Is a Qloader worth it???

[Lomarandil]

Heck, I usually play front with 12 rounds at a time... 100 is a luxury!

Lo

[MechMags]

Q's can be awesome and equally so they can be more trouble than they are worth. The above posts pretty much cover a good deal of things. Loading the Q from that silo deal is a royal pain... it only took one weekend of that before i converted my Egg to load the Q'pods (much better, faster, more efficient).

At one point we were running 3-4 Q's on our team during recball and 1hr formats without much trouble. Over the dozens of scenarios i have played, I have only run out of ammo once. But just because your out of ammo doesnt mean your out of the game. One thing is definately tru with the Q's... accuracy thru volume is not your friend.

My primary Q'set is like the mimimage above, only i use the custom mounting socket and a warp body, so I only preload t balls into the feed hose between the Q and the breech.

The other advantage to the Q is that it can be fired from any position including upside down. So the range of motion is much greater than any conventional hopper system out there. But again its a specialized point and isnt a good trade off for most players.

Just like other hopper systems, if you want more firepower carry more pods, but at close to 20 per Q-pod not many want to collect and carry a bunch of them. Especially when they can malfunction and occassionally to the point of needing to be replaced not repaired. Over the years I have collected upwards of 15 pods and have had 3 go totally down. But Ancient Innovations did boast a lifetime warranty. Its just more trouble than I really want to deal with at the moment.

They take getting use too but can be well worth the investment, its really going to depend on your style of play.

[211]

No batteries is a big plus of a Qloader IMO
and they are quieter than a standard hopper, not just when loading the marker, but also when your moving they dont rattle (popcorn popper sound) like a hopper does when your running or crawling
not a big advantage in a spedball game, but can make a huge difference when you are sneaking up on someone in the woods

[Anjin3515]

I had HUGE problems today with the Q-loader. After consulting the Q forum on what may be causing my initial problems I adjusted the springs. Today I go to adjust my velocity and the thing just would NOT feed. I wound up tinkering with the 5 pods for 2 hours and still could not get them to work. I missed 2 hours of an 8 hr game.....I am really thinking that I may get rid of it....I am so frustrated...so disappointed. If I had a regular hopper I would have been playing...not sitting alone tinkering with the thing for hours......I have to sleep on it....I dont want to be rash....but right now I want to light them on fire and yell burn baby burn!!!!!

[mostpeople]

I had HUGE problems today with the Q-loader. After consulting the Q forum on what may be causing my initial problems I adjusted the springs. Today I go to adjust my velocity and the thing just would NOT feed. I wound up tinkering with the 5 pods for 2 hours and still could not get them to work. I missed 2 hours of an 8 hr game.....I am really thinking that I may get rid of it....I am so frustrated...so disappointed. If I had a regular hopper I would have been playing...not sitting alone tinkering with the thing for hours......I have to sleep on it....I dont want to be rash....but right now I want to light them on fire and yell burn baby burn!!!!!

therein lies the heart of my reccomendation Stayhuge. If you really want the different low profile option use a warp

[RangerX]

First things first. If you do go with the Q. Ditch the stock feed hose immediately if you go with a remote set up.

The stock hose is JUNK, buy a piece or 2 of the warp feed super hose. I could almost tie the super hose in a knot and balls will still travel through it. Cant say the same for the cheap plastic hose that comes with the Q.

I recently purchased the direct feed adapter for my warp left e-tac. I cant be sure whether it was the q-loader or my marker but the scenario game I played the other weekend I may as well have been using a blender. It was so gummed up by the end of the day I couldnt shoot straight. I think it may have been an improperly tuned lvl10, though it will require further testing.

Over all though my experience with the Q has been favorable. In that scenario game a buddy of mine with a invert mini using a halo b w/ a rip drive, got a break in his hopper got some paint on the eye and then it was pretty well useless. ended up using my egg2 (that I use to reload my Qpods) the egg worked flawlessly for him. Not all systems are perfect

Oh yeah get rip of the stupid silo reloader, buy a used agitated hopper and rig it up to reload the q-pods. So much nicer to do it this way. I can have my 12 pods loaded and ready to go in about 5 min. compared to the probably 20min using the silo

[MoeMag]

[GoatBoy]

You're obviously a fan, I respect that. But you are wrong on point #1, limiting your ability to lay paint is NEVER a good idea for anybody even for a front man - which is where I play too by the way. And you've agreed with every other point I made, and so have other people in the thread, and the points I made are also from people I play with every weekend.. so im not talking out of my you know what.

