From what I gather, this whole sport started off with a couple of rowdy cowhands who got drunk and started
shooting each other with the markers they used to mark cattle for sale at auctions. Showdown at the ol'
Sherwin-Williams Corral, eh boys?  At least they were kind enough not to whack the cats or whatever.

That was around 20 years ago.

(Twenty Years Later)  We entered the Paintball Arena of Life.   Things have changed in the Cattle Marker Field.

  Although Terry had an older Stingray for a couple of years, we never went out, and he only went out a couple
of times. Then, something happened, I don't know what, but I went down to Wally World and picked up a couple of
Stingray II Ice packages for Dylan and myself. I figured we could go blast each other (with .68 caliber - that's between 1/2"
and 3/4" in diameter - projectiles moving with enough speed and force to dent a steel door of most any vehicle), at the same time spending
quality  time as a family. The next week, after going out one time, Terry bought a Kingman Spyder TL online. I
thought, ah, so what? A paintball marker is a paintball marker is a paintball marker. So his is made from metal, and
ours weren't. Thought that until his Spyder came in, and we proceeded to fire off a few rounds out the back door.
About as much similarity as a VW and a Porsche.

  Well, long story short, after reading almost every review (at Paintball Review) on every marker, barrel, and paint
in the price range I could afford , I bought my Piranha STS G2 about 2 weeks later, and had ordered a 12" 32°
Terminator barrel. The barrel that shipped wasn't for my Piranha, it was in an unmarked bag and most definately
was NOT the one for this marker. So, after calling the place I ordered from, we determined that it was a barrel that
was put in the wrong bin at the warehouse, they were out of stock at the moment, and he offered to sell me a
Nyte Stikk for $2 more. Hmmmmm. OK, that works. 3 days later, and I got the right one - and it's awesome for
this marker. Terry just bought a 14" Razzor barrel for his Spyder this week, and we swapped barrels for awhile on
Sunday's outing. Nice - the Razzor works extremely well on both markers, but my Nyte Stikk kept breaking paint
on the Spyder. We chrono-d the markers, and the Spyder was initially clocked at 374 - way too hot. But no matter
what we did, we couldn't get the Spyder speed down under 327. The Piranha STS was initially at 317, but I got it
down to 297 easily. Don't quite know what's going on with the Spyder, though. It sure wouldn't do in tournament
play at that speed. Anyway, we figure the extra oomph of the Spyder is what kept breaking the paint in the Nyte
Stikk barrel. We were using Diablo Midnight (green/green/aqua) balls the whole time. (weird fill color to me,
reminds me of Seafoam Green, an infamous military unicolor, but the kids like it)

- More to come - I'm just now putting this up. One of the things I'm not, is a photographer. Too bad I'm the one who
took the pictures that are below. Maybe I can get my father to do it. He was a professional photog for years, and
I don't even know why I'm attempting this. duh. So, maybe, I can get some decent pix up sometime in the future.

Truly Stupid Stuff

Flash Moovie where you get to
actually shoot my STS G2

  So, last time out, we decided to go play with the 'big boys' in another town close by. Some of them have been doing
this for a few years, so, aside from being just a little intimidated right off, we figured we'd have fun and learn some
tactics. That we did, only not really the ones to help us win a game.

  Sunday: OK, guys, it's 6:30 am, let's get rolling - got a game to play and quite a ways to go to get there. Man, it's
hardly even daylight that early, but anything for that quality  family time, so.... We loaded up the van with the gear,
drinking water, and a gallon of barrel cleaning water. And not much else, like FOOD !! Duh, well we didn't figure that
one out until about 4 hours into the day. What the hey, it's only a 7½ hour play day, in the sun, in the woods, blah...
Jump in the van, head to the kids' friends to pick them up (the more the merrier, heh heh), and onward to the forest.

