Now, with an increase over the last few years of a return to our Bushball roots and with more players going back into the woods, I believe it needs to be brought up once again as advice for new players, and a reminder for some other players of how to play the game and still keep things safe.

Enjoy!

Let’s start with a couple quick definitions to clarify two terms that I’ll be commonly using. “Outlaw” Paintball is usually played with no chronographs, little to no safety rules, and usually on land without permission. “Renegade” Paintball is a style of play very similar in safety and rules as a commercial field, but not actually played on a commercial field.

Lately I’ve come across groups of players that claim they’re playing Renegade, but are definitely Outlaw. With many retail chain stores like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, and countless online stores on both sides of the border selling Paintball equipment, there’s numerous players heading into the bush to play with unfortunately no concept of safety (Does anyone actually read the manuals?). It’s not that these players are purposely being dangerous, most often they’re just not aware of the proper rules and safety. So because of this, I felt a need to write a set of guidelines for players who would like to do it right and keep the game safe.

Now before we get started, I want to say that I’m not trying to encourage Renegade play. I’d rather see players go to a proper Paintball field to learn the correct safety rules and codes of conduct. But I also understand that sometimes this isn’t possible, and it’d be stupid to bury our heads in the sand and say it doesn’t happen. In fact it probably happens more than we as a Paintball community care to admit. So, if you’re in this category, I hope this article will help. However, I also accept no responsibility of any actions or consequences as a result of using the information contained herein. I may be supplying the information, but how you use or follow it is up to you.

Okay, I’ll hop off of my soapbox now and get started with the basics:

Location

First, you’ll need a place to place to play. Private land is ideal and a simple solution, like a wooded lot on a friend’s property, or part of a farm acreage would work well (With permission of course!). If you have to resort to using Federal/State/Provincial land (this should be an absolute LAST resort, preferably not at all.) try to select a location that’s out of view. This’ll save a lot of headaches in the long run. Otherwise anyone passing by will only see a bunch of guys in camouflage running around in masks with “guns”. Police are often involved and they have to treat the situation seriously. Use some common sense and don’t select areas like park land, natural habitat, or protected areas. This may get you on the news, but it’ll also give a very negative image for the sport, in addition to fines that will probably keep you from playing for the next few years. Don’t forget that wherever you do play at, it will be uninsured. Due to the possibility of liability, some areas that are privately owned may not want you to use their property. With that in mind, please remember that no matter where you are or where you play, you will NOT be insured! Any damages or injuries that happen may be the responsibility of the group, or even the individual who organized it. This is a good reason why you should play at an insured commercial field. Also check with the police to make sure you’re not violating any local laws.

On the note of injuries, it’s a good idea to go through whatever area you’re playing in and remove any objects that could be hazardous. Items like glass, metal, debris, barbed wire, mouse traps, bear traps, parent traps, etc. (you get the idea) should be removed. Checking and filling in holes is also a good idea. A little clean-up now could save you a trip to the hospital later on.

Boundaries

Sounds simple right? You’d be surprised! I knew of one field locally that didn’t have its boundaries marked off very well, or not at all in some places. As a result they had one rental that disappeared back into the woods for a couple hours, and came back with a story of getting to watch a Cougar stalk a Deer! Yikes! Keeping your team and opponents is one playing area is a lot more fun than searching over Hell’s Half Acre looking for them. Let’s look at in another way: Say you and your group of players all play in one location all the time. You know where every tree, rock, stump, gopher hole and occasional piece of barbed wire is (and why haven’t you cleaned that up yet, hmmm?). Now a new player joins you, and you have to explain where the boundaries are.

You: “Boundaries are over here, there, there, and here. Got it?”

New Player: “Yup!”

Not having a clue what you meant, he walks away with an expression like you just gave a lecture on the Theory of Relativity while speaking Swahili. Next thing you know, you don’t see him for 2 hours and he comes back with a story of a Deer stalking a Cougar.

With a well marked off boundary, there’s no question. For smaller areas you can use nylon rope, or trail-marking tape (plastic ribbon in neon colours) tied to tree branches. In one of the wooded areas our club plays on, we’ve used natural bailing twine. It’s very inexpensive, comes in a roll that’s easily unwinds, biodegradable, and breaks easily if an animal goes through it. If by chance you do use an area where there’s other traffic (hikers, bikers, horseback riders, etc.), be sure and not block off any trails. These areas are for everyone to use, and a little common courtesy goes a long way.

Safety First!

