Paintball Journal

Holy shenanigans Batman! Gridlock just picked up 40 new players for two of their D3 X-ball teams and one D2 X-ball team, as well as possibly moving players to their D1 team. Because Gridlock is amassing such an army, speculation is now running rampant on Gridlock’s plans to take over the world. The tryouts were held at Paintball Central Sports Park in Charlotte on three separate occasions, and players were advised to attend all three try-outs if they were really serious about making the team.

Anyway, this is a bold move by the Trauma/Gridlock camp, and should make for a damn interesting ‘07 season.

The tournament was a great lesson for us all I think. We learned that JP is our best gunfighter, and just how badly I need to work on my own gunfighting skills. I think I lack two things when it comes down to it: confidence and intensity.

When we watched JFK play, the team that won it, every man was in a zone out there. You could see the intensity, the focus in the way that they played. They made bold moves, yet played extremely professional. I never saw them slack off for a second. They spent every moment on their toes, they knew where exactly every opponent was, they were just down right the best team there. I tended to get into my comfort zone, which was watching the opposite tape. I challenged people occasionally, but I stayed in until I knew we were up bodies, and then I’d make my move.

Confidence I think will come with practice and experience. I need to get used to snap shooting and gunfighting in general. Once I can fully trust that my skills can match up against the best teams, and then I’ll begin to challenge people a lot more. This will my main focus for next practice. We played extra conservative in the tourney, and it just wasn’t the best time to be experimenting and practicing new things.

I hope that within a few months that our team will be playing much more aggressively. I hope we can move right up field at our leisure, dominating every aspect, and decide how the game ends. That where I want us to be.

Okay, so 4th Place, that’s not bad, for our first tournament that’s exactly where we want to be.

We got a nifty barrel condom and t-shirt (Please excuse the deplorable state of my t-shirt. I kinda slept in it). We have leftover paint for our next practice. But most importantly, we have experience now! We know what to improve on and how to plan our next practice around weak spots.

I truly felt like I was the weakest individual player on our team. I played back, Evan played mid, and JP played front (with one of the shortest set-ups I’ve ever seen). Every game seemed to follow the same pattern.

I’d make my bunker, no problem, considering it was right in front of the break. I’d call out positions, and maybe pin a couple of guys, then get shot out.

Things I’d like to improve on include, but aren’t limited to:

1) Laning off the break. That’ll be easier once I get used to my trigger, and get it set up in a way that will allow me to shoot faster. Plus, I need to get it in my mind off the break to stay up and shoot at the exact location I need to, just in front of an outside back bunker. There was a team on Sunday that had a guy who would always walk to the net-side tape back bunker. If I could have put a steady stream of paint there off the break, we would have been up 3-2 in bodies, and had a chance against a team that only lost once all day.

2) Gun-fighting. I didn’t get in a whole bunch of gun-fights but my form has to be tighter. Coming over the top in the first couple of games got me shot up, and you should see my left arm. Though a lot of that is from run-thrus. Well, okay, so here’s my left arm, there were actually a total of seven welts on it:

3) Field awareness. The experienced teams walked all over the inexperienced ones because of this. You don’t have to hit a bunker and be immobile for a game. It’s very important to stay mobile, look for bumps and moves, because you won’t win a game from one bunker. That was a problem with me, I’d be gunning from one bunker and forget to move.

Anyway, all stuff to work on next time we go and practice. Ah, and here’s our win-loss record for No Trace (our team name).

No Trace vs. JFK Loss
No Trace vs. Hardcore Win
No Trace vs. Smoken Aces Win
Apocalyptic Dreams vs. No Trace Win
Hola vs. No Trace Win
Sadistic vs. No Trace Loss
Mercenaries vs. No Trace Win
No Trace vs. Creepers Win

Finals
No Trace vs. Sadistic Loss
No Trace vs. JFK Loss
No Trace vs. Apocalyptic Dreams Win

Deciding Round for 3rd/4th Place
No Trace vs. Apocalyptic Dreams Loss

This was an odd field, and I’d like to take the time to describe it and how we played it. I’ve sketched it out, click here to see a large image.

Quick Key:
A – laydown
B – Standup
C – Brick
The medium X (solid filled base) is offset to the right
The Flag was laid on the center tombstone, which was flanked by two half-moons.
The back center is a laydown, and we call this “home”.

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The realization that I’m shooting -2/6 at the free-throw line of relationships spurned me to make this post. Because paintball ain’t never done me wrong. Maybe there’s a reason for the rise in prominence of phrases like “harder to spot than a paintballer with a girlfriend…”.

