Paintball Buyer’s Blog

Everything comes in cycles, and what is old will eventually become new again. Seems like everything in life follows this… paintball is no exception. Paintball started with pump action markers, where one had to manually pump the marker like a shotgun to cock the action and load the next paintball. This style of marker was eventually eclipsed by semi and full autos, with most companies either switching to semi models, making other products or simply drifting away.

LAPCO (did you know that stands for L.A. Paintgun Company?) innovated several products for paintball such as the bottomline… but the product that put them on the map was the Grey Ghost. It is often considered to be the finest pump marker ever built. While they were in production they were hard to get as each one was hand finished and tested. When the industry switched to semiauto and LAPCO concentrated on barrels and accessories the Grey Ghost became a sought-after collector’s item. Well, now you don’t have to watch Ebay everyday or trade away your first born… LAPCO has brought back the Grey Ghost and is available through us! They are not cheap… but its one marker you’ll never want to part with!

Today’s Ghost keeps the awesome features of the original and adds a few modern conveniences. They decided to go with a stockclass configuration, meaning the paintballs are loaded horizontal to the barrel and must be tilted to chamber the next ball when pumping (there are more requirements to be stockclass legal but that is the biggie!). Custom LAPCO fingergrooved grips fit like a glove and the marker features the classic slide trigger which makes for a butter smooth pull without being too light. The pump is ribbed for a sure grip and has an internal return spring so you don’t have to hold the pump handle forward the whole time while playing.

Feeding gas to the Ghost is a bucket-style 12gr quickchange adapter, hung vertically from the front of the triggerguard. Stainless steel hose runs on the right side of the marker to the valve and they even did a trick Ive been doing for years… installing a quick disconnect fitting at one end. It makes maintenence quick and easy. Luckily for today’s players, LAPCO utilized the same innovative internals to deliver excellent gas efficiency. The Ghost averages 40+ shots per 12gr cartridges so you are not constantly changing 12 grams and wasting money!

The fit and finish is phenomenal, from the tight tolerances to the LAPCO Bigshot barrel in Spyder thread to the brass quickstrip screws. The classic grey anodizing is flawless. A T-Stock ships with the Grey Ghost for those who want to steady their aim…. yes, this marker is one that you actually do aim and with great effect.

Its great to see an old classic come back to life and a new generation of players have access to a marker that really is an investment… timeless old school cool!

Just got a call from Smart Parts and did a big buy on their paintball jerseys and pants for a pretty big discount. To pass on this savings, prices have been cut big time!  This applies to all Smart Parts paintball playing apparel in Grey, Red, Blue, Yellow, Freak Green and Olive. Sorry, the special does not apply to the new Digital Urban and Jungle at this time.

The Smart Parts Fighter 3 Jersey is now at $24.95, down from $39.95. Its well made, simple yet classy looks, lightly padded and well ventilated. The Smart Parts Fighter 3 Pants are now $39.95, down from $59.95. They are a great deal on pants… tough, light and airy so you don’t overheat.

The Smart Parts Defender Jersey takes it another step up, with more padding on the shoulders, elbow and cuff. These are now $29.95 instead of  $49.95. The hottest deal on these clothes, however, are the Smart Parts Defender Pants. These thoroughly padded and burly pants are now $49.95… thats 50% off of the old price of $99.95 !

Of course, to round out the whole package you need gloves… yes, the price was slashed on those too! The Smart Parts Exoskin Gloves are now $24.95 and you get compression formed padding and ventilation running up every finger! What would help haul all these new clothes to the field? A roomy and comfortable Smart Parts Fielder Backpack, now $15 off for the new price of $39.95. I personally bought one of these to help carry some odds and ends to the field… I like it so much its now my everyday backpack I use commuting to work.

So let’s see… one could now get a complete set of Fighter 3 jersey, pants and gloves for $89.85 or a Defender jersey, pants and gloves for $104.95!  For less than the cost of some companies pants alone you can get a complete set of quality and stylin’ paintballing gear. This is while our supllies last so I suggest hurrying if you’re interested… Christmas is right around the corner!

I know I bring it up a lot, but I really can’t emphasis it enough… wear protective gear when you play paintball ! It doesn’t matter where or what style you play, whether you’re a newbie or a tournament player. I’m not necessarily talking about gear that absorbs the impact of a paintball (though everyone should have some of that too). More important is gear to protect you from yourself. Paintball is a physical sport. No matter how careful or graceful you think you are you are going to dive, drop, crawl, fall, slip, trip, crash, somersault and just run into things sooner or later. If you’re like me its a case of more often than not… at 6 foot 210 pounds I’m not what you call “graceful”. I used to brag about my paintball injuries, now I beg people to start taking padding seriously !

