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures, but the Pinokio is the perfect final battle loader.  Normally it holds 230 balls, which is beautiful in comparison with the Halo I brought with me.  Put the nose cone on, and you’re up to 400 balls.  I waded into final battle chaos at Blanding with five pods in my pack and 400 balls in the loader - that’s a half case of paint, ready to rock.  I found the additional paint made my loader heavy when walking around with it, but when shouldered, I had no trouble at all.

Check out Pinokio Hoppers for more information.