Here’s a part where I get into a lot of trouble. I am a huge advocate of safety (like you haven’t figured this out already…), to the point of being anal about it. I’ve unfortunately jumped down a few guys throats for doing what I would consider a blatant disregard for safety. But as a friend had pointed out, it’s not that these guys are doing it deliberately, they just don’t know any better. So to them, I apologize. How Paintball progresses in the future is up to us. The safer the sport can be portrayed, the more accepted it will become. Since there’s no one around (like Field Owners) to baby-sit you, Renegade players have a huge responsibility in keeping their figurative noses clean and policing their own players. You’ve got to be willing to act like an Ambassador for Paintball and lead by example.

Now, let’s get on with some safety guidelines.

To me, the one piece of safety gear that should be as critical as a mask is the Chronograph. For those of you who may not know, a Chronograph is a device used in measuring the speed of a paintball after it’s been fired out of a barrel. I’m always amazed at players who spend huge amounts of money on equipment, yet cringe at the idea of spending more than a couple bucks on a device whose sole purpose is to help keep you safe while playing. The industry maximum speed is 300 feet per second (fps), and ASTM approved Paintball masks are designed to take impacts at this speed. Shooting faster than 300 fps risks damaging the lenses of the mask, and your eyes. This device is an absolute MUST! Without it, you might as well throw your masks away. All markers need to be chronographed at least once a day – twice a day during summer months – to ensure markers are shooting below 300 fps. If you can’t afford one by yourself, ask the group you play with to contribute to help offset the cost of a Chronograph. If anyone doesn’t like the idea, ask them how much they think their eyesight is worth. After a bit of thought, they usually contribute. The Paintball RADARchron from Sports Sensors Inc. is an excellent example of an inexpensive and accurate Chronograph for around $80 (US). Nowadays our local Paintball Stores carry another type of  inexpensive hand-held chronograph for around $150 CDN, that uses the same technology in the big red chronographs that were worth $400.

A Safety and Staging Area is somewhere to store equipment (preferably covered) and somewhere to go after being eliminated. If you have the ability to set it up so masks can be removed in this area without the possibility of stray balls coming in, that’s great. If not, then masks should be kept on until game is over and markers are made safe. There should be no shooting of any kind in this area. Set aside a separate target range or test range off to the side to help enforce this rule. Barrel plugs should always be in when in this area. No excuses!

Paintball markers should be treated with the same respect and caution you would with a firearm. In my opinion, barrel plugs should be in as soon as the marker is gassed up. I’ve been shot at (and hit) one too many times for my liking by a marker that’ was supposedly “empty”. Don’t point your marker or touch the trigger unless you intend to use it. Barrel plugs in when not playing, markers pointing down, fingers off triggers, safety is on, and electronic markers switched off.

Guidelines and Conduct

Even though you’re not at a commercial field, conduct yourself as if you are. Even simple things like “hit” rules need to be defined, especially for the sake of new players. We’ve (our club) always used the rule that once your hand goes up, you’re calling yourself out and once it’s up, that’s it! Calling (more like yelling) out “HIT” also reduces your chance of becoming a walking canvass after the fact. Once a player has called themselves hit and/or put their hand up they are no longer in play and out of the game, and should go to the safety area until the game is over. Some players may choose to use surrender rules. If so, determine how far away an opponent has to be before calling surrender and if a player must take the surrender (recommended) or attempt to return fire? Masks kept on until game ends and markers are made safe. For refereeing, the Honor System is usually the rule. Being able to rely on the honesty of other players is critical to make this work. Another option is if you have one extra player, have them act as a referee, with a different player being the new referee after every game. When in a game if a player calls for a paint-check, be willing to check him if necessary. Remember, it is just a game.

Since you’re not on a commercial field there are some extra precautions that should be taken, especially if you consider the possibility of the general public walking in on your game. If you’re not playing on private land, you’re almost guaranteed at some point to have someone walk onto your playing field. Whether its hikers, horseback riders, mountain bikers, or motocross riders, call out to inform the group there’s someone coming through and all play and players STOP! This means no shooting of any kind, even in the target area. Once they are out of range, then play can resume.

A code of conduct is rules for general behavior and how to conduct yourself around other players. Most of it is just common sense stuff, but unfortunately common sense isn’t common anymore, so some rules need to be established. Consider criteria such as no drinking or drugs, no obscene language, not going into other players gear without permission, respect for others, and respect for property of others. You may also consider rules for traveling to the playing area. It’s not going to look very good having players walking down the street with markers in full view of the general public, so set up a rule to have gear stowed in a bag and out of sight until you get to the field. Be discrete.

