Paintball Journal

Well, due to a whole lot of circumstances, I’m leaving 451 Press.

That means this blog is toast, and if you’ve been checking for updates I apologize. I know I didn’t do my best this last month, but I hope that those of you who have read this blog have at least left knowing that you knew a lot more about paintball than the idiots who write this.

And I want you to know, it’s not you, it’s me. There are just certain things that I have to deal with on my own, and I didn’t want you to get hurt…

I… uh.

Hmm, lost my train of thought. Mostly this is all due to me graduating high school and moving on to college, where I doubt I’ll have time for blogging between my studying, partying, and girls. I wish you all the best in your paintball endeavors, and hopefully I’ll see you on the field someday.

PBNation has recently taken it upon itself to sponsor everything under the sun. Not that I think this is a bad thing, it’s about time that PBNation starts giving back to the physical paintball community, seeing how much they have done for PBNation.

First off, we have the fact that PBNation is a Gold Sponsor of PSP for the 2008 season. I don’t find that particularly surprising, especially following the NPPL - PBNation spat that occurred last year. If you want evidence of that, look no further than the fact that they have yet to reinstate the NPPL sub-forum.

It’s a great move for PBNation, first of all to finally start supporting one of the major paintball leagues, as even if it places them in a partisan light, it’s way better than nothing. Second it seems an almost charitable act by PBNation, as anyone attending one of PSP’s events is likely to already know and visit PBNation with alarming regularity.

I am stoked about a PBNation booth to go along with the Skydeck. They’ll probably be one of the cooler stands for sure, even though I have no idea what they’ll be selling. I foresee many, many people making fools of themselves at that booth for random stuff.

So, following that big, expensive news for PBNation, is the news that they’re also sponsoring a huge scenario game at CPX Sports in Joliet, IL on April 5-6, 2008 called Living Legends of Paintball.

The theme is to get people excited about meeting the movers and shakers in the industry, namely the players who have brought it so far, so fast.

Pre-registration admission is $40 and includes 1 complimentary unlimited air-fill pass. Pre-registered players can pre-purchase cases of event paint for $75, day-of cost is $80. Pre-registration deadline ends March 24th. CPX will have free camping available beginning Friday, April 4th. CPX Sports is a 143-acre, $6.5M paintball park located in the Chicago suburb of Joliet, IL and is widely regarded as one of the nation’s premier facilities. The field is conveniently located less than 1-hour from both O’Hare and Midway airports. Smart Parts Inc., is a leading developer and manufacturer of equipment and accessories for the sport of paintball. For more information about the Living Legends event, please visit www.cpxsports.com or call (815) 726-2800.

So, PBNation is feeling rather philanthropic. But did you ever wonder how they could afford something like a Skydeck, a gold PSP sponsorship, and a scenario game?

Well wonder no more as I show you the inner works of PBN!

First source of income: Supporting Members. I estimate the average rate of supporting membership is something like 1.5% of all registered members on PBNation. If that is true, then they are all paying $30 a year for that privilege.

PBNation has 388,000 members. That’s nearly 6,000 supporting members if my rate is close. That is…

$175,000 per year from supporting memberships.

That’s chump change compared to what they pull in from ads, though. I did a quick tally of their ads this month, and emailed them about their rates for advertisements. At the current rates, they’re raking in over $30,000 a month from the number of ads that I saw when I counted.

Assuming that the number of ads stays relatively the same throughout the year, I feel safe in saying…

$360,000 per year from advertisements.

That’s $535,000 per year total. Now, THAT is why I feel it’s a damn good thing that they’ve finally found it in their hearts to give back to the paintball community that’s made them what they are. Even with server costs and paying people to run the business side of things, it’s still an incredibly lucrative business, much more than anyone would suspect.

Anywhere, so there you have it: how PBNation makes its money and where it’s going these days. Too bad Paintball Journal doesn’t quite pull in those figures…

In a spot of news that’s guaranteed to change the way that many paintball fields look at doing business, Drop Zone Paintball has announced that they will only be allowing gravity hoppers on their field during recreational play.

Their aim is to level the playing field again. As guns like the Ion and PMR were released, more and more people started substituting quantity of paint in the air for skill because it became so financially viable. For what people used to pay for Tippmann 98 Customs, they began to be able to afford guns that could actually compete with higher ends.

