Pic of the Day, Apr 29

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Pic of the Day, Apr 27

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War Hounds Paintball Team at the Kill House 2012 (Tooch)

Game: Killhouse Tournament
Location: Hornet's Nest Ancramdale, NY
SPbTV Member: Tooch
Date: 2012

Viper game at GRC paintball NY part 1 (SS) HD

Location: GRC
SPbTV Member: Silent Savage
Year: 2012

Pic of the Day, Apr 22

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Pic of the Day, Apr 20

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Whiskey Two Four Radius troubleshoot/quick-fix

The Radius Stock Class Gauntlet made by WTF is a pretty badass piece of paintball equipment.

If you do any digging on the net you will find tons of satisfied customers who have shopped at WTF, including Radius owners. However, the only problem I have seen crop up with the Radius is one that has been mentioned by numerous users, indicating something that is not a fluke, but a design feature that needs a fix.
The complaint is that the cord that forms finger-loops can get pulled out and re-threading them is 'a bitch' /'pain in the ass'/'other expletives indicating difficulty" (descriptions taken from the net).

Obviously I did not want this to happen so I set out to find a mod to fix it.

Radius Stock Class Gauntlet by Whiskey Two Four in Kryptek Typhon. 

I worked up a relatively quick troubleshoot.  This is a beta-design and a much better solution could probably be constructed using tiny 'tubes' or sheaths made from elastic webbing. I did not have that material.

You will need:
- Radius
- small pieces of fabric (black or something that
- Sewing material (thread, scissors, needle)

I used tiny strips of camo fabric that I cut from an old jersey. I took the middle loop of cord and wrapped a strip of fabric around it and the corresponding inner side of the outer cord loop adjacent to it. Then I did this on the other side as well.  I kept these fabric tubes fairly snug, but also made sure the cord can slide inside of them. I then stitched the fabric tubes up the center multiple times and reinforced both ends, effectively binding the outer finger loops to the center one.

Again, this is a temp-fix.  A cool solution and one that WTF might also consider is using a tiny elastic tube/sheath of fabric that does the same thing.  This could be done during the initial threading process (thread the cord through a tube, make the first finger loop, when you double back for the center loop, thread through the elastic, repeat on the way out for the third loop).

I don't really want to untie and re-thread my entire Radius, nor do I have elastic loops near to hand, so for now this option will work for me. I'll update here if there are any problems or further adjustments.

Below I have some pics of the mod. It is not beautiful but it works. I also do not notice the fabric or find it uncomfortable (the pics make it look much more substantial than it really is. You won't even feel it).

 I also performed a  'stress test' where I pulled on the cord with a tension that would have normally pulled the finger loops out through the hand-cover. The system held and none of the loops pulled out.

Bottom view.

Top view

Worn, open hand.

Worn, closed fist. 

Worn, full hand view. 

STRESS TEST

Pulling on one side. Cord goes no further than this. 

Pulling on both. Cords get to here and stop. 

Stress Test.

PSI Risk It All, Game 2, Part 1(2 cameras, HD)

Location: PSI, NY
Game: RISK IT ALL
SPBTV MEMBERS: Various
Date: 2011

Kyrptek Typhon Rig from Whiskey Two Four; Part II - Loadout.

Part I explaining the Rig and stuff about WTF Here. 

50rd hopper made by Allen Paintball Products and many 10-rd tubes arrived from Celanis Pb/Titus Pb today.  APP makes a very low-profile hopper (see pic) but no one carries them in Europe. I emailed APP and they referred me to Celanis, who does ship to Europe.  Since the shipping on just the hopper would have been more than the hopper itself, I ordered a batch of 10rd tubes as well. Titus threw in a Celanis patch for free (love surprises & patches so it was a twofer).

Tried out the WTF rig with the new loadout.

For EBG I'll be running with a tank, not 12grams, so I can use some of the 12-gram holders for 10rd tubes.  Loadout looks to be 9 + 1 in each module, plus 2 on each shoulder, so 24 tubes on the vest + 4 on the Radius gauntlet. The dump pouch only holds about 15 empties, so I'll need to work on a good management system.

Here's some pics.

Swag from Celanis.  They will ship APP 50rd hoppers to Europe. APP does not do it directly. So hit up Celanis if you are over here and don't want one of those somewhat silly-looking Rap4 jobbies. 

Radius with 10rd tubes. WTF product.

Customized Stalker rig with Customized back-panel, dump pouch, radio pouch, and Radius Gauntlet. Front View. 

