The Call

The Black Rock. Over the centuries, many have heard its call. Some unknowing, others full well.
It is on the wind as you race forward, taking the objective. It is in the ground with the thud of the boot. It is in the sweat of the player, showing exertion for that final push and raises the flag high. It is in you as you stalk your prey through the forest to get the perfect angle for the shot. It is the surge of victory and the sapping weight of defeat. The Black Rock is all these things. It is within each and every one of us.

This year, the Black Rock calls again. It is calling you to come and fight, to stake your claim, and hold the line. Do you hear it? Will YOU heed the call?

The Black Rock. Show your heart, your courage, your skill and you too will be found worthy.

The Game

Black Rock is an independently run weekend long big game for and by the players. It is the proof of concept over many years of chatting after a game with drink in one hand and a cigar in the other. Of battling on countless fields all over. It is a call to arms that many are already hearing and planning to descend upon Sniperz Den in St. Paul, Oregon on September 17-19, 2010.

This weekend long event seeks to root itself in all the things we love about paintball. Good friends, intense battles, quick movements, and tactical thinking. You will have all of this at Black Rock and much more if you heed the call.

Teams from all over are hearing the call of the Black Rock. They will band together and face each other on the field of battle and afterwards tales will be told, hands will be shook, and glasses will be raised. The line has been drawn and before its end, one will be declared the victor and worthy of holding the Black Rock.

The Details

Date: Friday, September 17th-Sunday September 19th
Location: Sniperz Den – St. Paul, Oregon
BYOP: We will have Valken paint available for pre-order and available at the game at a special introductory price.

For more game information go to >>> www.blackrockpb.com

Black Rock. Heed the call…

This was so much fun I’m seriously contemplating going pump all the way.  I’ll never give up my baby TM-7 and will always bring her into big game battles where nebs must be prawned. But when I’m playing with my friends, I’d rather not send 5-7 rounds at their head. I think it also allows many people more flexibility in how they play the game.  Gone is the worry of being pelted by 4 people with automatics. Not all of us are crazy asses. I feel so hypocritical writing this because I’m usually that dick head spraying your position.  It’s very effective but fun for the other party? Perhaps not. I always sort of rolled my eyes  hearing about how high ROF is “killin dis here sport!” or that it totally sucks compared to pump play.  But I can see peoples point now, perhaps its just a change of pace but I think  woodsball pump play is something to be explored more by not just this community but every OG balla. Besides, that’s where all this bowshit started sucka.

Today, and leading up to the OKC Outlaws & Lawdawgs pump and pistol game, I will be posting a series of conversations with my fellow pumpers.

The pumpers have found a home here at OK Company, and the ranks have been growing. With more people seeing what we can do with one shot, we can bring back a style of play that can improve your game, along with growing our sport, to show that you don’t need to join the arms race to have a love for this game.

So our first interview is with the winning General from the last Outlaws & Lawdogs game…Trinket! Personally I remember playing with Mr. Trinket at the mountain during one of his first times with a pump (I think), we came up on a player and I heard Trink fire, then he said, “Holy crap I hit him!”, I turned and looked over casually after and replied “you dont need it do you?” I was referring to shooting Semi. You just don’t need 30 rounds in the air, you just need one, it’s that one clean shot that every pumper goes to bed dreaming of.

1. Who the hell are you?

Travis, aka Trink. I’m big in Japan.

2. How long have you been playing pump?

Since I got back into the sport in summer of ’09, so about a year.

3. Could you give me a brief rundown of your current marker of choice (If you have any cool stories about it, give it up!)? And what would be your dream pump?

My current marker is a dust black/dust white CCM S6. It’s a phenomenal open class pump. I originally purchased a converted 2004 super stock autococker as my first pump. The idea was to play with that for a year or so to decide if I “really liked” pump. I played with it 5 times, and then bought my S6. As I personally see CCM guns as the pinnacle of the pump gun market, it was a big step up. I LOVE it though.

4. What kind of player is attracted to the art of pump? What led you to becoming a pump player?

In my experience, those attracted to pump tend to be players who like playing a bit more aggressive. Due to the lack of volume of fire, you have to make your shots count. Often times this means you need to push the issue to get the right angles on your targets. Also, personality wise, pump players tend to be pretty laid back about the game. I’ve yet to meet a pumper who was fixated on winning at all costs. Most seem to take the ups and downs on the field in good stride.

