Piantball is now a deadly game

[Venom5447]

Did anyone from northern California catch the channel 13 feature on how "deadly" paintball is? The peice ran on Monday at 10:30 Ok so two people have died from the valve coming loose on co2 tanks. One here in California in February, The other in Oregon nine months prior. The local news is having a feild day with this. All the segment showed were the greiving family members who were demanding that changes be made to the industry. Not once did I see an interview with a paintball player, shop owner, airsmith etc. Call me crazy, but that dosent represent the whole picture now dose it? Im not sure what we can do about this I just want to get some of your guy's opinions on this.

[DementedChild]

it was over here in pa too, me and my friend caught and laughed our butts off, i called the news channel that viewed it, and told them straight up what the chances of that can happen.

[SanDiegoMag]

They could have been killed by a car crash and it would still be more dramatic, and dangerous in the first place. Driving vs. paintball, Driving is worse. Also, it was an equipment malfunction, not the casue of another player. The media is propoganda BULL****!

[SpecialBlend2786]

Paintball is healthier then TV.

[ZapTheMad]

Fatal accidents can happen in any sport. It never stopped auto racing, it never stopped skiing, it never stopped speed walking! Accident shappen, that's just the way the world is.

Maybe something good will happen from this. The reason there are accidents is because people are not aware of the risks involved and how to avoid problems. To you and me, it's just common sense. The trick is getting everyone to have the same common sense.

[DementedChild]

heres my theory

1: n00bs players that died
2: either bought the products used or it was field equipment (considering most vets or players after 2 year buy hpa)
3: the co2 tanks where out of date.
4: not a good ran park ( see 3)


therefore they blame paintball on us, they signed a wavier oops you died, not our fault

[Enemy]

dude it would be nice if you knew what happened before you made a theroy but since you dont know the whole story then i shall give it to you...this is the most recent one since thats the story i know most about..mom held her sons birthday party at a paintball field when one of the party members went to go disassemble his marker and the tank unscrewed from the valve instead of the valve from the asa. sending the tank flying with atleast 850psi behind it. the tank struck mom in the head, which had enough of an impact to separate her head and body, killing her instantly..palmer had a chance to look at the valve and tank and noted that there was no damage to the threads nor was there any locking compound present. he also noted that the tank had an anti siphon tube installed. so in his professonal opinion the malfunction was caused by the installer of the tube have not properly tourqued the valve and/ or using any thread locking compound. this means that for any person that still uses co2 this can happen if the shop doesnt properly install your gear. this is why tanks are only suppose to be worked on by certified techs. so please dont go blaming accidents on newbs cuz only newbs use co2.. sometimes i like co2 its easy to fill and alot of times you can get a better fill than you normally do with a nitro system..sorry im not familar with the second story i just know it caused the death of a teenager and his family has sewed the distributer of the tank as well as the manufacter..havent heard but suspect that they tank also had an anti siphon tube installed on it or was tampered with by a second party.

[shartley]

This is why I don’t take anything I see in the news at face value. The News used to be about reporting the NEWS, but it is now about ratings. Sensationalism is the word of the day, and the news media will take just about any story and present it in the way it will keep people watching.

The same way as you see the “news previews” and they have some “very important information” that you HAVE to get… but you have to wait until the end of their scheduled news program, which is 5 hours away, to get that information. If it was THAT important, you would be interrupting your scheduled programming and telling me NOW. Otherwise, sorry, it is more of your sensationalism created to gain viewers.

This leaving out facts, or not telling things in their proper light or perspectives drives me crazy. It is to me, not telling the truth. And paintball does not need that crap.

[ZapTheMad]

The problem is people eat it up because to those who don't play, it's like shooting real guns in combat. Who would be crazy enough to run around in the woods shooting projectiles at eachother? Sure, it was a noob kid who caused the accident. Everyone was a noob once. Do you remember unscrewing your first tank?

Like I said tho, something good may happen from this. Every noob kid on the planet is going to hear about this story and learn how to look for these problems. Field safety may improve another notch and some of these little things to look out for will become more widely known. I'm sure this has happened many times before but nobody died. Everybody knows to stay away from sharks, but that doesn't stop us from surfing!

[Gabriel]

This is why I don’t take anything I see in the news at face value. The News used to be about reporting the NEWS, but it is now about ratings. Sensationalism is the word of the day, and the news media will take just about any story and present it in the way it will keep people watching.

