The Wild World of TB!

As some may or may not remember, there used to be a pretty much universal set of rules known as the GSRP. While not credited (as paintball promoters are notorious for revising history based on who is and isn't in favor), I was there at the starting of that rules set all the way up until I quit playing MXS games and other promoters ceased to use it and started their own rule sets up. But those promoters did away with OS ABT except in the case of medics. For the most part for costs reasons, and secondly because of the misguided reason that people who have those types of jobs dont wear a different uniform to set themselves apart. However, to me that was and is a mistake in these changing days of scenario paintball. Let me see if I can shed some light on my take on this and what some of the promoters might need to get back on this topic for future games.

Let's start with ABT in general. The side ABT has always set up the ability to determine who is on your side. Some people like to use it to determine who is on the other side, but that is a mistake in the game as people can not wear it (in most formats) or the really good people can talk others into taping them up. But the primary purpose has been to determine who the good guys are. In days gone by, different OS types wore their side tape as well as a ABT that signified their OS. This had a way of identifying readily on the battlefield who was what. Let's see if I remember correctly:

Pilot = Black
Demo = Brown
Engineer = Yellow
Medic = White

Now in the early days you could multi-class, so some people walked around looking like a lifesaver, but those ways went the way of the dodo-bird quick. I mean who remembers the Demo-Pilot who crashed helo's into command bunkers, or the Pilot-Engineer who could fix items in mid-air, or the Demo-Medic? I mean the list goes on and on. However it did allow you to determine who was who in the OS scheme. It allowed people to readily identify who was a medic, or a demo player or an engineer. It allowed the refs to determine at first glance if the person who said that they were that thing were indeed that thing, and it made the game flow smoothly. You blow something up, when the ref comes up you have your prop (satchel bag with card in it), you have your OS card with your number on it and you have your ABT, without each of these the item was not blown up. So forth and so on for all of the others MOS's.

To me this allowed the ref to quickly asses and determine calls as well as keep tabs on all the people who didn't follow the rules. Some people see this as being cheesy, similar to the you have to say barrel tag when you tag them not some other comment. While that verbage may be cheesy, the fact that it specifies it in rules and you don't use that basically means you are violating the rules and getting mad because someone is holding you to that. It isn't to cheapen the move, it is to help in reinforcing the rules. However this was one of the main reasons to remove OS ABT, except for the medics. Why not that OS? Well thats simple, the cheesy guys on the other side wanted to still be able to quickly identify who is healing people and the game promoters wanted to cut down on the confusion of who was healing who. Let's be honest, barring Me, Medics are the favorite tagets of gunners and massive amounts of paint are shot to eliminate them.

But to me, if you are going to keep that one, you should keep all of them. Engineers and EOD all wear some type of distinguishing logo that sets them apart from regular soldiers. I think that there are too many MOS's these days and that the lack of trading MOS's or allowing multi-classing removes some of the fun of the game in the past. Maybe with Bobby Gogolin and Dark Horse Productions doing games based on the GSRP and his experience as years of the Best Ultimate to ever put on a pair of goggles will allow a return to the days of old. Where the players took responsibility for what they did or didn't do. I mean this isnt lofty thinking, people still bitched, it is just that the people in charge were more prone to tell them to suck it up rather than change rules to make them happy.

So we end this blog the way we started? Is OS ABT a good thing or a bad thing? I leave that up to you to decide, but me, I would rather see it go back to GSRP ver 1.3, that was the best version that I ever played. But that's just me!

I wrote a version of this for the California Paintball Forum: http://www.paintball4all.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=61&func=view&catid=9&id=2021

In it I took the Hot Insertions apart and tried to give some ideas on it. These guys are not new to the sport and scenario has been well and alive in California since at least 2000 when MXS was there. And they have quite a few promoters. This was more to generate discussion and give some insight into the use of them. I hope you enjoy the adaptation for here.

So let's start with the definition in the rules, shall we?