5. What was it like the first time you stepped out on to the field with your marker? How long did it take to become comfortable out there?

The first time I played pump (which was also my first time playing paintball in several years), I got smoked pretty fast. It was a speedball field with a bunch of guys with electro race markers firing 30bps. To say it was intimidating doesn’t really convey what I was feeling. After that night, I thought I had made a mistake by buying a pump; I don’t think I got a single elimination, and I was getting shot out within seconds each game.

Once I started playing with OKC on a regular basis, I started to get back into the groove. Pump definitely takes a different mentality on the field, and once I was comfortable with the prospect of getting hit, I was able to play more aggressive/loose and succeed. It probably took me about 2 months to get to that point.

6. Do you have any advice to anyone who want to be totally awesome and pick up a pump?

My first, most important piece of advice for a new pumper would be to not get discouraged. The fact of the matter is, if you’re new to pump, you’re GOING to get lit up a lot the first couple of times you play. It takes awhile to adjust, and you have to have patience to get to that point.

My second piece of advice would be to play aggressive and make your shots count. I’m always reminding myself that if I’m not being shot at, I need to be moving toward the enemy. Opportunities present themselves if you act, not if you sit behind your back bunker waiting for stuff to happen. This is doubly true as a pump player, as (with some small exceptions) you’re not going to do anybody any good by trying to longball someone from 80 yards away at 0.5 balls per second.

Finally, play for fun. This is true in all forms of paintball, but especially important with a pump. You’re going to get shot up a lot early on, but learn to laugh at yourself and those you’re playing with. If you take the game too seriously, it ruins it. That said, pump for life!!

Thank you to Trinket for taking the time to inform us of his little corner of the pump world! So heres to you and everyone who calls themselves pumper!

“3-2-1…GO BITCHES”
Book of Layzar; Tick 4:16

BOB LONG VICTORY: The gun of Marloc. Slayer of yellow team SG37, vanquisher of MVT event awards and King of OKC. His might and wisdom belong to every throng of paint his Excalibur thwacks through its barrel. The Bob Long Victory might look like just another space gun to the untrained woody, but don’t let its sensual curves and it’s elongated trigger guard fool you.  This marker is a beast. It literally mows down anything in its path. The souls of a thousands newbs are encased within it’s light and highly ergonimic design.

BT SA-17 Pistola: OK, I’m wading into dangerous territory with this one.  I recently sold my TPX pistol because I thought it was too big. Just like my Tiberius before that.  So why on earth would I consider purchasing a larger pistol? A pistol that doesn’t even have a clip either.  I’ll tell you why: versatility.  This bad boy is like a mini pump. Throw on a longer barrel, roll with a hopper, roll with a tube, hook it up to a remote, use cartridges, stick it in Santa Clause face when you rob him. If Billy Mays were alive he would say, “IT DOES EVERYTHING!”  I love it.

TIB T-4:Old news right? Yeah, and the clip is too big, I know. But still, this thing looks like it could shred a peepee at 500 yrds. If Shawna divorces me the first thing I’m going to do is go out and buy this thing. It’s the first paintball gun where a sight actually does something, imagine that. It’s also the first woodsball gun to validate all the unnecessary bullshit, even better!

SP1: Standard issue for many OKCer’s you can’t talk about hawt p8nt shit and forget to mention it. In fact, the SP-1 is thinking about bitch slapping the rest of the guns on this page. That and taking their mothers out for fine dining like the southern gentleman it truly is on the inside. I’ve never rolled with one but I’ve had my peepee shot several times by it, and let me tell ya: I tinkled. Wondering which gun you’d like to replace your 50lb. A-5 with? Here’s your answer.

MacDev Drone: I don’t know a thing about this gun but I love it.

Why? I have no idea, but it deserves to go on this page because it’s hawt.

TM-7 LE: Like begging your girlfriend to wear a paintball mask in bed and succeeding, BT went the extra mile to introduce the limited edition TM-7. Conveniently repriced to the original debut  price tag! And don’t think you’re getting the updated selenoid either, that’s still another $75.   Yeah I already have one but I don’t want to paint it.  Like a classic car sitting in the garage I’ve been inches away from buying one of these and watching it collect dust in my closet.  Everyone has their paintball fetish, don’t judge.

