Kid shot in the eye at CFOA today.

[cphilip]

Ok those of us out there wanted to make sure this got reported be cause its a bizarre thing and maybe you not even thought it could happen.

The kids fine by the way. Bruised eye but he will be fine...


Let me explain what happened.

He had taken his hopper off and his barrel off. So no Condum on right? I mean no barrel to have one right? Well he sets the marker down on his pack. And at some point it slips or it happens as he is sliding it on to his pack. I not certain which even though he was sitting right next to our tent in the next tent. But anyway there is a ball still in the chamber. It fires out and strikes him right below the eye, luckily, and breaks before it shatters into his eye. Now for some reason the fill of this paint is red! (Not certain why but thats another story) So we are all freaking... and soon after realize it was paint not blood. But he was real lucky it broke on that upper bone first and also lucky there was no barrel on I guess. No telling the velocity of it when it hit him. But from the paint breaking like it did and the signs of a bruise it looks like it was going plenty fast enough to take his eye out if it had hit directly.

So we wanted to report this because it could happen and did happen and you might not realize it is a real possibility. And never is there a marker that does not have a barrel on it that has a comdom on it is there? And often there is a ball still in there right? No matter if the hopper is off as well!

Be carefull guys. This was scary. It turned out alright but just think about it. It did happen. And he was about a 1/4 inch from losing an eye.

[NJPaint]

gah, that is close... Makes me re-think how I disassemble my emag from now on. Thanks.

[Emily]

This was very nerve racking to see. It scared the crap out of me. All we could see was red all over his eye and thought for sure his eye was gone. Luckily his eye was ok. I will make sure from now on that any marker I'm around will be protected with or without a barrel on it.

[i_baked_cookies]

makes me wish my field was safer... the kids coming off the field dont even have their barrel plugs in and they are holding their guns upright, not in the air or towards the ground...

thank god that guy is okay...

[dansim]

he should be glad it wasnt an ir3 when i had mine i could shoot balls a good 25 yards or more without a barrel

[jayloo]

I saw a kid shoot his friend at at my local field CCP (http://www.ccpaintball.com). It was his birthday and his his buddy had picked up his marker and pulled the trigger for appearent reason. The ball shot throught the condom and his the birthday boy just below his right eye. All I saw was blood..we though he got shot in the eye. Paramedics came and cleaned him up. Little bruised but ok.

Since this incident I always demand folks have condoms on their guns. Safety first!!!

[argnot]

I am rethinking barrel condoms. I dont think they are so hot anymore. I was at urban assult and this kid came on te field with his condom on and points his gun at a barrel and I was like dude your barrel condom is on and he fires right after I say this. The condom shoots off and his second shot hits the target. I wonder how well a barrel plug works. Anyone have similar incidences?

[cphilip]

Well lets not lose track of the fact that this incident happened with the barrel off and the hopper off... a time when no one normaly has any protection. No one!

[Odder]

A good rule to follow is that always keep you mask on when the tanks are on the marker and never screw in a tank with people around who is not wearing a mask.

[p8ntball1016]

Originally posted by argnot
I am rethinking barrel condoms. I dont think they are so hot anymore. I was at urban assult and this kid came on te field with his condom on and points his gun at a barrel and I was like dude your barrel condom is on and he fires right after I say this. The condom shoots off and his second shot hits the target. I wonder how well a barrel plug works. Anyone have similar incidences? Barrel plugs can shoot out too. I've done it. Its worse than a bbd flying off. Thats why Rexplex in North Jersey bans barrel plugs.


plus barrel plugs=noobs:D

[cphilip]

Originally posted by Odder
A good rule to follow is that always keep you mask on when the tanks are on the marker and never screw in a tank with people around who is not wearing a mask.

Most people do not degass thier marker before leaving the playing field.

[DeeEight]

as they're long enough to totally cover a 14" barrel and wrap the cords around the feed tube. Plus they're made of strong canvas and shooting thru them isn't going to occur.

[barberjohn]

phil, did this happen after i left?? what place did we end up coming in? caleb hasnt gotten on, so i have no clue. sorry for stealing your thread, but i gotta know.

edit- nevermind, i just saw the other thread about CFOA, sorry!

[BobTheCow]

Originally posted by argnot
I am rethinking barrel condoms. I dont think they are so hot anymore. I was at urban assult and this kid came on te field with his condom on and points his gun at a barrel and I was like dude your barrel condom is on and he fires right after I say this. The condom shoots off and his second shot hits the target. I wonder how well a barrel plug works. Anyone have similar incidences? That's user error, it has to be... when you put a barrel condom over the end of the barrel, you have to make sure to tighten the cords around the feedneck or foregrip or something, otherwise if the marker fires the condom will just fly off (as you described). And also, like p8ntball said, barrel plugs will indeed come out. I am almost positive plugs will fail much more often than condoms.