Reinsertions: Reinsertions happen every twenty minutes, and the window for inserting stays open for five minutes. This means that if you show up at the "hospital" at 2:48 you can reinsert at 3:00, but if you show up at 3:22 you may tag up, wipe off your old hit, and go right back to your base. When you insert you must go to within 50 feet of your base before you may remove your barrel cover and enter play. The exception to this is a "Hot Insertion." If the opposing team has control of your base (the referee will make this judgment) you will be informed at your hospital that it will be a "Hot Insertion" which means that you are in immediately when the hospital opens. This time should be used to take out as many of the occupying forces as possible since you only have to tag up at your hospital when you get hit, as opposed to them having to go all the way back to their end of the field.

Now there are several things not spelled out in specifics that come from playing Viper games. I have played in them since 2000 and commanded as well as wrote them. Here is tactical lesson one, be on the field at game on. If you cannot be, realize that for the first 30 minutes of each game segment you do not have to wait until 20 after to hit the field. So if you missed it at the bird banger, gather your guys up and head to your CP. If it is before 12:20 and you have not been on the field, then you can re-insert for free. The next thing is that at the base or going on the field, you do not have to 'tag up' at your base. You only have to come within 50 feet. That also means at the start of the game, you can start out up to 50 feet from your base. You may not think that matters much, but a lot of times. To quote one of my heroes of command, Nathan Bedford Forrest ; "He who gets there firstest with the mostest wins!"

Now some may wonder, why attack a CP. I mean Viper spells out in his rules that CP drops and Base Blows are worth no points. Commander eliminations are worth no points. So why push a CP? Well there are several reasons. Some may or may not agree with me, but trust me they work. First and foremost is that if you are defending or trying to take you base back, you aren't running missions. And missions win the game. If you cannot receive missions, and that means that your CP is blown then once again you cannot score points. Those are the simple reasons and the most spoken ones. The un-spoken is that holding a CP goes to attack the very thing that anyone who is wanting to win may do and that is target the morale of the other side. Now I am not going to discuss whether it is the thing to do at a paintball game where some people want to do nothing but have fun, but it is there. And people do take advantage of it, just as they would a prop, a sniper shot or an airstrike.

So how do you beat that? Well that is up to the individual player and the leadership of a side. And I don't just mean the XO or the Commander, but people who can and are the leadership of a side. There are people who think I take over or walk on a commander when I play. I don't, I simply let them use me as needed and if they are slipping, I try and bolster them while they regain their footing. And that is what leaders do, they work to keep their side in the game. Realize that a lot of things take pre-planning, you have to understand the rules to plan for them. So in this instance, what do you do? Well simply put, you make assumptions. You assume that you are going to have base over runs. You make the commander a Demo guy, you make your radio op and engineer and you make your chief of security a sniper. Once you get your drop box, you plant charges around your base, you plant them in strategic locations and you store some things at your hospital. Sniper shots, a Law rocket and some rockets or even a helo card and helo. Why?

Here is a tried and true method. You push all that way to my base and I deny you, your prize; I blow myself and my base up. First, I may take some of you out. But I deny you the base, you didn't take me, I gave it to you. That is morale boost to command and a team. Your chief of security can snipe out the key players pushing. And your radio op can rebuild. But if they still drop it, then they have to decide to hold it. And the truth is can they? They shouldn't be able to, because in that 5 minutes you are invincible and they are not. And here is another key tip, on a hot insertion, you don't have to go to your base. You are live when you hit the field. What does that mean?

You don't have to go up the hill to your CP straight on. You can go straight to the 50, hell you can push their base. You can hit them from an envelopment of the side or the back. If you want to be tricksy about it, pick up your laws and start raining them down on them. Use your sniper shots that you stored at the insertion point. Put up the helo to give you intel about how many and where they are. Or you can start blowing up those strategic bunkers and killing everyone within 20 feet. You can push people out of your base, and if you can't then you can return the favor. Because if they are sitting on your base, then you either outnumber 20 to 1 or they dont have anyone between you and their base. The quickest way to get them off your chest, is to flip them on their back and climb on yourself.

