Planning to return

[Euphie]

So, here I am a 35 year old woman feeling that something is missing from life. I used to play between 2001-2009ish but kids, careers, etc just made me stop. I think I lost all of my equipment in a move, I had a Viking, an angel, a shocker 4x4, and an E-mag. Sucks that I lost them, but I looked and they just don't seem to be here anymore.

How has the culture of the game changed, like is it still mostly young people or are alot of 30+ people playing? Quickly looking at Youtube, it seems woods stuff is more popular now than it was in the early 2000s or am I reading too much into the results? I briefly looked at the stores, and I got the impression everything now is smart parts (how many companies do they need?), Dye, and Eclipse now. I was really hoping to see AKA making Excaliburs still, but I remember they had lawsuits but I still had hope. I suppose this also means I will be needing all new equipment.

Related to that new equipment, I have a preference for how I set my equipment up and I was wondering if I can still do this:
For some of my old guns (Viking) I ran a warp feed, do they still make them? I didn't see them in online stores.
For other guns, I ran a hopper off of an elbow right (shocker) or left (emag), do they make high quality metal elbows I didn't see any when I looked.
For all of my guns I used a gas thru T stock that was adjustable, and a 114/45 in my pack, along with a on/off/bleed ASA with a 42" braided steel hose.
When I looked it didn't seem any of this was available but, I didn't look too well. I probably won't need a 114/45 if I am not using the Shocker anyway.

I see at least the website for Palmers is still up, and there seems to be an option to buy a blazer. That was the gun I wanted, but never could afford to buy new and they never came up used, so I have more money now and I figure I might as well buy one now. Has anyone ever bought one off of the website? It lists the options I want blade trigger- right feed- female stabilizer (never liked grabbing the hose out of the normal one). It can't be that easy though right?

Will I get laughed off of the speedball field with a Blazer? I do like to play both woods and speedball, I used to use an autococker in both in before 2003, and I remember back then there being a certain amount of pressure to switch to an electronic marker from the team I used to play on (we switched to Angels and I resisted a bit).

And finally are there any friendly paintball fields in the Pacific Northwest near Seattle, Tacoma, or Olympia?

[ford]

Howdy, welcome back. I also am in my 30's with limited ME time. I also played in the early 2000's and left b/c of kids/work. I came back about 5 years ago... The scene is different, but the same. Some players are cool, some are lame. I think PE makes the best quality gear out there. If you want to spend all of your time playing and the least time tinkering with your marker pick up an Emek, Etha2 or 170r. They all use the gamma core and don't need a lot of maintenance compared to the old guard.

That gear is also much more air efficient than your E-mag/shocker were.

I think you can still find some Warped Feed parts from https://www.airgundesigns.com, but not much. They're not really a thing any more though still cool to see in the wild. I believe one or two companies make metal elbows, but most everything is center feed these days.

[Shaftski]

Woodsball/mech marker play is making a comeback now. Seeing a good mix of older and younger players, I'm 48 and there is usually a few people older than me at every event/field I go to. A lot more women and minorities playing now than 20 years ago which is great for the sport.

Paint now is god awful, you just have to get used to it. Field paint can be a real crapshoot and just about all fields are field paint only now. It shoots WAY smaller than in years past, so having small bore capability like a freak kit with inserts is vital.

If getting a marker, I'd look for something that is running at less than 200psi operating pressure. To avoid shredding above mentioned crap paint. Other than that pure preference. Emeks are some of the best bang for the buck out there, if you can find a new one since Eclipse is having supply issues. I prefer Mini GS if you want an electro for short money, they are out there in massive quantities and can be found cheap.

If you are only playing rec right now, rate of fire may be locked at most fields for electronic markers. Sometimes as low as 5.5bps. Mechs won't be restricted. I have a mini and never use it, always using a pump or mech. Not playing tournaments.

The big company in paintball is now Kore Outdoor (formerly GI). They bought out most of the companies you probably remember. So you are giving money to Eclipse, Dye, Kore (Richmond Italia), or the Gardner brothers these days. Seems like no matter what, even if you try, Kore is getting some of your money at some point.

[iamthelazerviking]

Also in my 30s here, have been in and out of paintball since 2001ish but never fully "quit". Like mentioned above, paint has shrunk and finding a quality batch is like playing the lottery. Also mech is big again, Autocockers are popular as well as the Eclipse markers which I will say I am huge fan of and love the Emek. After using many different markers, the Emek is my number one true love. Newer/younger folk are more into the fast-paced HK Army-esque air ball/tournament scene, but the majority are more recreational/mech/pump minded. If you want similar setups to what you used in the past, this is a good place to search for the markers and gear. Warp Feeds pop up once in a while but are generally unpopular. AKA markers certainly do have a following still and I think prices have dropped on those used ones. I love old school stuff and the classics, I totally get it, but modern markers (Emek) are just such a joy to shoot. You may also love it, or you may think "there is no soul" but honestly the smooth shot, low pressure, and the fact they just WORK is the "soul" in my opinion. Or get a nice 'cocker since parts are plenty or full builds are readily available. Welcome back either way. Paintball isn't quite what it used to be, but it's still here and we have to keep the spirit alive.

