Big Game Prep - Installment #3

Big Game Prep - 3rd Installment
time frame: a week minus 2 days

well, you're now 3 days out from the event ... so far you've established your living conditions and travel arrangements, you've determined the size of the bag you can bring with you ... but what do you put in it?

1. Check the weather again, this will determine your dress of the day. If it's gonna be sunny and warm, you want to wear clothing that's layered and breathable. Think cotton and lightweight sweat dissipating materials. This will help you keep cool while under fire. But what if it rains? A simple answer to that is a raincoat, but you may not want to play in one as most will keep heat trapped and make you warmer than you need to be, especially during summer rain. You may just want to keep one with your gear so that you can cover up when out of the playing area and keep dry. Also bring a change of clothes and socks ... nothing sucks more than being drenched and having nothing to change into at the end of the day ... for you and for the person who's car you're riding in (or for your own depending on travel arrangements)

2. Your gear checklist ... this will be different for each player, but most of the time there are some things you just need:
- Marker
- Hopper (or clips if mag fed)
- air source (HPA or CO2) - HPA is the better option, but both work and this isn't a discussion on the benefits or downfalls of either. Make sure your tank is in Hydro
- remote line (if you run a remote)
- vest (or pod pack ... depending on your setup)
- Approved Mask for paintball use
- barrel blocking device
- good footwear for the terrain you're playing on
- appropriate clothing for the weather and your style (speedball or woodsball/scenario/milsim)
- water bottle or hydrobladder (essential when playing in all weather, dehydration is not a good way to exit the game)
- cash (as most fields are cash only) for paint and entry
- Batteries for ANY electronic devices ... murphy's law states that if something is to go wrong, it will.
- your sense of adventure!

3. Some optional gear you can look at as a team:
- a tent or shelter
- cooler and ice
- bug spray and sun blocking lotion
- team banner, if you have one

4. Not everything listed above is required, but it's a good thing to have with you when you leave for the event.

5. Your Marker ...
This is the one piece of equipment that you need to make sure is working correctly and is ready before the event. If you can, try to dismantle your marker, oil or lubricate it and test fire it at an approved field with a chrono. This will make things easier when you arrive at the event, since you may only have to make small adjustments before being able to play. There is nothing worse then getting to the field and spending 2 hours dismantling and trying to fix your marker before being able to play. If you are playing with an electronic marker, and it's raining, try to figure out a way to make it waterproof ... garbage bags wrapped and taped over the marker work really well. Same thing applies for a hopper that's electronic, nothing worse than rain+electronics ... a bag covering the hopper may slow you down, but shrink wrap (think saran wrap) around the body and the lid individually will allow you to keep podding up without slowing down to remove a bag.

6. Make sure all your other gear is in good shape as well, this includes your mask and barrel blocking device, these are safety devices and most fields will look at them before allowing you to use them. Make sure your lenses are in good shape and there are no cracks or breaks anywhere on the mask. Your barrel blocking device should fit your barrel and keep paint from exiting the barrel if there is an accidental discharge.

Another important point is that unless the event is BYOP (Bring Your Own Paint), leave all the leftovers at home, carry a zip lock bag full so that you can chrono without wasting your event paint, but check with the field first to see if that's allowed.

all in all, this is when you should be ready to go out and have fun. Most of your gear is ready to go and your maker should be in working order ... if not, don't worry you have 3 days to get the marker back in tip top shape before you hit the field.

I'll be back tomorrow to talk about things you should do when you arrive at the field either the night prior or the day of the event.

See you tomorrow
Mitch