Now I am sure that this doesn't help now once people have been the victim of one. But some of you have seen the power of it used at the last game you played. Think back now, and what I have said above. That is just some of the tactics that can work. Going forward realize that if you play a Viper game or a Wayne Game or any promoter who follows the old GSRP or such, you may have to deal with a Hot Insertion. And how do you combat all of that? I have played constant insertion and yes it is a lot harder to drop a base, but it can be done. And the morale killer is worse in that respect, because what you feel is I cant even keep my base and all I have to do is kick the can and I am alive.

You are responsible for your morale, and while you may be out gunned or out manned, you guys have played in games where guile and deception beat strength and aggression. Appear weak when you are strong, appear strong when you are weak.

So the next time you get told by your base ref you have a hot insertion, you will know what it is and maybe have a plan on how to defeat it.

I decided to take a closer look at the OS called the Sniper. Not very many promoters use this OS and at times it doesn't seem to be a very popular one with some players. I don't agree with the statement that in scenario paintball, you have to be eliminated in someway by a paintball. This is a game of imagination and to limit it to the physical implements of the paintball game can and might put people at risk of safety.

How? Viper allows non-pnuematic assisted pump guns to chrono up to 300 fps and there isn't a huge difference in the use and accuracy of the two. Airsoft, by comparison empowers their sniper with a huge FPS upgrade as well as the ability to go to a higher weight BB for realism. Those just aren't options in scenario paintball.

Now we all know of the argument about whether there are such things as paintball snipers. The truth is that there are a lot of the functions that a sniper can perform that is performed by these people. All except the coup-de grace shot on a high value target. And the purpose of the OS is to allow that. How?

Let's say that you have someone like Me leading a mission squad. Now most people who know me, know that I know missions up one side and down the other. I lead people and make sure we get the mission done. Take me out and you probably can scrub a mission. Now you aren't going to be able to get that close without my support group stopping you or giving me time to adjust to you coming in. The whole sneaking and setting windage and taking the shot isn't going to work. And that is where the OS Sniper comes in. With this card and this shot, you could eliminate me from within LOS. Now is it full-proof? Now, I mean Snipers do miss for whatever reason, but it being in the game does allow for random type events to happen. So why the pushback, do you think?

Well the fact is that people are abusing the sniper role. But we will get more into that. let's take a look at the official stances on sniper from the Viper rules. And realize that your favorite promoter might take a different look at them.

Sniper: Snipers can use “Sniper Shot” cards to eliminate any player in plain view within 300 feet. The “sniper” must surrender one “Sniper Shot” card to a judge in order to eliminate a player. Each “Sniper Shot” card allows you to eliminate one target. They do not need to actually fire their paintball marker to accomplish this elimination. “Sniper Shot” cards may be used by snipers to complete a “sniping” mission, but must take out a player at the objective to complete the mission. Snipers cannot target helos, or their passengers, while in flight, nor may they fire from helos. Only snipers may possess “sniper shot” cards, and are limited to carrying no more than five at a time.

So this is the current role as it has been since before Jan 2009. However even with these rules there has been some abuse. And that is what seems to have ticked people off over this role more than any other in the history of scenario paintball. Yep, even more than the medics as this can be a pretty devastating weapon if unchecked. According to the 'spirit of the rules' you should have to see your target and point them out to a ref. The ref should make sure that you have a clear line of sight within the prescribed 300 feet and then either call a ref near you or come down to get you himself. The sniper can then adjust fire to the next target.

Now I have seen people run from refs after being sniped and I have seen some people shoot from postions where they cannot see who they are shooting at but are sniping by radio. I have seen sniper shoot at people that they think they see (Hey TB is in the woods, I am sniping him go get him) and more. Snipers indeed are easy to be abused.