[Digits]

I've shot my gun at the chrono with balls in and the barrell condom on.. I wasn't used to always having one on (It was my first tournament).. I probablly shot it at least 5 times throughout the day..

And it's still holding up great (It's one from Rogue BTW)

[argnot]

This guy did have it tight. I am not trying to change the subject I just dont think that they work that well. Maybe a plug like in wine bottles that you flip down the lever and they increase in diameter. It was kinda foolish to not check the breach for a ball. You don't put a gun away with out checking if it is loaded or not, the same sould apply to your paintball gun even if it is from the car to the house.......

[punkncat]

That is crazy! Buddyis lucky to have his eye still.
You should alway check to be sure there is no ball in the chamber when doing clean up like that.Not a bad idea to turn the marker off also.

Another reason why red paint should be banned.That is the universal color for hurt and bleeding.Paint should not be made anymore with that color fill , just so that its easy to access if someone is really hurt or not.

[cphilip]

Originally posted by punkncat
That is crazy! Buddyis lucky to have his eye still.
You should alway check to be sure there is no ball in the chamber when doing clean up like that.Not a bad idea to turn the marker off also.

Another reason why red paint should be banned.That is the universal color for hurt and bleeding.Paint should not be made anymore with that color fill , just so that its easy to access if someone is really hurt or not.

You Sir got it all right. And the reason we wanted to make sure this was posted. Its just something no one ever considers. All the safety rules we follow did not include this scenario. We wanted to make sure everyone else realised what we realised from this incident. We hope it saves an eye.

[StickFigurSicide]

I just found out a local kid (dont know him personally, but his cousin goes to my parents church) shot his eye.

He is 14. His parents were leaving to go somewhere, and told him specifically not to touch his paintball gun (i assume he had just gotten it, but im hearing this second hand). Anyway, as soon as his parents left, he went and gassed up, went outside, and started shooting a tree. He breaks a ball or jams the gun, looks directly down the barrel WITHOUT goggles on. The gun went off.

He was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. He now has to travel to phillidelphia every day to go to a special eye doctor.

Makes me wish someone around here offered saftey classes...

[Doobie]

Another reason why red paint should be banned.That is the universal color for hurt and bleeding.

LOL! That is just well put! :)

Barrel plugs have been known to fly off when shot. I had one fly right by my head one time and I was only about 2 feet from the end of the marker. I would almost rather be hit in the eye with a paintball than a hunk of hard plastic!
Also, some early condoms (or BBD's for the PC people out there) did not have a piece of thick Condura nylon accross the end to reinforce the stiching at the end of the barrel. Those had some incidents where paintballs were shot through them. That is why the BETTER BBD's have the thick nylon or canvas on the end now.
Believe it or not, I saw a kid today using a barrel swab as a BBD...on a $600 cocker! Spend the extra $10 bucks, 'ya know! :rolleyes:

[Zedaine]

This reminds me when I was at a field and the owner told us before we started playing to never take your masks off because he had a friend who got shot on the lower part of his eye socket and his eye ball flew out of its socket. Scary stuff folks...

[Carbon]

paintball guns are firearms. They should be treated like one.

[jayel579]

Originally posted by cphilip
and breaks before it shatters into his eye. Now for some reason the fill of this paint is red! (Not certain why but thats another story) So we are all freaking... and soon after realize it was paint not blood.

i thought this is why red paint isnt made anymore, or maybe tried not to be made anymore

[Wes Janson]

The fact is, this sort of thing is always going to happen, because idiots always find a way to screw themselves up, no matter what the situation. Leaving your tank off until you get onto the field is taking things to an extreme; I generally just try to make sure I know the gun's air condition and whether a round is chambered or not. I've sometimes looked down a gun held out at length with a mask on, but never without a mask. With a several pound trigger pull, accidental discharge isn't a concern for me.

Incidentally, I wonder what sortof gun the kid was using. I've played games with people whose markers were so ultra-responsive that they would go off just by walking around. During the last scenario game, our general nailed two or three people in the foot by accident, just standing around. Compared to my original Spyder, or my mag, I'm willing to bet that 90%+ of the cases we hear about involve triggers that are far too sensitive.

