Can Richard Play Paintball ?

[TAG]

We have recently been asked to assist a fellow paintball player get back into the sport after an accident forced him to stop playing. His requirements for playing have changed slightly since the accident and we have decided to provide the support he needs to get back into the game. The ultimate goal is to have him playing tournament paintball within the next few months but some special equipment will be needed to accomplish this.

We are looking for some assistance in providing Richard with a reloading system without having to use individual pods to refill his hopper. We have exhausted our resources and ideas so I thought I would send this to our on-line community for assistance.

Due to the severity of Richards’s accident his arms had to be removed at the shoulders. The accident left him with no arms but it did leave him with an extreme desire to get back into the sport he loves so dearly. With the help of his friends, and some assistance from the paintball community, I am sure we will solve this problem and have Richard playing the 2003 season as a new member of our factory team.

We are currently working on a triggering system for an electronic gun and will be discussing this in more detail with several gun manufacturers to find the best match for his unique situation. We simply need to find a way to get paint to his gun or hopper.

When I asked Richard how he felt after the accident he simply offered this example…...

“Bob, you had long hair right? Remember how you felt when you got it all cut off and you saw yourself for the first time? You just said this is how I am now…and you accepted it. This is how I am now”. And he just gave me the same big smile he always has on his face.

We do appreciate any assistance and support with this matter and we welcome all ideas.
Please feel free to contact me anytime at 706-270-0603.

[agdemagman69]

a big box of paint on the back that is fed to the gun by a warp?

[personman]

1. Sence he isnt (I'm assuming) going to be actually holding the gun, why not make a bigarse loader (600-700 rnd?) that has a motorized feeding system in it..
2. Some how rig some sort of swich that turns a motor on that releases some balls from a box rigged twords the top of the (I guess he will be in a wheelchair?) wheelchair, down a tube (using gravity) into a loader. Or you could rig up a warp feed somehow in the same way and try that..

edit- agdemagman beat me to it

[magman007]

BOB i suggest you call tom. At the 2001 IAO, there was a product, where a man with a dissability not unlike roberts (he had lost one arm this man) had created a back pack loader. HE had used a cammel back water pouch, a revy bottom melted to the bottom and secured, and a warp system, one on the revy, one on gun i believe. IM sure tom would be willing to help out in this unique situation.


IF i remember correctly, the bag held 1100 balls, about equal to a normal back player, so i doubt refilling would be too much of a problem.


My advice is to call tom and see what he can do. Also, contact tippmann, they may be able to rig something with a cyclone feeder to help out.

hope this helps-Bill

[TAG]

Actually he will be holding the gun thanks to his new "super arms" ;)

I spent quiet a bit of time with one of his new arms today and it is amazing. He can hold the gun we were testing extremely well and aim the gun with no issues at all. Depending on what gun we decide on some slight motifications will be made to give him a better grip.

Most of this is done due to his extreme will to overcome this "slight" set back. Richard can honestly do about everything any other player can do on the field.

We will use an electronic gun so the electronics can be relocated to his pack and the NOID control wires will be the only connection other than his AIR line. This will eliminate most of the extra weight on his arm and give him a bit more freedom of movement. Currently we are testing a mouth trigger and this will probably be the firing method of choice until we can discuss our long-term plans with the engineers that designed his new arms.

We have discussed a "back-pack" system but we need more specifics. A single warp did not provide the PUSH we needed to get the paint to the gun. Possibly a dual warp? One at the bottom of the pack and one at the gun ?

Another idea we had was a second chest pack containing all of the paint he needs to carry. There would be a neoprene hose connected to the hopper feeding the gun on a regular basis. When he raises the gun to its actual shooting position the hose/tube will close off due to the bend and when he needs to reload he simply lowers the gun and the tube reopens by eliminating the bend in the flexible tube.
A thin plastic plate could help protect the paint from direct hits.

He spent most of the day practicing Tourny Player Temper Tantrums so he can feel like he is 100% back to his old self. He has already assigned another team mate to assist in throwing his gear and giving the finger during those special times ;) He really cracks me up....LOL

PS......no wheelchair needed. Its the Arms that are giving him a bit of trouble...the legs are working great ;)

[agdemagman69]

wow...hes taking this really well

with those arms he will probably be a great shooter

[Python14]

Man, that takes alot of heart to get up when you fall down, even if you can't pick yourself up. I'll definitely be thinking of a feed system, and I'll ask all of my techie friends too...I'm sure they'll think of something ingenious.