You would expect that players would know the MOS rules of the MOS that they chose and you wouldn't need to have ref's enforce the rules. I mean refs are a lot of things, but omnipotent isn't it. Are there gray areas in this rule? Sure, but I think the 3 things I mentioned above aren't it. And there are others, so first and foremost personal responsibility should cover your approach to this. I mean, you said you read the rules so just because a ref says you can do doesn't mean much since the rules are supposed to trump the field ref. Head refs and game directors can and sometimes do over-rule them, but the field refs are the to call paintball hits and enforce the rules. Gray areas again should be left up to the head ref and GD.

So someone who lines up and eliminates a mission squad with sniper shots, really has more to burn than common sense. And the purpose than becomes one of morale. As is the case in certain games, morale allows psychological momementum and so can be targeted rather easily with snipers. When the game director allows one side to have more than the other, or puts too many in the game then the snipers pretty much become all powerful and that isn't fun for anyone now is it?

And those snipers who can traverse the field killing anyone and everyone in a 300 foot swath of destruction should know better. I mean, no one with any common sense would believe that a promoter would give someone supreme ultimate power like that. Now if you are good enough to do all that with a paintball gun, then cool. But to run around throwing out cards isn't what the OS was designed for. So don't blame the OS, or the cards, blame the guy using it outside the scope and the promoter who empowered him (if the promoter did indeed do so).

How can you counter-attack snipers? Well if you keep losing someone, put a helo with a radio in the air. He can then fly down into the group of players and determine who the sniper is and radio back to you. You then close to the 300 feet and line him up and shoot him with your own sniper shots. You can also shoot out and search the body of everyone and bank the sniper shots to deplete them in the game. Another thing to do is to make sure you get your drop box because that can really put you at a disadvantage in the sheer number of sniper shots in the game.

But with all of this, moderation is the key. As is knowing the rules and being able to apply them. That is really the key, the application of the rules vs just knowing them. So the next time you are making that push and a ref runs up to you, you should be happy that you got sniped. In some games these cards are very valuable and you just made them use a dedicated elimination to take you out.

Then again, in the games I have produced I made a sniper carry a 'sniper rifle' and it looked the part. I attached a hole punch and had a slot for a card. The card was a laminated sniper shot card and you got one. You inserted it into the rifle and your rifle was live. You shouldered it, took the shot and the ref pulled the card and punched it. It went back in the gun and you were ready for your next shot. There were plenty of clips around but only one sniper rifle per side. And trust me, that made the sniper roles a lot more 'real' and put alot more time into the game. Plus it made sniper/counter-sniper easier as well.

Until, next time!

So in 2009, I am going to try and be a little more open to people who may or may not expect it. I will try to give away some of the secrets that have made me and my team successful. Now why would I do this? I don't know to be honest. I am not saying that I have all the answers or that if you don't follow the way I do things you won't win. This is just what works for me and people like me. There is a new community, they are experienced players but not used to Viper's rules. I am going to try and help explain the rules and the tactics I use within the rules and by all means feel free to jump in and help if you think you can. Not because they need it, but because it will be interesting to see how they take what they learn from this interaction and using their history (which most people know nothing of) makes adapatations and see what they come up with.

Link:

http://www.paintball4all.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=61&func=view&catid=9&id=2021

Post:

OK Gents,

I am going to go out on a limb here and try to generate some honest discussion about Hot Insertions and CP Drops. Realize that I am not trying to talk down to you, I respect your guys and the games you have played. However quite a few of the older promoter use timed insertions and that thing called Hot Insertions. As the game is coming up in September, I don't foresee Viper changing it, as he isn't a huge fan of Hot Insertions. Since you guys got a crash course and it wasn't nice for anyone, I figured I would talk about them from the stand point of I have caused them, called for them and used them as tactics to hold an opponent by the nose and kick him in the ass. But there are ways to use them to your advantage.

I do ask you to think about this and not simply say, well that isn't how we play. We all grow by trying something different. So you have seven months to take the lessons learned at the Viper game at Giant Paintball. I hope that the teams that will lead the way to take on Sean and Myself will ask questions and interact here. I have nothing to hide, I will answer them the best I can from a Tactical and Strategical point of view. I would love for you guys to 'learn' how Viper does his games and bring that game that I know you guys do every other time you step on the field. In other words, I want it to be a chess match with someone who can understand it, not checkers with my 8 year old. (Again that isn't a slap at you, your intelligence or anything like that). So please realize that I am not trying to offend you, and if I do I will apologize in advance.