So when you play front, do you carry 10+ full pods of paint on your body?

[robnix]

So when you play front, do you carry 10+ full pods of paint on your body?

It's not necessarily the amount of paint you can carry, it's also the downtime caused by your inability to be on the field, or the time wasted because you simply can't shoot.

From my last and final experience with Q pods, I'll give you the two ways Q Loaders kill you with downtime:

1) I spent an inordinate amount of time off the field due to the walk back and forth, and the time it takes to load the Qpods. Standard pods are faster to refill, and keep you on the field longer through their greater carrying capacity alone.

2) The 100 rounds per pod is effectively only 90 or so. You lose some to the feed tube and the pods never push the last round or two out. 90 rounds means you're reloading twice as often as you would with a standard hopper. Since you can't shoot while reloading, more downtime.

[Siress]

[mostpeople]

I usually go full hopper and 3 or 4 full pods. And someone with a q-pod would have to carry 6-8 q-pods to equal that.

My argument was more based on the ability to lay paint for longer periods of time, 220 rounds vs 100.

[mostpeople]

lol enter the stock class argument

[mostpeople]

It's not necessarily the amount of paint you can carry, it's also the downtime caused by your inability to be on the field, or the time wasted because you simply can't shoot.

From my last and final experience with Q pods, I'll give you the two ways Q Loaders kill you with downtime:

1) I spent an inordinate amount of time off the field due to the walk back and forth, and the time it takes to load the Qpods. Standard pods are faster to refill, and keep you on the field longer through their greater carrying capacity alone.

2) The 100 rounds per pod is effectively only 90 or so. You lose some to the feed tube and the pods never push the last round or two out. 90 rounds means you're reloading twice as often as you would with a standard hopper. Since you can't shoot while reloading, more downtime.

however its easy to keep shootin with a standard hopper

[Siress]

Hope I got some laughs out of my SC post. My expeirence with the Q-loader gave me the following impression: (Gen2, 7pods, 2 gun mounts, Ion kit)

-The pods are weakly constructed for the amount of force involved
-The mounting options leave a LOT to be desired, both due to the q-loader and lack of underfeed options on markers.
-The system for switching pods needs improvement to prevent chopping paint.
-Hose should be smooth inside and out, not corrugated.
-The pods are too long... I would LOVE and 40-50rd pod setup.(mounted over the tank, hose going straight over the top of the marker....smooooooth)

Other than that, very pricey system.... Fun to use, though!

[GoatBoy]

yay FUD

If "limiting your ability to lay paint is NEVER a good idea", then why aren't you carrying 10 pods? Not only that, but why not go for a 300 round hopper? It's NEVER a good idea unless you feel like not following your own logic?

Any time someone makes a blanket rule like that, it's an obvious stretch. The point is to compromise and find the best fit given all the constraints. If it doesn't work for your style of play, fine, but don't use flawed reasoning.

As far as reloading FUD, do a study. (Yes, I know, the thought of studying probably scares a lot of you.) Next time you go out, have someone film you reloading while under pressure in-game. Do it multiple times (say, 10 or so), and review exactly how long your gun is tipped down and not ready to shoot while reloading. Talking about it and imagining how good a player you are isn't good enough. Post the videos on google and come back and we'll see the truth of how well you can reload a standard hopper under realistic circumstances.

This is not to say that reloading with the Q is that great; I'm just saying that reloading with a standard system in reality isn't that smooth. The operative word is reality, not in your minds.

As far as walking back and forth between games, again, that's kind of a compromise. Same argument applies as before -- if you don't like walking back and forth and filling up, then why don't you strap 2 cases of paint on your back along with a scuba tank -- you'd never have to go back and fill up! Typically, when I play a game, I only care about what's best for that game right then and there, not what's best for the game 4-5 games away. That means I don't carry paint and air for a game that I'm not currently playing. It's called concentrating on the here-and-now. Again, it's one of the compromise issues -- if you don't mind sacrificing some of the quality of a single game in exchange for a longer series of games, then that's fine. "60 percent of the time it works every time"? Besides, it doesn't always matter how much you carry -- if everyone else has to go back and fill up after a few games, you're going to go back too.

Speaking of... most paintball players waste too much time in the staging area anyways, shooting the breeze or monkeying with something they shouldn't be monkeying with in the first place or whatever. Reloading the Q pods is not the long pole in the tent, especially if you use an agitating hopper to feed the reloading process.