Palmers is still around but from what it sounds like the quality control isn't what it used to be and many have complaints. You may also have to wait a long while if you ordered something new from them.

[Hellion360]

Welcome back!
I am 37 and I see a lot of folks at the field both younger and older.

Equipment is much lighter and more efficient these days. Unless you just like them, a stock and remote is probably not necessary for you. It is incredible how much lighter tanks are. Because of this it is unusual to see people using stocks and remotes.

Warp feeds are out of production.

I would be less concerned with being competitive on the field and more concerned with just having something you will enjoy playing with.
The PPS Blazer is old tech, but still in production, quick, and a lot of fun to play with. Mechanical leagues have become quite popular and you will see a lot of people shooting Mags, Cockers, and Emeks at any field. PPS makes a metal RF elbow, and Mastersconi makes one as well (angled towards the center). The big downside of the Blazer is that it is not as easy to service as other markers and is a little more sensitive to paint being closed bolt. Wait times can also be a little longer if not buying off the wall.

The Eclipse Emek is the best marker for the money in current production. It is light, quick, reliable, easy to service, and moderately priced.

[JonM]

If the performance and the reliability of the Emek seems appealing, but you don't care for the looks and you're willing to pay more, the M170R is also a solid pick. It's got a lot of upgrades that are only available as aftermarket parts for the Emek and it's a more attractive marker aesthetics wise. If electronics are more your style, it also comes in the 170R version with the added benefit of offering a mechanical frame as an add-on option for when you don't want to deal with batteries.

[Jonnydread]

Lots of good sentiments above that I won't bother to echo. I would post on the regional sub-forum for your area to ask about fields, maybe on social media too if that's your thing. Something worth noting IMO is that the inclusivity of paintball feels like it has gotten better over the past decade. YMMV, but around New England I see a heck of a lot more women playing nowadays than I ever did back in the 90s/2000s.

Also magfed is a thing now. I've had mixed experiences with it, but it's a growing niche if you want to try a new format.

Old guns are still cool and if you end up finding any of your old stuff the Forum is a great place for tech help. The newest gun I own is a Gmek and it barely ever sees the field cause I'm rocking all the old school shit.

I personally lover Palmer guns and have had good experiences, but they can certainly be a headache, especially semi-autos.

Welcome back!

[Grendel]

Welcome back, sorry to hear you have "misplaced" your old gear, you will fit well around here. Honestly there isn't any reason you couldn't rebuild what you had most of us on here wheel and deal old school markers and equipment on a regular basis. My current newest marker Axe 2.0 is several years old and my regularly used markers are primarily from the 80s, 90s and early 00s.

Do no be afraid of a lot of the newer equipment especially the markers, functionally many are way better then what you were using. As someone mentioned Planet Eclipse is a great source for new markers.

Palmers still will custom make you a Blazer to the configuration you desire and I still have had very good experiences with them. My main mech marker is a 2K Blazer with a right feed and it has been super reliable. I bought it 2nd hand over 10 years ago IIRC and has only needed one rebuild. Blazers like to be used the more you use them the more reliable they seem to be.

Feel free to reach out any time if you need help locating equipment. I like a lot of the old timers here on MCB have boxes full of old school stuff. Make sure you make use of the WTB (Want To Buy forum).

[FredMnkyDad10]

Welcome back.
I am 47 and just getting back into playing after gone for 4-5 yrs.

Keep looking for your markers, look every possible place and the last place you would think. I found 4-5 markers that I totally forgot about, in box mixed with my son's school things.

I just played recently, using an automag. Next time time I am looking to bring couple AKA Vikings, pump and some other automags.

[BrickHaus]

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!

Im 33, quit for 2 years, but never sold off enough gear to get "out" this year I have been back at it hard, and Ive found I much more enjoy pump now than I used to.

The master sconi elbows are bomb. They are 45 bucks shipped for a feed elmbow. But I bought a second one, so they must be worth it. I really like how they are over a 45* angle, so your hopper gets laid out a bi over your marker.

APP atomic elbows take a close second in my book. They have never let me down.

using older gear actually gets me more positive attention, than laughed at. Most of the young kids coming in, have never seen some of the old school stuff. So when you are in staging with a marker that rivals their parent's age, they are usually pretty intruiged.

My last outing, I brought a Puma, alley cat, sheridan kp3, qnd a mac 1 anniahilator. I played all day with the kp.

If you want an affordable si.ple mech, find a used SP rsx. Unless you rightfully hate SP. Lol, but they are mainly tooless, easy to keep working, and basically an ion engine, so they work well. You should be able to snag one for bout 350, which is a great marker for the price point.

at the end of the day, get something that makes you smile, and go play!

now, if you are into oldschool. Peep Baccipaintball.com


Daniel Bacci has been stockpiling old markers and parts, and sharing paintball history with the world for a while. If he doesnt have the parts to get a vintage shooter live, I dunno who does. Ive been on his site a lot as of late for random sheridan bits.