]]> http://okcompanypaintball.com/hot-gear/feed/ 0 http://okcompanypaintball.com/supa-game-fallout/ http://okcompanypaintball.com/supa-game-fallout/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:02:49 +0000 Vart http://okcompanypaintball.com/?p=383

It’s time we pay tribute again to this years recent Super Game.  The following is a collection of comments from various members of the community. Also, if you haven’t already, don’t forget to read OKC’s official statement written by the one and only Mowloc.

———–POSTED BY:    Arturo

“Notable events:

1. Led a charge with only a pistol in hand.
2. First time I’ve ever been bruised in the armpit. With my arms up walking out some random dick-ass shot my pit 2-3 times. I forgot about until I looked at it in the shower.
3. Jumped into the creek and waded across – got two kills before I was overshot like William Dafoe in Platoon.
4. Watched a yellow team member cheat repeatedly from six feet away. Just stood there and looked at him. When he was finally startled by my presence I embarrassed him like he forgot to wear pants to school.
5. I loved hearing all weekend how big of a demon Dan Bonebrake is. It’s like he’s an evil railroad tycoon from the 1800’s or something. It was ridiculous.. Just imagine what he’d do to us Generaling again. (dont fall for it marloch)
6. Baby TM-7 had a diaper rash Saturday morning.”

______________________________________

———–POSTED BY:    Murdoc

Woot! Big shout out to all who attended!

Yellow, EXCELLENT job! You really showed us reds that you meant business! Xaber, commendable job, brother!

My Red Army folk’s, it was a pleasure as always! I love any chance I get to run with the CO guy’s, the Moongobbies, the Walkons and AFL. It really doesn’t get any better than that. I honestly think that those teams right there are some of the best in the NW, it’s just too bad we couldn’t pull it together.

That said, I had a blast. I love paintball, not only for the sport side of it, but because of the social aspect of it. OK Company has been blessed with some great relationships these past couple of years and I just can’t say enough about the teams we’ve met along our journey.

My highlights:

Friday- By far leaps and bounds better than SG37 night Ops. Had a blast working with OKC/AFL to take Darkwood, then turned around after the hour and move to the DMZ for some CQB. Fun stuff and won’t forget it.

Saturday – Great battle at Darkwood. Holding off Yellow all day until the objective was up. After lunch, coming back to the field to find Red pushed back into our spawn and needing to RE-SECURE the Hideout! You all remember the minor objective at Yeager beach during SG 37 and how insane it was???? Well, my experience at the Hide Out topped that.

The tall grass, the crick and the amount of firepower was un-believable. I just remember being more worried about swimming/crossing in the creek than being shot by the OPFOR on the other side of it. Once there, I belly crawled more than I ever have in my life. The Hideout was some serious CQB without the urban environment.

Sunday – Defending Darkwood and having to make a couple pushes to get yellow back further on the tree line. I left soon after to get paint, only to find hundreds of yellow manning up to make another push. I’m sure we lost it soon after. ”

_________________________________________

———–POSTED BY:    Silent Warrior – (Operators)

“What a fun ass weekend! We lost but I don’t care, I had a killer a time!! Dtr43, AZ and I filmed the shit out of the game so be on the look out in the near future for a highspeed and an HD video of the battles!

It was great running with you guys and hanging out partying and shooting the shit, always a good time!

Yellow won the battle this weekend, but we will win the war!!

See you guys in a few weeks!

Hoo-Op!”

______________________________________

———–POSTED BY:    Frog

“OH MAN there were some intense firefights this weekend!! everyday was glorious and a challenge. Yellow Army put up a hell of a fight and i wouldn’t ask for any less! some of the teams on both sides did great work out there and you all know who i’m talking about.

even though we got spanked, i gotta give props to Red Army for pushing out of our spawn when being held in so brutally, and continuing to fight hard all day, everyday. i think this SG, i worked the hardest i ever have before in a paintball game, and i had an incredible time doing it!

