‘Tacticool’ Review - Nerf N-Strike Flip Clip

(Link) Hey Squaddies, I apologise for my long departure between posts. Things have been popping up in my personal life, distracting me (I have other interests, you know :P) but since it’s coming up towards Christmas, time for S.O.F.T. to get back on track with regular posting. :D We needed some time to rest from our big debut, you know. :P

Since Alex has potentially huge work commitments coming up, I’ll be trying my best to give you, our loyal readers, all the Nerfy goodness we can provide. As a warm-up review (since I haven’t done one in a while) and Alex recently had a ‘Tacticool’ Review on the SlyDev products, I thought I could give my own thoughts on an official Nerf ‘add-on’, the humble Flip Clip.

The Flip Clip is Nerf’s official attempt at an ‘extendable magazine’ similar to what you can find in the Call of Duty games. The premise is simple, have two clips connected to each other at the bottom via the clip connector provided, as a way of fast reloading.

The contents in the pack are quite generous, for what you get.  In the pack, you get two traditional N-Strike 6-dart clips, the Clip Connector, and 30 traditional orange Streamline darts. I was quite pleased, considering a 16-dart refill pack costs about $5, and this set me back $20 bucks.

Operation is simple: As soon as you are done with a clip, unload it, and ‘flip’ it over to the new one (either horizontally or vertically 180 degrees), allowing for easy access and fast-reloading.

I’m pleased to say, this Clip Connector works with any of the traditional N-Strike clips (6 or 18) allowing for some customization. However, the connector will not work with the new Elite clips, due to a re-designed bottom area (thanks to our friends from Adult Fans of Nerf for confirming this) It works, but it has a couple of problems, in my honest opinion.

When the clips are connected, they do have a tendency to rattle around a little in their holds. Also, they can knocked out easily from the connector, and darts can slip out if you accidently rub the bottom of the F.C (which is the opening of the bottom clip.) It’s a bit impractical, and can be difference in a war when you need your equipment to be 100% reliable. And it just looks silly with two 18-clips, imagine running with THAT in a war. :P Stun your opponents with this configuration? It might just work. :P

I can recommend this ‘upgrade’ to those participating in casual/small scale wars with friends, but with full scale battles such as HvZ, I can’t recommend it, due to it’s potential to malfunction (i.e, knocking the bottom clip off) so I’ll give this product 6 darts/10 darts. However, it makes for some nice eye-candy and allows for some ‘flipping’ fun. :P

I hope that tides you guys over for a little while, since Christmas is coming up soon and we have a few major events coming up. I’ll release a video post relating to current Nerf Elite news (Our 1^st news segment!) sometime next week, and please enter S.O.F.T.’s 1^st Christmas Giveaway, where giving away a BNIB (Brand new in box) Australian Stockade.

Mr.1835Link OUT!!! :D

Announcement: S.O.F.T Christmas!

Hey Squaddies! This is Alex here, bringing you an important S.O.F.T announcement!

Link and I have had a great time over the last eight-ish months; doing both written and video reviews of our favourite blasters, getting our hands on the latest gear including the long awaited Dart Tag series to hit Australia, the latest Elite blasters, the Pyragon... *drools*... and getting into the swing of blogging our Nerf adventures one small step at a time - and it's thanks to you; our readers and fans! Without you, we'd have no purpose in continuing this work and sharing our love for all things foam-blasting :P

But S.O.F.T is still young and we have a long way to go -- more accurately we have a lot to catch up on x_x Link and I have been somewhat off the radar in the last “month plus”, so we're getting back on track with more updates, reviews, and new features to come!

Here at S.O.F.T HQ we love three things about what we do;

1. Foam Dart Blasters (of course)
2. Our loyal readers
3. FREEBIES!!! 

So with that in mind… we’ve got something special lined up…

Our first Christmas "Giveaway" Competition! :D

What’s up for grabs? ...

A Nerf Elite Stockade (Australian version) – brand new in the box and mailed right to your doorstep; absolutely free!

Who is eligible?
Any Australian Resident

(Sorry Overseas Squaddies; since this is our first sizeable giveaway, we want to keep it simple by starting out "local". Plus since this is all out of our own pockets… we’d like to keep the costs down for our first attempt x_x)

What do you have to do for your chance to win a Nerf Elite Stockade?
We would like you to show us what Nerf means to you at Christmas time. It can be in *almost* any format; photos, video, a written essay, music… whatever works for you that expresses how you feel about Nerf and Christmas :P … just as long as we are able to view it and understand it coherently :S

These are the rules to abide by at all times:
- Australian Residents Only
- No offensive or otherwise inappropriate material / submissions… You’ll go straight onto Santa’s Naughty list if you do D:<
- Your submission has to be your OWN! Don’t pinch other people’s work; you wouldn’t like it if someone did it to you…

How to submit your entry to us:
- You can post it (or link to it) on our Squadron Of Foam Tasmania blog: http://squadronoffoamtasmania.blogspot.com.au/

- Or on our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/squadronoffoamtasmania

- Or send us an email to:
 squad.of.foam.tas.comp@gmail.com

What you need to give / tell us:
- A competition entry (of course :P)
- Provide us your name and a way for us to contact you (e-mail address, Facebook, etc) – so if you win we know how to get in touch with you! (It would be best to send these sensitive details to our e-mail: squad.of.foam.tas.comp@gmail.com )
- *If* we contact you as our winner, we will require you to provide us with your postal address… otherwise the Nerf Stockade won’t be able to find the way to its new home :( 

Some recommendations:
- As long as whatever you submit involves Nerf and Christmas together, let your creativity go with it! Just remember to try and be original, and again; do not steal other people’s ideas as mentioned earlier!
- We will be judging on quality, not quantity. You are welcome to submit multiple entries… but we think you’ll be better off spending more time focusing on one GREAT entry rather than lots of little ones :P
- Try to make sure your entry is easy to understand! Blurry photos, very shaky video or poorly spelt writing makes it difficult for us to judge :S

- If you have any other questions at all, just ask away! Here, Facebook, via e-mail - whatever suits you! :D

Once I have my hands on my own Nerf Stockade, I’ll also do a S.O.F.T video review on it, hopefully I’ll obtain it in time for my next Nerf War to do some footage of it and my other Elite blasters in action :P

The competition closes 2nd January 2013 Midnight – so you’ve got another two weeks to work on your entry and submit it! 

The winner will be announced on 4th January 2013 at 10:00pm AEST

The prize will be posted out as soon as possible after that – at this stage I cannot guarantee *when* because it depends on my job schedule, as well as if Australia Post decide to play silly or have a break between Xmas and New Year’s :S 

BUT! It will definitely be sent as soon as I am able to do so!

Good luck, Happy Nerf-ing and pretty soon we’ll have ourselves a very Nerf-y Christmas! :D

Review: SlyDev Accessories for Nerf - S.O.F.T.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyXRFJdVdG0&feature=plcp

[Alex] Here is the review on the SlyDev 3D Printed custom accessories for Nerf blasters!

Check out the SlyDev store here:
http://www.slydev.com.au/Store/

These are awesome little accessories to help you customise and strategize your loadout! They are durable, come in a variety of great colours, and very affordable! I highly recommend giving them a try! :D