Scenario Paintball TV: 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