The End

Our Club has used a similar format as listed here for our set up, so this can and does work. Paintball has not grown to the point yet where every town that has players has a commercial field, and I’ll guarantee there are more towns with players than there are towns with fields in them. On the flip side of the coin, I’ve also come across so-called commercial fields whose level of safety is horrendous at best! If you find yourself in a situation where Renegade is your only option, I hope you decide to follow these guidelines and keep it safe out there.

Nothing (and I mean nothing) irritates me more than going into a paintball game where no one talks to each other because they think it will give away their super secret hiding spot. I have news for you guys, if you don’t talk to your teammates then you are not really a team. Communication is the backbone of success in all sports. You cannot have guys running around lone wolfing it because they think that they can snipe another player from 300 feet away. It isn’t going to happen. Ok, that is my rant part of this post.

When playing paintball, a team must talk to each other. Be it on 2-way radio, hand signals or verbal communication, talking to each other is a must. Once you have made contact with the other team there is no need to be quiet. They know you are there and they have a pretty good idea of where you are, but that being said, the rest of your team may not know where they are.

Remember back to the part about learning the field, well some of that comes into play now. If you have names for areas like the “rat’s nest” then you can simply yell out “2 in the rat’s nest!”

If you do not tell your teammates where the opposition is, and they are communicating on the other side of the line of battle, then you will be eliminated. There is no way to say this, but the team that talks to each other will win as they all know what is happening and where their targets are.

Practice talking to each other when you do your drills. If you want to use codes, this is a great time to iron them out. Practice using your hand signals and 2-way radios. There is nothing more annoying than getting to the field and not knowing what the other guy is saying because no one bothered to practice hand signals or learned to use their radio properly.

Good communication starts before you step foot on the field. You will discuss the day’s plan with your teammates before a game. You will talk when you are walking the field, then when you are on the field you are keeping all your team members in the loop and lastly, after the game, you will discuss what went right and what went wrong. We go for “paintball coffee” after our Sunday games. This allows us to relive our glories and discuss our failures. We get the point of view from the guys we were playing with and those who were against us. These paintball coffees have become invaluable over the years as we learn where our flaws are and where we are succeeding, allowing us as players and as a team to work on what needs work.

So if you take nothing else from this article or the 3 parts of this series, just take this talk to each other. When you hear those guys who are yelling back and forth to each other, do not get mad at them. They are doing what they are supposed to, telling their teammates where the other guys are. Sometimes it only needs to be one or two guys yelling out the information but someone needs to do it. Practice, learn, talk and talk some more and if you do this you and your team will see improvements. It will take time. I will not lie to you, just like learning to play the guitar it will take time. The guys who are on top now are usually the guys who practice the most and have been playing longer. Look at the pro teams. They practice all the time and all year long. Even the IPL and BCPPL players practice over and over again to hone their skills and work on their faults. A woodsball/scenario team is no different. They too need to practice because, as the old adage goes, practice makes perfect.

For drills and other tips buy Paintball Warrior Tactics by Zack Wickes
http://www.amazon.com/Paintball-Warrior-Tactics-Secrets-bushball/dp/1442125438/

If you want to be the best at something you need to practice. You wouldn’t pick up a guitar and start playing like a professional if you have never played one before and the same goes for paintball. There are two parts to paintball practice: individual skills and team skills. Each is just as important as the other.

Take the guitar analogy I just mentioned. If you do not know how to use your paintball marker, how will you know how to use it when the time comes? Now I know what you are thinking, I know how to use my paintball marker: you air it up, put some paint in it and shoot at what you are looking at. Well, sort of.

When you are learning to use your marker you need to know more than how to add air and paint and shoot at something. You need to know how your marker works, how to fix it and care for it. You need to know not only how to shoot it but what it is capable of. When I started playing paintball you bought a new marker not with the intention of upgrading the style or parts (other than maybe a barrel and expansion chamber) but to play with it until it literally broke down and could not be fixed anymore. We learned how not only to fix and care for our markers, but we knew how far it would shoot accurately, how much CO2 you would need for a day of paintball. Your marker was really an extension of you. Well, at least that is how it was with the team I played with.