So let's start with the definition in the rules, shall we?

Reinsertions: Reinsertions happen every twenty minutes, and the window for inserting stays open for five minutes. This means that if you show up at the "hospital" at 2:48 you can reinsert at 3:00, but if you show up at 3:22 you may tag up, wipe off your old hit, and go right back to your base. When you insert you must go to within 50 feet of your base before you may remove your barrel cover and enter play. The exception to this is a "Hot Insertion." If the opposing team has control of your base (the referee will make this judgment) you will be informed at your hospital that it will be a "Hot Insertion" which means that you are in immediately when the hospital opens. This time should be used to take out as many of the occupying forces as possible since you only have to tag up at your hospital when you get hit, as opposed to them having to go all the way back to their end of the field.

Now there are several things not spelled out in specifics that come from playing Viper games. I have played in them since 2000 and commanded as well as wrote them. Here is tactical lesson one, be on the field at game on. If you cannot be, realize that for the first 30 minutes of each game segment you do not have to wait until 20 after to hit the field. So if you missed it at the bird banger, gather your guys up and head to your CP. If it is before 12:20 and you have not been on the field, then you can re-insert for free. The next thing is that at the base or going on the field, you do not have to 'tag up' at your base. You only have to come within 50 feet. That also means at the start of the game, you can start out up to 50 feet from your base. You may not think that matters much, but a lot of times. To quote one of my heroes of command, Nathan Bedford Forrest ; "He who gets there firstest with the mostest wins!"

Now some may wonder, why attack a CP. I mean Viper spells out in his rules that CP drops and Base Blows are worth no points. Commander eliminations are worth no points. So why push a CP? Well there are several reasons. Some may or may not agree with me, but trust me they work. First and foremost is that if you are defending or trying to take you base back, you aren't running missions. And missions win the game. If you cannot receive missions, and that means that your CP is blown then once again you cannot score points. Those are the simple reasons and the most spoken ones. The un-spoken is that holding a CP goes to attack the very thing that anyone who is wanting to win may do and that is target the morale of the other side. Now I am not going to discuss whether it is the thing to do at a paintball game where some people want to do nothing but have fun, but it is there. And people do take advantage of it, just as they would a prop, a sniper shot or an airstrike.

So how do you beat that? Well that is up to the individual player and the leadership of a side. And I don't just mean the XO or the Commander, but people who can and are the leadership of a side. There are people who think I take over or walk on a commander when I play. I don't, I simply let them use me as needed and if they are slipping, I try and bolster them while they regain their footing. And that is what leaders do, they work to keep their side in the game. Realize that a lot of things take pre-planning, you have to understand the rules to plan for them. So in this instance, what do you do? Well simply put, you make assumptions. You assume that you are going to have base over runs. You make the commander a Demo guy, you make your radio op and engineer and you make your chief of security a sniper. Once you get your drop box, you plant charges around your base, you plant them in strategic locations and you store some things at your hospital. Sniper shots, a Law rocket and some rockets or even a helo card and helo. Why?

Here is a tried and true method. You push all that way to my base and I deny you, your prize. I blow myself and my base up. First I may take some of you out. But I deny you the base, you didn't take me, I gave it to you. That is morale boost to command and a team. Your chief of security can snipe out the key players pushing. And your radio op can rebuild. But if they still drop it, then they have to decide to hold it. And the truth is can they? They shouldn't be able to, because in that 5 minutes you are invincible and they are not. And here is another key tip, on a hot insertion, you don't have to go to your base. You are live when you hit the field. What does that mean?

