The Kit Connection - Minor Upgrades

Hey guys, a little bit of news regarding the future of my paintball kit. I figure with each passing event I'm going to try and add one more piece to my gear and tonight's update comes with one new item, and a couple of accessories on-deck.

Newest Addition:

Keep it simple stupid ;)

What can you add to your kit as a scenario player that's cheap and actually stands a chance of helping you out in the field? If you play a lot of woodsball scenarios, a couple pieces of CADPAT gear never hurt. Today my dad was nice enough to spontaneously buy me a simple CADPAT t-shirt that I'd been put on my upgrades shopping list over at Hero Army Surplus. Now, my upgrade list wasn't compiled purely based on the Hero catalogue but with the shop being local we just dropped in and it was an easy buy.

Yup, a dead-simple digital woodlands camo t-shirt is the latest upgrade to my kit albeit a rather mundane one. To be fair, until now I was playing with a long-sleeved black t-shirt that was far too warm and simply unsuitable for the upcoming Invasion of Normandy scenario at Skirmish Paintball which'll involve a lot of woodland combat.

Now I know, there are a lot more players out there with a lot more gear so what's a single t-shirt going to do for me? Essentially, if it comes down to a split-second draw and you're the only one with any level of concealment, you're going to hold a distinct advantage over your opponent.

I'm not saying you should go all-out and ghillie up, but a little camouflage never hurt.

On Deck:

As I've already mentioned, I'm looking to add more to my kit and a couple of items have come to the forefront. Now I'm not choosing these items based on some concept of "every new player should go in this order" because I've seen videos that claim there's a "perfect" order in which to buy upgrades but honestly, this isn't a video game where your needs have the same progression no matter who's playing. Your gear should adapt to the way you play, not the other way around. If your mentality has you wanting to hit the field one way, don't buy gear that works against what your mind's already good at doing. 

As an example, if you love getting up-close and personal, breaching rooms and other CQB tactics, don't go gearing yourself up with a sniper's kit because it's only going to get you killed. conversely, if you want to hang back and pick guys off to support your frontline teammates, buying a speedball marker and a 'Pinocchio' hopper. Sure you'll be able to keep heads down, but sniping will be almost completely out of the question and you're going to burn through a LOT of paint which means a LOT of money. This graphic, though unrelated to paintball, should give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

See the adorable little soldier sprites here? See how each one has different gear to go with their roles and the situations they'll be facing? This is how you should work your kit. 

I'm not saying that you need full body armour and camouflage equipment, I've already covered the whole "Tacti-cool" issue but put it this way... If stealth is your objective, don't go throwing on neon clothing and running around with bells on your shoes. If you're looking to be a one-man fireteam, odds are a single pistol and no back-up magazines just isn't going to cut it on the field. There's a time and place for everything out there guys (except spiders... I hate spiders) so figure out what works for YOU and then -though I hate to quote a soft-drink commercial- "do you". It's corny and far too cliche for my usual tastes but it works when it comes to organizing your kit.

Back to the matter-at-hand though... On-Deck Upgrades are:

Gloves: 

Standard personal protection. I got dinged a time or two on my hands and wrists back in April and so it might be a good idea to add a pair of armoured gloves to my set-up to keep from bruising my digits. I didn't have my game impaired by hand hits though as I only suffered three over the course of the weekend so these come in at a slightly lower priority for me in contrast to what other players have told me.

Tactical Light: 

There's going to be some guaranteed night-fighting this summer and if it goes anything like the night game I played in during the PRZ field opener, a flashlight with an added strobe function will come in handy for sure. Going from peering down a dark hallway to having a flickering light in your face makes it nearly impossible to get an accurate shot off.

Walkie-Talkies:

Definitely in the 'left field' portion of my potential upgrades but I almost always find myself closely allied with one or two individuals and communication can be extremely important especially if you're trying any maneuvers more complicated than "run in that direction and shoot anyone coming this way". They can be a good way to keep informed if you're shot and want to keep up-to-date on the situation as it changes during your re-insertion delay.   

Smoke Grenades: 

Again, PRZ's home opener was an eye-opener for me as to the usefulness of these little treats. One properly-used smoke grenade can help you clear a building where you stand to lose an equivalent value in paint. We managed to surrender 8-9 players in one building by lobbing in a cold smoke grenade. Those things smell and taste nasty, and where the rules permit'em, they can definitely swing the momentum in your favour.

Suggestions?