You need to learn your marker. I do not care if you have a Tippmann 98C or a new EGO 10. If you do not know what your marker is capable of doing, how can you know what you can do in the heat of a fire fight? There are only a couple of ways you will learn what you can do with your marker and they all require you to spend some money on paint and air. Take your marker to your field. Set up a range, mark it out, and start plunking through the paint. Start close up and move out from there. Do drills. Get comfortable with it. You need to be able to know where the balance point is, what it feels like full of paint and air and what it feels like empty. You need to know when it sounds funny and when it is running like a top. The only way you can do this is to actually use it. This will cost you some money but it is well worth it. When I started I would buy a case of paint for the field and one for at home and I would target practice with it over and over and over again until I could hit my target first shot, then 3 round burst, snap shoot, etc. This repetitive practice made it so I knew instinctively what I could and could not do with my marker so when I was in the middle of a fight I didn’t have to think, I just knew.

Paintball is not a cheap sport. If you want to be good at it you need to play, and to play you need to pay. There are no two ways around it. To be the best on the field you need to practice just like any other sport.

As a team you need to practice and you need to do so regularly. There are games going all the time someplace, but every now and then you should take some time and do drills as a team. Go out after work on a weekday, not on your usual paintball day, and do drills. Do all the standards like snap shooting 2 on 1 bunker attacks etc., but you will also need to practice communication and movement. Practicing movement is key to playing paintball as you cannot operate as a team without movement or communication, but I will cover that later.

A team must operate as one and to do so they must learn to work as one. Just because you started your team doesn’t mean that you all know what you are doing unless you have been playing together unofficially for years. For paintball most military movement drills will work. You just need to adjust the distances to work with the limitations of your paintball marker.

Part 1: Field Awareness
There are a couple aspects to field awareness and most of them people just ignore or do not know that you need to be aware of them at all.

Paintball is unlike real combat in that we can hide behind some of the most flimsy cover in the world and like Hollywood we will survive. When you first arrive at a paintball field you should walk it with your team. By walking a field you get an idea of what you have to fight on but while you are out there you are discussing what to do. To learn how to walk a field or how to study a field go to your home field. You will already know how to play each bunker and where to and not to go on the field so walk the field with your team discussing the pros and cons of each location.

Map out the bunkers, barriers, obstacles and other important parts of your field. This will give you a great perspective of what you are looking at, not to mention you can never have too many maps.

When you are walking your field you will want to give your locations a reference or name. For example, on our field we have a location that was almost impossible to get through and ugly as heck, so it was named the rat’s nest. When we are playing, be it making the plan or yelling out the opposition’s position, all we need to do is say “Rat’s Nest” and everyone knows what we are talking about.

Learn your bunkers. This is so very important although you may think a bunker is an impenetrable fortress, it is not, and in reality it shouldn’t be. We are playing paintball and the object is not to hide but to find each other and shoot at one another. When you are studying your bunkers you need to take note of how to use it and how to attack it. If you know how to attack a bunker or position then you know how to use it because you can problem-solve each way. If I attack from this angle the defender will have to expose that flank. Remember this when you are defending.

You will also want to look for soft spots in the bunkers you are examining. If you can see or fire out of them then the opposition can see or fire into them.

When you are studying a field you will also want to take note of fields of fire. These are natural lanes in which you can fire clearly at targets. These may only be the size of a pie plate or they could be as large as a road. Regardless, if they are natural shooting lanes you will want to take them into consideration when attacking or defending.

Where to move on a field is important. You will want to look for natural lanes for you and your team to move along. Paintball fields, even the most natural of ones, will have pathways and areas where you can move quickly and freely. These areas are important to note since paintballers, like most people, like to take the path of least resistance. If you are tempted to use it to advance then so is your opposition. Take advantage of this and use it against the opposition. Set up and ambush or use it to slow them down while other team members flank through less desirable terrain. I was once witness to a paintball massacre, if you will. A squad was advancing quickly in front of the main force during a scenario game. They took a harder route than the one you would have expected them to. While they were doing so the opposition team had done the obvious and moved nearly their entire attack group down this main trail. The Squad couldn’t believe their eyes. They held their cool, waited until the opposition had nearly passed them when they opened fire on the attackers, destroying their entire first wave in a matter of seconds. You need to know where to travel when playing paintball. It may decide the entire outcome of the game.

When you are looking at terrain on a field you will want to make note of what is called dead ground. Dead ground is simply an area that appears hidden when looking at it. A dip is dead ground. This type of terrain is a paintballer’s best friend. You will want to use it to move undetected but remember, if you can use it, so can the opposition.