AFL absolutely owned the night and it was a pleasure to roll with them again, and i look forward to many more games with them! so many players were unique in the battles and it was an honor to row’ with so many great teams. i also witnessed some epic shit by our own OK Company players – GREAT JOB GUYS!! i think our overall communication got pretty low but every area we were in we gave Yellow hell! when we go to SG’s, we go there to work our asses off and have a great time and i feel we accomplished both, and much more!

i’d love to point out all the amazing shit that i witnessed this weekend and all the people who were doing it, but the list would be too long, and still not account for everything. i had an absolute blast and it was great to hang out with everyone! i don’t know about you guys but i shot the shit out of Yellow this weekend..”

______________________________________________

———–POSTED BY:    Murdoc (originally posted on PBnation)

“My thoughts on SG as a Red player:

First off, AWESOME job to everyone!!! Yellow, freakin’ great job at kicking our butts Sunday! Xaber, you did an excellent job with your army and coordinating the attacks. I know from experience at Darkwood and Hide out, that yellow had some dang good players.

Red Army! Great job guy’s! Keep your heads up as you all did well and there is always next year! Smeed, I loved rolling with you and your Walkons, just wish OKC could have done more for you. Red had great teams, but due to lack of communication, we all left the field at the same time Saturday for lunch and never seemed to recover.

People talk about spawn problems and I can understand both sides of the argument. I was the Yellow general at SG37 and did similar to red as what happened at SG39. BUT, Xaber was Red General at SG 38 and WON!

Now there is a little difference in the red spawn between 38 & 39, as it extended up the actual hill. Which provided a shorter distance to run to the DMZ. Would that completely solve the problem? No way. Red got out played and Yellow wanted it more.

I personally had a lot of fun. Whether or not I win or lose, get an award or go home empty handed, the weekend was ultimately dedicated to seeing friends and playing some ball.

I did see some dishonorable things coming from both sides and I personally stooped low enough to curse at a few players out of frustration, so I apologized and took myself off the field, because at that point I lost site of why I was there. Ultimately it’s up to the players to decide what to do with the game and keep in mind why we play it.

Friday Night:

This night game was FAR better than years past. I had a blast attacking Darkwood and then working into the DMZ. It was insane to work against both Yellow and the Renegades! Great job to everyone!

Saturday:

Was a great even fight until the entire red army left for lunch at the same time (right after we won Darkwood Fort). Once that happened, Yellow swarmed the field and Red never really recovered Saturday. The Hideout was an amazing display of fire power and probably one my most memorable paintball fights of all time.

Sunday:

Red learned learned the hard way once again why the DMZ is the most important spot on the field. Yellow started there and were able to constantly attack Darkwood until it was ultimately theirs.

Once Darkwood fell, it was game over. Yellow did an awesome job at capitalizing strategic locations and coordinating attacks. Excellent job, guy’s.

Cheers”

http://okcompanypaintball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1009

Crappy poster I spent little time on:

Like rough sex with a stranger, there was no morning kiss, no breakfast in bed and certainly no meeting the parents. We weren’t looking for love, not at all, instead we were there to drink booze, break some yellow army vixen hearts and in the morning drive home with another victory to etched on our bedpost. For 365 days, Red Army soldiers have pre-planned the preplanning, had check every list twice and made damn sure we were bringing the goods to get the job done at Supergame 39.

Instead of an elongated orgasm of paintball awesomeness, Red Army reverted back to its pubescent days. Like the kid who drank too much before the party started, Red Army couldn’t rise to the occasion and left with nothing but a sore crotch (or ass, mattering on the tent you slept in) and a hang over.

In the lack of Supergame afterglow, I’ll present my personal thoughts on the event; yes, that means the good, the bad and the strange.

This years’ event was both blessed and cursed. Blessed in the fact we received three days of sunshine paintball bliss. Cursed because we lost a dear fellow paintballer to health complications. Bryce Hotchkiss (31), fell in the opening minutes of Saturdays game to a seizure, which he ultimately never recovered from. Bryce was not a close friend of ours, but from what we have gathered, he was one heck of a guy. Him and others had made the trek from Idaho to join some friends in town for the game. An unfortunate situation, yes, but as his friends have said, he died doing something he absolutely loved. So here’s to you, brother!

Friday was dedicated to seeing the old faces we’ve missed for so long. In something similar to a drunken stooper, we managed to get camp set up and stagger the orchard looking for our friends from afar. It was a special day, not only was it the first day of Supergame, but rather our good friend and long time OKC member was coming in from California, Frank “MightyMo” Beaker. For OKC, getting to see Frank was a big deal and that alone was worth paying for the event.