This meant that even beginning players were able to shoot very quickly without having played for enough time to gain the skill that many had had to gain previously. In days of old, people played until they were actually truly being held back by their gear, and then had to invest a lot of money into buying guns that were not the leap in technology that you see today.

So, at least in my head, ten years ago, you didn’t see the random inexperienced kids shooting their mad gats at the chrono. Or ramping on the noobs at their local field. Or thinking they were hard until they suddenly got lit up and ran off the field crying.

Like today.

Anyway!

Drop Zone has come up with a perfect solution. There’s no ROF limit, no board caps, no tech limit on guns. Instead, there is a blatantly obvious object that has to be on top of your gun: a gravity hopper. It’s easily recognizable, and very, very few people are going to try to cheat by modding a grav hopper. In fact, how stupid that would make you is hardly describable. Plus the switch might give you away.

So, what are the potential problems? None that I can see, as long as they’re reasonable about allowing teams to practice with electric hoppers, because those aren’t going to leave tournament paintball, at least in the foreseeable future.

Read on to see the full text release!

Read the rest of this entry »

Dangerous Power has just released news of a new gun that should be available to the European market within the next few months. By almost all accounts this is the “officially rumored” mass produced Threshold. It definitely at least has a similar bolt design and body shape.

The Threshy definitely held its own on all accounts except resale, and if this gun performs similarly, then expect a $300-400 price tag if it comes to the US. The European-market-only release is due to Dangerous Power’s location: the UK.

This looks absolutely insane in terms of size and weight. I’m just flabbergasted that anyone ever shot guns with trays and extended foregrips when I see things like this come out. Seriously, this is one tiny gun.

Right now, the only store that I can find selling this DP “IQ” is in France. It’s 499 euros, which is close to $730 USD. Of course, you have to take into account that a F8 costs $880 in France, so all paintball things are a bit inflated there. That has to do with the EU’s general high taxes and price of petrol.

I look forward to this coming to the US. Honestly, Dangerous Power has always made quality products that never get the attention that they deserve. Every one of DP’s guns can compete with guns far more expensive than themselves, and always put guns in the same price class to shame.

The only thing that worries me is the lack of both RAPS and a clamp feedneck on the IQ. Those were both very big selling points for me on the original Gen2 Fusion.

Good evening. This is Dana Granholm reporting from Paintball Journal HQ.

Here’s what’s happening in your world today.

On a side note, these paintball briefs just happen to fall on Valentine’s Day, there’s nothing particularly romantic about them. Unless you’re into paintball as much as I am, that is.

First up is a new line of carbon fiber barrels. They look really great, and I’ve hear some good things about them. Unfortunately, you don’t get the performance specs of the real carbon fiber barrel company (Stiffi), but it’s a price effective way to get an incredibly light and accurate barrel kit. These are available in many different colors for both woodsball and tournament players, but only come with three backs: .689, .692, and .695, which seem too large to be effective for some paint preferences.

Next is PA’s X-37 Series Harness, which is pretty much a standard pack just like any other. I’d say about middle of the road in looks, function, and price. Buy it if you want something that works and looks good. Interestingly, Edmonton Impact will be sponsored by Paintball Assassin this year, so look to them for examples of what’s to come with the company.

This is the Reaper. It looks lamer than it sounds, which is quite a feat. Definitely the rental and noob mask of the future. Ugh, I can’t imagine wearing one of those.

Anyway, moving on…

Here are the masks that actually matter to you. They really aesthetically screwed this one up. These look as solid as ever, but lean more toward the Proflex look than the Flex series look, which is a mistake on the fashion side of things. That matters a lot when you’re marketing to a bunch of teenagers who want to look as cool as possible on the field.

And lastly for today, I leave you with the trailer for Ego Maniacs: Part Deux

I love girls who play paintball. Seriously, my two favorite things all wrapped up in one? I’ll take that any day of the week.

That means I do pay attention to the all-girl teams that show up from time to time, like the Femme Fatales and some of LTZ’s former rosters. Today that means a look at Destiny, an all-girl team captained and owned by Bea Youngs-Paxson. (-Paxson sound familiar? It is, Mike Paxson, her husband, plays for the LA Ironmen.) Joining her for the 2008 season is this awesome all new roster:

Angela Manfrate, 20
Abby Becker, 19
Becky Raikles, 18
Kim Ma, 22
Jackie Lon, 19
Breanna Rinaldo, 18
Brittany Wagoner, 15

Detailed biographies and information are available on the Destiny website.