When you are exploring a paintball field, be it your home field, a scenario field or even a rec field, you are only going to play on once, you should always walk it as a team and you need to (not should, but need to) discuss it. Debate if need be over how best to utilize a bunker or a piece of ground. Just learn it and learn it as a team. If you are all on the same page you will know what to do and how to do it.

Too many times I have seen players put a team together but worry too much about what they will look like, what their name will be or what logo they will have all the while neglecting the important stuff, you know the actual practice and playing.

Don’t get me wrong, team identity is important as it brings unity to the table but unless you are a bunch of guys who have been playing together for years then you are more than likely nothing more than a gang of individuals with a name. To be a team you need to train as a team.

Training is not the most glamorous part of the sport nor will it give you the immediate satisfaction you may be seeking but to get good you need to practice. You need to practice your individual skills like shooting and movement but you also need to practice team skills as well.

When you are working on team drills there is one that you need to remember to cover above all others, communication. Communication is the key to winning and losing. If you do not talk to each other on the field you are not working or acting as a team. I have heard criticism of speedball and highbred teams because all they do is yell at each other. Umm have you listened to what they are yelling to each other? I guess not, because if they had they would know that they are telling their teammates where the opposition players are. You cannot shoot what you cannot see. The biggest mistake I have seen bushball teams make is that they do not talk to each other on the field. They think that if they communicate they will give away their position on the field. I have news for you. They more than likely already know where you are.

You do not need to yell to communicate. Actually you don’t even need to talk. You can use hand signals. Just remember keep them simple. You really only need a few hand signals to be effective: stop, see, number of opposition, direction and movements ie flank.

If you want to be sneaky come up with a code for vocal communication, name the bunkers on the field. Where do you think the funny names that some of the speedball bunkers have come from?

If you are looking for a manual to help your team with its training I suggest Paintball Warrior Tactics by Zack Wickes. You can get it on amazon.com. Paintball Warrior Tactics was adopted as the official training manual for BC Tactical because it is the only paintball manual I have read that actually provides players and teams with the keys to become successful.

So just to do a quick recap you need to practice your individual skills and you need to practice as a team. Your team needs to practice communication skills and put them to practice on the field. If you do these 3 things you will see a difference the next time you hit the field.

Speedball, Woodsball, Scenarioball, etc are all paintball. I used to think the same way at one time. I hated speedball because it was fast and was played on a small field and used a lot more paint than the paintball. I was playing but I was more into the military fantasy end of it. Yes it is a fantasy. Let’s not fool ourselves here. I didn’t understand why people needed a marker that could shoot more than 15bps nor did I understand why they had to wear jerseys and wear overpriced paintball pants when surplus store BDUs were just as good. This was before I actually went out and played speedball.

Back in the day when I was a newbie we made our pilgrimage to TPG for a day of fun in the rain and muck but other than that our local commercial operation was in Penticton just over an hour away at Action & Adventure Paintball. My favourite field was the town. The town how many of us milsim, bushball and scenario players dream of playing close quarters in an urban environment? Well back then we got our chance in what was like an old west log town with some bunkers here and there. The only thing close back then was a tire field or a 45 gallon drum field. Well, guess what guys? These town fields, tire fields, 45 gallon drum fields were the early days of speedball. Yup that’s right. Speedball really is nothing more than playing in the town. Now I will admit it has evolved a long way from those days but the basic principles are the same. Lines of fire, cover, movement and communication today’s speedball is a lot faster and the players are lot more specialized and technical but what makes them any different from the diehard scenario players out there?

No, speedball is no different than the rest of paintball. In fact we could actually learn a thing or two from speedball teams. They practice hard, harder than most bushball teams would ever dream of. They communicate better than most bushball teams do and those funky clothes that they wear are actually pretty practical.

Seems as if I have been converted to the dark side of the force but what I have become could be considered a hybrid. I have played with the milsim gear, the old school bushball gear, the mechanical markers and I have to say I have taken the best of them all and now use what works best for the job at hand. When I am playing in a swamp I want good ankle support so I will more than likely wear my combat boots, but it is way too hot to wear a BDU jacket so I will wear a jersey of appropriate colouring and why not? They are lightweight and do the job just as well at the camouflage jacket. I have my autococker when I want to play mechanical or my autococker pump for pump play but when I need to rip it up I have my Ego9.