After a mushy kiss and borderline gay hug, I took to the field to see the new construction.

The Field:

It was quick to tell someone had put some work into the field. There were new bunkers, new tank roads, new travel paths, new bridges, new spawn areas and extended netting. Big thank you to everyone who leant a hand in the construction and clearing.

I was honestly a little worried with the Red spawn since it had been pushed backwards from previous SG’s, but I knew it wouldn’t single handedly kill our buzz.

Friday Night Game:

The game objectives were kept to the DMZ and Darkwood Fort. I must say I liked the hell out of the format. The night game flowed well, stayed compact and offered some intense fights. This year players were provided glow sticks that were mandatory to have on our markers in order to distinguish teams…. Which was a great idea by the way.

At games start I was certain Red Army was going to do well. The game duration was only two hours and our General “Smeed” had provided us a fantastic plan to ensure a victory. OK Company was tasked with hitting the first objective, Darkwood Fort. Our group consisted of 20 players, 4 large spotlights and one set of night vision. Team AFL was going to flank our right side and come up the Swamp side of DWF and meet us in the middle.

OKC new the Renegade force of 30+ players would be held up around Darkwood, we also knew Yellow Army was going to push the objective as well. So once in a strategic part of the forest, we held back, let Yellow and the Renegades eat each other up and then we moved in. In fine OKC style we got right up in their faces and finally over powered the objective. It wasn’t an easy fight by any means. Those Ganggreen renegades deserve some credit for putting up one heck of a fight, especially for being surrounded.

I remember lying on my stomach next to ScPhantom about 10ft from the fort walls when he looked over at me and said, “cover my ass. I’m going to crawl and get that fucking flag!” That was one brave move. Renegades were shooting directly over our heads, plus he had to cross through spot lights, risk getting shot at the entrance while pulling the flag and the son of bitch did it! Right after SC pulled the flag, who other than Frog came running up next to me as we stormed the Fort walls. I’m sure we shot people inside that place up close, so if it was you, we apologize.

Once we over took DWF, we pushed out our parameter, linked up with AFL (who had Thermal) and liquidated the incoming yellow players. At the end of the hourly objective, we secured the points and moved on to the DMZ where our friends from Central Oregon, the Moongobbies and the Walkons had already put in some work. The second hour was dedicated to some CQB in the town. My most memorable moment was having Shrek cover my ass as Wilson; Trinket and myself rushed across the street the next set of enemy occupied buildings.

The second hour finally came, which provided another 100 points to the Red Army, making the day a total of 200 – 0 in Reds favor….. Too bad it didn’t last.

Saturday Supergame:

Saturday started a little off kilter. I was a little worried about Reds access to the DMZ in comparison to Yellow. I had an underlying feeling that we needed to put more attention there instead of other areas, but it was simply a hunch.

The game started, OKC headed to Darkwood. We got there first and dug in. After a few minutes of play, a “freeze” call came over the field and unfortunately this is when Bryce Hotchkiss went down. From what I gathered, numerous players rose to the occasion and did what CPR they could to revive him, help get him off the field and ultimately to the hospital.

After about 30 minutes, the game re-started. Once again OKC headed to Darkwood, but this time it was different. For some reason Yellow beat us there and had time to dig in. It was opposite the time before and we didn’t slow down. But, whatever, we gave them hell, pushed them back and finally out of Darkwood. OKC held and held darkwood (with the help of some Moongobbies and others) until a few hours later when the objective was finally up and we earned the points.

Now this is where Red makes one decision that costs them the day… after the Darkwood fight, OKC is out of paint, air and are hungry. We head off the field to eat and re-up. Well, evidently so did the rest of the red army. Yellow stormed the field and dug in. From that point forward it was an uphill battle the rest of Saturday. Yellow was on the ball and marching.

By the time all of OKC was back in the game, the enemy had done such a great job; they had taken the Hideout objective. That was unacceptable. So, we ran up behind the objective and dropped in. Once down to the creek line heavy fire broke out. The grass was about 4-½ ft tall and surrounded a wooded area that held the objective. Like Vietnam, we forged across the crick and into the grass trails. The firefights grew and grew and grew until finally there was no other sound than paintball guns firing. It was the most paint I’ve ever seen fly at once in my entire life. Ultimately, was able to belly crawl in through the back entrance to the objective. By then other OKC had secured the flag and I was merely shooting Yellow as they poured in to the area. At one point I remember not knowing who was friend or foe due to the grass height and amount players from both teams rushing the area. I walked away from that fight with some nice welts. By hours end, Red held the objective and received the points.

