Teenage Paintballer Shot and Killed in Indiana by Homeowner

In a truly tragic event, a young paintballer was shot and killed by a homeowner in Indiana yesterday. Details of the case are still being revealed, but it appears that the homeowner (who gave the boy and his family permission to play on his land) fired several shots from his rifle at his treeline when he heard noise coming from it. One of the rounds struck the paintballer in the shoulder, killing him.

Win a Pair of RAP4 BDUs

RAP4 has a contest on to win a pair of BDUs in the pattern and size of your choice (and they have a very decent selection of camouflage patterns).

Submit your best paintball photo and have a chance to win a set of cool BDU that includes one (1) BDU jacket and one (1) pair of BDU pants with size and color or your choice.

To enter the Contest:
1. Be a Fan "Like" RAP4 Facebook page.
2. Visit http://www.facebook.com/rap4usa?sk=app_107660332662292 or go to http://www.facebook.com/rap4usa and click the "vpic" tab

Good luck!

2011 Boxing Day Sales (Alphabetical) - Updated

Mike said it best last year, "Boxing Day is a fine Canadian tradition, much like the practice of criticizing politicians, or brewing beer that actually gets you wasted." So without further ado, here's a list of boxing day deals some of you may be interested in:

Updated as information comes in, email me to get your sale posted here.

"Trinity Angled Weaver Foregrip" (Serious Facepalm)

Introducing the Trinity Angled Weaver AR Foregrip... or as I like to call it, "Dear Magpul, Please Shit All Over Us" (or DMPSAOU for short).

I really hope that Trinity knows that Magpul has begun sending out letters to various paintball manufacturers as to the validity of branded Magpul kit used in their lineup. When they get ahold of this, which doesn't even claim to be a Magpul PTS product, a shitstorm of magnanimous proportion will occur. Good luck with that Trinity.

Mike's Rant: Milsim Paintball's Image Problem

In a very recent piece, Connor posted his thoughts on how reporting on incidents of vandalism and assault involving people using Paintball markers can affect the image of the game. And as his opinion pieces always do, it got me thinking.

For what it's worth, my opinion is that banning Paintball markers because of some isolated incidents of vandalism or random assaults (or limiting their sale to certain individuals) would be akin to banning baseball bats because someone occasionally uses one to beat someone else. Individuals misusing/committing a criminal act with a tool should be held accountable, and the tool they used shouldn't be blamed. To paraphrase a saying from the gun world, "Paintball guns don't assault people, people do!"

As for the negative press, I think that hardcore Milsim Paintball players can often be their own worst enemies.

RANT ON!

More PenCott Products - Combat XII-MEC Pack from PredatorBDU.com

If you haven't checked out Predatorbdu.com before, or their linked blog, be sure you do, as they carry a great range of products for very fair prices (particularly Propper products, which you'll be hard-pressed to find better prices for).

One of their relatively newly rolled out products is their Combat XIII-MEC Pack, having the distinction of being one of the first commercial products available to come in all three released PenCott patterns (GreenZone, Badlands and Sandstorm).

Paintball Vandalism Reporting

[You'll notice I don't have any pictures for this post, I'm still dealing with a PC crash and still need to grab pictures etc. from my back-up and reinstall some photo editing software. So for now you'll just have to suck it up and pretend this is one of those boring blogs without pictures. - Connor]

There's been a question plaguing my mind for quite some time concerning paintball vandalism, being, "If we, as the paintball community, bring attention to paintball vandalism, does it help or hinder us?"

On one hand, by bringing attention to it and deriding them as the acts of stupid individuals largely unaffiliated with the paintball community there is a certain amount of distance created between us and them.

Camo Drama - DCS vs. Hyperstealth

PredatorBDU has released an article describing legal action taken between DCS (the creators of A-TACS) and Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp. that's definitely worth a read. I had no idea that there were existing issues between the two companies in a legal fashion, but apparently Hyperstealth claims that A-TACS FG is a copyright violation of several of their patterns.

