Getting 'In Gear'

Pop-Pop-Pop!

Yup, I'm working hard on getting my 'kit' together and I've contacted more than nine or ten different paintball gear supplies and I've managed to get responses from quite a few. Most have only been simple "I've received your message and we're working on your request" however Online Paintball replied to my inquiry and actually answered my questions within just a couple of hours of sending the first email, and on the Easter long-weekend Saturday no-less.

Screenshot of the Online Paintball deal

So far they have the most gear being offered for the lowest price alongside the best service of anyone I've heard from, and I don't really expect for many offers to come in that top theirs. I'm hoping that Hero Army Surplus will challenge them a bit, as competition is good for me and ultimately good for whoever puts forth the best price on products but to be completely honest, I don't think that I'd be too upset to 'settle' with the prices I'm seeing.

I should mention that, regardless of how the wheeling and dealing goes, Hero Army Surplus is run by a bunch of great people who've been of great help to my former high school's Remembrance Day ceremony, lending props and costumes for the theatrical presentations. They were always nice to me when I shopped for 'pizazz' pieces when I played laser tag (camo pants, neoprene masks etc) and when I was trying to set up a laser tag tournament they were great about their pricing on customized dog tags as prizes for the event (it never got off the ground but they were willing to wiggle on the pricing). Point being? Hero's a great place to shop, run by very understanding people. I'd recommend them 

'00 Civic:

The header here might not make a whole lot of sense to you right now but stick with me and it'll make sense soon enough.

Do you know what 2012's 'Most Stolen Vehicle" was? The 2000 Honda Civic. Do you know why that car was targeted? Because it was simple, easy to maintain, and highly customizable. It's by this motto that I structure most purchases in my life.

Marketing visual Aid

You see, I might be the 'n00b baller' but I'm an old pro when it comes to getting the most out of my effort, money, everything. If it can be spent on something, I know how to make the most out of it. The trick is knowing that to get the most of your money, you will need to balance reliability, ease of maintenance and the potential for adjustments and upgrades. In the case of a paintball marker, without blowing a massive wad of cash up-front, your best bet is most-likely the Tippmann A5.

The A5 comes highly-recommended from a number of ballers I've spoken with, as well as from review posted online. It's a chore trying to find anyone to speak ill of this marker and the worst that they can say about it is that it's a little on the heavier side, and that it isn't sniper-accurate... well, who would expect that level of accuracy from an unmodified, affordable marker? Precisely.

In any case, this little baby's gonna be mine soon enough. I've found (as I've mentioned numerous times) a TONNE of packages based off of this marker so all it comes down to now is price. I have to say though, that the package is about more than just the marker. You need to set yourself up for success and that means covering a couple of bases.

Are you joking? No, I'm kitting:

Sorry for the pun.. The HORRIBLE pun.

Ex. 1

Your kit (in my opinion) is just as important to your success as your marker. Why? Because being able to carry extra ammunition, having a squeegee on hand in case you 'chop a ball' (coating the inside of your barrel with paint), and/or having a pair or armoured gloves to prevent 'dead hands' from a paintball hit will allow you to play to a higher level, or at the very least leave you with options.

Options are a HUGE advantage when you're in combat and it doesn't matter if that's legitimate military service or in a combat-sport like paintball. When you have options, that makes you dangerous and unpredictable and your opponent will have to deal with a wider range of tactics. 

Pods and Pod Packs:

The picture says it all folks. If you're going into a match, and you can't carry any ammunition other than what's already in your hopper, you're going to be in for a short trip. The best part about playing paintball is actually throwing the paint, so having less ammunition means less fun... It also means that at any moment you could run out of balls, even in the midst of a firefight.

So, how do you lug more splattering power into a match? Pods and pod packs my friends. These are really simple pieces of equipment, much like a tactical belt or vest you'd see on a soldier, and some packs come with a holder for your propellant tank in order to take the weight off of your gun. If you're looking for one of these tank-holding packs, they're usually labelled as "X+1" or "X+Y+1" pod packs with X and Y just being stand ins for the number of pods held by the pack itself. The +1 designates that it holds your tank as well, and a lighter gun-hand means faster response times and that you'll have a better chance of putting rounds on target before your enemy does. So remember fellow n00bs, "If the only balls you've got are in your hopper... You're gonna have a bad time."

Oh, and yes, I made that meme on MemeGenerator.com... Credit to me for the testicular double entendre.

Armour:

No, you won't need kevlar, ceramic plate or steel but simpel paintball armour can be extremely handy and many players swear by the benefits of having armour and padding. Not only will this protective gear help in preventing injuries suffered while throwing yourself around the battlefield, but soft armour can sometimes result in 'bouncing', where incoming fire simply deflects off of you rather than exploding.

Now it's not about the pain of being tagged (okay, sometimes it's about getting hit) but when it comes to elbow and knee pads/shin guards, these pieces actually help to improve your mobility. Picture if you can, diving or sliding into position behind a bunker and having nothing on to protect your knees, shins or elbows should you wind up diving into place. You're going to wind up with a first-class ticket to the first-aid tent with some dirt-stuffed gashes and your day's probably going to be ruined. So if you're the kind of person who's looking to go balls-to-the-wall with your 'balling, picking up some armour should be on your paintballing to-do list.

Gloves are also a great idea if you're conscientious about your comfort. Sure, your hands are a small part of your body, but if you're poking out to shoot at someone then your hands become a much bigger target as mostly everything else is behind cover (if you're doing it right). If you start getting smoked across the fingers, odds are that 1. you're gonna be in a fair bit of hurt and 2. that your 'combat effectiveness' is going to suffer A LOT. 

