Paintball Journal

Features:

* Super light weight (Like all of the after-market frames…)
* Aluminum construction (So?)
* Roller bearing trigger (Fine, so better than stock, I’d hope.)
* Large trigger guard (Wow, very true, look at that! Looks a little excessive, to be honest.)
* Mini rail (Mhmm, wait, what?)
* Snatch grip (Okay, a nice feature.)
* Slick design (True enough, I do like it, but there are far better frames for the PMR out there. And many of them will be cheaper / the same price as the Trinity frame.)

From Scenario Dreams:

ION T-Boards are discontinued…In one of the most difficult choices I’ve had to make, I’ve decided to discontinue the ION T-board. In the past months, we have had an increase in manufacturing cost, parts cost, and other FEES required to put this product on the market. And its now gotten to the point that I have to stop selling them. Obviously there are certain aspects of this choice I cannot discuss, but believe me when I say I did everything I could to continue selling these. However, we will continue supporting the ION T-board until such time as we run out of replacement parts (which we have LOTS of). And we will continue selling our colored ION eyes and Broken Barb repairs. Plus we have a new Universal T-board that will be able to be installed in any marker and will offer installs for those that are not able to install it themselves. Again, I regret to have to do this, but I had no other choice.
Damon Williams

Common sense and speculation points toward Smart Parts’ recent push to enforce their patent on electronic paintball marker boards. Examples include the licensing agreements Virtue and Dangerous Power made with Smart Parts to protect themselves. It’s really unfortunate that something like this has to happen. Just one flaw in a massive series of flaws that plagues paintball today.

Special Ops B114 Bomber Tank. Don’t let it’s size fool you, this tank is one powerful son of a gun. Oh wait. It’s MASSIVE.

They say everything comes back in style, and now, 114 cubic inch air tanks are back thanks to Nitro Duck and Special Ops Paintball. This 4500 psi, 114 ci tank, appropriately named the B114 Bomber, gives you enough air to power your Hammer for hours at a time. Don’t let its size fool you, though. Thanks to aluminum and carbon fiber construction, the B114 isn’t much heavier than your average 45 / 45. The B114 uses a reliable, high-pressure Nitro Duck regulator and sports the SpecOps logo and a camo design right on the tank. Perfect for heavy gunners, the B 114 fits inside the tank pouch of any SpecOps vest and gives you thousands of shots off one fill.

What amazes me is the weight. This tank weighs less than my aluminum 48/3000. I love it. With a remote (which is really the only way to use this), the Bomber can be a perfect choice for a hardcore woodsballer. It’s price really isn’t that bad either.

DerDer Revamps Site

Complete with songs, flashy buttons, and new news! It’s good to see DerDer keeping up with the times.

07 Ego/ Etek Laser Eyes / Zick Kit Now For Sale

You can now get these bad boys direct from Planet Eclipse. Laser eyes kind of seem like a dumb accessory to me, but if you have enough money for an 07 Ego or Etek, then I’m sure you’ve got enough for one more sweet looking addendum to your already kick-ass gat.

A Zick Kit looks like a good addition. Many people have mentioned the Ego7’s undesirable kick (which was way less than the 06’s but still noticeable (barely)). The Zick Kit will take care of that, for a mere $40.

Paintball Makes Headlines

Usually I wouldn’t mention it, but today it’s something different. The New York Times actually did an incredibly interesting article about scenario paintball that’s well worth the read. If you go to the New York Times site
and sign up for free, you can read the article.

New E-Vents Colors

Interesting colors, but don’t think they’ll find many fans with the speedball crowd. I hope they don’t overcharge for them (they will…).

New Electronic Boards from Warboards

* Boards include a complete set of firing modes which include PSP, NXL, Millennium, 3-shot, and OMG. The board come with a dipswitch for tournament lock; which restricts setup access and caps the ROF.

* All Boards come loaded with the new MakerTalk software. This connects your marker to the computer and allows you to do everything from changing settings in your gun, to increasing your trigger skills trough the trainer or analyzing your shot information.

* Super-smooth trigger operation.

* Enhanced power management resulting in increases battery life. This includes a real time battery guage.

* Every board kit comes complete with a USB Cable, marker board, User’s Guide and a PC based CD-ROM containing the MarkerTalk applications.

And that’s all the news I’ve got for now!

Ooo. These eight jerseys were made by Hybrid for the Contract Killer / Hybrid sponsored players that made the All-Star rosters. At $125 a little steep for a jersey, but they are by far some of the sickest jerseys I’ve ever seen.