Read all about it:
Digital Concealment Systems v. HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp.

Proper MALICE Weaving Procedure from Whisky Two-Four Paintball

MALICE clips are arguably the best method for attaching pouches to a MOLLE vest, but users often use them improperly, or struggle with their attachment technique. WTFPB has put out a very succinct and easy to follow video to remedy this, check it out:

Roggenwolf Out of the Running As Well

Another company has announced their elimination from the U.S. Army's Camouflage Improvement Effort, being Roggenwolf based out of Sydney:

U.S. Army camouflage improvement effort

You might recall that Roggenwolf Tiwaz™ was developed specifically as a possible answer the U.S. Army's identified need for a family of camouflage patterns. Unfortunately, we have been advised that Tiwaz™ has been eliminated from the final down-select, and will no longer be a participant in the U.S. Army camouflage improvement effort.

CCM T2 First Strike Conversion Kit

The development team at CCM are being busy bees and have made something else milsimish to complement their new FSR they're building. The new development is a First Strike conversion kit for the CCM T2, allowing you to use First Strike converted TPX magazines. Here's the thread on M. Carter Brown about, and here are the pictures (which you came for):

News Release: PenCott Snowdrift Enters Production

Here's an interesting press release from Hyde Definition:

PenCott-Snowdrift™ camouflage enters production - see it at SHOT 2012 

You know that good personal concealment is not a fashion statement or a popularity contest. Its about reducing your risk of being detected.  And that can mean the difference between mission success or mission failure. This is why PenCott is being adopted by a growing number of military and law enforcement special operations units.   

A-TACS Army Camouflage Improvement Effort Results

Bad news from the guys at DCS this morning, in regards to the U.S. Army's decision for their Army Camouflage Improvement Effort submission. Here's the word from A-TACS' Facebook page:

Dec 14th, 2011– In advance of the US Army Camouflage Improvement effort down select due to take place on December 15th, we wish to inform our loyal supporters and partners that we will not be a part of the final down select. As the process moves forward we wish all of the finalists the best.

A-TACS FG and PenCott GreenZone at Crypsis

A-TACS FG and PenCott GreenZone M4 Chest Rigs

If you're already planning a new spring loadout, Crypsis (read here for details about Crypsis) will soon have both A-TACS FG and PenCott GreenZone tactical gear in stock. More eye candy to follow on Crypsis' Facebook page as it becomes available.

A-TACS Apron

Yup, that's EBAirsoft's "G Weekend Warrior Camo Workshop Pinafore". What's a pinafore? A thinly veiled (speaking of veils, I hear that's their next product to be released) term for an apron. Why would anyone ever need an A-TACS Apron? Your guess is as good as mine.

New F.E.A.R. Camo Photos

F.E.A.R. Camo has been showing off some pics of their DUST variant on Facebook, check them out!

Desert setting:

Advertising on Grey Ops Update

So my previous effort to turn advertising on Grey Ops into a charitable process fell flat on its face (due to lack of participation), but I'm still getting requests for advertising space. So I've decided to make things as easy as possible and now have all advertising through adBrite. What does that mean? Well click here for full details, but this now means that the entire process will go through adBrite, simplifying things for all parties involved. The CPM (Cost Per Mille, or bids per 1000 views) set-up means that big and small advertisers can compete for ad space, and nearly anybody with relevant interests can advertise on Grey Ops. The adBrite process is easy and all you need is a credit card (which those of you that don't like using Paypal will enjoy. Again, click here for more details and specifics.

New Pictures of TACAMO D-Mags

RAP4 has put up some new pictures of their D-MAGS on Facebook, check 'em out:

These magazines will need an adaptor to work with TACAMO kits and RAP4 markers. The model shown above looks significantly larger than the 10 round version previously shown, probably making them 15 or 20 round mags. More info as it comes in!