[Knuckle Dragger]

Welcome back! I too took a long hiatus, came back and now have a renewed interest in the game. I prefer the older guns. My newest is a m170 (similar to Emek) but mainly enjoy my eBlade cockers because I refuse to embrace mechanical. Have an 05 Angel Speed and 2k11 G6R I’m itching to field soon. Keep your eyes in the B/S/T here, lots of good folks who sell great equipment. Don’t be shy, do ask around and post pictures of builds, and what you end up with.

[Euphie]

Interesting replies I am learning a lot!

these Sconi Elbows, I looked them up on EBay and I have to say they look really cool, I don’t mind spending a bit if it works well.

related to loaders, can a Qloader do what a warp feed does? It looks similar except their pods. Also do those pods fit in a normal harness?

also thanks for mentioning APP I forgot about them, checked the website and it looks like they carry the steel remote I used to use with the check valve and everything. I still plan on running remote even if tanks are lighter, I just prefer the feeling of a stock to a tank.

I might talk to my Exes friend and see if the paintball stuff ended up with him. I had a dust pink Viking and he is the sort who wouldn’t play with a pink gun so if it did end up with him I doubt he stole it.

about paint being smaller, I did use a freak on my mag and shocker, and Lapco barrels on everything else. So if I were to go back with Lapco I would need a bunch of barrel sizes now? Seems like the Freak makes a lot of sense then. I noticed even before I left my .689 barrels kept being too big and I had to use the Lapco micro shot a bunch more.

I hear lots of great things about the emek but, unless I absolutely have to use something else I really want a blazer just because I couldn’t have one back in the day. If it just chops up all of the paint I suppose I will have something nice to display at least lol.

i am excited about this I think I can convince some coworkers to come out with me too.

[Grendel]

Freaks work and give you a lot of versatility with one [or few] barrels. I use them but my go to barrels use Wedgits (Palmers started doing them a long time ago). My Pyre and Blazer share a set of 0.684 barrels with Wedgits 3 with standard and one with deep set Wedgits. These work great because not only do they compensate for small paint but also handle odd shaped paintballs real well. The problem with paint right now other then size is the inconsistency of quality. Most of the time you end up shooting not even close to spherical paint and Wedgited barrels eat that stuff up without breaking paint.

[Paintzapper]

Howdy!

I say play with what you like and just shoot paint, no one is going to laugh at you for using a Viking or Blazer. Heck, anyone who knows something about paintball may want to check it out cus they think it's cool. Even right now, if I walk on to a speedball field with my pump, usually people either question if I am crazy or can actually play (in both cases, the answer is yes). A few of the brave ones ask if they can actually shoot or play a round with em too.

For myself, half the fun is playing with neat gear. I can be a paint hose all day long, but if I can use something nifty that is just a joy to use, I will grab it first.

As to paint size, my go to freak inserts for pumps have been 0.680 to 0.685 and 0.687 for semis in my area. Just find a brand of paint you like and stick with it for best results. Paint will vary from field to field, and occasionally from batch to batch. Just have 3-4 sizes with you and you should be fine. I myself have a ton of inserts, but only really use a few of them consistently.

The majority of fields I have been to lately have started catering to the rental and casual players more than the speedballers and tourny players. Many of the games are woods, urban, hyperball, or just a mix of multiple formats. Very few fields in my area use inflatable bunkers unless they are allowing tourny players to practice or are trying to attract the speedballers.

[Euphie]

So I pulled the trigger and ordered everything I would need to play. I ended up spending like $1K which all things considered isn't that bad since the bulk of that was just buying a Palmer's Blazer, though I didn't go blade/right feed, because I did find my old automag center screw grips and I remembered the fun I had on that one so I went with the stock frame and vertical. Turns out Palmer had me covered on a gas thru T-stock all along, the make something called the "stabilistock" which seems to be a stock that attaches to a male stabilizer that can then screw into an ASA.

I bought a cocker barrel adapter and a freak kit, due to the advice here. I would normally just get a Lapco Bigshot or Auto spirit, but if paint has inconsistent sizing, I would have to buy quite a few barrels to make that work. While the autospirit is my favorite barrel, it would also seem they are out of production, but a heavy barrel makes me feel accurate, but I get it those things really break the scale. Seems like there is a huge trend in the sport to light and small.

The rest is all really basic stuff, kinda amazing just how much gear you need to effectively play this game, but I am hyped as soon as this Blazer comes in I am gonna lose so bad on the field lol. I checked out the local places on Youtube, they seem decent though there what appears to be a quite high average fire rate but, my first gun was a Brass Eagle Tigershark so it won't be my first time being outgunned. Thanks for all of the replies hopefully in a few weeks I will have an after action report to share!

[caylegeorge]

I am in the Seattle area and for fields I have always really enjoyed Forest Fire Paintball - https://forestfire.com/ They are about an hour north. Really friendly staff and friendly walk-ons.