Well here's what it comes down to readers. Although I don't typically like letting others tell you what to do as it pertains to customizing your gear, I would appreciate some input from all of you. If you've used any of these items I'd like your opinions on them and how they've affected your game. None of them have any situation-specific nature so I have no problems asking for generalized information and as such, any personal experiences with them would be greatly appreciated! You can add your opinions, comments, questions etc in the "comments" area below the post :)

Thanks everyone, and remember...

Keep calm and throw paint!

Joshua J. Taylor - The 'Noob' Baller

Balling Accessories - Tactical or Tacticool?

Don't be a 'Noob':

Unless you're me, cause that's my job.

No but seriously, I noticed a lot of people who'd loaded themselves up with pounds and pounds of ear, most of which was either ignored, or ineffective when it came to the majority of the Fight for Asylum fire fights. Don't get me wrong, there's a time and place for all sorts of attachments and upgrades, but when you're putting "sights on sights on sights", the whole thing becomes a little ridiculous.

I saw a couple of people working sights on stock guns without so much as an extended barrel, and this seems a little off to me. I managed, with just a new barrel, to barely dial-in my shots. Remember folks, that unless you're working with a rifled barrel, and even then sometimes it won't matter, that you're effectively using an old-school musket so be sure to treat it like one. Unless you've spent hours zeroing your gun in on a target using one scope and First Strike rounds, there's not going to be a huge difference between your scope-modified marker and the guy working the stock variant of your gun. 

A Sniper's Best Friend:

Ask Valyrie if these work ;) Our badass medic could tell you from first-hand experience how deadly these little puppies can be.

I wouldn't recommend these to my fellow noobs, that would just be insane. They're much more costly than standard ammunition, they require a decent amount of set-up time and you need a marker that's reliably accurate enough to make the most of them (not to mention that they don't work in every marker). If you have the time and money however, these can drastically improve your on-field performance if sniping is what suits you best.

I managed to get a chat in with one of my team's 2 designated snipers, a Mr. Dan Greene who gave me this much about his experiences firing First Strike rounds:

"For tactical games/scenarios they're awesome. You can reach out and touch people at twice if not more the effective range of a traditional paintball... The quality of first strikes has fallen off greatly in the last few years. Now you pull 100 rounds out of a case and 30 of them are underweight and 50 of them have burrs on the nose which affects trajectory on longer shots."

As with anything that goes from being manufactured for a speciality market to mass-production there will be some inconsistencies and growing pains. How well FS rounds do in the future will depend heavily it seems, on how the manufacturing quality is maintained.

Frequent Faux-Pas:

I posted a question on Facebook about what people thought were either the most common, or just the downright worst "tacticool" mistakes made by players. Sometimes you're just doing something to be cool, but every now and then a noob like myself sees it, thinks it's somehow functional and lays down money on it in the hopes of improving their game. This is how the voting broke down:

Unnecessary scopes...
This is what you look like.

1. Unecessary sights and/or scopes: "Scopes in paintball are essentially useless considering we play at ranges generally under 200ft." - Paul Williams. He makes a good point, and since a standard paintball is practically an old-school musketball fired by air and not gunpowder the accuracy of a stock marker with a scope is still the same as a marker without the scope. Remember, First Strike rounds give you a reason to work with a low-power scope but they're costly!
2. Flashlights: They're a bitch to play against under perfect circumstances, but unless you're playing a lot of night games, or you're using a strobe light in a dark hallway to disorient your attackers, it's essentially a waste of money and dead weight on your gun.
3. Overspending on clothing: Should have been in 2nd place but the voting got divided between the general clothing shopping spree and ghillie suits. I saw a lot of people with so much gear on them when it served NO practical purpose at the Fight for Asylum game. Does it make you look cool? To me it's not cool to sacrifice mobility and functionality just to look neat. To me, cool means being able to move from bunker to bunker, making mad dashes to and from cover and bunkering your enemies. You can't do that as well when you're bogged down with gear.

There were more options on the poll, but these were the top three, and very clear leaders of 'tacticool' status.

Disclaimer:

I'd just like to toss this out here in case of any potential trouble...

This blog is not about insulting anyone, though I anticipate there are some people who will get their feelings hurt. If you have the money to blow on gear and style upgrades by all means knock yourself out but whatever you do, don't go telling new or prospective ballers that they need the gear to play better, look better, etc. I know a few friends who've had people tell them that they need tonnes and tonnes of gear and upgrades to play better ball or have more fun and it turned them off of the sport. I've managed to repair some of that damage (and might even be bringing a coworker to Skirmish Paintball's Invasion of Normandy in Pennsylvania this summer) but I'm sure there's more to be rectified. So, if you like being tacticool and you can afford it, by all means have fun, but this is a cautionary post for noobs like myself so that money isn't wasted on the frills rather than the thrills.