Probably the most important protective equipment is knee pads. You beat the heck out of your knees playing paintball anywhere and they can be the most painful and long-lasting of sports injuries. A good set of knee pads run around $40-60 and that is A LOT cheaper than knee surgery. A few brands really stand out for 2008. New to the lineup this the Dye 08 Knee Pad. I’ve owned a couple models of Dye knee pads over the years and they’ve never let me down. The padding is firm enough to absorb impact yet the designed hinges for flexibility. Smart Parts Exoskin Knee Pads feature lots of venting to breathe. Empire Ground Pounders SE continue to be both lightweight, popular and affordable with a slim design that doesn’t bind up under your pants while the Ventz SE Knee Pads protect not just the knee but the whole shin as well! Very nice for woodsball and killing yourself on logs and tree roots.

We are selling more and more slide shorts these days. These are a pair of padded shorts worn under your playing pants and feature hip, thigh, groin and lower back protection. Players are landing on their sides more often, slamming your harness into your lower back does not feel too good and groin padding is, well, self-explanatory! Again, all the big names cater to this product. Smart Parts Exoskin Slide Shorts are probably the most ventilated. Dye Slide Shorts feature a wide elastic waistband and firm padding. Empire Ground Pounders Slide Shorts have a wide and long pad on both sides and are the most economical. Proto Slide Shorts are both lightweight and feature a cuff at the bottom to keep them from riding up your leg while playing.

One standout in this category is the Empire Ground Pounder Pro Slider Pants. They take the concept to the limit with a full stretch pant that protects not just the midsection but also the whole thigh, knee and shin.

More to come…

Viewloader, who make some of… if not the… best loaders in paintball, called me up with a sweet deal on some VL XSV Vlocity loaders. just in time for Christmas! While supplies last, you can score these excellent electronic hoppers for just $109.99. Thats $70 off the old price and $20 below a standard Vlocity! Its probably the best value out there to feed any fast firing tournament and scenario marker out there. The heart of it is the same rugged design as used by professional team XSV, with different tension settings to maximize speed without crushing brittle paint. This edition also includes the Clockspring Propeller, a new drive cone that features springy arms to allow more room for paint to index into the catchcup while providing even more cushioning to prevent turning your loader into a brittle tourney-paint blender. However, the best addition is a set of long-lasting Ion-Lithium batteries and recharging base with both wall and car plugs. Not only are you saving $70, but you never have to buy batteries for your loader.

Again, this special is while supplies last… and I doubt they’ll last long. If you need a new force-feeding loader, here’s your chance to save big. If you’re Christmas shopping for a paintballer on your list, here is a great deal on something any player can use!

Invert and Empire have always kept the younger generation of paintball players in mind when they design new gear and the 2008 line is no exception. Now kids can not only look like pros but also have a wide range of safety gear to prevent injuries that could affect them down the road.

Let’s face it… kids love camo and 2008 Invert clothing offers a pant, jersey and gloves in the popular Woodland Digi Camo. These are not some cheaply made, disposable kid’s clothing. These are serious pieces of gear made to the same exact specs that the pros use. Built to last, one full set of gear will outlast many sets of street clothes and they look infinitely cooler!

The Invert Youth Pants feature padded knees and Kevlar (thats what they make bullet-resistant vests out of) reinforced skidplates so the knees aren’t getting shredded and full of holes. They are roomy and have drawstring cuffs at the ankles and velcro waist adjustment on the sides to not only give a proper fit but also provide a little room to grow into. Youth Large is about a 26-28in Waist, Youth Medium 24-26in and Youth Small 22-24in.

The Invert Youth Jersey is vented for circulation and has padding on the elbows, deltoid and shoulders to take some of the sting out of getting hit.

Gloves are one of the most important pieces of gear to prevent your hands from getting cut and scraped up. The Invert Youth Paintball Glove puts padded Clarino between their skin and the ground. The breathable open cell neoprene backs take the sting out of hand hits, with extra padding over the knuckles for added safety.

Empire also offers protective gear in youth sizes as well. For 2008 the Ground Pounder Series has Slide Shorts, Pro Slider Pants, Elbow Pads, Knee Pads and Chest Vest chest armor. Knee pads and elbow pads I personally consider to be essential equipment and I’m really liking the Pro Slider Pants and how it puts padding all over the place because really, do you ever fall in the same place every time?