Case-in-point, when you've got the money for it, armour's a great addition to any paintball kit.

Running on Empty:

Just wrapping this up as I've said pretty much everything there is to say but I wanted to point out that although I'm literally ABOUT to functionally enter the sport, I've received a lot of feedback from different people all hailing from different functions regarding paintball. I know people involved in the 'aftermarket' and customization fields, the beginner players, pro-sponsored teams and people who work  for the fields.

I'm not an expert (hence the self-designated "n00b baller" title) but don't discount my reviews and suggestions folks, I'm trying to help my fellow n00bs.

That's all I have for today. I'll fill y'all in more when my shopping and wheeling and dealing makes some more headway. I appreciate you stopping by the blog and giving it a read and I hope you've enjoyed it. If you have, PLEASE share the link on Facebook, email it to your friends, follow the page... whatever you'd like but it really helps me out! Oh, and as always, remember...

Keep calm and throw paint!

Joshua J. Taylor - Callsign Loading....

Load Up!

The Beginning:

Welcome to my newest blog, "Keep Calm and Throw Paint".

Probably gonna be me...

I've started up this blog because I'm about to enter into the world of paintball; a sport that has been on my mind for quite some time now, and I'd like to share my adventures with, well, anyone interested in seeing the sport from a beginner's point of view.

My introduction to the sport will be a sort of baptism-by-fire in an upcoming event at PRZ Paintball in Picton, Ontario. The event currently has 499 RSVPs which makes it the largest event held at PRZ to-date, and it's still growing. If you're reading this and find yourself interested in the event, you can find all the information on the Facebook event page here.

Seriously though, I'm simultaneously terrified and ecstatic about getting into 'balling. There's something amazing about being on the verge of a whole new path of experiences in your life that puts your nerves on edge but in a way that you can't help but enjoy... That's not to say the terrified, apprehensive and generally scaredy-cat nerves aren't there, but I've had some help in handling them.

The Assassins' Creed:

Now there's some credit owed to a select group of individuals for getting me up off my butt and out to try paintballing...

The cast of characters, and sponsors.

The Asylum Assassins (though mainly my cousin Jason "Monster" Mclinton) are the reason that I'm going to try my hand at the sport, as Jay encouraged my father and I to come out and visit the field, and the rest of the Assassins jumped right on the support bandwagon to let me know that I had a group of people ready to welcome me into something new, and who were willing to show me the ropes. Nothing's harder than breaking into a new community when you don't know anyone involved in it, or when you DO know people but they simply can't make the time to help you get involved. The support that I've received from the team has just taken all the stress out of my 'paintball initiation'.

Starter Gear:

As you might imagine, I'm looking -with my first foray into paintball fast-approaching- to get my hands on some gear that I can call my own. The issue here was that, as I started my search, I had no idea what I was looking for. I didn't know what I needed, what suited me, or really... ANYTHING about paintball gear. Again, help came from the Asylum Assassins and a few other members of the community that I've had the privilege of speaking to.

I knew that I didn't want to blow a massive amount of cash when I was just starting out in the sport, but I also knew that I'd need something durable, multi-functional, and customizable. This, along with the some advice led me to the *drum roll please*... Tippmann A5

Dead simple

Now this next bit will come as what should be common sense, but might become helpful advice to anyone looking to buy themselves some gear. It doesn't matter where you shop, whether it's a paintball-specific retailer, or a general sports store, EVERY vendor will have a certain mark-up on the products they're selling.  The trick in buying yourself some starter gear (that I've found at least) lies in a three-pronged approach:

1. Know your product - Make sure you know what you're looking for and why.
2. Know your vendor - Try to identify a vendor who REALLY values customer service, or who boasts about their "purchasing power".
3. Know your advantage - You have money, they WANT your money, but you can shop anywhere you like, so ask for a 'deal' and you're likely to get one. Also, once you have a deal, ask other retailers who stock the same merchandise if they can beat it.

Put these three things together and you can typically get yourself a very respectable deal on what can amount to a full kit's worth of merchandise. Personally I've managed to knock the price on an "intermediate" Tippman A5 Basic package from $359.99 CDN down to $304.40 with another vendor working on a counter-offer to beat that price. 

Remember guys, it doesn't really matter what activity you're into, if you need to buy something, there's going to be a mark-up which means there's going to be room to bargain.

Shot Off the 'Break':

My 'break' as it were, is going to be the "Fight For Asylum 2 - PRZ Season Opener" and even though it's still two weeks away, I can hardly contain my excitement.

To give you guys just a slight idea of what I'm in for, here's a video of last year's Fight for Asylum event:

What d'ya think?

That video comes courtesy of Tom 'Tomcat' Cunningham at The Catshack Reports and it gives a great glimpse into the experience of the Fight for Asylum events... Oh, in case you didn't know this, and were wondering where all of the Asylum references were coming from, PRZ Paintball is actually the site of a former mental institution, earning it the "asylum" name. The point in all of this is that the field is massive and manic with just the right touch of eerie and it makes for a phenomenal battleground.

The Wrap-Up

So there it is, my first article about my preparations to join the wonderful world of paintballing. I hope you'll all come back to follow me through my experiences. I promise to bring photos, videos and epic tales back from my 'adventures'. So everyone, until next time...

Keep calm, and throw paint!

Joshua J. Taylor - Callsign Loading...