With all of that said I'd like to apologize for taking so long to write this post. I kept promising "tonight, tomorrow" etc etc, but life got in the way and frankly... I have my extremely lazy moments. 

Until next time folks, remember to keep calm and throw paint!

Joshua J. Taylor - The 'N00b' Baller

Paintball Pros - The Weazels

These Weazels Don't Waltz:

Hey guys, this one's for a great group of folks known as The Paintball Weazels who're a staple in the paintball community.

What a bunch of characters

The Weazels are based out of London, Ontario and cater to both airsoft and paintball enthusiasts. Dealing in laser etching and engraving services though also a retailer of a wide range of marker accessories they're DEFINITELY worth a look if you're interested in customizing your gear. I've seen quite a lot of their work and I have to say that it's sharp stuff everyone. Here's a little chunk of their info, straight off the Paintball Weazels Facebook page!

"The Weazels are a paintball team committed to promoting paintball positively and encouraging its growth by actively seeking new players to come out to the local fields. We provide mentorship and help to get new players up and running with all the information and guidance they need to become pros..." - https://www.facebook.com/PBWEAZELS/info

Kindred Spirits:

You can probably see why I'm so quick to support them if you take a read of my cover page, The Barrel Condom. Both the Weazels and I are looking to provide the best in 'n00b' support to anyone looking to get into the sport although they do a helluva lot more than I do.

Paintball's gotten a rough ride in the popular media and it takes a lot of positive to offset the negatives brought upon the sport by ignorant people using paintball guns to vandalize property and deserve the peace. It's a little-acknowledged fact outside of the paintballing community that it is actually one of the safest sports in the world, and that the VAST majority of injuries come from people playing by their own rules, OFF of regulated fields and who aren't wearing proper protection.

With that little PSA out of the way, I'd like to get back to the Weazels and show you some of their work.

Extreme Etchings:

Laser etching is one of the best ways to personalize your piece, and the Weazels do top-rate work. I can't sit here and quote pricing, but I CAN show you a few examples of their awesomness... Yeah, awesomeness is a word... IT IS!

Tag! You're It!

Custom tags

Here we have an AMAZING set of laser-etched dog tags customized for one Mr. BigJay "Monster" Mclinton. The tags feature a picture of Jay in his favourite jersey, his team's logo (The Asylum Assassins) and a paintball-inspired image I sketched up for Jay (he's my cousin if you didn't know) in the shape of a paintball mask with his nickname "Monster" scrolled across what would be the lens.

I cant say enough about this piece, mainly because I'm biased with my art being featured but honestly they're an amazing trio and who WOULDN'T want something like this to compliment their paintball kit? I know that a set's on MY list of things to buy.

Next up's a little piece of DC-meets-Paintball crossover art... I'm sure it'll make you smile...

Why So Epic?

So the quote's not exact... sue me.

Laugh it up, you KNOW
you're jealous.

This piece was done for another Weazels customer, though I don't know her personally I can say that she has great taste.

When they say they'll laser etch anything, they mean damned near ANYTHING you can think of and when a group can laser-etch the joker and the ever-lovely Ms. Harley Quinn onto your marker you just HAVE to show them some serious respect.

Now this isn't exactly something for the typical 'n00b', seeing as putting money into aesthetically customizing your gear might not be a top-shelf idea off the break but as you progress in the sport, a little personalization might be in the stars. You need to remember folks, with all of the modifications out there, paintball is one of the most diverse sports as far as displaying your personality is concerned. In a world where touchdown dances and massive goal celebrations are frowned upon, it's nice to know there's still a place where you can strut your stuff with pride... Just don't strut out into a wall of paint ;)

A Warm Welcome:

If you're new to the sport, or even a grizzled veteran who bleeds paint, you'll ALWAYS receive a warm welcome from the Weazels. I'd highly recommend them to ANYONE in the paintballing community as they've always been great to me with advice and encouragement.

Contact Info:

Email: Pbweazels@gmail.com

Website: http://www.paintballweazels.com

So, go give them a shot and remember readers...

Keep calm and throw paint!

Joshua J. Taylor - The 'n00b' Baller