The next objective was BB hill, so we used the time to re-up on paint/air and head to the final objective, the DMZ.

Now for the strange/bad portion of SG. After Red won Darkwood fort at 1 o’clock, we all left the field and Yellow took over control. So basically from that time on, Red was stuck in their spawn. Even knowing this, and knowing that Yellow was down in points, the staff made a minor objective for 50pts in the DMZ which was held by yellow at the time. That to me ruined the integrity of the game. Red pushed on though, finally gaining control of the objective, but ended up losing it in the final seconds… which is whole other story…. But continuing on. The final DMZ battle was great and ended with Yellow wanting it more than Red. By Saturdays end, Red Army led the war by 50pts.

Sunday Spoils of War:

Sunday is where Red made some fundamental mistakes. First we chose Darkwood instead in the DMZ which killed us in the long run, second, our teams weren’t coordinated (everyone got spread out) and moral was down.

OKC was tasked with holding Darkwood right of the bat. At game start we met the wave of yellow players rushing us from the DMZ. We dug in the best we could to give them hell. It was a back and forth fights until ultimately our respawns around us were limited to our initial red spawn. At that point fatigue set in and Yellow won the war of attrition. I must say though, I had some awesome pushes with the Moongobbies and OKC up the side hills during the day to retake Darkwood.

Once Darkwood fell, it was game over. We didn’t own the DMZ and rightfully couldn’t re-supply troops anywhere. Yellow would ultimately own the day and secure an overall victory for the weekend.

Even after the loss, OK Company was honored with the “Most Valuable Scenario Team” award voted on by all team captains. Though we don’t play for awards, I was glad my team’s work went noticed.

Overall, I had a blast. I accomplished what I wanted. Having fun, visiting with friends and smoking cigars were on the agenda and damn it, I succeeded. Both teams played their hearts out and my hat is off to everyone who attended. Supergame is a great event for our scene and we are lucky to have in our backyard. It provides the opportunity to get together, have some fun, trade some paint and meet new people. Dan and his crew do a great job at making everyone feel welcome and cater to people’s special needs.

What needs to be looked at for years to come? I think the red spawn should be analyzed a LITTLE. With the right plan of attack on the DMZ it may not have turned out to be so bad. With that, we need to be sure staff knows when and how to use the renegades. Sunday I came off the field and watched Renegade players in the DMZ shooting down into the Red spawn. There is something wrong with that picture.

Reds spawn can’t be blamed for the loss, but it does affect the game a little. I’d be curious to run it and see how both spawns measure out in time and paces.

Will OKC attend SG in the future? I know I’d like to, but as a team, the consensus is leaning the opposite way. People claim politics and debauchery run the game…. But I’ll save that for another article!

Cheers!

Murdoc

In this blog segment, we explore some of the gear preferences and unique playing style of our good friends at High Desert Scenario.  Only a matter of 2.5 hours away, their environment is polar opposite compared to the drippy, wet Willamette Valley. Large rocks and small trees dot an arid landscape known for its temperature extremes and unique landmarks. It’s a real trip playing on their field. They’ve created a wonderful community around it too.  Teams from all over come down to test their skills on a very unique and diversified playing field full of urban bunkers, trench warfare and long distance tactics.

Our good friend dtr43 sat down with us for a little one-on-one chit chat:

1.Can you tell us about the advantages of using both a tac-cap and a flatline barrel setup? It seems like this configuration is common.

Some of the Central OR teams started using these for a couple reasons… The primary ones being that they hold less paint so it forces you to think about your shots, it fine tunes your reloading and team communication when doing so, and sometimes can rid a case of spray and pray and put you back on track to being as efficient as possible with your shot choices. Also being smaller size they take up less of your field of view. Tac caps are pretty popular amongst Central OR but we also like to mix it up with hoppers sometimes too.