Speedballers get a lot of flack for using the high end markers but from someone who has played with everything from a cheap mostly plastic pump to near top of the line electronic markers I will tell you, you get what you pay for. I have been on the receiving end of the electro speedball guns and I have been on the other side of the trigger too. What it really comes down to is teamwork, communication and tactics to win the day.

Speedball markers are good. They have to be when you are spending the money you are on them and like I said, you pay for what you get. If you do not want to buy one of these high end markers there are ways to turn your BT into an electro monster with the aftermarket boards for e-triggers and the rip clip. I have done it.

The military adopts the best technology for the mission they need to accomplish. Paintballers need to start doing the same. There is something else the military does to become prepared and that is try practice, practice and practice some more. To be the best you can have all the high end technological advantages in the world but if you do not know how to put things into action you are working on nothing but pure luck.

So next time you want to get mad because some guys with “alien guns” shot your crew up maybe you need to ask yourselves, was it us or was it them? Either way you need to learn from it and make changes not just blame them and forget about it. The only way to become better it is to accept it and rectify it.

So here we go…

OK, now this may be painful for some of you out there to remember or admit to, but at one time we were all newbies, and at some point we forget this fact. I hear a lot of players nowadays talking fairly derogatory about the actions or comments that newbies make. This is ironic, especially considering some of these players aren’t much more than newbies themselves! So take a moment and ask yourself these questions: How did you feel when you first started? Do you remember the mix of excitement, fear, and uncertainty? The wanting to know everything about every marker and piece of equipment you see?

We forget that with all there is to see, hear, and do; the first time out can be an overwhelming experience. For some of you this may seem like yesterday (and for some of you it was!), but this gives you an idea (or a flashback) of what these new players may be thinking and feeling on their first day.  Much like when we first started, we looked up to the experienced players for advice on how to play and information on equipment. Now, it’s your turn to be that experienced player.

Do unto others…

Okay, so let’s start things off with basic human civility. As much as some players like to treat Newbies as sub-species of human beings, they still are people nonetheless. Treat them the same, as you would expect to be treated in any situation. Your attitude off the field is just as important as on the field, so how you present yourself around new players is what will leave the biggest impression. Consider businesses you frequent and the one’s you swore you’d never go to again. What was the difference in treatment? Chances are the one’s you frequent are the ones where you feel the most welcome and get the best service. The Paintball field is no different. No one is going to want to spend their time and money at a place where they don’t feel welcome or are treated like idiots. Now I’m not saying you have to greet everyone with a big hug (The screaming starts to ring in your ears after a while… just trust me on this one!), but treating them with decency and respect should be the rule. While this may not seem very important to you as a player, it’s certainly not helping the growth of the sport, or your local field owner for that matter!

Be patient.

Paintball’s an interesting sport that brings out a combination of adrenaline and testosterone within the body. Because of this, blood flow to the brain seems to become interrupted. The general excitement does make one say and do some unusual things, both on the field and in the safety area. Now I did start this article some time ago, but after working at a rental field for a few months (and several more months of heavy therapy due to the experience), I had to step back from it.  I didn’t even want to LOOK at the word Newbie (Note: Don’t ask for help with patience if you don’t want it tested! – SB). We had a list up on the wall of “Dumb Questions” that were asked in that year. Some of the highlights were one’s like: “How many paintball’s are in a 500 bag?” and “How much does a $40 bag cost?”. My own personal favourite was when I had one kid ask me “If I go on the Internet and buy paint that’s the same colour as here, can I use it here?”. This was after a lengthy explanation of why we were “Field Paint Only”. I don’t think he got it. But I digress…

My little ramble was to show what you could be up against. You’re going to be asked what you may call “stupid” questions, but to me, the only stupid question is the one that isn’t asked or answered (the ones listed above I consider to be “brainless”). Like I keep telling people, I’d rather have them come to me and ask “stupid” questions than to have them not get the info they need. For someone to learn, someone’s got to be willing to teach. Which now brings me to my next point…

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple, Stupid! In other words, try to think about what you say or how you say it. Chances are you’ve been in the sport for a while so you know what all the lingo means. They don’t. There’s no sense in dazzling them in your detailed explanation of how exactly an Autococker works when they don’t even understand what a “bottom line” is. Anytime I have to explain anything to someone, I always tell them: “Ask if you don’t understand”. This way, they get the info they want if they don’t understand, and I’m not babbling off useless facts wasting both our times. Who knows? They may have already done some research on the Internet before they started playing (God help us!). But chances are to you’ll have to debunk a lot of crap info they’ll have picked up from who knows where. Keep explanations short, precise, and to the point. If they want or need more details then chances are they’ll ask for it.

