The DSG Strikes Again

That's right! Dukie is making a 4th run of the DSG! Perhaps one of the more boner-inducing paintball markers, I managed to sneak in on the first run of the marker, and haven't looked back since. Click here for my full review, which I should update at some point, given I've had it for over 2 years and have upgraded it with new gen. DSG parts. Don't miss out, when they're gone they're gone, and very few people sell their DSGs (except for the typical MCB marker whores). The price this time around is $785 CAD.

Milsig K-Series Mk. II Review

The first thing you have to understand about any review is where the reviewer is coming from. In my review of the K-Series, (Mk. I?) I began with saying that it was one of my favorite markers. So this review is coming from someone that believes that the Milsig K-Series was already a great marker that didn't need significant improvement. I suppose what I'm trying to say is "haters gonna' hate.", so don't expect a review that paints the K-Series as a piece of shit that needs to be fixed. Mkay?

Marker: Milsig K-Series Mk. II (in this case the CQB PRO) - Thank you to Milsig for providing a review model.

Price: $300-1,000ish depending on the model

Mystery Box Unboxing

MK7P Tacamo Conversion Kit Review

It's impossible to ever be (completely) objective, you can go ahead and argue that with me, but I've already made up my mind about it and there's nothing you can do about it. That being said, there are certain things that always seem to evoke especially prejudiced or agenda laden opinions one way or another. The Tacamo conversion kit reviews I've seen thus far seem to be perfect poster children of such objects of subjectivity (that sentence makes my brain hurt). So, with that being kept in mind, here is my review of the Tacamo MK7P conversion kit (all other Tacamo kit reviews will be short addenda, as it's just not efficient to do entirely new reviews of each one, barring extreme unforeseen circumstances), with the goal of reviewing the conversion kit for what it is and does, not for what it represents and evokes feelings of from any party. That enough of a preface for you?

RAP4 Land Warrior II Review

It's been so long since I've done a written review, I had to look up my review format before I started! RAP4 was kind enough to send me a Land Warrior II Video Camera for review, and with this being my first usage and review of a paintball camera, please bear with me (and forgive me not touching on something in particular you want to see, let me know if miss anything).

Product: RAP4 Land Warrior II Video Camera

Price: $250 USD

Options: Black, Jungle or ACU coloration

Video Review of Grey Ops Contest Winnings

This past February we teamed up with WTFPB to give away an awesome vest set-up (in the most Canadian of all patterns, CADPAT), and reader John Wood won the contest. John's posted up a video reviewing the vest, so please check it out!

Video Review - Paintball (The Movie)

You're right, but if it was a game, I'd probably be having more fun.

I suppose it's rather cruel to start off my review of Paintball (the movie, which from here on out shall simply be called Paintball) with such a harsh caption. It's not good, but I did sit through all of it on Netflix (during a free trial, which you should all take advantage of if you haven't already), which is more than I can say for a lot of movies. Although perhaps that was just a product of me wanting to review the film. Anyways, bear in mind that I watched this movie about two months ago, wrote down some shorthand notes about it, and am now writing my review based on those notes at 2 o'clock in the morning. 

News Roundup - July 8th 2011

MOATI disappears into the woods, never to be heard from again. Well, actually, he resigned from Special Ops Paintball, leaving some interesting questions as to the future of Special Ops and National Action Sports.

How would you like to play paintball on a field designed around a map from the second best shoot 'em up franchise ever? Not to mention, the proceeds seem to be supporting some kind of Wounded Warriors style charity.

Featured Field - Marked Paintball

Here at Grey Ops, we try not to make a habit of reviewing individual Paintball fields. Of course if we review or report on a specific Paintball event, naturally we'll take a quick look at the field it's held at, and feature that in the review.

Another exception is if the field itself is exceptional. In a world of pallet bunkers, trees, blue coveralls, and rental 98s, it's refreshing to see something designed to be different and fun. Like if someone converts a mothballed military base into a Paintball facility, or designs a Paintball park around a historic scenario with real dedication to detail, it deserves to be featured here. But generally we'd rather not give free publicity to fields, which would lead to bitching and moaning from others who don't get featured (or get bad reviews). There's enough drama in the Paintball world as it is.

Another exception is when a field is active in supporting a good cause, or helps out in the community. As an example, we featured JT's Frontline Paintball last year when they hosted a charity event for cancer research. This time around, I'd like to review Marked Paintball, an Ottawa-area field that's very active in their community, and which we've only mentioned occasionally in passing on Grey Ops until now.