You don't have to go up the hill to your CP straight on. You can go straight to the 50, hell you can push their base. You can hit them from an envelopment of the side or the back. If you want to be tricksy about it, pick up your laws and start raining them down on them. Use your sniper shots that you stored at the insertion point. Put up the helo to give you intel about how many and where they are. Or you can start blowing up those strategic bunkers and killing everyone within 20 feet. You can push people out of your base, and if you can't then you can return the favor. Because if they are sitting on your base, then you either outnumber 20 to 1 or they dont have anyone between you and their base. The quickest way to get them off your chest, is to flip them on their back and climb on yourself.

Now I am sure that this doesn't help now. But some of you saw the power of it used at the last game. Think back now, and what I have said above. That is just some of the tactics that can work. Going forward realize that if you play a Viper game or a Wayne Game or any promoter who follows the old GSRP or such, you may have to deal with a Hot Insertion. And how do you combat all of that? I have played constant insertion and yes it is a lot harder to drop a base, but it can be done. And the morale killer is worse in that respect, because what you feel is I cant even keep my base and all I have to do is kick the can and I am alive.

You are responsible for your morale, and while you may be out gunned or out manned, you guys have played in games where guile and deception beat strength and aggression. Appear weak when you are strong, appear strong when you are weak.

I would love to see some people talk about this, in a open and honest way. Not argue why the open insertion is better, that isn't what this is about. I am not saying that this is better then that, I am simply saying that this is different than that and this is how you use this for your side or take something away from the other side.

So I ask you, are you guys interested in stuff like this? Me trying to explain how to play within Viper's rules? I can't promise you will agree with why I do it, but realize that what I do works 95% of the time.

So I talked a little about paint last time, but I really wanted to help drive home that sometimes there just isn't anything the manufacturer or distributor can do about the paint. Now don't get me wrong, in the past I have been part of that 'scenario' crowd that got shipped white box paint that they put in a new box. I have seen cases of paint that sat in warehouses for months get shipped to games and so forth and so on. But in the last 2 years, paint manufacturers have been trying and for the most part succeeding in getting this problem fixed. But in the end, like anything on the scenario paintball field, you have to make your own fun and you have to take care of your own paint. You can only pass that personal responsibility buck so many times before you have to look in the mirror yourself.

First and foremost, try to get and idea about the paint that will be shot. Now if you can get the brand of paint that you like, so much the better. But if not, then you need to plan to make it so that your marker shoots the best that it can with what will be there. People can whine all they want about Field Paint Only vs bring your own and such, but it ain't going to happen. You can whine about paint pricing, but everyone knows that a field and promoter make there money in paint. They know that the paint costs them about $26 to $35 and that they then sell it for $60 to $65. Shut up about it, it has been that way since the start of paintball in all arenas and genres.

Second I would either recommend a barrel kit, or a freak set or a python compression kit or a hammerhead kit. There are others and in the end the $60 to $75 dollars you spend on one and the options that it gives you are well worth the money if you play different promoters and fields.

Third, check the paintballs before you leave the area you bought them. Meaning, open the case as soon as it is handed to you. Look a the balls in the bags, make sure that there are no broken balls in a bag or obvious dimpled ones. Now most people may not realize this but the dimples have not been shown to cause the hooks and such that everyone things. That comes from the ball being out of round or not fitting the barrel. And I am sure that someone will say a dimple takes the ball out of round, but I am not a damn scientist, so dont' argue that point. Just know that golf balls have dimples and by damn they can fly straight and that paintball companies have been trying to make dimpled paintball for some time, so the truth is the dimple being off and the way it fits your barrel is the reason for hooks and slices. Ask for another case if it is extremely dimpled, right there. And if the next one is, then of course you try corrective measures yourself.

What are those you might ask? From the Draxxus webpage:

How To Remedy “Dimpled” Paintballs:

On every brand of paintballs, exposure to cold weather or very dry air can cause the gelatin paintball shells to develop “dimples”, small indentations or craters on the surface. These usually result in no change in performance. In fact, Golf Balls are covered with dimples, and they fly great! Sometimes a short exposure to very cold or dry air DURING SHIPPING is enough for “dimples” to appear If your paintballs arrive dimpled, don’t panic:

After Exposure to Cold Weather during Play, Storage, or Shipment:

First of all, remember that the product may work perfectly. If you wish to take steps
to reduce the dimpling, first, simply store the paint in an ordinary room-temperature area for a day or two, and most dimples will usually vanish, and the product should perform as expected.

