Paintball Journal

Friendly Fire Paintball is going to host a 3-man Young Guns tournament on the 28th of this month, a Sunday. They will also host a 2-Man as well. The competition is great and the field is a great experience to play on, so if you are in the Central Illinois/Indiana area, look into it. The tournaments are open to teams under 18 years old, and there’s usually open play afterwards.

The more that show up the merrier. I think we’re planning on going just to learn – there are not too many other tournaments that only cost $20 to enter. It’ll just be like a regular day of practice, so why not give it a shot.

Here’s some pics I took of the new gear, just in case anybody was wondering. I think they are good references in size because I really hate it when the online stores give some tiny little picture and you can’t tell jack about them. So here you go.

With a new season just around the corner, Pro teams are out looking for players, dropping players, or simply just falling apart. There’s really just way too much to keep track of, but if you’re interested most of the latest information on player standings can be found right here.

The main highlight is that XSV is literally falling apart. I’m not even sure how many players they have anymore.

Dynasty might also be so desperate that they are actually hosting tryouts for the NXL season. Of course you must be special qualifications, like playing on a current D1 team, must be accomplished and experienced, etc. So don’t think you can just walk on.

You really want to throw your opponents for a loop? I mean really mess with their heads? Then try these 10 things that might get you bonus balled.

1) Mid-game conversations. Talk with your team mates about the episode of your favorite TV show last night, or the latest celebrity gossip, or who your best mate’s dating.

2) Keep calling for your opponents to check themselves for paint. Over, and over, and over.

3) Don’t shoot at all. Run and hide. Try to make as little noise as possible. Trust me, it’s an eerie effect.

4) The dead man’s walk. This one is a bit challenging, and extremely ballsy. You have to stand up like you got hit, making no indication that you were hit other than the fact that you are walking towards the deadbox with a decidedly glum air about you. This can only be used in certain situations that allow you to walk downfield when you get hit.

5) Even when all your guys are dead, keep talking like they are still alive.

6) Insult your opponents in the lamest ways possible. Tell them their “mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”

7) Begin wasting your team mates.

Affix a ‘bayonet’ to the end of your gun. Signal the charge. Entire team charges the enemy’s position with paintbrush bayonets.

9) Throw spent pods at opponents. Works better if in the midst of a gunfight. Snap out and throw.

10) Jump. Up and down, in a stand up. Most moronic thing you can do in-game, I swear.

I was recently visiting our 451 Press Forums when one of the other bloggers was asking how he can improve his accuracy, because he plays with some younger fellows he knows. He said that the last time he went the paint was making it twenty feet before veering off in some wild direction, and this instantly brought back those memories when I used to have the same problems.

Several years ago (when I didn’t know any better), I used to buy Brass Eagle just because it was the cheapest thing out there. Now, if I could go back in time, I would shoot myself before I had ever done that. Here’s why…(this might pertain to the newer paintballers)

Brass Eagle is a cheap paint. It’s a fact. It’s very inconsistent in make, and most of them already have dimples in the balls when you buy them. Dimples in paintballs I guess could be comparable to a plane with one wing shorter than the other – they simply won’t fly straight.

Often times the paint is already busted in the bags they come in. This in turn gets paint all over the other balls, and in turn makes them extremely messy and oily. The best you can do in this situation is wipe them off with a towel, or better yet, throw them in the trash.

Brass Eagle paintballs are also notorious for chopping inside your gun. When paint chops, it goes up into your hopper, it fills the barrel with paint, gets in the internals. I cannot emphasize this enough, if paint gets in the barrel, you will lose ALL accuracy. ALL of it. In this case, make a suicidal charge at the enemy and shoot them point blank. If paint busts in your gun, squeegee it out before playing on.

Too make this rant short and sweet – never buy Brass Eagle paint! It’ll screw you over and ruin your day, and if you don’t believe just try it once for yourself. Do yourself the favor and buy something like Evils, Diablo, or even Premiums.

Being fairly sick and tired of my gun being called plastic, I replaced all parts ‘plastic’ with an ultralight synthetic polymer mesh… aka cardboard. It actually was fairly easy. Just taking cardboard tubes and cutting them properly covered me. I even played with it last weekend and had no problems at all. It was pretty sick.

Anyways, you can get one shipped direct to you for $50.00 plus S+H. At least, with the way all the other Ion Body kits are selling, that’s about what this one’s worth.

Well, my profilers finally came in, and oh my they feel so good. I’m actually sitting in them right now. Oh they’re so nice. I know this is going to cause problems though – like someday I’ll be out crouched in the snake and the Profilers will be feeling so soft, and I’ll have a sudden urge to just sleep. And sleep I will! Right there behind the second knuckle. It’s very possible that I have a tad bit of narcolepsy.

