Tennis ball hand grenades

Personally I'm not a big fan of the tennis ball "grenades". I have a couple suggestions to make them more realistic during gameplay, I'm going to try them out and see if they help.

First I think we should start modifying the tennis balls to reduce bounce and increase realism. Maybe punch a hole and create some sort of pin/ring plug combo so you actually have to pull a pin before throwing the "grenade". In addition if some flour or something was injected into the hole it could create a small puff of dust when the tennis ball hits maybe making them a bit more noticeable when they are used in a game. We could also have them painted O/D to help them look more realistic but that would make them a bit more difficult to find when the game is over.

Any other comments or suggestions?

I would suggest pulling off all the bright green fuzz. Most of the tennis balls I've seen have a dark green rubber inside. They would be a bit smaller and wouldn't be fuzzy...

beach_boy wrote:

I would suggest pulling off all the bright green fuzz. Most of the tennis balls I've seen have a dark green rubber inside. They would be a bit smaller and wouldn't be fuzzy...

Probably easier to paint as well.

I hate tenis ball grenades. They are lame, do not work, and cause arguement. Having watched someone at the MilSim throw a grenade at me, have it hit a branch and fall infront of them, and then they just picked it up and left... yeah... they do not work. Against a static target like a bunker, maybe as a representation, but against people, never.

PB Squad buster grenades work. As demonstrated by Ed, you can do the same with a bit of water and BB's. They simply spray out everywhere and a hit is very easy to indentify. There are also many air-pressure and mechanical grenades available that do a proper spray. Though nothing is perfect, they all work better than something that does not spray anything out.

-Doug

I feel pretty much the same way, I just think that if we are going to continue allowing people to use them, they should be a bit more realistic. They shouldn't have one hand on their gun while throwing the ball with their other hand. They should be taking time to pull a pin and if they don't throw it within 5 seconds, or it lands close to them instead of their target then they should be dead. They shouldn't be picking it up after it bounces off a tree and then trying to throw it again.

=Daes= wrote:

I hate tenis ball grenades. They are lame, do not work, and cause arguement. Having watched someone at the MilSim throw a grenade at me, have it hit a branch and fall infront of them, and then they just picked it up and left... yeah... they do not work. Against a static target like a bunker, maybe as a representation, but against people, never.

PB Squad buster grenades work. As demonstrated by Ed, you can do the same with a bit of water and BB's. They simply spray out everywhere and a hit is very easy to indentify. There are also many air-pressure and mechanical grenades available that do a proper spray. Though nothing is perfect, they all work better than something that does not spray anything out.

-Doug

agreed, our rules for grenades have been the weak sauce. The only idea I've had is a spring loaded device that you have to pull the pin out of to load, set's off a cap when it lands. Something like a mouse trap but vertical spring instead well...however mouse traps work.

Soul uses those sonic grenades, I have thought about just buying m203 grenades and setting them off without a launcher.

Hortons Heros wrote:

agreed, our rules for grenades have been the weak sauce. The only idea I've had is a spring loaded device that you have to pull the pin out of to load, set's off a cap when it lands. Something like a mouse trap but vertical spring instead well...however mouse traps work.

Soul uses those sonic grenades, I have thought about just buying m203 grenades and setting them off without a launcher.

Great idea! Lots of available piping roughly the same diameter is also available for hand-held launchers. Little shop project and you have a decent looking hand-held or pro non-mounted launcher.

The basic idea is that, yes, you can hold a handful of BB's and throw them but it really is not very realistic or fun for everyone. If you use a potatoe cannon or a gas powered grenade launcher, both are fun, exciting, and make you appreciate the hit, for it took effort to cause it.

Airsoft really does strive for realism'ish, the gear and the guns do try. A little effort and other projects become viable too, from cannons, to vortex BMG's, to Squad Buster Grenades. The more effort put into something, the more fun it is for everyone.

I see no easy fix until either more cannons are made, some more people get more than just one gas grenade (the CO2 one pwns, just there is only one around), or we invest in some well made grenades, either water, air, or mechanically powered. But the good news is that we are at least discussing this and people are interested in seeing the viable alternatives. Dave, if you do get some gas grenades in, you are welcome to borrow the M203 and CO2 adapter, same goes for anyone else.

-Doug