Speedloaders are a godsend, Without a doubt the only thing that makes Airsoft bearable… Don’t believe me? Try playing Airsoft without one. There are many types of speedloader, from the old school tube and rod design you rarely see nowadays to the frankly terrifying effort from WE.

I don’t know what the hell they were thinking but you’d have to be some kind of pervert to actually use this… I mean… Think of the children! Actually… That’s not a good idea and will definitely end up with your name on a register.

It’s not often you see a speed-loader that changes the market, But I think you can safely say that Odin Innovations surely spotted a gap in the market and created a simple solution that not only works but doesn’t look like a veiny blue cock.

I first used an Odin Innovations style Speedloader a couple of years ago during a one day “battle sim” at Longmoor, One of the Diablo guys had a cheap knock off which we all used to bomb up our mags at our spawn point. I’ll admit I was blown away by its ability to get you back in the game, Fully loaded within a fraction of the time of a traditional speedloader. However the copy was reported to have broken after this days game, So after weighing up the options I bought a genuine Odin M12.

The mechanism is relatively straight forward, A stowable winding arm drives a wheel, much alike a water paddle… each section holding a single BB. When you wind the arm it pulls another BB into the short loading nozzle, Ready to be loaded into your magazine of choice.

The loader is designed to predominantly be used with M4 AEG magazines which will lock into place, however your able to use it (with a little practice) to fill Tokyo Marui Recoil magazines and even those on some non-M4 type weapons such as MP5s or practically anything you can get to fit in the loader.

The Recoil mags won’t lock in place but I actually see this as a plus, it’s difficult to damage either the loader or magazine this way as when it’s nearly full, the tension will push the magazine clear and prevent damage from being done. The Odin M12 does have a clutch but I don’t let the loader get to the point it would engage, short loading my mags by the extra 4/5 shots I might cram in could cause misfeeding or other issues so I just don’t bother.

There are many options available for those after a specific colour, mine being tan which was one of a few colours available and the one that was available for a low price when I purchased it.

The Odin M12 does have spares available should you manage to break the mechanism, there is also a silicone inner sleeve made to fit the hopper, it should make the whole loader quieter if taking out into the field, but it’s never going to make much of a difference and will reduce the capacity of the loader. I keep mine in the safe zone or FOB, Rarely do I play games where reloading is allowed in game and it’s not something I do at a walk-on… I prefer making my shots count.

If you did want to take the Odin M12 with you in the field, you’ll be happy to know that it’s designed to fit perfectly in a double M4 pouch, it also holds around 1200 rounds so should sustain your average airsofter for a while game… seriously, 1200 shots is a serious amount of plastic and only SAW gunners should be expending anything above this in a game day.

Overall, it’s a fantastic loader… I use it in conjunction with a Tokyo Marui (Of course) pistol type loader which is fantastic for MP7/MWS mags. But the sheer ability to load 6 Recoil mags in under 60 seconds makes getting back in the fight pure child’s play… Indeed I’ve used the Odin M12 to load a whole squads mags in around 3 minutes… Less time in the regen means getting back out quicker and potentially winning the fight, there are also adaptors available for everything from PTWs to G3s, AKs and MP5s.

If your after a fantastic speedloader that not only works well but makes your life easier, Buy the Odin… Don’t bother with a knock off, for the small difference in price you’ll regret buying something that’s not built to last, you’ll also be doing a disservice to to guys who developed and designed the M12. Support innovation wherever you can, people wouldn’t be motivated to revolutionise our technology if they thought people were just going to copy it for half the price.