The Empire SS Ventz are great too. I ordered a large, and they fit perfectly even though I’m pretty skinny. They have three Velcro tension bands that you can tighten; one on the wrist, forearm, and bicep. I can already tell that the massive elbow and forearm pads are going to be picking up a ton of bounces, which is one of the more common places I get hit.

Overall, A+ for both. 10/10. Three thumbs up. Etc. Only thing now is the testing part, which I should be able to do again on Sunday. Durability is going to be the biggest downfall for the Ventz I think, because anything with stitching is naturally going to rip. But we’ll see.

Evan and I just went paintballing on Sunday, and believe it or not, we got a little bit dirty at some point in the proceedings. Maybe it was my trip and fall ass-slide on the wet turf, or maybe it was a little paint getting shot at me, but somewhere along the way, every single piece of paintball equipment I own, save my gloves which I forgot at home, got dirty.

Now, I like to be rather fastidious in my care of all my gear, so I cleaned everything right after getting home. However, some days I just take a shower and fall into bed, only cleaning one piece of equipment: my lenses on my goggles. If you cannot muster the energy to clean anything else, clean your goggles. Paint left on the lenses can wear off anti-fog coatings and possibly even permanently dye the lens.

Clean your lens with warm water only, and a soft dishrag, nothing abrasive. Might as well clean the rest of your mask while your at it.

So tomorrow comes, and you manage to roll out of bed at a somewhat reasonable time, and you are all ready to clean the rest of your gear.

Let’s start with your gun. I haven’t the foggiest as to how to clean your individual gun, but it’s always a good bet to squeegee the innards and wipe the eyes. Clean the rest accordingly, but I can’t possibly give you exact instructions unless you really want them and leave a comment here for me.

Next, how about putting all your clothes, gloves, headbands, and harnesses into the washing machine. Unless something is like signed by somebody or something, everything should be machine wash safe.

Your hopper you should wipe down both inside and out, probably with a moist rag. I do this to prevent it from smelling like a rotting corpse, and to satisfy my paranoia of oily paintballs.

Same goes for all my pods. The reek of death shall not enter here.

I do believe I’ve covered nearly all my gear, except shoes. Honestly, I don’t wear the shoes I wear paintballing for anything except paintballing. So… I don’t clean those.

Just remember to take care of your gear, and your gear will take care of you.

Yesterday we played at Friendly Fire (Sunday). There weren’t a great deal of people there, but it was kind of nice to be able to get to take things at our own pace. We played a few 3 VS 3s, and a ton of 1 VS 1 or 2 VS1s. I felt that it was a successful day, learned a lot and really felt like I was doing the right things for the most part. My accuracy has improved, but my snapping is still rather slow. I’ll just save those to work on next weekend when we go back up.

We did run into some problems. Maybe it just wasn’t the hoppers’ day, but it seemed like everyone had a few jams. I had at least two. It really doesn’t help though when your Egg is trying to feed two fused paintballs down the neck. Yes, they were completely fused together, like Siamese twins or something.

They really have an awesome set up there. The field is perfect for the amount of people that it gets now. They’re going to expand it too, because they have plenty of area right next to the field where it is now. I think all they’re waiting on is the turf. It will at least double the playing area so it’ll be a good 3 man field or a small 5 man.

And my Profilers and Empire elbow pads should be coming in really soon - maybe today even (crosses fingers). I can’t wait to get rid of this old woodsball mask.

This year, the NEPL Combine, which helps players find teams and teams find players, will have something a little extra. While having the standard drills and scrimmages for players to show off their stuff (and win an 07 Ego if they are the overall champion in the 1 on 1), there will also be a little tournament on the side.

Run by the man himself, Greg Hastings, this side tournament is strictly for paintballers who know how to ball by playing Greg Hastings’ Tournament Paintball. If anyone beats Hastings in the bonus round, they also get an autographed XSV jersey, as well as getting an Ego 07 for winning the overall tournament.

So, with autographed jerseys and two Egos up for grabs, what are you waiting for? Head to the NEPL Website for more info about registration and rules.

The Ion’s bad reputation can be directly linked to the people who shoot it, not all people mind you, but just people in general. They are often times classified as “noobs� because the low price and the upgrade platform is ideal for beginners, which is why it attracts so much attention. So what we have here is a gun that shoots fast, great quality, and competes with even the high end woodsball guns.

I shoot an Ion, I feel no shame. I do feel outclassed when I go to the fields when everybody is shooting Shockers, Timmies and Egos, but I realize that they’ve been doing this a lot longer and more seriously than I have. Dana and I are still getting our feet wet with this tournament deal, and we’ll keep the Ions for a few more months most likely, play a few local tourneys with them. People like us that are determined to get better are the good kinds of Ion owners. They know where they stand.

