Chris Schneck

If you’ve ever played a large enough game to warrant the use of radios you already know how just plain awesome and genuinely useful they can be. Just as anything else in paintball, or any other hobby actually, there are a few expensive mistakes you can make a long the way before you find the perfect practical working combination between cost and functionality. The radios featured in this article are admittedly a couple years old, but no less effective or relevant.

The Motorola T6500 FRS/GMRS radios have stood up well to plenty of outdoor abuse. I’ve used these in all weather conditions and only once when there was 4 inches of snow on the ground and it was raining and muddy did they have a hiccup, but that very well could have been the headset getting damp. A rugged radio like this model is ideal for the beating that comes with playing woodsball. The T6500’s come with rechargeable battery packs and a charging stand, but I would ditch the battery packs and go straight to consuming straight up AA’s. Each T6500 takes 3 AA batteries and battery life is quite good, I’ve never had to panic and swap out during a days play. The complete list of features is quite impressive: 22 channels, PTT, VOX, pad lockout, etc. check out the main product page here. They’ve been shot, dived on, dropped and stepped on and Motorola T6500’s get an overwhelming thumbs up.

A good radio in pair with a good headset & microphone combo increase the advantage you have over your opponents. If you have only 2 radios in a squad of 8, you can maneuver 2 groups of 4 people in and out of danger without the other team knowing what really just happened. At the end of the day they will most definitely be asking themselves how you always seemed to pop up out of nowhere with such a showing of force.

More importantly then what brand I would recommend is of course the technical information. The most important tidbit is the difference between FRS and GMRS.

FRS stands for Family Radio Service. Radios that are only FRS compatible will be limited to 500 milliwatts of power. Unfortunately for Americans the FCC has regulated that to use anything more powerful you have to pay a licensing fee, currently at $85USD. FRS radios are just fine for short range use and are very often affordable to anyone!

GMRS stands for General Mobile Radio Service. In the United States, licensed GMRS operators are permitted to transmit at up to 50 Watts of power It’s more likely that the GMRS radios you buy will be powered at the same level as my T6500 radios, outputting a blistering 1 watt and providing you with ample range in which to communicate with.

PTT stands for Push To Talk. Either the button on the body of the radio or the button on the cable that leads to the plugged in microphone can be pushed to initiate a transmission. Having a boom mic under your mask is an enormous advantage, you can literally whisper and be heard by the person on the other end. Excellent for directing movement or fire from a concealed position.

VOX stands for Voice Operated Transmission/Transmitter. So why isn’t the acronym VOT? I have no idea. Although I HIGHLY recommend you don’t use this feature. With all the running, gunning and shouting you’re going to be doing it will sound more like a violent obscene phone call then anything tactically useful.

VOX = *pant*pant*pant*oh crap*pop*pop*pant*pop*IM HIT IM HIT*

I’ve been holding back my review on this NcStar red dot sight until I had sufficient time to actually use it, after 6 days of use ( approx 24 hours of play ) I can confidently say that it’s FAR superior to a standard single point red dot sight. I was admittedly slightly skeptical as to how the quality of the video game crosshairs would be in real life, but once again the Canadian distributor for NcStar products, KJ Sales, has delivered a fantastic functional tactical upgrade for my T9 MilSim paintball marker.

This red dot sight is several kinds of awesome and I have nothing bad to say about it. The rheostat for adjusting the brightness has 7 different levels of output and even on the lowest setting is powerful enough to be seen in broad daylight, I find the highest setting actually too bright! The construction is all aluminum and the entire unit is quite hefty weighing in at 4+ ounces. Windage and elevation are easily adjustable with the included allen key.

The only potential downside to this NcStar red dot sight is that the lens is not protected in any way, unlike the 42mm NcStar red dot sight. I haven’t taken a direct hit to the glass and although these units have come down in price substantially they still aren’t cheap enough to shoot it on purpose for testing sake. Since the lens is held in by an all aluminum shroud, and the lens is fairly thick, I would surmise that the lens would pop out instead of shatter. In either case with a broken lens or a missing lens the D4C would cease to function.