Destiny’s website is actually one of the most interesting paintball team websites that I’ve ever seen, with a comprehensive gallery of the many different paintball photographers who have captured the team in action, as well as links, sponsors, and a history of Destiny.

In 2008, Destiny will be playing D2 NPPL, CFOA, 7 (Wo)man AM NEPL, and SPPL, as well as possibly some Millennium. All of the girls are experienced players who have played Xball and PSP with a variety of teams.

It’s tough being an all girl team, because most teams are composed of guys who hate being beat by girls. It’s just the way life is, as no guy wants to get shown up by girls, and so will often play harder when they see teams like this that are actual contenders. Destiny is definitely a contender.

I wish the best of luck to Destiny in the upcoming season, though something tells me their opponents might need more luck than them.

Disclaimer: This article is written in an entirely facetious manner and does not reflect the views of Dana or his employer 451 Press. Actually, Dana really doesn’t know what 451 Press thinks about the state of cheating in paintball, or if they know that Dana works for them. However, he is sure that they would not condone cheating in paintball if they knew what it was. Paintball, that is.

Cheating, contrary to popular belief, is a great thing for paintball!

First of all, it evens the playing field so that everyone can compete on the same level. I mean, who wants divisions of players by skill level? In all the professional sports there are already established and enforced rules, professional refs, and instant replays so players have to resort to steroids and enhancements that put them at risk! Why do that, when cheating does the same thing, without the bodily harm that anabolic steroids can cause?

Secondly, there are more paint sales because it takes more paint to shoot someone out these days. One ball doesn’t cut it anymore. When you’re shooting a hopper full just to put one ball on your opponent, just think about how much you’ll have to shoot when they’re wiping! Cheating is the biggest boon for paint sales since the semi-automatic was invented.

Things really should just stay the same in paintball. There should be no negative stigma attached to cheating, and wiping should be just another part of the game just like it has been for the past few years. Paintball can do nothing but benefit from all of the wonderful side effects of cheating.

You know… everything except grow to become a legitimate sport. But who wants that, anyway?

Indoor paintball is officially the most difficult sport to photograph. No matter where you go, no matter how well lighted it appears to you, your camera will not agree. In fact, your camera will disagree so wholeheartedly with the whole process that it will probably render the majority of your pictures vague gray blobs with ISOs in the upper thousands and grain from hell.

Admittedly, if you’re not a photographer, you might not know what all that means exactly, but just know that it is overall bad.

Here are some examples from last weekend.

As you can see, they don’t turn out so hot. The best that you can do is get close and take flash shots, or dress them up later in a photo editing program. Here’s an example of each, in order of how I mentioned them.

A little bit better, but impractical at best. You can’t really win photographing paintball indoors. However, I think I managed to catch my first paintball in flight this time around, and I was pretty dang excited.

Check it out.

I’m pretty stoked about that whole thing, plus I didn’t get shot too much and my camera didn’t even explode, so all in all, a decent weekend for photography.

Some tips for shooting paintball in general:

Get as close as possible to the action.
Don’t shoot through netting.
Don’t shoot indoor paintball.
Use a ref shield!
Fast shutter, low ISO, etc. etc. Paintball is incredibly fast.
Watch the game, and the shots will come. Know when people are going to make their moves.

Well, it’s been a fairly busy week here on Paintball Journal, but if you are still looking for reading material, here’s what’s been happening over at my other blog for Xtreme Paintball.

Eclipse’s Board Settings for New ROF Limits

Both PSP and Millennium have lowered their ROF limits, and Planet Eclipse wants to let you know exactly how to deal with the new firing modes on their guns. Definitely worth a read if you have an Ego or Etek.

WGP’s New Website

WGP hasn’t really brought a whole lot to the table that people have noticed lately. With this new website, it gives me hope that they will have some great new products to sell on it sooner rather than later. Cool design, but hopefully they keep it updated. If you want to know more, just click away!

Ultimate Strategy

For those of you who have guns that don’t shoot very fast, but want to know how to win against the kids who do. Techniques, strategies, and overall tips on showing up those punks with the fast guns.

Hybrid Says Buh-Bye Now

Just a copy of the original Hybrid note. You can read my thoughts about it here on Paintball Journal.

