Welcome back to the blog! Today I have another review for you, and in this one, we’ll be looking at the new Neutron Impact Grenade from Tectonic Innovations.
The Neutron is the new single-shot impact grenade from the makers of the Quake 8 - Tectonic Innovations. It is crafted from Stainless steel and aircraft-grade Aluminium for longevity and durability. Like the Quake8 it also uses a 209 primer as its munition. It features a ‘twist to safe’ mechanism and locking pins for the fire and safe positions. The new Neutron can be holstered in any 40mm pouch or a custom-made Deadly Customs holster. The new impact is available in a few different colours - black, red, orange, blue and purple.
One of its most notable features is the 2 windows that are on the base of the grenade - these take 40mm glow sticks (think the fishing float ones) to make it easy to find in dark places. Once the little glow sticks are cracked you can insert them into the window spaces and they’ll glow for a good few hours. There is one window on each side, which means wherever it falls you should be able to see the glow and locate your device. They’re easy to remove - on my grenade, I can tip the bottom of the grenade upside down and they both fall out with ease. When reloading the Neutron’s 209 primer, these will also come out when you tip it upside down so be prepared to catch them!
Like the Quake 8, all of the internal parts of the Neutron are replaceable, so if anything should ever go wrong with your ‘nade instead of replacing the entire unit (for £69.99) you can simply replace the part - this works out much cheaper for the end-user. Most parts are available from dealers but if they’re out of stock they are available directly from Tectonic Innovations. The customer service at Tectonic is fantastic. The Neutron is manufactured in the UK as well so no long waiting times for parts.
Aesthetically it is a similar size and appearance to the Quake8 however I much prefer that the bottom of the grenade is a different colour. The grey anodised bottom piece goes with all colours of the Neutron, however, I think purple is the one that stands out the most. The writing on the Neutron is easy to see and read in low light too. After the test throws, my Neutron does have a few scuffs and chips but the anodising has held up well.
So how does it function? The Neutron is definitely more sensitive than the Quake8. For all of my grenade tests, I do 25 throws on hard ground and then a few throws on the softer ground at different heights etc to test the sensitivity. During my tests, it went off on all of the hard ground throws and it off on 45% of the softer ground throws. Now it is worth noting that BFG (Blank Firing Grenades) such as the Neutron are designed to be used on hard ground. So it going off on softer ground is a bonus. If the ground is really soft and muddy it does struggle but if the ground is dry it goes off every time. I wouldn’t recommend using this in a woodland game though as they are expensive bits of kit and you don’t want to lose it in a bush. The glow stick windows are a nice touch and do really help when the site is dark. I did find if it lands funny in a corner that the glow sticks aren’t very visible but there’s generally a faint glow so it worked as it should.
It is worth noting that when I first used my Neutron, the twist arming function was quite stiff but after a few uses it does ease up (I’m sure you could speed this up with some WD40)
The Neutron retails for £69.99. A complaint that I heard from social media users when I reviewed the Quake 8 was that the Quake 8 was too expensive (at £134.99 for 7 bangs). My first TRMR cost £79.99 all the way back in 2014/2015 and that was the same concept - a twist-to-arm single-shot blank firing grenade that used .209 primers. Taking this into account I think £69.99 is a really good price point for the product. The Neutron is available from all Tectonic Innovations dealers, including Extreme Airsoft. You can also use my 'femmefatale' code for 5% off!
Post sponsored by Tectonic Innovations
Originally posted Friday 5 February 2021
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