Keep those kids both safe and looking good this season!

Tippmann is running a rebate right now that helps out both the player and your local paintball store and field. How it works is simple. From now until February 15th, 2008 you buy any Tippmann 98 Custom or Custom Pro. Take your new marker and go play at your local field, saving your receipt for your entry fee (must be at least $20) or from getting CO2 and air fills adding up to $20. Fill out the rebate form, mail it in with copies of the proper receipts and Tippmann will mail you a check for $20. How cool is that?

Its finally here! The entire line of 2008 Empire paintball apparel is in our warehouse and will be shipping next week so start placing your orders now because a lot of this stuff is going to go quick before the Christmas rush even begins. This year Empire’s main lineup is focused on five color options… Black, Blue, Red, traditional Woodland Camo and old-school Desert Camo. The Desert Camo is the choice making the most waves at the moment and just might be the biggest seller of the year.

First up is the Empire SE Jersey. This year they added a longer cuff with a thumbhole so the sleeves don’t go sliding up and over your elbow pads when you dive. They added more tournament-legal padding to the outer wrist area and deltoid areas to give you a little more protection from injury, and rubber grippy emblems in the shoulder pocket region to help hold your tank in place. Most of the shoulder and sleeves are black… a classy look on the rec field and helps sponsor logos stand out more for those teams good enough to get sponsorship.

Covering hardcore paintballers legs this year will be the Empire SE Pants. What I love about these is the amount of padding they put into them. They have the usual knee and vitals covered but also put in some cushion zones to the hip, shin, thigh, rear and sides of the knees. Really people, I don’t care how tough you think you are… load up protection and pad yourself against injury! The SE Pants have a high backed waist and stretchy yoke to hold your harness in place comfortably and really wide belt loops so if you want to wear your favorite 2 1/2″ wide studded leather belt while playing like I do, now you can. Kevlar reinforcement, soft covered zippers… really, I could keep going on and on about these pants… do yourself a favor and get a pair!

Of course, one needs gloves to round out the apparel. The Empire SE Gloves feature open cell neoprene backs so your hands can breathe, with cushy neoprene and gel sections sewn into the wrists and knuckles for protection on those bony bits of your hands. The fingers feature a Lycra section on the two trigger fingers for feel and mobility. I’m sure most people will still cut these off but when I was at World Cup I noticed that nearly all players using them such as Infamous were playing with the fingers still on the gloves. Hmmm, what does that tell you about how they feel? The palms are a combination of Kevlar pads to hold up against slides and grippy silicon patches to grip your marker. All that and some sweet styling to boot. The pre-orders on these are already piling up…

That covers just the basic apparel for the 2008 Empire line. I haven’t even gotten started on the gear bags, tank covers, harnesses or hoodies. Do yourself a favor and click on this link… Empire is going to be hard to beat for the quality and features this year!

One of the surprises at World Cup this year came from the massive and swanky Proto pavillion. Besides the very radically milled and rengineered PM8 (pics and more coming soon!) they launched a new marker in a market they typically don’t venture into.. the sub $300 category. Last year their Proto Rail took bang-for-the-buck to a new level, putting a real tournament performer into your hands at $400-600. Now the SLG (which they told me stands for Super Light Gun) goes even further, coming into the market at $250 and loaded.

The marker’s operation is a bit different than the usual DM and PM series. There is a spool valve-style bolt still, but a mechanical solenoid (instead of a solenoid valve) and a sear. Its operation reminds me more of a blow-forward design like the Automag or the old ICD Desert Fox. This style of operation has slightly more kick than a DM series but is also much lower in height and more gas efficient as well. One interesting features is the button on the rear cap. Its used to cock the marker when first gassed up but also helps discharge the pressure for safe disassembly.

Feeding the pressure to the SLG is the new Hyper3 Regulator that will be on all Dye and Proto guns this year. It features better flow in what is possibly the thinnest and lightest inline vertical reg I have ever seen! The gripframe is molded from a light but strong polymer that is even stronger than the material used on the PMR frames. The trigger is about the only thing I heard negative comments on at World Cup, but Custom Products and others are already working on aftermarket triggers…. and really, who uses a stock trigger on virtually any marker these days anyways?

The Proto SLG puts a lot of gun in your hands for not a lot of money. Its definitely worth looking to as a step up into higher performance or as a backup to your usual tourney marker.