Spyder RSX To Sport Tadao Board

Okay, so technically we’re heading into last week, but this is an interesting article on Kingman Spyder’s latest announcement regarding their RS line, at least one of which will come stock with a Tadao board. A great move for both companies, certainly.

Brass Eagle Ambush - For The Illest

Oh, yeah, and I can’t forget the most insane gun of the year, the BE Ambush. If you want to learn more about this sheer amazingness, head over the Xtreme.

In what is looking to be the biggest news all month, Hybrid has penned a note of farewell to their contract killers and muppet mowers, as well as the entire paintball community. It details an interesting back story of misfortune for Hybrid this past year, but doesn’t tell everything. First of all, I think it’s important to point out that, while it spends a great deal of time talking about the problem, specifics aren’t mentioned. That’s probably a wise move for a company that’s trying to bide its time rather than quit outright, but it makes for a goodbye letter that’s difficult to fully understand.

Just as interesting are the allegations flying around that Hybrid was having manufacturing problems in China, while still engaged in a legal battle with NPS (currently Kee Action Sports) over their company name. Though these things may be true, more important are the things listed in the note, which you can read below. Also on the Hybrid site is a video tribute to those who have proudly carried the Hybrid Contract Killer status throughout the company’s life.

And so Hybrid leaves behind an industry whose image it helped form with the many trendy, stylish, and otherwise “agg” items that it marketed to all of the tournament players who wanted to be just like those SoCal ballers. Though I can’t say that it was an image that ever appealed to me enough to make me buy Hybrid stuff, the influence of Hybrid, whether good or bad is certainly evident no matter where you look in tournament paintball today.

Click below to read full copy of Hybrid’s farewell letter.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some of the things that have been going on at and around Paintball Journal HQ.

A Comment on Comments

First of all, thanks for being patient with posting comments on this site. I know the askimet spam filter has been under performing miserably as of late, but once I figured out that comments weren’t getting through, I started checking the filter daily. So if you post a comment, don’t worry if it doesn’t show up immediately. However, if it’s something you’d really like to talk about, don’t hesitate to hit the “Contact Me” button in the left hand column.

451 Downsizes

In other news, this network is in the process of some pretty major reforms. Now, this blog’s safe, so fear ye not, but expect some major changes around here. I may also be taking on some other blogs as well, but this one will always be my precious. My preeecciousss…ss…ss…..

Tournament Time

I know what a lot of you are thinking. You’re thinking “Hey, Dana, how can we trust the information we get from a kid who probably doesn’t even play paintball that much?” Well, that’s something I’m hoping to remedy somewhat in the near future.

In accordance with such bold statements, I’ve also gone and bought a Halo B that matches my trigger quite nicely, and should help my consistency.

I’ll probably be playing in Splatz’s next tournament, on February 16th. It’s a charity tournament that will benefit the local food bank. I’m pretty stoked about that whole thing.

That’s all for tonight, I’ve got a paper to write about Barack Obama or something. I’ll see you tomorrow.

It’s one of the most important factors you should take into account about your gun. It’s what determines whether you’ll get the shot of first, or if you’re gonna be sucking paint through your grill. It’s what makes a lot of inexperienced and experienced players alike shoot their own bunkers, feet, and teammates. I’m talking about trigger lengths, and I want to know what yours is.

Shall we? I’d really like to know just exactly how far everyone has to go in order to shoot a paintball. Of course, I’m not asking you to do this without putting my own info out there first. Let’s take a look.

That’s my blue CP Sling trigger on my stock Ion frame. Pull length of 1/8 inch.

The calculations were made using a wooden standard Westcott Ruler and a Texas Instruments TI-83 calculator. I had to use the calculator to determine how many eighths two sixteenths equaled.

Not really. I used it to do the centimeter conversion. For those of you who deem the imperial system too lame to use and prefer metricism, the 1/8 inch is 0.3175 cm.

I measured how far the bottom tip of the trigger traveled before activating the microswitch. For those of you using mechanical, optical, or sear trigger systems, just the distance the trigger travels to activate the marker is necessary.

Pictures are also nice, but not necessary. Just take some high precision evaluative devices such as what I listed above and record the distance on a pad of paper. Come to your computer, log onto the internet, and come here to post your findings. Shortest and longest trigger lengths win something fantastic! Oh, and do post your trigger and gun model.

Good evening. This is Dana Granholm reporting from Paintball Journal HQ.

Here’s what’s happening in your world today.

