Local paintball field had no chronograph nor comprehension of what one was

[screwloose45]

Haven't played in years, but I figured a chronograph is the most basic safety need. Are they not required by law or insurance or something? The field in question is well known and has been around for like 30 years, but recently sold to a foreign buyer. I rented a setup and my friend brought his own, we had to eyeball (pun intended) his gun to have it somewhat match the rental velocity. Just found it crazy that a big and popular field has no FPS checks or even the ability to.

[NONOBLITUS]

What joke of a field is this, and this needs to be addressed at said field

[screwloose45]

I guess there's not really a reason not to mention them, it was the field previously known as Hot Shots in Palm Beach, but now called Piquet Paintball. I described what a chronograph was to the field refs and they were confused what or why it would exist. Asked another player with his own gun and he said oh yeah that is weird.

[ChuckLove]

Unfortunately, I don't find this surprising. My local field has a chrono but rarely if ever checks players speed.

[Jonnydread]

I have run into situations where the chrono wasn't set up YET, but never that it didn't exist. Closest situation I can think of is at Matt's Outback not having a chrono at the chrono station, just a handheld in the 14 y.o. ref's possession. Matt's has a lot of known safety issues so I wasn't surprised.

This situation could be a learning opportunity if you're willing to put some energy into it, rather than lambast the new owners for being ignorant you could contact them and try to explain why it's so important they have velocity limits and enforce them. At the risk of getting into "get off my lawn" territory, safety enforcement within paintball has withered significantly over the last ~20 years and with some exceptions I am flabbergasted at how lazy refs and field owners have become regarding safety. Some fields you will see veteran players enforcing safety way more than the high out of their minds refs.

[ChuckLove]

Safety being the number #1 priority of having a chronograph. The other reason that isn't commonly considered is new and rental player not enjoying there time due to their guns shooting much lower thank other players. Lack of range and more bounces don't provide as fun of an experience.

[Jonnydread]

ChuckLove Absolutely. I think of a field like OSG that have historically great rental experiences where everyone gets chrono'd, sometimes multiple times, and they make sure all rentals are shooting as close to field speeds as possible and you never hear the renters having a bad time cause of marker issues.

[Chappy]

Their insurance won’t cover them if they have an issue and it comes to light there’s no Chrono. There is no underwriting on paintball that doesn’t include it as necessary. It’s not shocking to find fields that don’t, but being completely ignorant of it is surprising.

[Toestr]

Insurance? What's insurance?

[Heavy_D]

Sounds SKETCHY AF

[Blackmagic71]

Last time we played without a chrono was about 22-23 years ago in somebody’s backyard with most of us shooting Tippmann 98s or some Walmart STBB, probably shooting 350fps with rock hard paint that was taking the bark off of trees.

Pretty sure some of the participants from that game still have scars. A field without a chrono would be a hard “no” for me and we’re lucky nobody got seriously hurt. 😬

[Alexndl]

My local indoor field on weekday almost never check for velocity...

[Slapshot Vrref]

Surprised that this is happening.... my local feild, Tikis, makes checks often throughout the day and some of us even have our own chronos as well. That is one of my next purchases as with as much work I've been doing and will be doing in the new year getting the rest of my collection back up and running ....

[iamthelazerviking]

That's gnarly I wouldn't go back. Field I go to is pretty annoying about chronographing. Have a ref stand there watching you and they initial your wrist band.

This is a good thing, aside from one ref not understanding that junk paint will cause fluctuations, so if you shoot 281 he tells you to turn down.

[Jonnydread]

That's a pain when they're too tight with it. If you aren't selling consistent paint how can you expect there not to be fluctuations. I feel like =/- 10fps should be acceptable.

[Tracker]

This happens more than I'd like, especially lately, Durable chronographs aren't around anymore.. "big red's" have been out of production for a lot of years

My (now closed) main local field also had issues with having a functioning Chrono, someone would shoot it and there were weeks between replacements, someone would leave it out and it would get rained on.. then weeks for a replacement, then it would get stolen... And you see where this is headed

I got to the point that I bought and started bringing a clock 3 just so I didn't have to rely on whether or not the field had a functioning Chrono that weekend.

I would also leave my clock in the Chrono pit while I was there, so other people would be able to use it so they can shoot back at me at a reasonable speed..

it sucks having to tell the field owner "I'm heading out and my Chrono comes with me, so if anyone asks where it where the Chrono went.. it was mine"

[Ecapnation]

I've heard the excuse of we don't have chronos out so rental guys can't check their guns and complain they are shooting low.....

That field closed by years ago

[BLachance75]

Sounds like a field I don't want to play at.

[jetenginekyle]

"it was the field previously known as Hot Shots in Palm Beach," sounds like they should have kept the name

[packersrule729]

Same experience for me at another field in South Florida

my inner WASP was screaming the entire time