Customized Stalker rig with Customized back-panel, dump pouch and Radius Gauntlet. Rear View. Pod pouches and Name-tape velcro visible on back panel. Can be swapped out with regular Stalker back harness. All products by Whiskey Two Four.

Titus threw in some stickers from APP and a free Celanis PB patch which has now found a proper home on my Shirt of Awesome Paintball Sauce

Japan Invasion ABP HD

Game: Japan Invasion
Field: ABP
SPBTV MEMBER: Doc
Date: 2012

Pic of the Day, Apr 13

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Mr. H @ Living Legends 5

Misfit in action at High Energy

Location: HEP, NY
SPBTV Member: MISFIT
Year: 2010

Custom Whiskey Two Four Rig in Kryptek Typhon.

Benny recently ordered a custom rig from Whiskey Two Four done entirely in the new Kryptek Typhon camouflage pattern. 



Why order a custom rig?
Prior to ordering this rig I'd spent several years using numerous vests available on the market and mass-produced for paintball. None of them were quite what I wanted. I've been using just a pod pouch or less for the last two years, because it was simple and hard to screw up.
 All the vests I've tried were:
- too bulky/unbreathable (I overheat very quickly)
- not modular enough
- modular, but done so with velcro or button snaps (hard to get parts from specific dealers = $$$)
- all-or-nothing rigs with fixed pod holders, tank pouches and other panels with 0% modularity (can't be made to do what I want)


The goal of this rig was to give me a rig that:
- was a step up from a simple 200rd pod-pack.
- was as modular as possible.
- allowed me to segue down to stock class play but also provide options for open-class loadouts.
- look unique and badass.


Why Kryptek Typhon?
Let's face it. Paintball is not war. You don't need camouflage to be dangerous at paintball. If you learn how to move and time your movements, it really doesn't matter what you are wearing so long as it isn't bright emergency orange. And even then you can still sneak around if you know what you're doing. Camo patterns in paintball are 99% for the satisfaction of the user. The user wants to feel badass.
Can camo help? Absolutely, especially combined with proper movement and use.
Is it necessary to paintball? Absolutely not.
Go out and play in jeans and a hoodie sometime. In fact, do that until you are awesome at paintball and you'll understand just how not important camo is to actually succeeding in the game (ie shooting other ppl & capturing objectives).
 There is nothing wrong with this fact that camo is unnecessary... but there is nothing wrong with admitting it to yourself either.
Camo is, at the end of the day, a vanity option.
So that said, if you're going to get camo for paintball, get whatever the hell you want. Get whatever pleases you and makes you feel like a badass. Morale is always underestimated.

I went with Kryptek Typhon because I think it looks awesome. You can disagree. But as a kid who grew up with a father who bred snakes and had at all times between 12 and 50 snakes in the house, I love the scale-patterns. They are predatory vs digital. I'm not going for the 'operator' look.  Kryptek has several styles coming out, but I found the Typhon particularly sexy. So I went with it.

Why Whiskey Two Four?

WTF. I found a picture of some WTF gear and liked it. I started digging. 

He's a one-man outfit. He handmakes everything in America from the highest grade material he can get his hands on. He is, in essence, the opposite of an Asian-based sweatshop turning out sub-par goods on the cheap.  He also was open to customization, which is the one thing your giant Asian manufacturer isn't interested in. They'll make 100,000 of X product and ship them wherever you want and you can buy them for cheap... but they might not do exactly what you want. WTF asks for a little more money, a little more time, a little more faith... but you get what you WANT... not what you have to settle for. 

Also, there is an element of trust that goes in to being a one-man op. I ran a one-man screenprinting business in college.  If I fucked up an order, bad news travelled quickly and I lost business. If I did great work, more orders poured in. I value the weight of reputation and know that for WTF, every product is putting his company and name on the line.  There is an individual, with his own email address and his own life, behind WTF, who can be held accountable for any screwups. It is in his direct interest to create something good since he doesn't have a customer service rep or a maze of automated phone menus to deter complaints. That's bold.  That's balls is what that is.  

So I perused WTF's Homepage  and their Facebook.   Then I looked up reviews on the interwebz. Forums, youtube, blogs etc. Everything I could find.  

And after reaching the conclusion that he made good stuff, I contacted him about my customization idea. 

What's the custom Idea?

