 Alright, here it is. My review of the PURE ENERGY 72ci/3k psi Aluminum tank.
At roughly 3lbs. prior to fill, she's a little thick in the ankles, but that is why I'm writing this. Now, allow me to qualify this brief review with these facts:
I'm 6', 240lbs. I've trained in the martial arts for many years, off and on, and I would consider myself a fairly fit guy although not in peak shape at the moment.
Now back to the review. I ordered the tank from amazon.com for $69.99 shipped (as of today's writing-one week after purchase- the exact same tank is for sale on amazon for $59.99), but got impatient and tacked on next day shipping which, with my amazon prime account, jacked the price up a whole $3.99. I was impatient for a reason. I ordered the tank on a tuesday and was leaving friday morning for a 24hour scenario event where the daytime temps were forecasted to be in the 50's and the night time temps in the 30's (they ended up dropping into the 20's). Since it was going to be chilly, I didn't want to deal with the issues associated with CO2 and cold weather especially since I don't have a palmer stabilizer or aluminum bolt. I figured that purchasing the 70 dollar tank instead of the $100 dollar stab and the 30 some-odd dollar bolt would be a better choice since I wanted to switch to HPA eventually anyway.
So, fast forward to the morning of the game. Time to suit up. Loaded my vest down with four 140rnd pods. Next, tac radio and headset. Camelbak inserted, hose routed and secured (the sun decided to show its face and turned our 50 degree day into about 70 degrees under a cloudless, clear skied sun). Towel, squegee, first aid kit and carb gel. Check. Last, but not least I loaded the fully filled tank into the pouch on the back of my vest. I will say that there was a noticeable difference in the weight of my vest, compared to how it normally feels with my 20oz. CO2 tank. Since I use a surplus bought, load bearing vest, I must admit that even though I could definitely tell the difference in loads on my back it felt very well distributed and after awhile I no longer noticed it.
This is definitely not a tank for the front men on a speedball team. Heck, this may not be the tank for the front man on a scenario team but contrary to the many posts i've seen where people have knocked the heft of any tank that isn't made of some composite, I'd recommend this tank to anyone looking for a large volume HPA tank on a budget.
Speaking of large volume, with only 2000psi left, I was able to get about 760 shots out of it until I got down to about 500psi at which point there was no longer enough pressure to cycle the cyclone. Just as a side note: on Saturday, with game on at 1pm, I was able to play for roughly four and a half hours without refilling my tank. This four and a half hours included some serious firefights as well as some time playing a sort of forward reconnaissance role.
So, in sum, I'd give this tank-on my newly created ratings scale...
four out of five A5's.
Only because a competing fiber wrapped tank would be lighter.
Reviewer: Zulu
Score: 4 out of 5 |