  8 am, we arrive at the site, nobody around but us 5. No biggie, just start getting ready, and pretty soon the other
guys show up. Now we have 12 crazies! What a blast! (no pun intended) Capture the flags, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, 4 on 4,
and the last one (that I played, anyway, that day) - One flag, two teams, get the flag, first one to return to the gate
that we cross wins. Here's where it got interesting. The flag was out in the open. Just getting it without getting nailed
was quite a feat. But, we laid down plenty of cover, and got it. The harder part was getting it to the gate. Knowing
that there would be some stiff protection at the gate from the other team, we worked our way down. Sure enough,
about 15 yards from the goal, there were two 'enemies' waiting for us. Unfortunately, they were in a not-so-strategic
spot. Plenty of brush cover, but nowhere to escape should there be return fire. Yeah, like we were planning on just
walking up to the gate without expecting them. We still had our full team of six, so, that was 5 covering, and one guy
with the flag. We came under heavy fire, but 5 against 2 .... well, you do the math. Each 'hopper' holds about 200
rounds, so that's around 900 to 400. Hmmm. Needless to say, they got whacked hard from 3 different directions.
I offered to 'take the bullet' so the flag guy could score, but he declined. (guess he figured he ought to be able to
defend himself with his $400+ marker) After the fire fight, I only had 3 rounds left, it was that intense.

  Lots of noise, lots of paint flying, and lots of screaming coming from the bushes. Turns out, one guy was trying to
call himself out from being hit, but nobody heard him....not even the guy on his team that was next to him. Pretty
soon this guy comes FLYING out of the bush, screaming obscenities, and fully determined to kick someone's butt
for not stopping shooting. He rips his mask off, throws it on the ground, and starts charging. Hmmmm. I really don't
remember THIS in the rules. Turns out he was hit about 5 or 10 times, and we wouldn't stop. But, hey, there are 2
things most definite about this game: 1: you're probably going to get shot at some point and they hurt, no doubt.
and, 2: if you have a temper, you probably ought to play something else, like Needlepoint, or Solitaire, or something.
That's when I quit. I just happen to not want to play a 'GAME' with someone who takes it personal when something
just doesn't go as planned. This is one game where you CAN get hurt, even with all the protective gear we wear.
And, here he was charging someone with a loaded weapon. Kinda dumb. Couldn't help but think about what this
guy would do against someone with an Angel - capable of like, 24 rounds a second. Let's see, that's almost 50 shots
in 2 seconds. Ain't no getting away from THAT.     [ On second thought, Needlepoint involves sharp objects.. ]

  After they left, our guys talked it over and decided we didn't want to play with these guys anymore....not much fun
and that's the whole reason for being out there. We have plenty of places to play in the woods here in Southwest New
Mexico, since it's ALL woods, so it's not like we'd not have a place to play.

  Ah, well, that about covers the latest episode. We were out there for over 7½ hours. Tired, hungry, and thirsty, we
headed on back towards civilization, grabbed a quick burger and coke at Wendy's and dropped everyone off. Guess
the day's events didn't bother my guys too much, they wanted to go out the next weekend again - oh, hey, that's
THIS weekend. Glad I'm not the typical overweight middle aged man - it's grueling putting everything into hiding,
stalking, and running up and down hills. Guess there's some benefits to being -not-rich. I don't eat that much, and
don't drink, so I'm still the same weight I was in High School. Gotta admit, the first few times out, I didn't think I'd
recover the next few days, after sitting in front of computer all day everyday. Surprisingly enough, it doesn't bother
me much now, and I get a big kick out of the boys telling me how tired they are. (lightweights ;-)

  If you're interested, check back in, I'll try to post some more pix and news, the highlights, etc. A couple of my
friends want to come and take action pix sometime, but they pretty much balk at the early time and the long hours.
Funny how complacent we become with age, isn't it?

• Stay Tuned!      ( I try to.....)       Ken                          

April 9, 2002 Update, believe it or not... hehe.
The 24 Hour Desert Rat Scenario In Surprise, AZ.
Check it out.