[magman007]

yep bob, call tom! he will take care of ya im pretty sure!



lol about the tourny player temper tantrums!


what about building a marker into the arm its self? something a little futuristic maybe? but it may just work

[bofh]

A warp on the gun, and on one on the bottom of a backpack shoudl do you.

I think Tom had a backpack loader using that setup.

You could also try modding the Warp for more voltage, either the 12 volt mod, or 18v directly to the motor.

[TAG]

thanks guys

[Mossman]

WOW! That's awesome. If Richard reads this you rock for trying so hard to overcome this, and good luck with a normal life and a great paintball career :). Anyhow, Here's my idea:

While the warp may not have enough juice to shoot a gun at however many FPS he will be shooting, maybe it will be OK to reload his hopper? Maybe you can have a souped up warp or 2 connected to a ball container on Richard's back. Then whenever his hopper needs reloading he can turn on both warps in the same way he triggers his gun. Maybe he could have the warp hose or 2 anchored to his shoulder, and whenever he needs reloading he can hold the hopper lid up to the 2 hoses, trigger the switch however way, and 10bps or so goes into his hopper.

Dunno :) Not a great idea, but its a way to get a warp on the back design to work even if it doesnt feed fast enough for his trigger happiness :)

Good luck guys, can't wait to see what you guys finally decide on.

Good luck Richard!
-Sam

[vf-xx]

The backpack/chestpack warp should run at 12v at least (18 if you can get it worked out right)

Personally i've been thinking hard about a backpack loader myself for a scenerio gun so I'm really interested in how you solve this.

[AGD]

Yes there is a backpack warp and it does work. The weak link is the oring drive from the motor to the jackshaft pulley. AGD Lions have it right now and will be replacing the oring with a cog belt. that should solve all the problems.

Bob call me to work something out.

Tell your friend he is a paintball champion already.

AGD

[Dern]

I'm glad to hear that Richard is taking his accident well. I do agree that the Backpack loader is probably the best and easiest. Also, I don't mean to intrude or anything, but what is this accident that happened? Car wreck? If its too sensitive or something you don't have to reply, but I'm kinda Curious to know what happened.

perhaps there is a way to get a pneumatic paintball loader since the warp may not be strong enough? like a small amount of air is used to propel the paintballs up into the hopper? I dunno quite how this would be done, maybe with an extra nitro tank mounted in a remote harness, but it'd be similar to how a paintball gun propels the paintballs down the barrel.

[yeahthatsme]

gosh i love this forum:D


i think that the idea mentioned above of using the warp pack as a loader instead of a primary feed system would be a better idea.

[Automaggin2]

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/zapam98/newprod/index.shtml

[TAG]

On Feb 28th 2002 Richard was electrocuted while working on energized power lines.
He lost both arms above the elbow and spent 2 weeks in ICU then 4 more in the hospital before going to Nashville Rehab Hospital off and on for the next 4 months.

After his arms healed he decided that he wanted to play paintball again. With encouragement from a good friend, Travis Boyd, he was introduced to me and Dee.


Tom,
You cant imagine how much everyone appreciates your support and the support of this community. Richard was already a mag user before the accident so this will really pump him up even more.

[digitard]

While I have no input on what can be done, I do want to say that your friend is an inspiration.

Many times in life people give up because the solution is not easily seen ... but those who take the "curveball" and then grow stronger are an inspiration to anyone.

If your friend does get back into tourny's I will fly out sometime to see him play and support him and your team.....

While my personal injury is nowhere even in the same ballpark, I know that when I tore my ACL in my knee (at at 15 no less) I didn't think that I would be able to play paintball again because the constant damage I kept doing to my knee from it blowing out was causing wear on my kneecap ... after having surgery and a year of rehab on the knee to build up enough muscle tissue to basically be "good as new" I was able to play with no leg brace and no worries .... while the injuries differ, I did know that i was afraid that I couldn't do things I wanted to do ...