Another remedy for reducing paintballs dimples caused by exposure to coldness or dryness, is to expose them to some humidity, which gets "robbed away" during exposure to cold and/or dryness. You can do this by simply opening the bags and leaving them on the bathroom counter while a hot shower runs, steaming up the room for a while, then reseal the bags and return them to room temperature until game time. You may wish to “stir” the paintballs around with your hand every few minutes to ensure that they are all exposed to the moisture equally. This introduction of humidity usually aids in removal of dimples, and also it generally ensures that there is enough moisture to reduce any brittleness. Whether the dimples disappear completely or not, after these steps, the product should perform as expected, if not better.

Fortunately, while dimples may “look bad”, they usually don’t create any other side effects, and sometimes dimples can actually improve flight aerodynamics. Large amounts of money have been spent in an attempt to create a PERMANENTLY dimpled paintball, like a golf ball, since science has proven that a dimpled, spherical ball will theoretically fly better. Unfortunately, the elastic properties of the gelatin shell have thus far prohibited the making of a pre-dimpled shell.

So as you can see, you can try these processes on a Friday night provided you have access to this kind of things at the event either in a hotel room or your car or your home. As you can also see, extreme cold and hot weather screw with everyone's paintballs. Not to beat the Blanding Dead Horse, but I saw paintball literally melting together in pods after playing that game, and people wondered why the paint didn't shoot that well. There is a such thing as exceeding manufacturer specs and guess what? You get what you get and you try to make lemonade out of the lemons.

Now what about brittle paintballs? I have heard that arguement as well. Try to realize what makes the paintballs act the way that they do. A lot of times you can blame the manufacturer and you have no control with how they store the paint after it is made. In fact you don't have any control on the paint once the field owner gets it and how he/she stores it. But you can control how you store the paint, once you get it. How many times have you seen people open a bag and leave it laying in their campsite? Or better yet, remove all the paint from the case and pour them in the box and walk and a leave them? That is just setting yourself and the paint up for failure. Why? Take a look at what you can do to try and help brittle shelled paint and if your paint isn't brittle think about what it could do to your paint?

Again from the Draxxus website:

Exposure to cold weather or very dry air can sometimes cause paintball shells to become “brittle” or fragile. Sometimes a short exposure to very cold or very dry air DURING SHIPPING or Storage is enough for “brittleness” or fragility to appear.

If your paintballs seem too brittle, don ’t panic:
FIRST: Be sure to eliminate OTHER possible causes;
Is your barrel TRULY CLEAN?
Swab or Squeegee any paint residue from your barrel
Use a Gelatin Build-up remover like ProTeam Products’ ”ProClean” to remove buit-up gelatin residue
Check for burrs, scratches or sharp snags in the breach & barrel that could cause breakage
Is your barrel Too Small?
Be sure the paintballs will “FIT” through the barrel.
Paintballs should be easily “blown” through the barrel, like blowing a pea through a pea-shooter (Be SURE not to Inhale!!!)
If the barrel is too small for the paintballs, you may need a larger barrel. Many barrel makers today make barrels of various inside-diameters for “sizing” to various different paint batches and brands. Most paintball brands today range between .680” to .692 ”.
Is your velocity too high?
Using an electronic Chronograph in a Safe area, have the velocity of your marker tested to confirm that you are shooting at speeds within the Industry’s safety guidelines of 280 feet-per-second or less. (Lower at some commercial game sites.)
Have your marker’s velocity adjusted within this range.
THEN: If you’ve ruled out the above possible causes for breakage in the marker, then your paintballs may have become brittle from exposure to cold or dry air during play, storage, or shipment:


To Restore Brittle Paintballs
First, store the paint in an ordinary room-temperature area for a day or two, (70 degrees F/21 degrees C) and the brittleness will usually vanish, and the product should perform as expected. If more is needed, move the balls around with your hand for a moment to re-orient them in the bags, and expose more of them to a few more hours of room temperature... exercise patience.

