Chris Schneck

Electronic triggers for paintball markers, either sear tripping or solenoid actuating, give anyone with the cash an instant advantage in rate of fire capabilities. With rates of fire nearing 20 balls per second or more your uber paintball marker should be used with caution and in a tactically correct way to yield any real benefit. ( oh and to make sure no one gets hurt )

Suppressive fire isn’t a new or revolutionary concept, but its surprising to see many new or relatively inexperienced woodsballers using it haphazardly without control or team coordination. I cant deny that there isn’t a slight satisfaction to raining paint down on someone, but you need to learn when to stop shooting as not to bonus ball anyone and how to time your barrages to help in team movement.

It’s quite simple really, while one person in the squad is laying it down on the opfor everyone else should be moving into a different position to try and build an angle on the target. After a lot of practice this isn’t even something that needs to be discussed before hand, if you hear a teammate shooting at someone that’s your signal to move and to try and flank them. The whole practice of shooting and moving is what makes paintball .  .  . paintball! Speedball or woodsball, it doesn’t matter, this is how the game universally works.

Unless you’re a full fledged noobinator, then the correct thing to do is to stay in one spot with your finger on the trigger and after 2 minutes when your rain of paint terror is over and you’ve accomplished nothing, quickly call yourself out and walk off the field.

Just as a paintball marker is only as good as the person using it, having full auto capabilities in your squad is only as useful as the squad itself. Practice and team coordination make full auto useful, not the individual or their marker.

I’m biased here, because I absolutely love this vest. Ive used mine since the 6 model came out and I don’t regret the purchase one bit. If you have the chance, I highly recommend picking one up. This tactical vest is everything they advertise it to be, its absolutely designed for woodsball play and I have no fear of it standing up to whatever I dish out. After more then a year of beating on it, it is a tiny bit frayed in spots but I feel like this will last me the rest of my paintball career.

I chose the woodland camouflage pattern, but it is also available in olive drab, black, omnipat, acu digital and their own special ops digital. Ive never worn a vest that isn’t all mesh, so I cant imagine being any hotter then I already am on a summers day. I’m not saying this vest is particularly hot, I actually hardly notice I’m wearing it, but vests that aren’t all mesh must be devastating. The horizontal tank holder on the back is rock solid, once you double Velcro and double strap your tank down there’s no need to check through the day, its not going anywhere. The 6+2 pod pack is again solid, plenty of Velcro to hold the pod flaps shut and with all my jumping, sliding and diving ive never had one come open unexpectedly. The pod pack is actually supported internally by a Velcro waist band like you’d see on a speedball pod pack, so your vest and its contents are held to your body and don’t shift around as you play.

I don’t clean my vest anymore, I kind of like to retain the smell of the forest floor, its like a giant air freshener. But when I did clean it, id just take it into the shower and rinse it with warm water and hang it to dry. Good as new.

My only problem with the vest is pictured below, the main flip down id pocket came from the factory less than perfect. With me being in Canada there’s no way to affordably ship it back for a little sewing.

Another essential paintball item I cant recommend enough. If you need to carry paint and c02, a tactical vest from special ops paintball is something you should give thought to. If the broadsword vest looks a little overkill, they do make vest with smaller loadouts for different styles of play.