In a not-quite-brilliant marketing move XSV came in last at PSP’s Chicago open, coinciding closely with the release of the PL VLocity that will blow the competition away. Just like XSV did. Right?

Despite my jabs, this VLocity really does have its perks.

Such as:

* Adjustable select force with 5 force modes
* On/Off Force technology
* 27 bps on marker feed rate
* 37 bps free fall rate
* Clockspring propeller **NEW**
* 200 ball count capacity
* Instant auto anti-jam
* Upgradeable software
* Double vision system
* Giant mouth lid for quick and easy loading in tight spots
* Includes two lithium ion 9 volt rechargeable batteries, charging base, car charger and wall charger.

Not bad. Until you come to realize that the name, the XSV VLocity, actually refers to the price, which is ridiculously excessive. $180?!? I’ll buy a back-up gun. Or upgrade a HaloB and have some cash left over. Or do the same with a regular VLocity.

Whew.

Finally, wittingly or not, manufacturers are heeding my call and finally coming into the light of online shopping. More and more companies are adding nifty little online tools like Eclipse’s Ego 07 Virtual Tech Tour and Dye’s Goggle Builder. These interactive features will help bring people back again and again, and are definitely things that are worth showing to friends.

However, no one can get lazy. Just throwing a couple of things together like what is online today isn’t enough for the future. These are just gimmicks and will fade quickly. What’s needed is frequent updates to videos and ads featuring these products, as well as keeping us, the players, informed of news that will affect us. Product news is great, but other things like why some shipment shipped late or how a company is working to help the player is also welcome news.

So keep it up, paintball companies, but don’t get lazy, and don’t let things stagnate.

I believe I’ve done a post before on the RAP4 grenades, well, the grenade launchers. I don’t play milsim, so I’ve really never had the chance to actually see how they work, but this video was very revealing. It surprises me that it didn’t actually ‘launch’ anything at all, and the whole aspect of the grenade launcher turned into a paintball shotgun more than anything else. Take a look.

Here is an interesting product that View Loader has released (apparently released in March, but why am I just finding out about it?!). Immediately you think something has gone awfully wrong in the production line, and somehow shell casts from Halos, VLocities, Pulses, and Revvies were all blended together in a tragic accident. Well, perhaps it’s not so tragic after all.

REVY EYE FORCE
MSRP $49.99
OUT IN MARCH

SPECS
-EYE ACTIVATION FORCE FEED
-15 BPS ON MARKER
-2 PEICE BODY FOR EASY CLEANING AND BATTERY REPLACMENT
-SPRING LOADED 3 BLADE FORCE FEED PATTLE
-200 BALLS
-INSTANT AUTO ANTI JAM
-LOW BATTERY INDICATER
-DUAL VISION SYSTEM
-RECOGNISES DARK AND BLACK SHELLED PAINT
-2 9V BATTERIES
-ALSO COMES IN CAMO

It’s definitely not the fastest hopper in the world, but if these specs are true then it carries quite a kick for the price. I had an older Revvie once, sound activated and all that, and I can just say if the batteries weren’t new then things would get ugly. But this hopper has come a long way it seems with the Dual Eye Vision, Anti-Jam, and 2 piece body for easy cleaning. And it’s said to be the lightest hopper out, something like 14 ounces when loaded with batteries. Again, if all this is true, then I’d give this hopper a 10/10 for the price-performance ratio. So maybe it looks pregnant, but at least it’s not that Spyder…thing/hopper.

I’ve always been a big fan of Shockers, more for the looks of them than anything else. A friend of mine has an 06 and I just don’t like how they feel, but I know they can rip just like any other high-end gun. Anyways, I thought I’d post up some of my favorite ones, many of which can be found at Punisher Paintball.

Shocktech NXT Shocker – Urban Camo

Ton Ton NXT Shocker

What I like about this private label is the simplicity to it. Another popular trend is how much crap can you anno onto your gun, and sometimes they just overdo it. I like the new XSV SL74s for this reason. They have a bold, yet simple color scheme, and XSV is milled professionally into the side of it.

Hybrid NXT Shocker – Contract Killer (My Favorite!)

Despite what I’ve said about overdoing some things I just have to let this one slide. There’s a point where private labels and custom jobs go from “Oh, that’s neat” to something more along the lines of a work of art. This is a true work of art. Seriously, who would actually want to play with something like this?

