With the much appreciated assistance of Spinnakr (Nick) from the UMS forum I'm currently pursuing bids to get a key component to several designs milled out. This is the final component I need before moving to the full prototype and soon manufacturing phases. My target is to have the first run in my possession in 6-8 weeks (pending funds and time as usual). I'm happy to finally move past this small bottleneck and I just put my second insurance exam behind me (only 6 more to go!)

Here is a sneak peak at the adapter design:

Here are some unrelated pics from my last game day...time to go on a diet!

Quick update:

Well before I get started on the big game I wanted to mention that the website took a major dump last week and had to be restored from backup. I lost some updates but I didn't lose it all luckily. I have tons of time and effort invested in this site and I also have a semi-private family website that I would be heart broken to loose. Anyway, no harm done and the paintball store inventory are quickly dwindling, though mostly through eBay sales....only 3-4 weeks before most of my inventory is gone.

My project plans seem to have been little more than an afterthought over the past few weeks. I'm pretty busy with my insurance education studies, enjoying the nice warm weather with my kids, and moving to a new position at work...I'll get there someday! I'll also be unable to attend OES this year due to a family commitment...darn.

LOST - Sudden Impact Spring 2008 Scenario

We had our annual spring scenario at Sudden Impact base on the TV series Lost. I was on the "Others" team against two teams of survivors...the front and tail section. Our team dominated the first two rounds due to team selection. We had a large scenario group and speedball team. The front section team (red team) has a large mixed group and the tale section (green team) had a smaller team but with a good sized team of experienced scenario players. We didn't even see the green team for the first 2 (30 min) matches and they provided enough of a distraction to the red team that we were able to meet our objectives and hold down a large section of the playing area. The day was broken into four 30 minute matches with reinsertion at the 15 minute whistle and a final match with hot reinsertion from the starting base.

I started the game on what I thought was a suicide mission to retrieve enemy arm bands from a cabin bordering a speedball field very near the red base. Luckily the red team was easily pinned inside the speedball field by a few players in the woods and we practically walked around to the cabin and completed the objective within the first 5 minutes. On games 2 and 3 one of our key players Darth Paul infiltrated the red team as a spy and managed to give us a much needed point boost. With the red team's primary access to our base reasonably secured I moved on to support a push towards the green base. A well positioned pump player sent me packing after I got a little too aggressive and I headed back for the next insertion with a few kills on my belt.

Back at our home base just in time to get back in the action the red team had finally penetrated our lines and was getting within visual range of our base. The rest of the round was spent retaking the 300-400 feet in front of our base. I got a sweet kill on a speedball player while he was reloading...hitting the inside of his marker 2-3 times. The first round ended with the Others in the lead and 5 confirmed kills...not a bad start.

Round two began much like the first with me sprinting to the cabin for another objective. The red team was better prepared and took more control of their territory including the cabin itself. I spent the first half dropping cover fire on the speedball field with my Apex barrel as another group moved to the cabin. I love the Apex for long range cover! I even got two players out in straight up dumb luck though I eventually fell to a wild ball myself. I didn't see the rest of the action go down but we eventually took the cabin. The rest of the match was pretty uneventful. I pushed my way to the green base only to find it nearly empty. I took out a few players on the way...let say another 5 players for round two.

At the lunch break we get the inevitable announcement that the green and red teams are joining up which makes sense if you're a fan of the show. Our grip on the lead was already slipping (we were out numbered 75 to 48). Both teams headed off to the red base where I foolishly assumed they were using as a starting base. Our only mission was to take and hold the green base which was quite a distance away. I was a part of a large group that attempted to beat the red team to the base. I neared the base as a large group of red players were coming within range on my right. I was about ten feet from the center of the base when a large group of green players sprung a trap on the base...they were hiding in the trees behind the base. We already had 5-10 players inside the base area. We were forced to make several staged retreats and a large group of red and green players repeatedly tried to rush our lines. Of course cheating was rampant on both sides at this point, which is common during heavy confrontations.

I managed to last a pretty good while and quickly lost count on kills...it's hard to know who hit what when so much paint is flying or when shooting into a large group. They made several changes which was fun to see and even funnier to shoot at. Quick tip: you can't shoot straight when you’re running and screaming like a crazy person. Anyway, I was finally convinced that I too was out...discounting hits from players who had clearly been eliminated. I reinserted just in time to defend our home base until just short of the end of the game. I held off a decent sized group for 5-10 minutes, taking several of them with me, before I took a hit in the back. My base had been cleared and I was the last man standing...or crouched behind cover in my case. Sometimes it's fun to be on the loosing side.

