Alphatech Hex Grenade review - is it all it's cracked up to be?

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled with love, laughter and pew!

 The new year is fast approaching us and there is a product that has had everyone talking about throughout 2015 and it's only right that this review hits the blog before the year is out! The product is none other than the AlphaTech 6 shot Hex Grenade - rival to the Incentive Designs 5 shot impact and the Concept Tactical Multishot TRMR. The guys at AlphaTech (the joint venture of Alpha One Airsoft and the Airsoft Machine Shop) sent me a custom etched baby pink Hex Grenade to review. after using it in a fair few game days and giving it a good run, here are my thoughts on it.

Over the course of 2015 we have seen Airsoft grenades become exponentially popular amongst players and owning 3 blank firing impact grenades myself I can say that in a CQB environment they are a useful tool for clearing rooms and taking ground. I own the original Concept Tactical TRMR in pink, the Multishot TRMR in Candyfloss Pink and now the newest in the collection the Hex Grenade in pink (there appears to be a theme here!), but how does it stack up?

The basics? The Hex Grenade is a multishot blank firing grenade that deploys .209 primers and 9mm blacks all in one device, it has room for 6 primers or blanks so you literally get more bang for your buck. Priced at £85 it is the cheapest multi shot grenade on the market. It's constructed from aluminium and stainless steel parts. 

Firstly, let's talk about the aesthetics. I personally really like how the Hex looks - the matte finish of the aluminium contrasts well with the brightness of the stainless steel parts. It comes in a range of colours including red, purple, orange, black, green, tan, pink, blue, light blue, a gun metal grey and they can be engraved with whatever you want. The colours are vibrant and there is a colour option for everyone's loadout. I love the clean, crisp text which makes it easy to distinguish which blank you're on and the free engraving service is awesome for anyone who wants to personalise their kit! The Hex has a nice weight behind it too. The only thing about the appearance of the Hex grenade that I'm not keen on is the firing pin, it looks kinda clunky but it does the job! 

Which leads me onto the size, I run a Warrior Assault Systems Shooters Belt with a double 40mm grenade pouch and because of the firing pin, the Hex doesn't fit the pouch very well - I have found that to securely carry it in my 40mm pouch I have to put the strap over the grenade diagonally or risk losing it. This also causes the firing pin to rattle so if I'm trying to be sneaky peaky I need to be conscious of that.

The system itself is pretty good, to load the grenade you unscrew the bottom plate and slide off the

chamber, fill it with your chosen bangs and put it back together - it is a bit more fiddly than other grenades out there but as it holds 6 bangs, you don't need to reload too often. The chamber is double sided with .209s on one side and 9mm on the other and there are etchings on the grenade chamber to show what you're running. It has a ballbearing system to help the mechanism turn however, and this is my only massive gripe - after just two throws in the Stan's offices, two of my ballbearings came loose and fell out. My Hex still functions but this is obviously less than ideal as now it tends to get a little stuck after a while - I've been told by AlphaTech this has only happened to two Hex Grenades so far and mine is going in for repair, the bearing plungers and springs are the only components that aren't made in house. There is no separate safety on the Hex, it's neutral position is an 'X' and after the first blank is used, you can either turn it back onto the X and remember how many times you've used it or what I do is keep the selector on the spent blank. I've found it to be reliable (despite what I've heard online), I have put around 40 .209s through my Hex grenade and it has only not gone off 6 times, so 34/40 ratio is pretty good!

Overall, I do think the Hex Grenade is a good piece of kit. It is very competitively priced being the cheapest multishot on the market and with the added bonus of having the option to run either the .209s or 9mm in the same device is brilliant and good value for money. I really like the overall aesthetics of the grenade but like I said the firing pin is a little clunky and doesn't fit in my grenade pouch - maybe a Kydex holster is in order? haha I would say as my Hex broke, I am a little disappointed but she's still functional and will be getting repaired. Does it stack up? I'd say the Hex grenade is a strong contender.