Another remedy for reviving paintballs that have become brittle due to exposure to cold/dry air, is to expose them to some humidity, which gets "robbed away" during exposure to cold and/or dryness. You can do this by simply opening the bags and leaving them on the bathroom counter while a hot shower runs for 10 – 15 minutes, "stir" the balls a time or two... then reseal the bags and return them to room temperature until you're ready to play. This added humidity absorbs into the gelatin and usually restores performance completely.

Worst case scenario, if balls still seem too brittle, somewhere between a week and a month of just sitting at room temperature will often return them to normal, as the moisture from the fill slowly “migrates” back into the shell, returning it’s resiliency.

This introduction of humidity will usually aid in removal of brittleness, and also it will generally ensure that there is enough moisture to make the shell resilient so it will work properly. Whether the brittleness disappears completely or not, after these steps, the product should perform as expected, if not better.

Now a lot of that may not help you, as it states months or weeks sometimes, but then again the introduction of dry moist air or the removal of water in the shell can give you some good results. Now some may wonder about the proper way to store paintballs. Well again from the Draxxus site, this is how they recommend doing it:

HOW TO STORE PAINTBALLS:
Correct storage of paintballs is critical to ensure the best performance and the longest possible shelf life. (“Shelf life” is the length of time any product can be stored without having a noticeable reduction in performance or value).

CORRECT STORAGE:
For best results, Keep paintballs in dry, room temperature environments as much as possible.

Word to the wise: “Never leave your paintballs anywhere that you would not leave a human baby. If the conditions would make the baby cry, they will ruin your paintballs!”

Exposure to air that is too Cold, Warm, Humid, or Dry, can drastically reduce paintball performance after only a short exposure.

COLD: Temperatures BELOW 45°F / 8°C will likely develop chronic brittleness or
severe dimples on the shell. Once degraded, there may be nothing you can do, even if you follow the procedures listed in our “How-To Remedy Brittle or Dimpled paintballs” articles on this website. When you go out to play in the cold, only take as many paintballs as you plan to use each game. Leave the rest in a warm place like a building or warm car. If you leave a case of paintballs in the staging area while you are playing a couple of winter games, chance are that the cold will ruin them.

HOT: Temperatures ABOVE 85°F / 29°C can cause performance problems including swelling, brittleness, “sweating”, and sometimes the shell becomes too “tough” and won’t break on impact. Returning this paint to ordinary room temps. for a day or two may restore them. A few days in an “Air Conditioned” room-temp. environment may restore them.

HUMIDITY will degrade paintball performance. Keep your paintballs out of the humidity. Paintballs should be stored between 35% - 50% humidity.

Once open, keep the remainder in a re-sealable bag or container.
Rubbermaid works great.
Ordinary Air Conditioning is a natural de-humidifier.
(Do NOT use a refrigerator: TOO COLD!!!)
Keeping paintballs at air-conditioned room temperature is the very best.
DRYNESS will degrade paintball performance in extreme cases. Keep your paintballs out of severe dryness. Paintballs should be stored between 35% - 50% humidity. Dryness can result in brittle or overly fragile paintballs. Introducing humidity may restore some of the desired performance. (See “How To Restore dimpled paintballs”)

CORRECT STORAGE:
Keep paintballs in dry, room temperature environment.

So after you check out your paintballs, then it is really up to you to store them correctly. Next time I will talk about how to size up the paint to your barrels and some of the issues with some of the different markers. Now all of this information is out there and while some may seem to be common sense, it seems to me that if people don't keep repeating it, then someone starts simply blaming the people who make the paint. But if you are not operating the use of the paint within manufacturing spec, then who's fault is it really?

So remember the adage to take from this and apply and you will see quite a few of your paintball issues go away; >“Never leave your paintballs anywhere that you would not leave a human baby. If the conditions would make the baby cry, they will ruin your paintballs!”