Coming back after 15 years, and then some.. I'm so lost.

[TinCan1154]

Went through this last year. Hadn’t played in 20 years, pulled out my 20 year old marker, it worked, then proceeded to buy 8 different guns. Some new cool ones, some old ones that I couldn’t afford back “in the day”.

Every somewhat high end marker produced in the last 10 years is mind blowing compared to what I remember, but the 10’ish bps cap levels the playing field so to speak so you have options. Pick a reliable spool that fits your hands good and go to town.. then buy something else if you want to tinker.

[romeoecho84]

I’ve already got a list besides a trophy Angel to buy… sounds like i’m heading down your same path. I’m not quite up to 8, but I’m definitely on my way. I’ll be heading to the shop tomorrow to do exactly what you said: Just feel them in my hand

[Pumps4ever]

Welcome back... I just came back a few years ago after a 30 year hiatus.

Talk about culture shock lol.

Went out when pumps reigned came back to a pretty cool time and space as far as a matured sport go.

The Planet Eclipse guns are flawless. Absolutely love them. You can find a cool upgraded emek for good price and great deals on 170's and even 180's from time to time... Talk about amazing markers... Easy to clean and maintain.

Although this weekend I am pulling out the 30 year old pumps and hitting the field...

Most importantly... Have fun!

[Daltech]

Dye dsr, or PE 170 will just work and you’ll get the most bang for your buck from space-spool/whatever they call it super marker.

I went down the Angel LED tunnel. It was allot of fun. I’ve still got a LCD. 99-2000 was the pinnacle imho. The first electros the first baggy size 44 pants, and the first to flex-7.

[TinCan1154]

I had a polished LCD Angel with intelli-feed revi. I thought I was hot shit. Thing usually chopped like a blender and weighed as much as a sea anchor. Looked real nice though!

[Daltech]

It’s weird. Some angels could not chop paint no matter what. Others were blenders, also paint quality had an influence on the marker working or not. I think quality paint was somewhat more prevalent in the golden era.

[Myrkul]

I've never owned an angel, but I believe the issue with chopping/clipping most of the time is the breech size. I think I read that on some angels the breech got up to like 0.70....definitely can cause some issues when modern paint can get as small as 0.67.

[romeoecho84]

Dye dsr, or PE 170 will just work and you’ll get the most bang for your buck from space-spool/whatever they call it super marker.

I went down the Angel LED tunnel. It was allot of fun. I’ve still got a LCD. 99-2000 was the pinnacle imho. The first electros the first baggy size 44 pants, and the first to flex-7.

I'm definitely trying to find something with a comparison "pop" in the shot to the Angel, but not necessarily go full ham (though I'd be lying if I said I havn't already eyeballed an LV2). All I've known is to expect that 'kick' when I fire, but from everything I read and watch, most markers, even the low to mid tiers, are so smooth now. Can't say as I can recall much from my short lived Ego experience to be helpful. I hear you on the 99-00 timeframe bigly. The huge slider pants, jerseys that could double as flags, that ONE Radioshack talking timer everyone had.. "BIPBIP, TWO MINUTES, LEFT"

[boomersruckus]

Hard to beat PE 170 platform. Build it as a bulletproof mech, build it as a very capable tourney gun, set it up for scenario-big games with crazy fast bps rates of fire. Cheap, very easy to clean. Buy a replacement pilot and pilot valve for the electro setup (the only real area of possible failure). All of this can be had for less than a grand total. You will never be out gunned and you will never be side lined. Add on top of that the absolute massive amount of tech support at big games and a ton of tourney series. Like, in person techs willing to fix damn near any issue that may happen to occur. Dont get me wrong, I am not saying other gats arent as good, I am just saying that PE has never given me any issues that I couldnt fix on my own.

[cellophane]

Welcome back!
As others have said- the PE platforms are pretty hard to beat, and they are everywhere, so service is easy to find. I have a MacDev Prime that I picked up second hand from a pro player and it has been super solid, even with the pro-level abuse before I got it. Only thing I've really had to do is replace the grips and some basic maintenance.

Some other things to consider-

• Find a mask you like. I still really like the Profiler masks (and they aren't expensive), the Bunkerkings CMD is really comfortable (I don't own one, but that is probably what I would buy if buying), and I have a Push Unite. I wish the Push was a little bigger, but otherwise it is a good mask. Dye masks are stupidly small on my head. Don't like.
• Find pads you like. I really like the Carbon CC Knee Pads. I went through 4 or 5 pairs of other pads before landing on them and they are great. The cutout in the back minimizes pinching, they are easy to adjust, and feel great when on. Exalt also makes good pads- I have a pair of their arm pads that have held up well. IMO Dye pads are good, but they tend to run really small and are on the harder side.
• Find a good loader. The Dye Rotor (v1) & LTR are tough to beat. Not the fanciest thing out there, but damn near bullet proof. I also really like the Bunkerkings CTRL loaders. If you play in the back you will probably want a different top shell- the stock shell is pretty small.

• Talking about props in yardlines and shapes was like speaking Greek to the pick up speed ballers (they had enough modern equipment > "they looked the part")
• Almost no communication, let alone friendly trash talk/after game banter

These could be due to any number of factors. A lot of teams by me use specific call-outs for bunkers- Cobra, Kentucky, Zulu, etc. rather than 40 Dorito or 30 Snake. Players that have been around longer or have half a brain will figure out what you mean if you call 40 Dorito, but some won't. Some calls are mostly universal, even if you aren't using the specific term they are used to: Dorito Corner, Snake 50, Home, etc. Some of it is just figuring out what local calls are, some of it might just be who was there that day. Woodball is a little different- usually it is more of a descriptive call: left palette, concrete wall, inside the house- that type of thing. I don't woodsball much, so I could be wrong.