The Flatlines (and Apex barrels) are popular around here for the simple fact that they reach out a little further than traditional straight barrels. Both HDS and all of the local public land fields have open areas, and strongholds that having one of these barrels may make the difference between you or the enemy walking to respawn. Another bonus is they are or can be made to be fairly short barrels, which work good in the cramped quarters of CQB, but then still reach out to touch someone in the open.

2. With regard to attire, how do HDS teams deal with the heat of a Bend summer?

Personally in the summer months I will wear an underarmor tshirt and standard multicam BDU bottoms and my tac vest just how I run it all year long. Most people will do the same but may just wear a standard cotton tshirt. Once in awhile we’ll get someone who wears shorts or is even crazy enough too go shirtless. The main thing in the hot months is to drink lots and lots of water. Drink water even if you’re not thirsty, each break take a couple drinks and get into the shade for a few minutes to cool off. At times of extreme heat we will occasionally have night games or early morning starts to beat the worst of it.

3. What is the number one thing you or most HDS players consider when looking to purchase a marker for your environment?

Me personally, and I think to say its safe for most in our area want something that is durable. Something that can get the fine sand and dirt that we have around here in it and still work. Something that we can drop or fall onto in a pile of rocks. Something that can get wet with rain or covered in snow. Something that takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’! That’s why you see alot of Tippmanns around here…

4. Are snow battles a common occurrence on the HDS field?

Snow games aren’t that common out there now adays. Before the conditional use permit and regulated hours/days of use we would have hoth battles all the time! Now adays throughout the winter we can only have one game per month with 30 players max so that hampers things and it just depends on if the weather cooperates with our chosen game date for the month. People do still play in the snow around here, but more often than not the games happen on public land, and not HDS.

5. How big of a problem has safety been given the heavy CQB style?

As far as I know we have not had any CQB safety issues out there. We always warn people at our game briefings that “if you go into the CQB areas there’s a pretty good chance you will get shot at close range” and that “if that doesn’t sound like your type of game then stick to the more open areas”. Luckily HDS has a lot of both types of terrain to play on so people can kind of pick and chose what they want to do on the field.

6. Do you prefer the name Murdoc or Marloch?

Murdoc all the way, reminds me of the A-team! -cue theme music-

1. Breathability: Heavy cotton and multiple layers may blunt those hits but these same fabrics trap in heat. Your body wastes 90% of its energy just regulating your body temperature.  Help it out by wearing breathable fabrics and synthetic  light fabrics to allow greater air transfer between your garment and skin. If you dig wearing BDU’s try wearing your top ‘Vietnam style” with no base layer.  As you run, air will permeate the atmosphere inside your garment. Also, try ditching the beany or base ball cap and run the risk of a nasty dome shot.

2. Weight: It’s not necessarily how much weight you’re carrying, it’s mostly about how you’re carrying it. Did you skimp on your vest and buy a POS? You’re going to pay for it. Make sure the displacement of weight is evenly  spread on your vest.  If you wear a sling, make sure not to carry more packs on the same side as your gun. Unevenness in the displacement of weight can cause soreness or even pain during play, especially during long games requiring lengthy treks.

Do you feel like you’re carrying too much weight? Trying taking some of the garbage off your boday.  I recently decided to purchase a new vest.  Instead of carrying four pod packs, I’m carrying three.  It’s slightly less weight – doesn’t seem like much, but every little bit counts.

3. Don’t be ghey.

4. Machinegun: How heavy is your marker? Does it look exactly like an AK-47? An M4? You may dig the looks but it’s just extra weight in the eye of your enemy.  I’m not saying ditch your primary marker. Just give a light weight paintball gun a try next time you go out to the field.  Everything has it’s checks and balances but the sheer physics of the equation affords the user of a smaller marker more dexterity and maneuverability in p8nt combat.

5. Hydration: Beer is great fun but your body shits itself every time you take a swig before, during or after a hard game.  It wants water and when daddy doesn’t get his medicine, he’s going to give you a headache, fatique and layzar forbid, heat exhaustion. Start drinking a crap load of water a good two days before a big event.  Water, not juice, not gatorade, not milk, not vitamin water… WATER.  The day of, drink the gatorade, but up until the event you want your peepee workin over time with the life giving power of wawa. And while we’re on the topic of nutrition, eat a god damn banana for a change.  It’s packed with injury and cramp preventing goodness.