On the field.

I come from the old-school days where the mixing of experienced players and rentals was fairly commonplace. But with the arrival of faster markers and/or younger players with little to no fire control, “newbie bashing” has brought this practice to the edge of extinction. Like any field owner will tell you, mixing these two groups is just bad business. However, you might find yourself in a situation where you can play with rentals providing you go “Low Tech”, using pumps or hand loading semis as an a example. Now you have the opportunity to do some on-field coaching. Give some words of encouragement to let them know they’re doing something right. Congratulate them on a good shot, a nice move, etc. (you get the idea). Chances are these new players are feeling awkward and unsure in their actions, so the idea is to give them an idea when something is being done right. If something was done wrong, explain to them what it was and how to correct it.

Paintball is a funny game. I don’t know of any other sport where you can play for the first time one day, buy all your gear, and be deemed a “Pro” then next day! But I’m getting off of my point here… On any given Paintball field in any place, anyone with their own gear is a “Pro” player in the eyes of newbie. This also means you’re a coveted target, the Brass Ring, the Grand Prize… the Holy Grail of Paintball to them. As much as winning a Tournament or a Big Game is bragging right to us, taking out the experienced player is bragging rights to them. Be willing to put pride aside and take a hit on occasion. Stick a body part out a little too far, or a piece of equipment, or stay out from your cover a little longer than you should.

Although this article may read like it, I’m not saying you have to become a baby-sitter. If anything, the objective is to become a guide. Let’s not forget the most important reason for lending a helping hand, which is to encourage these new players, who are the future of the sport. As much as we’d like to keep playing forever, chances are we’re not going to. Paintball will need players to fill those voids and more players on top of that to keep it growing. The more pleasurable of an experience we can make for their first time out, the greater a chance there will be of their return, and a greater chance of them becoming regular players. Who knows? They player you helped out today could become a future team-mate!

I think everyone who has ever played still remembers one player who had the most influence on them during that first day (I know I still do!). Can you be that player for someone else?

The corner stone of the movement seems to be about reducing prices.  I don’t know about you but I do not know very many guys getting rich from operating their paintball store, field or event.  Yes prices may seem high today but compared to just ten years ago prices are extremely cheap.  High end gear has a high end price tag to go with it and so it should.  We still have affordable entry level markers and gear that is more than adequate.   In fact in many ways the cheap gear of today is as good as the middle of the road gear of yesterday.

Maybe it is just me being protective of the friends I have in the industry but I know what the markup for many of these retailers is and I think that they are being targeted unfairly.

Maybe the real reason people are leaving the sport is not so much the cost as those who they are playing with and against.  I have noticed a change in paintball.  When I started we had a word for the guys who would act like dicks we called them paintball jerks and there were not too many of them but now you see it all the time.  You go to a rental field and you see guys lighting up newbies and getting off on it.  You see guys berating woodsball players because they dress in camo and use a BT or Tippmann.

There is also a new trend in paintball where people don’t seem to want to get hit anymore, not that we have ever wanted to be hit.  I am not talking about guys wiping I am talking about guys who get tagged out and then never come back because they didn’t like getting hit.

Maybe I am just ranting but that’s my job.  I might be wrong maybe people are leaving paintball because it is too expensive but I doubt it.  I think there is a bigger problem and paint prices are a small part of it.

After a discussion on the forum, this particular fact got me wondering about how many know, remember, or realize how close we came close to losing Paintball in this country. So here’s a little bit of history…

In 1995, Bill C-68 came out, which would become the Firearms Act. This newest batch of gun laws had Paintballers sweating bullets (no pun intended)! The way it was worded, it looked like Paintball markers could fall under the category of firearms. After some clarification and digging by a lot of people, we discovered we were ok, but just barely. Here’s an idea of how the legislation reads that pertains to us:

Airguns are:

• exempt from most of the requirements of the Firearms Act if “not designed or adapted to discharge a shot, bullet or other projectile at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 meters per second (500 feet per second) and at a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules.”
• subject to all the requirements of the Firearms Act if it exceeds the 152.4 meters/second muzzle velocity AND 5.7 Joule muzzle energy limits.