The bad kind – the ones that DON’T know their limits. They go out, talk trash to the three year tourney player, or maybe to the other recballers at the field, and yet have nothing to back it up with. These kinds are bad no matter what gun they own, but it seems like it’s always with the Ion. My theory is that a bunch of spoiled kids get them from their parents and really just don’t have a clue about tournament paintball. It’s a gun that every shop owners going to point an uneducated parent to. The kids think now that they’ve got a fast gun, they just dominate everybody. Some kids at school are like this and I can’t believe how much it pisses me off.

All I ask is that you give a new Ion owner a chance before you start flaming him. If he turns out to be a cool guy and seriously wants to play real paintball, then good for him. If he’s just another bratty little kid, feel free to flame away!

I finally got around to ordering again last night, picked up a V-Force Profiler (Charcoal) and some Empire Ventz SS elbow pads. I was debating between the Profilers and the Protos for awhile. I’ve already tried out the profilers, and yeah they rock, but another friend of mine recently got a Proto mask for Christmas and I tried that one out too. Both have great vision, so I was just tossing around ideas. I ended up going with the profilers in the end though. I know I can’t go wrong with them.

The Empire Ventz SS weren’t exactly my first choice, but seeing as the Dyes and Planet Eclipse Distortions elbow pads were sold out, it was either Proto or Empire. Picked the Empire SS in the end, although I nearly chose the regular Empire 06 Ventz. Anyways, I’ll get a formal review up once I get a chance to play with them, which should be next weekend.

All I really have left is a new trigger, but even then I’m not sure I’ll want to buy one. When I get a job I’ll look to upgrade by summer, just depending on how everything goes and all. I still have my eyes set on some sort of Shocker, but those 07 Egos don’t look too shabby either. Heck, I’d even settle for an 06.

Evidence that paintball is fast becoming a world-wide phenomenon and not just an American thing. Part of the world-wide UPBF (United Paintball Federation) of which the US is also a part, PALS is the premier Asian series.

Initiated as a platform to develop paintball in Asia to its highest level, we bring you top quality tournament paintball, with the ever increasing support from the international paintball industry and paintballers in the Asia and Asia Pacific Region.

What this means for the large majority of players that play in the US is a greater world-wide interest in paintball, which can only be a good thing. Innovation and players from outside the US are always good things. The future of paintball is incredibly bright, and I’m excited that I get to be a part of it.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll likely say it again: Communication wins games. But there are a lot of aspects to communication. We’ve already emphasized the importance of calling out positions. However, something that is just as important is keeping a dead count, not only of their team but also your own.

You don’t want to be the one who shoots out your own snake player, because you weren’t expecting him.

I’ve made the mistake of attempting a run-through on who I thought was their last player, only to be shot out by a back player who had been keeping quiet for most of the game. That was plenty embarrassing, and I have most definitely learned to keep a dead count, not only in my head, but also out loud with my team mates.

I was just flipping through the channels on TV, something I rarely do actually, and I came across the show “How It’s Made� on the Discovery Channel. With my awesome luck, I tuned in during the paintball segment when they documented the process on how to make them. I missed the first minute or so, and it interested me enough to get online and find the rest of that video. As with anything on the internet, it didn’t take long to hunt down. I’m no chemist and I still don’t fully understand the process so I’m going to let you watch it for yourself. You can find it here. (Sorry about the sketchy sound quality).

I find it fascinating; it’s something I’ve always thought about, but I never took the time to actually research it. And it’s also a testament to just how popular the sport’s becoming. It seems like it’s making brief appearances on everything now, movies especially. I think I’ve probably seen four or five movies lately that showed paintball clips (no matter how corny they really were). I’ve also seen it on the new show “Stand Off� on Fox, and casually mentioned on other shows. It’s great to see the sport getting the publicity it deserves!

There is a reasonable variety of paintball magazines on the racks these days: Paintball Sports Magazine, Paintball Games International, Action Pursuit Games, just to name a couple.

I have a great deal of respect for the publications, as they all are very similar to what Evan and I try to do with this blog. However, not all magazines are created equal.

I’ve got three of the latest issues of those magazines I mentioned above sitting in front of me. I’ve read through all of them, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got a fairly decent understanding of the content in each, and I believe they are all representative of the content that each of the magazines typically publishes.

From these (and the dozens of other paintball magazines I’ve read) I’ve come to understand that there are two types of paintball magazine.

The first type is something that I loathe in all publications, paintball related or not. I’ve seen it in all sorts of magazine, from automobile mags to gaming mags. It’s that which has apparently sold out to the highest advertiser, or truly believes that everything ever made is simply perfect and only good things ought to be published anyway. When I can’t find a single truly opinionated statement in the entire magazine, I have trouble believing whatever else I read in the magazine.

The second type of magazine is one in which you can tell there are real people, real paintballers, writing for it. There are meaningful articles that actually pertain to your interests, and which contain insights into the workings of paintball on a higher level.

I certainly prefer the second type.

I won’t mention any names of magazines in either of the categories, because, quite honestly, I don’t feel like badmouthing any publications in the same industry as me.