Spectrum Pryotechnics

[MooCow]

i've PM'd you about the contact info.

thought you got a copy of the contact stuff they were giving out at spectre

 

edit:

 

Desolation mkII: didnt you know Spectrum supplies most of the pyros AS sell?

Edited July 11, 2005 by urban-ninja

[R22Master]

Additional review of Spectrum Pyrotechnic products

 

Arnie-Geddon 2005 has just finished and I was the pyrotechnic expert for the event. All pyrotechnics we used were supplied by Spectrum and here's how they went.

 

First off, EVERY SINGLE ONE detonated as planned. I had a 100% success rate with the pyrotechnics supplied and considering I used up to 200 grenades, maroons and smokes, that is an excellent record. About 100 additional grenades (the green bodied "dry pea-filled" grenades) were given to players free of charge and a few did actually fail to go off. On inspection of one or two of them, it appears they were struk far too hard and the sulphur tip was torn off before the secondary fuse ignighted properly. Still, it is a very good success record.

 

The in-game pyrotechnic maroons were supplied in 2.5 gram, 5 gram, and 25 gram versions. The "gram" value refers to the number of grams of flash-powder contained inside the device. The 2.5 gram model was equivalent to a Mk5 Thunderflash, the 5 gram model was equivalent to a Mk9 grenade, and the 25 gram devices were just massively loud. Due to restrictions put on us by the local SAS regiment after Thursday's heightened Terror Alert status, we were unable to detonate any 25 gram maroons - they would have been just too loud. Even the 5 gram devices were pushing the limits somewhat. However, the 25 gram versions were used underground to cause an amazing explosion that threw dirt a good 20 feet in to the air, with minimum noise. The 5 gram models were also used to create an "Air-Strike" (my own invention). Basically, 10 of these maroons were buried in the ground in a staggered line and hooked up to a custom built 10-way rotary detonator. Once the Airstrike was called, all 10 maroons were detonated one after another, moving up the line and throwing dirt in to the air. The sound resembled a silenced M60 HMG, and visually, the effect created was a realistic small-scale airstrike. Done right, it is a very safe effect and can REALLY produce a great atmosphere for players in the game. I certainly had a lot of comments about how great it was.

 

Spectrum have also started making some small smoke grenades. About the same size as smoke grenades you have used before, they throw out a good covering layer of smoke and last noticably longer than competetive devices produced by other companies. They are great value for money.

 

The two most notable grenades that Spectrum produce are their large smoke grenades (large green canisters with the cosmetic pin and ring), and their revolutionary "Stun Grenade". The smokes throw out an outstanding amount of smoke that will fill almost any room, and the weight allows accurate deployment of the device.

 

The stun grenade again has a perfect weight for accurate use, and it is an excellent "Base-Clearance" grenade. Picture the setting: A base is covered with scrim netting and has 3 enemy players inside. You throw the grenade accurately on to the roof, which then falls through the netting. The players inside shout "GRENADE!!!" and rush out of the structure. Smoke fills the base and then 4 bangs occur, knocking any nearby players out of the game. As the base is still filled with smoke, the base is unusable by the enemy for a few minutes after, as they would not be able to see accurately enough to use it as a fire-base. This is a very handy grenade and all of the ones used at the event went off perfectly.

 

Congratulations to Spectrum for making some excellent pyrotechnics, for sponsoring the pyrotechnic presence at Arnie-Geddon 2005, and for supplying them to players at breakthrough prices.

 

NOTE: Do NOT try to use electric maroons yourself unless you have the relevant training and experience necessary to do it safely. Static electricty generated by your body, vehicles, and other factors can prematurely detonate, leading to potentially devastating injuries. While these devices are exciting when used professionally, they are very dangerous, even to those who have used them before.

[Chris P]

Were they he maroons that were attatched to the trailor for the bounty games?

 

If the third bang was only 5gram maroon then the 25gram ones must be deafening.

 

The mk5s and smokes that were being thrown around the urban zone all went off with out a single dud as well.

[R22Master]

Yup, the trailer was rigged with a single 5 gram maroon

[Chris P]

Yup, the trailer was rigged with a single 5 gram maroon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Eek! The 25 gram ones must be pant moistningly loud

[R22Master]

Oh indeed. This is why we couldn't blow any 25 gram modules above ground as the noise would have caused problems with the neighbours (most notably the SAS camp).

 

For the record (for those who were there), the pineapple was destroyed with a single 5 gram maroon, the computer was also blown up with a 5 gram maroon (yup, a single 5 grammer blew the lid off the computer up in the air over 30 feet), and the Infinity pistol was killed by two 5 gram devices.

[Lance Jackass]

Im only angry with myself that i buried my head in the ground and covered my ears rather than watching the display!

[Lance Jackass]

Can somebody PM me paul's (the spectrum guy) details please- ie address and email address etc.

 

Cheers

LJ

[MooCow]

Eek! The 25 gram ones must be pant moistningly loud

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yep. the 25gramme ones am 1337!

if you bury them and detonate them... the result am be a big bum bum of a crater

 

Can somebody PM me paul's (the spectrum guy) details please- ie address and email address etc.

