# Thunder Equipment: Thunder 1000 Launcher



## Lyle Steinman (Aug 10, 2003)

I am wondering how many people have and use the Thunder 1000? If so can you tell me the pro's & con's ?

Also do you use the Dogtra or Tri-Tronics release? 

Thanks for the help.

Lyle
816-5229650


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## born2retrieve (Nov 18, 2007)

Lyle,
I have two 10 shooters now. I think they are the best out there. I had a few problems but I have fixed every problem myself. No down time. I like them so much that I plan on getting two more. I had bumper boys in the past and max 5000s. I like dogtra but tri-tronics is just as good.

Greg


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## fetchtx (May 12, 2005)

I just have one 500, but will most likely order a 10 shooter soon also. I use tri tronics and am always amazed at how long the mapp gas lasts and the dogs love them. Very reliable product compared to the Max 5000 which I personally had many problems with.


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## Donald Flanagan (Mar 17, 2009)

I'm new to this, and my experience is limited, so take this opinion with a grain of salt. 

A friend of mine just recently purchased one. I've only used it twice, but here are my thoughts. When standing close to it, the noise seems loud, but at a distance of 100 yards, it sounds like a "thoop" to me (as opposed to a nice "crack" made by a popper). It does get the dog's attention, though. One interesting, positive point to this is that we used it in a public place- a large field adjacent to several rural neighborhoods where people walk their dogs, etc. We only received one complaint, and that was about running the dogs off-lead, and not about the noise! Nobody called the cops, and that's probably because it doesn't sound like a gunshot.
The throws are fairly long, but I've never used a Bumper Boy, so I don't know how it compares. Some dogs don't like the bumpers, and won't pick them up. Mine didn't pick it up at first, until I properly introduced it to him with a quick fetch/drop/fetch/drop exercise. No problem after that. Don't EVER walk in front of the unit. The owner was still getting used to the unit, but I saw two or three accidental discharges while it was being set up. I operated the unit for a bit. You hold the button down to rotate the turret and gas-charge the system. Then you press the button again to launch. You don't have any sort of feedback to tell you that you held the button down long enough or that it's ready to launch. You just hope you got it right.

Overall, if you are training multiple dogs, the system definitely has its place. If training only one dog, it's probably not the one to go with.


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## mikeg (Sep 23, 2009)

3- 5 shooters. extreemly happy with both service and reliability. Any issuse I had doug 
took care of right away. Even got back to me within an hour on a Sunday afternoon.Fixed one (due to pilot error) right on the tailgate of a truck @ a hunt test. What else can you ask for?


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## mjh345 (Jun 17, 2006)

mikeg said:


> 3- 5 shooters. extreemly happy with both service and reliability. Any issuse I had doug
> took care of right away. Even got back to me within an hour on a Sunday afternoon.Fixed one (due to pilot error) right on the tailgate of a truck @ a hunt test. What else can you ask for?


What else can you ask for?
Well for one I could ask that they be a little more reliable and not need fixing. 
The best customer service is where I don't need customer service


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## born2retrieve (Nov 18, 2007)

mjh345 said:


> What else can you ask for?
> Well for one I could ask that they be a little more reliable and not need fixing.
> The best customer service is where I don't need customer service


They all have times when they need a little TLC. I am very happy with Thunder equipment. I use them very hard and the bouncing around in the truck every day is hard on any equipment. Like I said I will buy more of them soon.


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