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A Product Sent From Heaven The New HALO The first time I saw this product it absolutely amazed me. At World Cup last year we setup a HALO into a warp feed and then back into itself. We rigged a ball counter into the loop and were able to get an approximate rate of feed over a long rate of fire. Once we had feed a case of paint through the loop we had our number. It was able to consistently feed at the awesome rate of 15.8 bps. I was hooked, as were many others. I've had mine for a little over 6 months now and have been perfectly happy with it. Of course with every product there are little irritations that will always annoy you. Until now. The boys at Odyssey have really outdone themselves this time. The new loader is a sight to be seen. Not only does the belt driven HALO, dubbed the HALO B, feed at a whopping 18-20 bps, but it has been given a complete upgrade both internally and externally. The gears have been replaced by a belt drive. This not only makes the unit faster, it also makes it much quieter. Lets face it, as efficient as the old model was, it was loud. The constant grinding of the gears was quite annoying, almost like the chopping of ice in a blender. Because of the new internals the noise level is a fraction of its original state. The other problem is when there is no ball it consistently spins, just like the old Revolutions. With the new model this has been remedied as well. Now the drive cone pauses after a second of spinning saving both your ears and your batteries. Another important aspect of the belt drive is that it allows the drive cone to slip. While this may not sound like a benefit at first, anyone who has ever used brittle paint will see it as a godsend. Instead of crushing the paint the belt will slip until the paint is knocked out of the way. One of the last features of the new belt drive is that the paint stack is kept under constant pressure from the drive cone. What they've done is added a spring to the drive cone and it keeps the balls under a very light pressure. This helps enormously with vertical feed guns. Sometimes little factors are the most irritating ones. With the older model of the HALO turning the unit on was an event. It was supposed to be a simple process, two pushes of the button for on, one long push for off. This process has caused me to be caught in a pinch more than once. Nothing like walking onto the field with you hopper off and then having to perform a song and dance to get it up and running. With the new model they have remedied this situation as well. Its one push for on, one push for off. You can't ask for much more. The last upgrade done was to the actual body itself. Following what virtually every other loader company has done, the body is now available as a transparent shell and in five different colors. If you, like many others, have already purchased a HALO, you can the internals upgraded for $30 US. If you want a new body color it will cost an additional $30. You can send them in directly or catch them at one of the many events this summer. The new HALOs are of course also being sold as whole units. For more information you can check their website out at www.odysseypaintball.com or contact Tex at [email protected]. Our test The idea of a product feeding at even 15 bps is hard to imagine. Now, try to imagine using an angel on full auto. Now turn the balls per second all the way up the maximum. Given older loaders on the market this would not be a feasible scenario. However this is the reality today. Welcome to the future. We were able to drop an entire hopper full of paint at maximum bps in one straight shot. Note: There was a break during the first few shots of the video. This was NOT a ball that was chopped. It broke in the barrel. In fact of the 1000 round we put through the gun at varying speeds, we didnt chop a single ball. Final thoughts If you have a high end gun capable of of a high consistant ROF, stop reading this article and go buy a HALO B right now. You CANNOT outshoot this hopper. Special thanks go out to Tex at Odyssey Paintball for making this review possible. Review done by Nick Palumbo and Mark McCann |
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