Whaaaaat?! Camo is all the rage right now, and skulls are just down right hardcore…but what is this? The first thing is the color scheme, which is the main problem. Is that a light green? And what’s the deal with the purple? Instead, what I would’ve done, would make the pattern black, white, and gray, and definitely make the skulls a lot bigger. From a distance, it just looks like an anno job gone wrong, so size does matter in this case. I really hope this isn’t serious, because this look blows. I mean, how can anybody find this attractive?

Now doesn’t this look so much nicer?

Heeheehee. That’s what I said when I saw this goofy looking mask/helmet thing. But then their specifications on the site made a believer out of me. If you are really, really worried about your safety on the paintball field, fear no more with these.

Because check out the ballistics tests they’ve run on ‘em.

Firearm:
Remington Model 1187, Semi-Automatic, .12 gauge, 28″ Barrel, Modified Choke

Ammunition:
Heavy Load .12 gauge 1 1/4 OUNCE #6 Lead Shot

Velocity:
400m/s +/- (1312ft/s +/-) at 10 meters (32.8 feet)

Result:
No penetration to Lens

*stunned silence*

These are used by military and police forces in non-lethal weapon training scenarios. Pretty badass, I hope they’re comfortable.

Oh, yeah. These are totally worth their own post! (AKA, Slow news day)

“Heat Haters” by Eclipse. (Not really, if you don’t get the reference, here: Hybrid)

These will single handedly (or double handedly, they come in two contrasting yet complimentary colors that will brighten anyone’s day!) raise your skills in snap-shooting, run-throughs, and laning. They also increase your BPS by 9-12 BPS.

And, they have magical thumb holes, thus separating and further distancing them from their distant, retarded cousin, the generic wrist band. And they have a refreshing new look, entirely different from anything on the market today!

Because these are definitely not, I repeat, definitely not, Hate Heaters.

Eclipse wouldn’t put an unoriginal product in the market like that. Oh no, not them. Not the last respectable “big” company in the UK. (Ever since Lucky bit it, anyway.)

New by Hybrid - the Sparta reg, designed to keep your operating pressure at a steady 300 psi. Some might say “This is madness!” Madness? This is SPARTA!!!

Even when you are severely down on numbers, and outgunned to the last, you can expect the highest consistency from the Sparta.

Okay, so that’s mostly a belated (and bad) April Fool’s joke.

Here’s the real scoop on the Sparta regulator.

Hybrid Technologies adds another item to their arsenal of great paintball products. The “Hot” new Sparta Inline Regulator! Fits any paintball marker and has an output adjustment from 150psi - 750psi allowing it to work on both High and Low pressure guns. Regs come with sideline regulator design and Easy Output adjustment with 3/16 allen key from the bottom of the reg.

Hybrid Sparta Reg Features:

150psi-750 psi
Compatible with HP or LP tanks
Valve 4 piece pin valve system & every piece is replaceable
No Gauge Port
Sideline Regulator Design
Bottom Adjustment Screw with 3-16 Allen Key
Decorative Laser Engraving
Available in Red, Blue, Black, Silver, Dust Red, Dust Blue, Dust Black, Dust Silver

Looks like a copy of already existing technology, so unless you really like the looks or something, you’re just as well off buying something for less that will perform just as well, if not better.

The new Hybrid Fusion recently hit the market, coming in with a price tag of $425.00.

Surprisingly, that’s only $50.00 more than the regular. It’s not quite as awesome as I hoped it would be. Sure, it looks pretty stylish and all, but nothing else has changed except for the grips, on/off ASA, the milling, and the feed neck. Now I really like what Hybrid did to the Shocker (really really like it), so perhaps my expectations were a little high. I don’t know…there’s just nothing special about it. Anyways, here are the specs:

Hybrid Fusion Features:
• Electronic LED switch
• Semi / Ramping
• Runs off one 9 volt battery
• Nitrogen/Compressed air only
• 250 psi low pressure air-ram
• Quick release bolt
• Overall length - 19.7 inches
• Includes 2 piece barrel - autococker threadsWeight - 2.5 lbs.
• Infrared rays sensor strike
• Vertical regulatorAnti-chop break beam eye
• Large Trigger Guard
• Hybrid Custom Milling
• Hybrid Jewels on the body
• Hybrid Hedloc Feedneck
• Hybrid On/Off ASA and Rail Mount
• Hybrid Grips

After comparing them to the regular DP Fusion, the only changes are the things with Hybrid next to them – not that big of deal.