IASUS NT3 Black OPS 2 Throat Mic Review

It will be said over and over that in any situation that involves a group effort, communication will make or break you. I have seen far too many times where peoples communication equipment completely shits the bed which ultimately leads to failing at their objectives. This article is more dedicated to all of the simulators out there (airsoft, paintball, militia, etc...) so if you have no interest in any of the aforementioned, its probably best to move along. Im going to start off with a quick wiki on what a Throat Microphone is for those who don't know.

A throat microphone, also laryngophone, is a type of microphone that picks up sound directly through sensors in contact with the neck. Because of this design, it is able to pick up speech in loud environments, such as on a motorcycle or in a night club, where other types of microphones would not function well because the speech would be drowned out by background noise. This type of microphone is also able to pick up whispers and works well in an environment where one has to keep quiet while communicating with others at a distance, such as during a covert military operation. Throat microphones were also extensively used in World War II-era aircraft, and by German tank crews.[Source]

RAP4 T68 Post Operation Endwar Package Review

This past December, I managed to pick up a pair of RAP4 T68 Post-Operation Endwar Packages. The markers, having been used at the 2010 Endwar Big Game and subsequently refurbished, were selling at a fraction of the cost of brand new 6th generation T68s.


The packages are still available at the time of this writing, and include:

1 x RAP4 T68 marker
1 x 13CI 3000psi HPA tank and buttstock cover
1 x M4 handguard
1 x M4 top carry handle
1 x 12" spyder-threaded barrel, with M4 screw-on tip
3 x 18-round clear RAP4 magazines

The M4 carry handle can be removed, leaving a flat-top Picatinny rail for mounting sights or other accessories. Also, the threading at the end of the barrel accepts FLASC barrel tips. Pictured here is the FLASC APEX adapter tip threaded on to the end of the barrel:


Regular readers of Grey Ops will know that I've alluded to my experience with these T68s in previous posts, such as the MILSIG 20-round magazine review. Now that I've had a chance to use this marker in several games at Action 500, I'll be doing a specific quickie review and giving my general impressions on it.

A-TACS Danner FTX - Testing Update

Just a quick update on my testing of the A-TACS Danner FTX (GTX version). I ran them through what I've dubbed Montreal's "desert simulator", aka Action 500 Paintball. As you can see from the above picture they got a thorough covering in sand, and I have to say the match between them and the grimy sand of the indoor field was superb. Not an ounce of sand found its way into my mouth and they had terrific grip on the slimey paintball-infused sand coated concrete floors. So although this may not mean much coming from a Canadian, they've got my approval as a footwear choice for a desert camouflage set-up. 

Video Review #1: Basic Painting

Basic Painting, by Scenario Paintball Films, is a documentary on Scenario Paintball, with a specific focus on the West Point Combat Classic event. The back boxcover reads like the accolades for a summer blockbuster, with blurbs like "Greatest documentary and video of scenario paintball I have ever seen" and "...best way to get an exciting look into the world of paintball in the woods". With hype like that, my expectations when I put the DVD in my player were low. But after watching the film, I'm very pleasantly surprised.

A Closer Look at MILSIG's 20-Round Magazines

I recently picked up a 6-pack of MILSIG's new 20-round magazines, released in late 2009. In this post I'll be going over my first impressions of them, and the results of some basic testing.

Aside from the higher capacity, MILSIG has made other improvements to their new magazine design, with their product listing claiming:

•Steel magazine body pins (supports the winding mechanism inside the magazine)
•Steel winding cable (improved cable strength and prevention against stretching of the cable)
•Adjustment free magazine head (allows perfect engagement of magazine head and easier magazine insertion)

MILSIG spokesperson Jackie Chan also had this to say about them in a YouTube comment:

"Japanese made treated spring (consistent elasticity and strength - ideal for load and diminish ball breaks), German-made perfectly spherical ball bearings/detents (that do not come off easily from the collar like other similar products), High Strength Steel cable and gear winder (compared to low quality textile/nylon strings from others that snaps easily), Improved Body design and materials - longer life-span and integrity, Steel Pins vs Plastic."

A-TACS Danner TFX - Initial Impressions

This marks my first boot review for Grey Ops, and I'll try my best to acheive the same level of detail that Mike has set the bar to, as I bow to him as the resident boot expert. A-TACS has been kind enough to supply us with a first run sample of Danner's unreleased (due out in July) Desert TFX® A-TACS® GTX® Uniform Boots. That being said, keep in mind that these are not the final production boots (which Danner says will be improved upon, although I don't see a lot of room for improvement in the first place!). 