[breg]

This is going to soud wierd. In the military, when upon issue/reciept and turn in of a fire arm we do what is called "Clearing Procedures." Basically we insure that the firing chamber is empty, and we show that the chamber is empty to the clearing offical and the issuing officer. It takes up a lot of time, but it insures that we have not recieved or turned in a weapon capable of firing.
We could accomplish this by removing the hopper and removing the paintballs from the gun before leaving the field. Or by saying that all markers must have barrels and barrel blocking devices on them at all times while in the staging area, and that any work being preformed on a malfunctioning must be accomplished in the chrony range while wearing full protective gear.
This would be a hassle, but what is a hassle compaired to a lost eye?
I'm just glad to hear that the kid is going to be OK. Thank God for that. This could have been a lot worse.

[pntballgunz]

I believe the paintball industry should make everyone take a paintball safety coarse and have a standard issuance of safety cards to players once they complete the coarse. Then they would show the field prior to registering for the day. Not only barrel plugs and condoms are a problem, but safety in general. You have kids modifying their guns gassed up or install new parts and gassing and what happens...only to find something explode in their faces and/or serious injurying others. Many incompentent people thinking their home airsmiths not knowing how dangerous CO2 or compressed air can be. Just recently, we had a deadly injury here where a CO2 tank was not properly tightened after installing a anti-siphon tube and what happens...it takes off like a missile and kills a bystander(see link below). For kids playing paintball, I believe the parents need to take more responsibility and learn that paintball could be deadly if not handled correctly.

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/2854345/detail.html

[Sir_Brass]

Before I degas my marker, I ALWAYS tilt the gun upside down, remove hopper (with paint in it), and deposit paint into empty pods or into the bag which they came from. THEN, with bbd on the barrel, I go over to the chrono station, take off bbd, and fire ball in chamber (I shoot a blazer). THEN, I degas the marker. even after I degas it, I place the bbd back ON the gun, and tighten it on the feed neck or vert reg.

That is my standard "disarm gear before going home proceedure." I NEVER have my guns gassed up or loaded while in the car . . . NEVER. It's not safe. Not in the least.

[breg]

I think in some states, it is iollegal to have a gassed up gun in the car.

But, as a general rule, unless it is on the field or going that way in the next ten seconds, I try to keep my marker in a state that visually displays that it is incapable of firing (IE disconnecting the gas line, I have a pro connect on it. And removing the hopper.)

[Brophog]

Originally posted by Carbon
paintball guns are firearms. They should be treated like one.

That's what calling them "markers" will do. When we stopped calling them "guns" I think we also stopped respecting them as such.


This is another reason that pumps are superior!;) I know that I don't have a ball chambered, because one click of the trigger before exiting the play field assures me of it!

[StygShore]

Another thing to watch for since we are talking about near misses.

Not only do goggles need to be on when the barrel sock/barrel is off, but they must be on correctly.

We have all seen the noobs out there with the side panels on their goggles kicked out to the side looking like wing flaps to slow em down, goggles that kep slipping over their face, and just plain not fitting well.

We have had a couple instances where somone had their goggles on wrong and there were some close calls -

1st one a guy had the brake flaps going, and he got stitched up from behind from about 15 ft away. Ball hit right behind his ear, and another in his temple, knocked him out for a bit. There was a nasty bleeding welt right behind his ear, and it looked like it damnnear tore it off.

The second was someone was running down a hill shooting at someone. His goggles were very loose, and he had stuffed paper towel into the headband. The person he was running at returned fire, the first shot hit the upper endge of his goggle frame, causing the loose fitting mask to tilt back on his face, the second shot came up under his mask and left a nice mouse right under his right eye.

At my local field where I ref, we are HUGE on the goggle and barrel sock rule, and have and will continue to make people sit out games, or leave the field if they break those rules.

Well, thats my public service announcement today....

Styg

[sneakyhacker420]

any properly made barrel sock should not be able to be shot through... but i'm definitely not a fan of the redz or dye barrel socks which are neoprene with the ballistic nylon inside it

[Duck Hunt]

I see this happen alot at my field. People who don't know what they're doing or are just too stupid to care.

Maybe I'm just used to shooting real guns before I started playing paintball. But to me its so freaking simple. If you're not using your gun anymore, take it apart, CLEAR THE CHAMBER and or de gas it, SAFETY ON and thats that.

Sean

[SpongeBobSquarePants]

Wow, that is crazy. How did I miss it? I'm pretty sure I was there all day. Was that before or after I came by you guys tent? By the way how did you guys finsih up? We took 16th to the best of my knowledge.