 

Cheers

LJ

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

call him paul, he's the bloke that sorts the stuff out.

like i said before, maybe i havent explained it properly but if you want to contact him, go up top of this page, next to that red button saying search, you have members.

 

click that and search for 'spectrum'

that'll be him.

 

PM him for details and explain what you're interested in purchasing and what you're after basically. he's a busy man and i think he'll appreciate it if you dont go PM-ing him saying stupid stuff like: "w0t 4m b3st pie row's??!!!!11oneone"

 

i mean most of you guys in eggland have seen the pyros used at AG05. yep... rhino heard me and badass from the base camp when we were going pyro mad during that gully game on sunday afternoon.

it was great. i've had in total of around 120MK5 thunderflashes, around 2-3 were dodgy and didnt go off. so that's a pretty high success rate imo. as R22 said too. it's pretty damn amazing and real nice to have such a high success rate.

 

if you want to know what am best pyros for your own opinion, wait for the AG05 clips to become available, i'm sure there're pyros that are recorded during the game. but for the mean while, read my review

 

hope to see more pyromaniacs around out there in the skirmish fields definately will be interesting to have more pyro wars during a game

[Chris P]

If the VCR bill goes through then at keast we can still throw pyros at each other

[Lance Jackass]

Lol yeah. Sorry U_N i was after his email address etc- but ive got it now. Cheers.

[RSM]

Can't wait to do some field trials with the stuff my team has ordered, provided we get em in time for this Saturday I'll be posting about 6-8 reviews from the guys, thats if any of us are left

 

"Can you like, gaffer tape 3 Mk5s and some BB grenades to each other and ignite them with a big sheet of sand paper" 'O__o

[R22Master]

Ummm, REALLY not a good idea. When the first one blows, it will hurl the other two lit pyros in unpredictable directions - i.e. possibly back at you or at someone's head.

 

This is the reason why the Army never throw two grenades at the same target

 

Not safe.

 

Remember, always use pyros as directed and in unmodified form. What may seem safe when the idea first hits you, will not seem so safe when a lump of super-sonic burning sulphur hits you

[RSM]

Of course, didn't make it clear that was a question asked by one of the newbs, my response was something along the lines of "Your are fething joking right?"

[RSM]

RSM’s Pyro Review

 

Okay, so we took a bundle of the Stun Grenades, Mk 3 Smokes and some Mk5s to First and Only this Saturday.

 

Boy were we in for a treat.

 

Before I go into what they were like in the field just a few general notes on the pyros themselves, these represent the views of the entire team (8).

 

Smokes

 

Nice weight and size to them, although the cotter pin is defunct, they are extremely useful for attaching them to the d-rings on my assault vest, so I always have 2 ready to grab. Getting the tape off is really easy. Also, these things are nigh on impossible to crush/lose. I only lost one and that was because the cotter pin snapped.

 

Stuns:wub:

 

Again nice weight and size to them, very similar to the smokes. It would be nice to have the cotter pins on theses too so the can be attached to assault vests etc for quick grabs

 

Mk 5s

 

Well, you can carry tonnes of them that’s for sure, but to get them into foliage or throw them a long distance may be harder than say the stuns because its basically like trying to throw an oversize pen

 

 

 

So how were they in the field then?

 

Smokes

 

We found that the smokes were pretty damn good. Found that it was better to strike, then wait for it to kick smoke then throw. First one I used wasn’t kicking smoke and must have hit some damp mulch and went out after a few seconds. Also, and I’m willing to say this was more due to us than the fuses, but some seemed to shirk the ignitable crusty bit on the fuse when striking, luckily we had lighters. Out of 17 we only had 1 failure due to fuse problems. Seriously get these into a bunker or an area of still are you will have a smoke screen to die for. Just three of these had an immense amount of First and Only in a thick fog of war.

 

Stuns

 

Okay, as the only person to use them I am hard pressed to find anything negative to say about these. Each BANG easily matched a Mk5 and when people noticed it was black and not green it did create the desired “Oh sh*t” effect. The general effect of these beauties going off literally is “Holy Sh*it! What the fruitcage was that!?!?!”

The only improvements I could think of for both the Smokes and Stuns is maybe a bit more of the stuff you use the striker against on the end, so if you knock a bit off, no biggy. And maybe defunct ring pulls on the Stuns for attachment to D-rings etc

 

Mk5s

 

Every single one of these worked flawlessly, I can see that these are probably a bit more suited to urban that woodland as they get knocked about a bit but no fuse problems and a satisfying bang every time

 

I must say I and the team were most impressed with these pyrotechnics and are well worth getting, particularly the stuns if you play ‘Capture the Lanny’ at First and Only

[MooCow]

sand paper wont light it.

normal lighter would have trouble lighting it.

a jet type lighter would light it and so would another flaring pyro

 

and RSM, were they Spectrum ones?

[RSM]

Yes they were Spectrum ones, calling Paul and taking them off Steve would be an indicator to that .

 

You sure a lighter won't work? Definately got some of our busted tips going, takes a few seconds of sitting there holding this pyro and lighter at each other but got going

[R22Master]

Standard flame will ignight the fuse if there is still enough of the sulphur attached to the tip. If the tip has been knocked off, normally only a blue-flame lighter will start the fuse off.