Battle of the Electrosights

Blue Line, billed as "Canada's Law Enforcement Magazine", has an interesting article in their December 2010 issue on Aimpoint and EOTech electronic weapon sights (EWS). In it, they pit 3 sights against each other in torture tests:

Milsim Awesomeness: Special Ops Mission

If you haven't yet heard of the "reality" show Special Ops Mission, which aired through 2009-2010 on The Military Channel, you're in for a lot of fun!

The reality series "stars" Wil Willis, a Special Operations veteran with 15 years of experience between the US Army Rangers and Air Force Para-Rescue. Equipped with an infra-red camcorder on his M4 carbine, you'll literally get to see what he sees when he sights down the barrel.

I Won Something! - Visual Reviews

I'm a big fan of Shemaghs (read the old Gear Week post about them here), so imagine my surprise when I won one via a Youtube contest. This was part of a video contest by the relative newcomer to the paintball media scene, Visual Reviews, which is the real subject of this post.

Kaz is a great addition to the constantly growing Canadian paintball media, head on over to his Youtube channel to check out what he has to offer.

Spotlight on the Helikon Combat Shirt

A couple of people at Return to Craig 2.0 were asking me about a combat shirt I was wearing that day, so I decided to post a quick review of it.

The Helikon-Tex combat shirt is a replica of the Crye Precision Combat Shirt AC, which retails for $180 USD with the elbow pads included. In contrast, I was able to pick up Helikon's replica on eBay (from seller hwesta.eu) for $63 USD shipped.

The combat shirt is a relatively new concept in BDUs, invented and recently patented by Crye. It combines BDU-style sleeves with an Under Armour-style, moisture-wicking material over the torso portion. This allows a soldier to stay cooler under a tactical vest or plate carrier, which is a Godsend in arid theaters of operation. For added measure, Crye designed the shirt to hold removable foam elbow pads, with hard plastic caps on the outside for additional protection. Here's a diagram:


While the external plastic caps on the Crye elbow pads are smooth, Helikon uses an elbow pad with ribbing on it, as extra protection against slippage.


This design was "appropriated" from another company making the elbow pads for their own combat shirt, OPS:


Pros and Cons

Anyone who's every played a full day of paintball in a tactical vest knows how badly you can sweat under one. Even wearing a vest with a mesh base can still trap enough heat to turn your torso into a soaked, sweaty mess. In July heat, it's almost enough to make you want to ditch the vest and throw on a speedball jersey, and run and gun with the tank on your gun!

A combat shirt helps out very nicely with this sweating problem. The lighter, moisture-wicking fabric tends to do a good job at pulling the sweat away from your body and into the material, were it can evaporate easily. Not only that, but the fabric is extremely soft, and prevents chafing that can occur under the weight of a loaded vest.

The high-neck collar on the shirt keeps a sling from digging into your neck, and even provides a measure of protection from paintball hits to that area. The built-in elbow pads are great for going prone, or for crawling under fire.

That being said, there are a couple of things that need to be mentioned about this garment. First, the light material on the torso can be fragile, so the shirt needs to be machine-washed on the delicates setting. This light fabric also won't take away any of the sting from a paintball hit like tougher BDU fabric, so if you throw your arm up to call yourself out and the balls keep coming in, you may be in for some pain when you get hit in that tender underarm area (trust me, I should know!). Lastly, you need to protect the light fabric from contact with the rough side of Velcro, as that can stick to the fabric and leave scuff marks when you "rip" it off.


Final Thoughts

The Helikon combat shirt is a good airsoft-grade replica of a great concept by Crye Precision. Its affordability and usefulness in the summer heat make it a fantastic piece of equipment to add to your loadout.


(At this time, aside from hwesta.eu, the only Internet retailer I've found for this product is Military 1st).

Editor (Connor)'s Note (November 2nd 2011): Crypsis now stocks Helikon Combat shirts as well.

News From the Front: PRZ Facilities

Any amount of images will only belie the grandeur that is the Prince-Edward Recreation Zone (PRZ). I had the opportunity to explore the myriad assortment of buildings during Return to Craig 2.0 before people started roping paint on walls, and found myself wanting to spend a whole day exploring every nook and cranny of the facility.

Beyond sheer size, and believe me PRZ is huge, the now abandoned military hospital is at times maze like and there is a large amount of variety from one building to the other. Staircases vary from one building to another, and multiple points of entry are normally present in every building or large section.