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 Bananna Bombs, thats bananna with two ns, are a hot new product that has just begun to reach store shelves. The concept of a small, easy to throw paint grenade caught our eye so we decided to purchase a box of Bananna Bombs to test out at the local field. We received our Bananna Bombs direct from On Top Paintball, the manufacturer, at BanannaBombs.com. The cost for 10 grenades was reasonable at $39.\
 Upon arrival, each Bananna Bomb was individually packaged in a Ziploc plastic bag. We received an assortment of yellow and green paint filled grenades. Each bomb weighed about 8 oz. (half a pound) with dimensions 6.5 inches long by 2 inches wide. The picture to the right shows the size of the grenade in relation to my hand. The shape and weight of each grenade makes them very easy to throw. They also store conveniently in in a 200 round paint tube.
 Using a Bananna Bomb is very easy. They dont require any shaking like the popular Tippmann Squadbuster grenades. All that you need to do is pull off the black plastic cap and throw the grenade in the direction of your opponent. Although each Bananna Bomb is packaged under pressure, we still recommend that you throw the grenade rather than lob it. Its fair to say that the grenade needs to impact the ground at a little over 10 - 12 miles per hour to get the best paint dispersion.
We started out our field test by marking out a circle with a 15 foot radius on a gravel road. We threw a Bananna Bomb into the middle of the circle with an overhand, moderate speed throw. We were surprised after the first bomb hit the ground. It jumped up about 4 feet in the air after impact and sprayed many small beads of paint in a roughly 180 degree pattern. We next examined the blast area and approximated the area, marked as the "Hit Zone" in the illustration below, that an opponent would have to be within to be hit by an ample enough amount of the grenades spray to be considered out. 
You can see that in order to hit an opponent with the grenade on open ground, it is necessary to land the grenade in front of your opponent. There is about a 12 foot side to side margin of error for each throw, but throwing the grenade over your target will most likely result in a miss. We found that throwing the grenades towards our opponents feet was the most effective.  During our day of testing the Bananna Bombs, we found them to be very effective weapons in and around forts and castles. The main fort at our field is a lot like a castle tower. Defenders can fire down onto the approaching players, but it is very difficult for the attackers to hit the defenders as you never know which window they will attack from. Instead of having to go inside of the fort to clear out the remaining defenders we simply threw a couple Bananna Bombs through the windows to clear out the fort. If you are a scenario player, or often face situations in and around large forts or castles like we do, you should consider purchasing a few Bananna Bombs. For the price of about $4 at your local field, it wont hurt to give one a try.
 Although we found Bananna Bombs to be very effective in scenario / castle defense games, we dont recommend using them for clearing opponents from small bunkers or trees. It wasnt that they didnt explode correctly but we couldnt get enough time to throw them accurately at an opponent while we were under fire. Its hard enough to snap shoot against a good opponent, let alone stand up and throw a grenade at them. Grenades can be very effective, but only when used properly. Dont make the mistake of exposing yourself to your enemies fire just for the sake of throwing your grenade. =)
 We had a great time testing out the new Bananna Bomb paint grenades. They added an interesting and fun new dimension to our games. We recommend that scenario players give them a try. Paint grenades can be very effective surprise attack weapons given the right situation. Having a grenade in the right spot, at the right time is a lot of fun.
Tested by DirectPaintball.com July 15, 2002 |