Because paintball itself may be misunderstood by someone who knows nothing about the sport or because the only press paintball receives in mass media seems to be bad press. Getting your parents to let you play paintball may not be that easy and getting them to actually buy you paintball gear may be even actually harder. You shouldn’t hold it against your parents if they’re apprehensive about your interest in paintball, as an outsider to paintball there is a lot they probably aren’t aware of. Informing your parents and answering all their potential questions should be the first part in your initial negotiations. Yes, I called it negotiations, since they can provide something you want you also will most likely have to give something back of equal value to them.

1. Your safety, the safety of those around you and the potential risk of injury to all persons involved will undoubtedly be the primary concern of every parent. Although all paintball gear seems to come with the same set of standard warnings there is no system of legal punishment for disobeying common sense, unlike seatbelt laws where you can be fined for not buckling up.

Parents should know : If you are playing on a legitimate field where you are required to pay field fees, you will be policed and require to follow quite a few safety rules. The only injuries you will come home with are the welts left from the paintballs themselves as paintball is statistically one of the safest sports around.

2. General hooliganism. Are you going to go around making youtube videos of yourself shooting your dumb friend who volunteered to be the guinea pig? Are you going to run rampant around the neighbourhood shooting road signs, cars and other peoples houses at random? I think here you will have the greatest time convincing them, as you might very well be a little jerk who shouldn’t be playing paintball. But this is where compromise in your negotiations can be played up.

Parents should know : There is something you  may or may not have heard of, its called the fire triangle. Imagine a triangle; on one side you have oxygen, on another side you have fuel and on the last side you have the source of ignition. Creating fire is impossible if you take away one of these three elements. Now imagine the paintball triangle; on one side you have the paintball marker, on another side you have paintballs and on the last side you have the markers propellant source. Playing paintball and causing damage through hooliganism isn’t possible if you take away one of the three elements needed to play paintball. If you lock up the marker in a safe place, as you would a real firearm when its not in use, you eliminate any chance of wrong doing on your child’s part.

3. Paintball is expensive. There is no argument on that one, paintball can be expensive. If you don’t already, putting in extra chore time around the house will be required. Pushing a lawn mower around for a couple hours a week or doing more dishes is really a fair trade off to be able to play paintball regularly though. If your parents are going to buy your gear for you initially don’t make a rushed decision. Buy something practical that will require the least amount of upgrading and maintenance. Tippmann 98’s, BT4’s and a few of the lower end Smart Parts markers may suit you well and be more gentle on your parents pockets.

Parents should know :  There are always deals to be had, and when shopping in a retail paintball store don’t be afraid to haggle or ask for a deal when making a large purchase. If you are going to buy an entire setup for your child ( marker, mask, c02 tank, pod pack, pods ) simply suggesting “Hey, since I’m buying all this you can cut me a deal right” there’s a very high chance you can get something, anything, taken off the bottom line. Shop around, look online, there’s no rush. When taking your child to a local field often you’ll find they have membership packages with an array of benefits, again lowering your overall costs. An average day at an expensive field can run up to $90, which is really a high estimate, anything you can do to lower the initial and overall costs will bring harmony to the balance of you wanting your child to have fun and your child getting what they want.

Kids, paintball is fun, you know this. If concessions are required in order for you to be allowed to play or if your parents are going to buy your gear for you, you have to be willing to make sacrifices.

Parents, your child’s interest in paintball shouldn’t frighten or alarm you, they aren’t recruited militants. You should really give this a try yourself, you might surprised and also get hooked. If you have any other questions or concerns, or you’d like guidance in making a purchase for your child, feel free to email me chris@chrisschneck.com I’m not selling anything nor am I a commissioned sales person.