10. While having a girlfriend is like burning money by the dumpster-full, playing paintball is more like burning it by the bucket-full.

9. Your paintball gun won’t leave you for another man. And if it does, that man best be paying for it.

8. Paintball gear doesn’t talk back.

7. You can have as maaany paintball guns as you like. You gun-whore you.

6. Play some tournaments, and you might just get some of that money back. With a girl, well… you’ll be lucky to see a dollar of that back in your wallet.

5. Your paintball gun never “has a headache”. < Whatever the hell that means.

4. Paintball guns don’t abuse you. People with paintball guns abuse you. Where as your girlfriend will beat you down and take your cookies.

3. Getting caught cheating in paintball will get you pulled from the game. Getting caught cheating in a relationship will uh, kill you, best case scenario.

2. You can play paintball any time you want to. Girlfriends might want to go out at any time. Including *gasp* paintball time. You’ve been warned.

1. Okay, so I could think of a million more reasons, but I can’t seem to come up with a crowning one. And I’m beginning to doubt myself, because, while all these are true, and paintball is a unique and truly awesome experience… there isn’t anything quite like a girl. But don’t tell anyone I said that!

All the gear is cleaned and packed away neatly in the closet. I’ve taken my usual forty-five minute, scalding hot shower, and now I’m sitting down to tell you how our first tourney went, held at Friendly Fire Paintball. The days leading up to this have been extremely exciting, and somewhat nerve wracking. Will we get up there and get completely destroyed? Will our Ions be able to keep up with the competition? There were just so many questions that we couldn’t answer, and that’s what drove me crazy.

To get to the point, out of nine teams we placed 4th, and nobody can imagine how good that makes me feel right now. Yeah, it’s not first, second, or third even, but for us to just walk in there and do exactly what we wanted to accomplish just makes me feel great. Our very first game was against a team called JFK, and one of our friends plays for them, so we already knew that they were going to have one of the best chances to win.

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Here’s a video of Friendly Fire, the field we’ve been playing at for the past few months and the place where we are entering a tourney this Sunday. We weren’t there on this day, but it’s still awesome to see it. Much thanks to Shasty McNasty for getting video up, because everyone knows I’ll never get around to getting mine up. It’s pretty good for a home video, so enjoy!

Much thanks goes to Shasty!

I don’t know, do you? It appears to me to be a Lucky Ion, completely revamped, with new uhm… EVERYTHING.

Grip frame looks like a complete departure from the stock frame, the barrel will probably be UN1tec or something like it, the trigger looks sick, like an old JT Protium or something, and the body looks like one of the best I’ve seen for the Ion.

Other notables: snatch grip, CP reg…, feedneck, grips. All looking like… well, certainly not stock.

My estimated retail price for this complete Ion: $400+.

I came across an interesting product earlier called the RAP4 Hand Grandade. It’s going to apply to scenario paintball and airsoft more than anything else, and I can see how it will add a whole new level of play to the game. This one actually seems like a promising design too.

I know the Tippmann Squad Buster we bought one time was a complete waste of five bucks! We pull the cap off and toss it up in the air. It makes a funny bounce off the ground and then sort of squirts tiny droplets of paint around in a circle. Useless; never buy them.

Here’s the article:

Real Action Paintball is proud to announce the release of the NEW, reusable, Hand Grenade. The RAP4 Hand Grenade is a safe replica of the military “pineapple” style grenades. It weighs .5lbs, and is the same width, height, and dimensions of the real thing!

The New RAP4 Hand Grenade is designed to enhance scenario games and take them to the next level of realism. The RAP4 Hand Grenade will also serve as an excellent training tool for both the military and law enforcement.

The RAP4 Hand Grenade is designed to function similarly to the real grenade - pull the pin, throw, and it detonates a few seconds later. The detonation time is adjustable from 1 to 8 seconds, and propels airsoft BBs or discharges simulated smoke. To detonate the RAP4 Hand Grenade, hold the grenade in the throwing hand, thumb over the safety lever, pull the safety pin (pull force of 5 - 10 pounds), and throw! When the spoon flips up the countdown begins!

The RAP4 Hand Grenade is powered by 134A green gas, and can also be operated with CO2 or compressed air at 75-80psi by using the AG1 grenade charger and regulator. The RAP4 Hand Grenade can be loaded with powder and 6mm airsoft BBs for different effects. The powder leaves a noticeable residue and the BBs work like the fragmentation effect of a real hand grenade.

The RAP4 Hand Grenade provides the ultimate realism in war game sports for both paintball and airsoft. It also provides the military and law enforcement a new training tool. Use it to set up booby traps, throw it, or roll it under a wall in their base - you can create realistic conditions and tactical concerns without the danger!

