Twister Feed Tube Review

Dimensions:

The stock feed tube on an Impulse, when removed from the body of the marker, measures 2 1/2 inches tall. The Twister feed tube measures 2 7/8 inches tall. That makes the twister 3/8 of an inch taller.

A picture of the Stock feed tube and the Twister side by side


However, before you turn and run, the WHOLE picture needs to be looked at. With the stock feed tube my revolution sits 7/16 of an inch above the top of the feed tube. That’s almost 1/2 an inch of the revy’s neck hanging out. With the twister the revolution sits flush with the top of the feed tube. So the net gain is that with the Twister the revy will be 1/16 of an inch lower….Big frickin deal….well like I said it is not a low-rise, but what you can see it that even though the Twister looks taller, in the end once the revy is on it will not make your Impulse any taller.

NOTE: Twister has also released a low-rise version that is 3/4" shorted, that equates to one ball missing from the ball stack.

The stock feed tube with my black revy


The Twister with my black revy


Installation:

For me this was not a problem. About 3 weeks ago I found that the adhesive that was holding my feed tube in place had given up. I discovered this when I was twisting off my revy and the feed tube moved. I was then able to completely remove the feed tube, which actually helped when cleaning my Impulse.

If your feed tube was glued in properly or recently, you will have a VERY difficult time removing it. As I understand it Smart Parts uses Green loc-tite or something equally strong to hold the feed tube in place.

If you have an older Impulse that has a glued on feed tube, you will not be able to use the Twister without some kind of modification.

How does it work?

This was the part I was most curious about. Or more so, how well does it work. First, lets figure out how it works. This part is simple; there are three pieces to the Twister, shown in the picture below from left to right is the outer neck holder, the inner neck holder and the actual feed tube (for lack of better terms).

First you loosen the outer neck holder by turning it counter clockwise (anti-clockwise if you are an Angel owner). It is threaded to the feed tube so if you unscrew it too much it will come off of the feed tube. This allows the inner neck holder to open up. Simply slide in your revy to the desired location and turn the outer neck holder clockwise to tighten the inner neck holder. At first it seemed a little awkward, but after trying it a couple times it was not difficult at all. I found it was much easier to tighten the Twister when the barrel was not on the marker. That allowed me to get a better angle.

I discovered another trick. Hand tighten the outer neck with the revy on sideways (from the back of the marker, the front of the revy is pointing to the left and the back is pointing to the right). Then hold the outer neck as you spin the revy so that it is on correctly (front to back). This extra 1/4 turn really helped to lock it in place.

There is a small lip inside the outer neck holder to keep the inner neck holder from falling out when the revy is not there. This is the sign that someone took the time to design the Twister the right way.

The three pieces of the Twister


So how well does it work?

Below is a picture of me holding my Impulse in the air by the Revy. I have a 14” Freak barrel and a Nitro Duck 90/4500 tuff skin (heavy) tank on my Impulse as you can see. I held it like this for several minutes, until I got bored. It passed the test for me. THIS is why I wanted a Twister. On more than one occasion I made some diving slide like move and had the revy either turn or fall completely off. In the middle of a tournament this could be the difference between making the elimination or receiving it!!

The suspended Impulse


Conclusion:
I am impressed.  If you are sick of using tape, paper or whatever you use to keep your revy securely in the stock feed tube, do not think twice about the Twister….. buy one!  The Twister does exactly what is was designed to do.  I have always stated that an Impulse is an awesome marker. IMO the only things that keep the Impulse from being a perfect marker out of the box are the need for an adjustable trigger and the difficult time getting a revolution or other loaded to sit securely in the feed tube.  The Twister is a definite item to add to any marker that has a problem “holding on to” your revy, hopper or Egg.