The last of the four primary matches was pretty uneventful though we held our own much better this time against a much larger team. I'm sure there was at least one good story by physical exhaustion seems to have taken over my memory. I did join a group of guys on a suicide run about 5 minutes before the end of the game only to get eliminated in a rather un-heroic dash for a bunker.

The final match was a 30 minute reincarnation game; the objective was to have fun, shoot lots of paint, and if you can touch the enemy base your team wins. Because of the easy visibility the enemy team was defending a satellite dish about 20 feet in front of their actual base that we had to touch to win. I stated out pretty good by taking out a pump player and forcing out three younger players who were low on paint. I was back tracking to pick off some players who had pushed past our lines when I took my first hit. Back in the game a few minutes later, I teamed up with a few players to make quick work of the previously mentioned players and swept the right side of the felid. We could see the bulk of the enemy team pushing up the middle of the felid but didn't engage them in order to try and get the goal. We worked really well, taking out a few stragglers along the way, until we came around the back of the enemy base. I was playing point and cleared the few remaining players who I suspect were out of paint. The satellite dish was no within range and defended by a group of 5-6 players. I overheard an older player calling out for them to conserve their remaining ammo and I though, "Nice!” just before getting shot in the back. One player from the larger enemy group we had passed came up behind us and dropped all four of my team one by one! It's all good though because I would have ended the game early if he didn't stop me.

After making the long trek to my home base I worked my way back of the same side of the field. Like a replay I took out a very similar group of players in some of the same bunkers as before. The game was coming to a close and I was on my last hopper of paint. I engaged two players behind heavy cover; one was clearly using a pump. I took out the pump players first. Based on his limited return fire I assumed the remaining player also had a pump. I decided to rush his position only to get lit up...the guy had a fast gun but was low on paint...every last round found a home on my chest a few seconds before the final call.

Overall it was a great day, nice weather, great turnout, lots of good friends to play with! I estimate I got about 40 kills for 10 eliminations....not paintball ninja numbers but nothing to cry about either. My team won on overall points though our lead was entirely based on the efforts of our spy, Darth Paul! Rumor has it we'll be heading back out on the 17th for some walk-on rec-ball out at Sudden Impact!!!

Here is my paintball itinerary for Spring 2008. I'm desperate to get out and play. I'm saving up for an elliptical trainer to work off some of my winter weight...from the past several winters. I had to retake a physical fitness exam for the Air National Guard earlier this month and it just about killed me. You get the point...I need the exercise. More importantly I'm dying to try my SP-8, SP-1, and improved tactical ION configuration (APE board, C-Series barrel with Apex tip, fusion barrel shroud, SITH body w\stock, L7 bolt, upgraded eye, Archon gravity feed hopper, & more). I hope I can find time to play with all the tinkering I need to do.

Spring 2008 Game Dates:

Sudden Impact - Mclean, IL

First Game of the Year! - March 29th

Spring Big Game - April 26th

As I have mentioned before, Sudden Impact is my home field. I'll be playing with a group of coworkers for a day of standard walk-on play at the end of March followed by our first local scenario in April. They usually hold a pump game in March-April but I don't have the exact dates yet. This is about all my wife can handle so I might trade the scenario for the pump game.

Smak Zone Paintball - Patterson, MO

Operation: Eminent Storm VII---May 14-18, 2008

My father and a few brothers have been talking about this for months. With all of the challenges of coordinating a get together from family in several states and a variety of health, travel, financial, and work related issues; I'll not certain we can pull this off. I'm very hopeful though and I've already laid the ground work with the wife...now I just need to confirm if a few of my crew will be able to join me.

Time for a long overdue update to my paintball blog! I have actually written several updates over the past few months but I tend to email my updates to myself and then forget to add them to the blog…not that you're missing anything important. I turned 32 and passed my 12 year mark in the National Guard.

So what's new? Well obviously I added an online store to sell of the crazy amount of extra gear that I have lying around. My basement is much easier to work in now that I've trimmed down! I still have way more stuff than I need. I'm working on a free classified page. I initially tried to combine the online store with some sort of free consignment service but a separate classifieds section will work better for everyone. I also made some changed to the gallery pages to improve the load process but I still have some minor tweaks to make and I'm noticing some layout issues on older browsers.

Even though I'm trying hard to slim down, my collection seems to have a mind of its own. I picked up an SP-8, a few ION tac bodies, an L96 airsoft sniper rifle, and a broken Sidekick pump pistol. I also created a players kit with seven Tippmann XT markers that I got for super cheap. Now instead of maintaining a variety of markers for family outlaw games I can just bust out the player kit. This also opened the door for me cutting my dependency on Tippmann markers. I still have an appreciation for Tippmanns but I seem to have defected to Smart parts over the past few months.