The ‘07 Distortion line by Planet Eclipse is looking pretty sick this year. I loved the ‘06 line, and these ‘07 jerseys blow my mind. They are that fine.

The features!

* Anti irritation transfer neck print. Actually a good feature, my JT does irritate my neck…
* Ribbed cuffs. Always… good.
* Section padded forearm protection. Nice! Padding!
* Air cool mesh venting. Good for the summa’time.
* Styled piping. Come again?
* High contrast sublimated design. Ya, aka, looks hot.
* Comfort hem finishing. Nice?
* Microfiber internal lens cloth. Whoa, so you can wipe you mask after the game? Sick!

What is JT thinking? What is the deal with these new jerseys? I don’t know what it is, but it’s like they’re caught between retro and somehow relatively modern. The color is bold, and that’s a good thing usually, but it’s just too bold. It’s locked in a fierce battle with all the black, and something needs to give way. Paintball is a finesse sport, and these jerseys just don’t portray that for me. But I do like the camo JTs, I think those are fine and work with the design.

I like paintball jerseys that have a lot of design elements in them, like the Dynasty jerseys. They’re real flashy with lots of curves. And if the company wants a simple design, take one out of XSV’s book. They’re simple, but incredibly good looking. Nothing is clashing, but it’s still a strong design. Any thoughts?

Tourney time is almost here, and I’m pumped!

Preparations include:

Finding extra guns and players and a camera man. In fact, we’ve got all this pretty well covered. We’ll be taking up an extra player (he mostly just wants to watch, which is why he’s not rostering with us), as well as two extra guns, both better than the ones that the three of us will be using. Ironic.

Our camera man is the third guy that we had to drop because of injuries sustained to his lungs, which they had to replace with twin carbon-fiber wrapped 68/4500 tanks. We’re hoping he can pull through and be well by the time spring tourney season rolls around.

Funding is always a problem, but Evan is the rich boy, so JP, our third man, fixed up Evan’s old Bushie and Evan’s paying his entry fee. I’ve got all my finances sorted, and will have just enough that if we place third r better, I might be able to afford food after the tourney.

Working out. Ahahahaha, okay so not really. But I’m doing a little bit so that I don’t collapse after my first run-through.

There is a common trend occurring right now in the world of paintball fashion. We’ve all worn it before; most likely have played in it at some point or another. The object of it is to conceal yourself from your opponent, but in speedball, why does it matter? Why are the camo jerseys becoming the new rage? Hell if I know! But I do really like the looks.

We have JT, Planet Eclipse, XSV – everybody is going to camo.

JT

Planet Eclipse

XSV

I’ve even heard rumors that a lot of Pro teams are going commando this season – you know, really commando.

Or maybe not. I like the look of the camo, I can’t complain. Just two weeks ago when we were out I think I saw two or three guys already wearing the XSV pants, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. Actually, those pants are miracles. I don’t know how they do it, but I’ve seen some crazy bounces off them. Friend who wears them gets bunkered – shot in the leg like six times and pretty much figures he’s out. The game’s over, and he begins to check himself; not one of them broke. I really just don’t know, is that even legal?

Ahahahaha. Amusing stuff. Shots and commentary from all aspects of 2006 PSP World Cup in Orlando by Lucky. From Wal-Mart races to the Tazer Cam, this short has got it all. My personal favorite, however, was the sky-cam from the DerDer helicopter. The view from the top is amazing.

Not everything in life is pretty, and there are so many things out there that don’t need looks. All they need is to accomplish the task, whatever it may be. But we all know paintball is about looks. It’s all about who has the sexiest gat on the field, whether it be a Dynasty Shocker, 07 Ego, etc. I think I’ve found a few items that completely fail in the looks category – items that I really just don’t know how they came into being, how much crack the creator had smoked before planning these out.

Numero Uno: Alien Interceptor – I…really don’t know what to say about this one. It’s simply just ugly.

Number Two: Ventz. What the hell. I’m not sure what they were going for. My guess is something futuristic, but somehow managed to come out looking like death.

Number three: Tippmann Triumph – Since when did paintball turn into NERF??

Okay So I went to find some pics of it, and I’m beginning to think Tippmann is deleting everything that they can, to cover up the ugly they released. If I find one I’ll let you know.

Edit: Found a pic from XtremePaintball. Too bad, this post didn’t even need more ugly.

And finally: The Kingman FASTA loader – Like I’ve said before, it’s a freaking nuclear sub! Just look at it! Ohhhh the humanity, it’s just so fugly!

That’s all for now. I think we’ll be able to turn this into something of a series, because God knows there’s more to come.