Both the tank cover and pack that you see here are confirmed members of the 2008 Redz Catalog. Unfortunately, the catalog isn’t available yet, so we have to content ourselves with drooling over Myspace pictures of Redz Teams. I of course mean real Redz teams, not every other team that just got sponsored by them because they sent in the sponsorship package.

Kee has announced that it is raising its paintball product prices due to oil prices, which have continued to go up over the past few years. If you’d like a list of things to be affected by this, check this link to their product lines.

Left click then “view image” to enlarge! Can’t promise it’ll make everything bigger, but it’ll sure make it easier to read the document.

Not one to be left behind when profits are increasing, ProCaps distributors have also raised their prices. Citing similar reasons for their price increase, ProCaps issued a similar statement, except in better colors, proving once and for all who is the better umbrella company.

(Again left click to enlarge. Prostate, etc.)

What this means for you as a customer is an incremental increase in price. Expect prices to go up approximately 3-5%. If they go up higher than that, it’s probably stores making up for their own costs, which are getting higher all the time.

Don’t begrudge anyone for trying to stay afloat in a paintball economy that’s barely stable enough to exist.

Oh, you know you want them. It’ll be magical. I promise. Just like certain other 08 Eclipse products…

Actually, I’ve been here before. As I peer around, I realize that this territory most definitely looks familiar. I join battle here, much as I have before, against the forces of evil and apathy!

Here are some of the things that I’ve written in the past about cheating in paintball, and what you can do to help remedy the situation.

There is a rot in paintball today. That comes in the form, not only of cheaters, but those who don’t complain and call out the cheaters who degrade our sport. They are just as bad, because they are the enablers to the cheaters. Easily the worst of the whole category goes to every pro player who’s ever wiped. I’d rather give up paintball forever than do what you do and get perks for it.

First of all, I won’t go into every argument of why wiping and playing on and using cheater boards are all cheating and are not “just penalties” like any other sport.

I’m not gonna do it. I’ve argued that far too many times before to do it again tonight. If you’d really like to read my arguments, look around this site for a couple of minutes, or go visit my other blog at xpaintball.

Instead of all that, I’ll tell you who is ultimately responsible for what’s happened and what is happening. It is the industry and the leagues. Here’s what needs to happen to remedy the situation.

First of all, some sort of standardization within the leagues has got to take place. That means with equipment (read: boards) or rules (read: ROF and refs). Or both.

Boards are needed to force a cap on ROF that is actually completely and totally enforceable. Today, that’s difficult at best, and impossible with semi-auto. That is, without changing other gear regulations (gravity fed hoppers only, mechanical guns only, single trigger only, etc.).

Rules are needed, not that there aren’t sufficient rules today, but that they aren’t actually enforced. Professional refs need to be just that, professional and paid to do their work well.

This post also displays my defense of Rant Week. I’m complaining sure, but I’m complaining about things that can genuinely change, as well as *gasp* suggesting changes!

I’m going to define “rich kids” right off the bat here, so that there’s no mix up and innocent bystanders aren’t offended too badly. These rich kids that I refer to are those that do not work, and/or do not pay for the majority of their paintballing shenanigans, yet have the most expensive gear that money can buy and enjoy looking flashy in their matching outfit and gun combos.

Typically, they are the least motivated paintballers to get better because they haven’t had to work to get to where they are, don’t know their equipment well, and simply are annoying to be around for someone who puts money towards college and has to scrounge to play on the weekends.

This weekend I saw one kid probably a year or two younger than me decked out in full Dye C7 gear with matching colors that corresponded with his red/black fade DM7. He was a pretty bad player. He shot some paint, but wouldn’t move or expose himself. In fact, there was little at all to be said about his playing style.

My complaint is from the perspective of the sport. He contributes nothing. He can’t give advice to save his life. But who will kids look up to? Me, the guy shooting an Ion dressed in some khakis and a hoodie? My friends, shooting their hodgepodge of paint weaponry, with some of the most ghetto rigged set-ups I’ve ever seen? Or this punk decked out in red?

Every time, it will be the kid in red.

So, what’s the solution to this? Actually, it’s pretty simple. You get better, be friendly, give advice freely, and never brag. Eventually everyone learns to take a second look at kids who are dressed from head to toe in fancy gear. I learned long ago that it was the player on the inside that mattered much more than the player on the outside. By showing the world that it doesn’t take the most expensive gear to win, we make the change for the better.