The same way as you see the “news previews” and they have some “very important information” that you HAVE to get… but you have to wait until the end of their scheduled news program, which is 5 hours away, to get that information. If it was THAT important, you would be interrupting your scheduled programming and telling me NOW. Otherwise, sorry, it is more of your sensationalism created to gain viewers.

This leaving out facts, or not telling things in their proper light or perspectives drives me crazy. It is to me, not telling the truth. And paintball does not need that crap.

I agree to an extent.

Shartley'S new quote: 'The ability to see things for what they really are is called cynacism by those that don't have it.'

[sig11]

Its been said before, but I'll say it again.

It doesn't take a new player to have an accident.

Several years ago I was at local field and the owner was taking down the rental guns. One of them rattled, but he didn't think anything of it; they were old rentals. Started removing the tank and it shot off the gun. The steel tank spiraled over my head, my friend's head, and the counter. It then bounced off the wall and was finally stopped by his girlfriend's face. She was lucky. Only a chipped tooth and busted lip if I remember correctly.

Moral of the story? Accidents happen to experienced players too. :) He had been playing for years and had run a field for at least two at time.

Lee

[Trunnion]

the owner of my field prepared himself for this as soon as the story broke. from what he told me, the valves on the tanks had become unscrewed to a certain point at which the pressure in the tank ripped out the last few threads and caused the tank to separate fully from the valve. he immediately found two valve examples, one old and one new, which show a small but significant change in the valve design. new valves have a small hole about 1/4" down the threaded section that secures the valve into the tank. if the valve is unscrewed too far, this hole is exposed and the tank vents its pressure. the older valve that he showed me had no such hole, and thus his theory is that the accident happened because of an out of date valve that was absent a safety feature that is not apparently standard. he took apart and checked about 70 of his rental 12 ounce tanks and all had the new valves. all were purchased within the last 2 1/2 years. now like i said, this is his theory, but it seems sound enough to me. if anyone brings a tank in for repairs and it has an old-style valve, he replaces them. if anyone happens to know something further about these accidents, i'd be interested if you'd share, especially if it contradicts this theory.

[Muzikman]

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something, something I can use
People love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry

Well, I could've been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I don't have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear, give us dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em all around

We got the bubbleheaded bleach-blonde, comes on at 5
She can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die, give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation? Is the head dead yet?
You know the boys in the newsroom got a running bet
Get the widow on the set, we need dirty laundry

You don't really need to find out what's going on
You don't really want to know just how far it's gone
Just leave well enough alone, keep your dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're stiff, kick 'em all around

Dirty little secrets, dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybody's pie
Love to cut you down to size, we love dirty laundry

We can do the innuendo, we can dance and sing
When it's said and done, we haven't told you a thing
We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry

Dirty Laundry - Don Henley

[Target Practice]

Well put, Muzikman, well put. You know, the double standard in this country is almost comical. I admit it, I am a NASCAR fan. It was a dark day for me and the rest of the NASCAR community indeed when Dale Earnhardt passed. Where was the "deadly" sport outcry? I mean, come on? Hasn't that sport killed more people? No outcry. What did they do? They looked at the problem, and fixed it. That is what we as part of the industry need to do? Has there been lawsuits filed against the person who installed the anti-siphon tube? If not, why? We need to go after the people responsible for this. It will show that we are trying to change things.
You know, maybe we could use the current media, our enemy, to our advantage. Next AO day, call your local TV/Radio station, and tell them what is going down. Who knows? It might be a slow news day, and they may come out for a bit. As long as you don't paint up their van or anything, they may be pretty receptive. Hey, maybe Senores Kaye and Shatner can get a call into someone important for September. People love charity crap. Anyhoo, it's early, I'm sick as a dog, and cranky as hell.

$.02

[Brophog]

heres my theory

1: n00bs players that died
2: either bought the products used or it was field equipment (considering most vets or players after 2 year buy hpa)
3: the co2 tanks where out of date.
4: not a good ran park ( see 3)


therefore they blame paintball on us, they signed a wavier oops you died, not our fault

That is about a heaping pile of ignorance right there.

[The Action Figure]

man these kids died I dont believe you realize exactley what that means, it means thier familys will never see them again in this life. so show some respect and quit calling the noobs or retards