Cormyn

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A common site at any paintball park are the PVC-tubing stands that players are making to prop up their markers. I've looked at several and they all seem really straightforward. Being a member at Instructables.com, I figured I'd try a search there for exact dimensions, etc., and what I found instead was a set of instructions to build a rack for 6 markers, plus a place to hang masks.

I made a trip to my local Home Depot and found the easy stuff first (PVC tubing, connectors, etc.) The hardest thing to find was something for the tanks and barrels to rest on. The instructions look like they bent some sheet metal, and while I found some sheet metal pieces that might have worked fine, the edges were quite sharp and I didn't want to risk cuts during construction, or major scratches during use. I ended up finding some sheet metal tube holders that would be suitable for the barrel holders, but will need to be coated in "liquid electrical tape" (Home Depot didn't have "liquid plastic" from the Instructables details), and found some 4" diameter PVC sections which were about 5"-6" long that I hope to cut in half horizontally and vertically for the tank rests.

Total bill, aside from the liquid electrical tape, a small hack saw, and a tube cutter, the total cost for the parts to make the rack totaled about $26.

I spent a few hours cutting the PVC tubing. The instructions called for "about 24 feet" of PVC tubing, but I only bought 2×10' sections (queue the ten-foot-pole jokes), and it seemed to be enough, with a slightly shorter rack (vertical bars will be about an inch shorter than the instructions), and shorter pegs for the masks (only short by about inch and each). Before I cut the 4" PVC sections for the tank rests, I need to make sure it'll hold a 20oz tank comfortably. Anyone know the diameter of average 3000psi and 4500psi tanks? If the 4" PVC bits don't work, I'll have to improvise something else, and hopefully the "liquid electrical tape" applicator will work well enough for protecting against barrel scratches.

Only thing left after all this is to set a new paintball date to test it out. Any takers for this coming weekend? Half day at SC Village, anyone?

I stumbled on this 'rant' post on Google+ by Mike at GreyOps. He's written it as the first of two articles on how expensive the sport of Paintball is getting because of equipment upgrades.

His comparison of entry-level equipment to kids playing Hockey was interesting, as I was one of those kids playing with 'budget' hockey equipment growing up.  I remember having some new equipment and some used equipment. When my family moved from northern Canada to Kingston, Ontario, hockey got MUCH more expensive, because I would have needed almost all new gear to meet regulations, ice time, etc.

When I started in Paintball in 2005, I bought a $40 used Spyder marker on eBay (I think it was a Spyder 2000 but don't recall, I gave it away a few months later). It did the job and cost me nearly as much as a rental marker at SC Village at the time.

Getting back into Paintball this year, and buying the Spyder MR-1, I upgraded several parts immediately such as a "sniper" barrel and sound-activated hopper, spending an additional $70 on those parts. Recently, I upgraded my marker to a 50-caliber Spyder Advancer, and enjoy the marker as-is, but have wondered about upgraded my "other" gear, such as getting a real paintball jersey, pants, and maybe a better mask than the "value" mask that came with my Spyder MR1. The lens on that mask was incredibly hard to remove to clean. Considering an upgrade to a compressed air tank, I was shocked at how much a carbon fiber tank costs. All said, with jersey, pants, mask, tank, and maybe a vest for easier pod storage, the bill was over $700!!

After reading Mike's post, I'm definitely going to reconsider. I can hold off on a jersey, pants and the fancy vest, and I'll definitely need to save up for a compressed air tank. But I *do* need a better mask. Maybe not the Dye I4 I want, but I need something with a much easier lens to remove for cleaning.

So the Guerilla Air 20oz tank I bought as part of my Amazon bundle decided to fail on me and start leaking on my 4th outing. I went to my favorite Paintball shop where they confirmed the tank had a leaky pin or valve, and that I should just contact Guerilla Air for a replacement, instead of having to send EVERYTHING back to Amazon just to get a new tank.

Guerilla Air’s “contact us” page on their web site was a little iffy, it took two tries to get a reply. Tweets went unanswered. But once they did reply, they were *incredibly* helpful. I replied with all of the numbers/letters stamped in the tank, they verified it was made in December 2010 (purchased in April 2011), and with no questions asked, they told me to ship the faulty tank to them for a replacement.

My paintball shop guy told me to ask if I could do an exchange through their local distribution office, which GA agreed to, and since I was in that area for a dentist appointment anyway, I swung by, and they replaced the valve/pin while I waited. Talk about service!!