This means that the owner must possess a firearms license, registration certificate, and (if the airgun falls under the restricted or prohibited categories) an Authorization to Transport (Source: http://www.panda.com/canadaguns/#airgun)

A paintball definitely impacts over the energy limit (around 11.87 Joules, double what the legislation allows), but our saving grace was the fact we shoot under the 500 fps. Note that word “and”; prior to the passage of Bill C-10A it was an “or”. That meant that if either the muzzle velocity or muzzle energy limits were exceeded, then the owner must possess a firearms license, registration certificate, and possibly also an Authorization to Transport. Meaning if the wording wasn’t changed, none of us would be playing right now unless you owned a firearms license. Even if you did have all the licensing, every time you played, you’d be essentially pointing a firearm at someone (Section 87) and that’s punishable for up to 5 years in jail.

Also under the laws, we were technically committing assault with a weapon every time we played. Now I don’t recall if this was re-worded later on or if it was in the original draft, but somewhere the wording says that as long as an airgun is being used for the purpose for which it was intended (playing Paintball, in our case) then you were OK. Once it was used outside of what it was intended for (vandalism, drive by’s, ect.) then you could be charged under the Firearms Act. So the next time some guys think it’ll be fun to shoot up road signs on the way home from the field, you are committing a firearms felony and can be charged!

Now, the purpose behind this is to remind people that although we’re technically safe, all we need is one over-zealous politician with an agenda, and we could lose it all! There have been some that already tried. Trying to help out players in other countries is a great gesture, but our attention and energy should be focused on securing our position in this country. We can’t affect what other Governments do, but we can affect our own, which is where our concern should be. Our status is nowhere near secure, and in this day and age of heightened paranoia awareness, we need to be ever vigilant. Public opinion is everything and we have to be ambassadors for the sport every time we go play, and in our conduct off the field if we’re doing anything that would identify us as a Paintballer. All we need is for “and” to be changed back to “or” in the current legislation and we’re screwed.

Focus your energy in taking care of the home front first, promote the sport locally, and be the example that others can use.

We stopped using horizontal pods on our packs since they stuck out too much when playing tournament paintball (back in its infancy), and went to a vertically mounted one. Now I hear guys talking about going to a horizontal pack since the pods are easier to get to. Remote systems fell by the wayside in favour of marker-mounted tanks, but remote lines now seem to be making a comeback as well.

We’ve had 50 calibre paintballs before, and they were phased out in favour of the 68 calibre since they worked better. Now they’re attempting to revive the 50 cal like it’s something new, and telling us it’s going to work better than the 68 cal?

In the 90’s, Viewloader had the VL 3000 which was a 300-round hopper which I affectionately remember as the “Whaler”. Now we have Pinocchio loaders.

There’s something in the technology of the Q-Loader that I swear I’ve seen before, but at the moment I can’t quite place where.

Paintball started off with the 10-round tubes. Then we had the “stick” feeders. Then we had the bulk hoppers of 50 or so; then 100, 150, 200 and so on. You could get hoppers piggy-backed on to hoppers. Next came the agitated loaders and eventually the force-feed loaders. Now we’re going back to low capacity and low tech hoppers, from a revival of the 50-round hopper to the new modified 50 round loaders to fit Cyclone systems. I wonder how long until someone shows up on the field with the stick feed system again!

I saw in an APG recently an article on how to be stealthy, which included advice on lining you loader with foam to cut down on ball noise. Uh… yea, already did that back in ’93 with felt material. If it wasn’t for all the porting on barrels nowadays (and the fact that the BAFT made them illegal), we’d probably see the return of true silencers too.

But to me, the biggest sign that Paintball has come full circle is the emergence and growth of the scenario style of play over the last few years. Way back when, we did everything in our power to try to keep the “military” aspect out of Paintball. We still wore the camouflage, but tried to keep the markers from looking anything like a real gun. Conversion kits were available but replicas were generally frowned upon by the community. Eventually we emerged from the woods with the development of speedball. We dropped the camouflage for coloured jerseys, and used markers with colourful anodizing. As our visual presence grew, so did our exposure to the public, and our popularity increased. The markers got faster and the game got more intense. At some point, the markers got too fast and stalled the game. It got too expensive for this faster style of play, so people went back into the bush for the slower pace but just as thrilling game. The camo came back, and with our general (although sketchy at times) acceptance from the public, it became Ok to use the replica markers, which fuelled a higher demand for them. Our acceptance is still fragile and we still need to watch our image and how we present ourselves, but that’s another post for another time.

Any of you other old-timers see products or trends coming back into play after a long hiatus? Lets hear your observations.