I've got a friend named Rikard. Every year he challenges himself somehow. Two years ago he played the whole season with his non-dominant hand.  Last year he switched to pump. I find this annual challenge inspiring and I've decided to try it myself. I've already been playing pump for about 4 years, and I could use work on my left handed shooting, but I've decided to segue down to Stock Class play as my newest challenge.  I say segue because I am not doing things cold turkey. I've ordered an Allen Paintball Products 50rd hopper (Note: APP doesn't ship to Europe. You can get one through Celanis Paintball) that I am going to mod to receive 10 round tubes. I will use this setup until I get proficient at using the 10 rd tubes, when I'll switch to a Cram'n'jam or phantom style 10rd feed. But I will also be playing big games and scenario and will want to have a heavier loadout. 

So I needed a rig that could accommodate 10rd tubes... a light skirmisher setup... but could also be  upgraded to run open class at larger games like the EBG (1300+ players) where 20ish 10 round tubes wouldn't keep me on the field for very long. I needed something that could be adapted back and forth. I wanted a lot of modularity. 

The Stalker Rig with a Radius system and a dump pouch by WTF was the perfect setup to meet the skirmisher needs.

But the Stalker Rig doesn't come with a back panel. I asked WTF if they could modify their Spectre package into a backpanel system that I could swap into the rig whenever I want to play Open Class.  I also asked that the 10rd tube system be made modular, instead of coming fixed to the front panels as is the setup on the standard Stalker Rig. This way they could be removed/reconfigured at will. 

WTF and I went back and for until everything was clear and then he set to work.  

Result:

I now have a completely modular rig:

The base is the stalker stock class rig/harness. The front panel system is outfitted with the radio pouch and the two modular 10rd tube Molle panels. These panels can also be removed if I want to have nothing on my chest, or if I want to swap them with other pouches, pod-options etc in the future. 

A backpanel can be swapped with the harness straps that come standard with the Stalker Rig in case I want to run with more than just 10rd tubes. A few quick-snap releases and boom, backpanel in place. Takes less than 30 seconds.  

The backpanel is outfitted with a velcro panel to attach nametape or patches. The entire thing is also in Kryptek Typhon and Molle-compatible. WTF includes Malice clips with every mountable option. I have mounted the 2-pod pod-pouch on the backpanel for open-class play. There are several other pouches and mods that WTF does and plenty of room on the panel to add additional modules in the event I want to order new modules/make adjustments. 

Lastly, the dump pouch for the 10rd tubes fits easily on the side of the rig whether I am running the backpanel mod or not. 

The radius is a standalone. It DOES fit over my dye armguard. 

Service and Expectations. 

WTF was extremely accommodating and lived up to all my expectations.  He is a 1-man army and quite busy, so you may have to wait a few days between emails, but he will respond to everything and he will take all your suggestions into consideration.  I left him alone, except for one email around 3 weeks after ordering to make sure everything was proceeding. When he finally started the job, he cranked out all the items and had them shipped in a matter of days. 

While I have full faith and confidence that the rig will hold up in games and be nearly exactly what I was aiming for, I cannot attest to it's durability and field-use just yet. I will do an AAR in May after beating it up for a week at the Euro Big Game. 

For now, all I can do is say that if you are looking for a customized rig and have the patience to wait for a quality job, you should consider WTF. He has over 20 varieties of Camo to choose from for any of his LBE/pouch/clothing lines, all for the same price. Worth a look in any case. 

Field Test and Review Expected May 2013. 

Pics:

Modified Stalker Vest w. Customized Removable Spectre Back Panel,  Radius, Dump Pouch, Radio Pouch,  Stock Class Modules 9x 10rd tubes (2),  2pod Pod pouch

Customized Removable Spectre Back Panel

Stock Class Modules 9x 10rd tubes (2) and Dump Pouch (small)

Modified Stalker Vest

Stalker Vest with Stock Class module mounted and dump pouch (lower right)

Radius and Radio Pouch

Dump Pouch mounted

Stalker Rig with Stock Class Module and Radio Pouch Mounted

Customized Removable Spectre Back Panel with 2-pod Pod Pouch mounted. Dump Pouch on left.

Radius

Pic of the Day, Apr 8

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Pic of the Day, Apr 6

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Epic West Point Combat Classic Promo - Misfit v Wolf

Location: West Point
SPbTV Member: All of them
Date: 2008-2011

Mounting Contour +2 on to Dye i4 goggle/mask system

Video available here:

West Point Combat Classic, Fall 2011 (by Jeff Brand, aka SilentSavage) HD

Location: West Point, NY
SPbTV Member: Jeff Brand
Date: 2011

Pic of the Day, Apr 1

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