I have noticed a lot of people tend to stick with their team / friend group post game. Most will be happy to talk if you ask though. I regularly go up and ask people (especially opponents) what they saw (e.g. was I leading w/ my elbow), what I could do better, how was that move, etc. Good way to learn and show some respect & camaraderie to the other players. If you show up regularly and show a desire to learn and not be a dick people will open up a little more. And as others have said- it could have just been those people on that day. And if you were with a group of people who aren't as familiar with what is going on- teach them. IMO- Good communication is the single hardest part of playing paintball, other than maybe physical fitness, especially as you get older.

[romeoecho84]

Welcome back!
As others have said- the PE platforms are pretty hard to beat, and they are everywhere, so service is easy to find. I have a MacDev Prime that I picked up second hand from a pro player and it has been super solid, even with the pro-level abuse before I got it. Only thing I've really had to do is replace the grips and some basic maintenance.

Some other things to consider-

• Find a mask you like. I still really like the Profiler masks (and they aren't expensive), the Bunkerkings CMD is really comfortable (I don't own one, but that is probably what I would buy if buying), and I have a Push Unite. I wish the Push was a little bigger, but otherwise it is a good mask. Dye masks are stupidly small on my head. Don't like.
• Find pads you like. I really like the Carbon CC Knee Pads. I went through 4 or 5 pairs of other pads before landing on them and they are great. The cutout in the back minimizes pinching, they are easy to adjust, and feel great when on. Exalt also makes good pads- I have a pair of their arm pads that have held up well. IMO Dye pads are good, but they tend to run really small and are on the harder side.
• Find a good loader. The Dye Rotor (v1) & LTR are tough to beat. Not the fanciest thing out there, but damn near bullet proof. I also really like the Bunkerkings CTRL loaders. If you play in the back you will probably want a different top shell- the stock shell is pretty small.

[/LIST]These could be due to any number of factors. A lot of teams by me use specific call-outs for bunkers- Cobra, Kentucky, Zulu, etc. rather than 40 Dorito or 30 Snake. Players that have been around longer or have half a brain will figure out what you mean if you call 40 Dorito, but some won't. Some calls are mostly universal, even if you aren't using the specific term they are used to: Dorito Corner, Snake 50, Home, etc. Some of it is just figuring out what local calls are, some of it might just be who was there that day. Woodball is a little different- usually it is more of a descriptive call: left palette, concrete wall, inside the house- that type of thing. I don't woodsball much, so I could be wrong.

I have noticed a lot of people tend to stick with their team / friend group post game. Most will be happy to talk if you ask though. I regularly go up and ask people (especially opponents) what they saw (e.g. was I leading w/ my elbow), what I could do better, how was that move, etc. Good way to learn and show some respect & camaraderie to the other players. If you show up regularly and show a desire to learn and not be a dick people will open up a little more. And as others have said- it could have just been those people on that day. And if you were with a group of people who aren't as familiar with what is going on- teach them. IMO- Good communication is the single hardest part of playing paintball, other than maybe physical fitness, especially as you get older.

Thanks for the guidance! Glad to be back!

Second hand markers very much intimidate me right now: I have no idea what to look for internal wear and tear on newer markers. If I should just take a 'commit to rebuild it' approach when shopping, I can wrap my head around that, but I was gravitating to "You're starting over, start with something new in a box first?" Thoughts?

Starting with Masks, I didn't have time to try on masks this weekend, but there are so many more now than I expected! Of course, I gravitated to the JT ProFlex, but I know that I can't let my historical bias (and style) win over safety and performance updates.

Pads I was NOT expecting, at all. When I left the sport, loose and tough pants was about as far as it went. I'm happy to see pads/safety gear though. I did see others my age or older wearing a healthy amount of styled padding, something in hindsight I wish I did that day too (at 40, I don't heal as fast, and took a bad slide into one prop on the lower shin). I honestly would have never considered pads and haven't in any of my current wish (shopping) lists, so I'll definitely add that in.

As loaders go, I don't PLAN on being in the back, but I know that's where I need to (re)start again for sure. I'd like a small compact look, but their shapes are so weird to me now, but then again, going from Revi's to "Eggs" was no easy sell either. I didn't even know bunkerkings was still around! I've been just browsing Promos and most YouTube reviewers favor the same loader or family (I'm seeing the Virtue hoppers everywhere). it's hard to absorb the differences: I don't know what I don't know, ya know?

The more I think about it, there was such a big group and influx of players, it was likely just too much for all of us to communicate effectively. I'll be going back out soon, but I'll definitely take up the post-game/dead box engagement you suggested. I'll toss in a "I'm just getting back into it" so maybe that can be a bit of a primer.

[boomersruckus]

With modern markers there should be very little wear anywhere except maybe the breach. That occurs mainly with guns that arent cared for as the oring on the end of most bolts is a heavy wear item. Once that oring is worn, you will see wear marks inside the breach. 100% do not be intimidated by 2nd hand markers. Take it apart and look at the board/boards. Look for water stains or paint caked on it. If the boards look clean and the breach isnt worn too badly, you are golden. If you have the funds for new in box then yeah sure, that is pretty much a no brainer for working properly. Save yourself several hundred bucks and buy this 170 setup.

https://www.mcarterbrown.com/forum/buy-sell-trade/electronic/664122-gtek-170r