I know I keep hinting at the future release of my own custom products. The process is taking much longer than I planned; or I should say I have less time to devote to the process than planned. I'm probably 5-6 weeks away from completing my first prototype aftermarket ION upgrade. It will then be several weeks or even months before I find\select a fabricator to manufacture the base parts. I'll actually do the finishing, assembly, and packaging myself for now. Even after all of that I'd like to release 2-3 items at the same time though development times will probably overlap. I have a suspicion that others may be working on similar designs but I hope to have something up for sale before the rest of the pack. I do think if I ever get this off the ground people will say, "Duh!, why didn't they start making these years ago". Then I'll enjoy my short run until others find a way to do it better or market to a wider audience and my work will soon be forgotten…which is totally fine by me. That's the dream anyway…

Speaking of dreams, I take my first Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (CPCU) exam in two weeks! This marks the beginning of a two year education program to help me become an insurance agent. I think the insurance industry as a whole has overlooked the thousands of paintball fields and organized events. I know there are several insurance companies that market specifically to field owners but I'd like to see an industry leader offer an alternative. I'd also love to be the first virtual insurance agent…the Max Headrum of insurance…

Here are a few recent pics of the monkey on my back:

My new Gen 3 Night Vision goggles that I'm trying to sell:

L96 compared to the SP-8:

New and improved Wall of Shame:

Let me start with a short review of the Smart Parts SP-1 and L7 ION bolt:

I'll upload pictures of the S-1 later this week. I got it just in time for the Hitman game. The box is pretty cool; a window box inside a slip cover box. My S-1 is number 241 if I remember correctly. The box includes the S-1, barrel, barrel sock, and instructions. No tools, spare parts, or lube are included. The marker comes ready to fire with a battery installed. I wonder if there might be an issue with batteries leaking if stored too long. The marker has a nice feel; the pistol grip is on the smaller side. The front grip is a little uncomfortable due to the warning label cut-out but you won't notice this if you wear gloves. The barrel inserts into a 4-5 inch tube that will limit barrel compatibility. There is enough room for a standard freak back if you remove the stickers on the sides of the barrel. The barrel muzzle break fits well inside an Apex tip, a little electrical tape and you're set.

The end cap on the back of the marker is not compatible with any Tippmann stocks despite several rumors floating around the forums. In fact I doubt the cap retaining screws will make a solid attachment for any stock. You'd definitely run the risk of stripping out the threaded anchors from the body if you install a stock. Side by side with no hoppers the S-1 weighs about the same as a stock A5. It definitely weighs more than a stock ION. The feed neck is not compatible with aftermarket ION\Impulse replacements. I haven't had time to break it down yet. I did try it out at the CPX game; unfortunately I blew an internal air line using 850psi HBA on a remote line after about 10 shots. That sucked but I don't think this is a common issue. The few shots I did take were louder than an ION but a nice medium report with noticeable, but light recoil. Pics and internal break down will be available soon.

I also installed an L7 ION bolt on my tactical ION the night before the Hitman game. I estimated the dwell and ROF settings based on an online guide. No instructions were provided but a quick search on Google and I was set. Aside from breaking down the ION it was fairly easy to install; the hard part is tuning the dwell. The recoil and noise levels were reduced quite a bit; I thought my ION was crazy quiet to start with. I had a hard time identifying when I was low on air because it was so quite. The reduced noise level was a huge advantage! I did have consistency and shoot down issues when running 850psi HBA but the issues went away when I switched to C02. I'm sure it’s just a matter of getting the right dwell setting. I didn't see a noticeable increase in air efficiency, though this might also be dwell related. Great upgrade though not entirely necessary.

Now to the Hitman Game Report:

I had been planning on attending the Hitman scenario at CPX for several weeks. I even cancelled game plans in late September to ease the tensions at home but inevitably my wife and oldest son started laying on the guilt trip as the game day neared. Sunday mornings are a fun time for my boys and me. We usually watch cartoons together in the morning and I usually make a special breakfast while my wife sleeps in a little. Then we make a trip to the gas station to get the news paper and my oldest is allowed to pick out a snack. I tried my best on Saturday to explain why I wouldn't be home on Sunday to my oldest son Adam. First he asked if he could come. Then he asked if my paintball friend loved me. I said no and he responded by saying, I love you so you should stay home and watch cartoons with me.

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