I think I was the last player in the world to go remote. Pretty weird I guess because I think remotes are one of the best ideas to come along in quite a while, especially the nifty coil remotes that aren't so likely to get hung up on the brush. Well, a little while back I found myself in a unique situation. I was at the paintball shop and I had money that I HAD to spend! That's right I HAD to spend the money. Spend it or loose it. I won't bore you with the details of that situation but suffice it to say that I was snatching up every goodie in sight. Looking wistfully at the coiled remotes, I was surprised to see that ACI's was only $40. I piled it in my basket. Until then, I could not recall seeing a coiled remote for under $100. Not that $100 is an outrageous sum, but I just couldn't see myself paying that much for what amounted to a length of hose. Of all the toys I walked out of there with that day, and believe me it was a bunch- over $400 worth- I was most proud of the remote. I had finally joined the big leagues. Now I had a leash, I could get off of the porch and run with the big dogs.
The ACI remote comes with all of the spiffy coil remote features that you could want. It's got quick disconnect and an adapter for those pin bottles plus coil springs on the ends to protect from kinking. The hose itself is 1/4 inch diameter black and its wound in a tight 1 1/2 inch coil. Overall length is approximately 36 inches. I suspect that it would stretch to over six feet if pulled.
The Pros:' Hey, its a remote hose. You can finally pull that bulky tank off of your gun and put it on your back where it belongs. This will no doubt help you keep Liquid CO2 out of your guns valves. The coiled aspect helps keep it pulled tight to your body so that it is less likely to get hung up on stuff or hang out somewhere and get shot. I spent a day playing with it and never experienced a problem. In fact, I never even noticed it was there. It was very natural.
The Con's: The first one hit me when I pulled it out of the package. A warning label that informs the buyer that the ACI Remote hose can only tolerate an 800 psi working load. This means that if you are using CO2 you must regulate it and that the regulator must be on your back at the tank, before the CO2 reaches the remote. That's not a real big deal because I happened to have a good regulator. Unfortunately that regulator also served as the foregrip of my minicocker. Goodbye foregrip. And because of the regulator I couldn't use an expansion chamber on the gun to replace the foregrip as it would have left me with no working pressure. Annoying but not a big deal. I damaged some of the fittings trying to take the Remote apart so that I could install the regulator, I also scratched up my minicocker and regulator getting them off. I was not pleased about this. The Remote was assembled with Threadlocker and had to be heated with a torch to dismantle it. The quick disconnect is a little sluggish and hard to operate. A couple of days after the game I noticed that the springs on the ends of the Remote had corroded noticeably.
The Final Say: Hey, you get what you pay for. If you can live with the pre-regulation, the sloppy quick disconnect, and some corroding springs then the ACI remote is a good bet for your money. If it wasn't for the pre-regulation thing I would not have a problem with it. I'm really bugged about loosing my ready made foregrip. A $30 gas through grip would cure this. But then again, so would an $80 remote. Decide for yourself how you feel about the low working pressure of the hose. My next remote will be rated for at least 1200 psi working. The corroding anti-kink springs don't really bother me. A little steel wool and a quick brush of acrylic would cure that problem, at least for the life span of the remote. Don't expect this, or any remote to last forever. One kink or scratch on the hose anywhere and it's eventually gonna blow out. On the paintball field getting a kink or scratch is inevitable. One simply has to hope that he or she gets their money's worth before that day comes. This goes for $40 dollar hoses and it goes for $150 dollar hoses. The ACI remote is not a bad deal for the money. The quick disconnect problems could probably be cured by a little careful filing and sanding. And as long as you already have a regulator to step the pressure down there shouldn't be any problems. I wouldn't consider this hose if I didn't already have a suitable regulator. Regs are $$$.