Tell your friend he is an inspiration and that positivity is a necessity .... never let the turns of life get the best of you, there's always a way.

Sincerely,
Dave K

[TigerMan]

Richard is one extraordinary person for not letting something like his dehabilitation put him back. I give him and others like him a lot of credit for wanting to get back on their feet and continue on, doing what they did before.

For a feed system, maybe have something with a vacuum assist, like ones on Angels except more powerful. Maybe something such as this could be rigged to either the gun or the feed pouch or hopper with a tube.

Good luck and I hope everything works out for the best with Richard so that he's out there playing again soon. Keep us updated as to what ends up being used.

[hawpunch]

hi,

i am not a paintball techie, so i'm not too sure how a loader can be worked out for richard. what i did want to say was, as the other posters noted, how courageous your friend richard is to get up from such a deblitating injury and situation and go on with life. its people like him that inspire the rest of us who are in perfect health to achieve more than we thought we could. the true heart of a champion is not in the way he handles his victories but in the way he handles his defeats. please tell richard he is an inspiration and good luck in his endeavors.

i would also like to say that i am impressed by agd and tom for their compassion and willingness to help. when there are times that i feel bad for spending so much money on agd products and paintball, i think of all the positive things people in the paintball community, like tom, do and it justifies the cost because my small contribution keep these companies afloat. thanks tom and agd.

aloha,

jae park

[Collegeboy]

Ok so I am guessing that his arms will be locked onto the gun. Or will he be able to remove one of them. I think the last one would be correct.

Ok if he can remove one of them. Here is a cheap and easy thing to do.

Take one of those packs that carries paint balls tubes that only uses elastic straps. Nothing on the bottom or top. Take the pack position it on his front and put the pods upside down. Now when he wants to load it he can position his hopper under the tubes, open the pod and let the paint fall into the hopper.

This will take some time getting used to but will be practically the same as everyone else out there.

If you want to engineer something that would take some money but would be nice do this.

Do as the others have said but instead of forcing it into the gun itself. Make the paint go to a pod on his front that will hold around 200 rounds or so. Make it where only 200 go it, rig up some sort of cut of valve (those one way swing vales would work great. As to make sure no more the 200 will fit in. Then once it gets time, he can open his hopper position it under the pod and again open the pod and let it fall into the hopper.

Give me a sec and I will work on a work up sketch.

[lillfroboy]

i like clooegeboys idea
i think it coul work if hes right

[Collegeboy]

Alright here is a quick diagram.

I modified it a bit. I have no idea about electronics so someone needs to do that. I thought there would be a problem with when and how to turn the warp feed on and off. I thought about running a system like the intellifeed but hook it up to a sensitive mouth piece. They make some for wheelchairs. Both sides mean forward, left means left and so forward. Now we could just hook it up to a one way switch where when he bits on it both ways the warp feed turns on and it forces balls into the front 200 round pods. That will allow his to fill the pod while still playing.

Here is a diagram.

[azzkikr]

I saw richard yesterday for the first time, and have heard of and been keept up with his situation throughout the year by travis also a friend of mine. I was there with bob while going over some of the ideas that we were cooking up with him and what he thought about it. I'm 100% sure that we will make it work. like bob said, they already have the gun issue solve for the most part anyway. the loading thing is kind of triky for now but I'm sure he'll get it working. I must say that the inspiration that he brought to me was unlike any other, as I'm sure that other felt the same at the field. I hopefully will be playing with richard in the near future. let me end this by saying that I'll try to take some pics of richard for the first time when he steps back on the field. later AZZKIKR

hey bob I've also came up with another idea for the feeding system, wich I know will work but I'll run it by you guys later anyway.

[Bobby_Lee]

Wow is all I can say. I gotta say I'm a little embarassed that I've ever whined about being tired. That said, If any one needs any custom plastic parts needed to make this work let me know. I have access to nylon, teflon, delrin, polycarbonate, etc. I have CNC machines. A router, 2 bridgeport style CNC's and a CNC lathe. Give me a print and tell me what material ya want and I'll make it. In any event good luck. I know paintballers will get this rollin'!:)

[ScatterPlot]

Hey man, thats great that youre not all upset about this thing. One thing I thought of was to make use of the front loader design thing a few posts above this one, but you could load with one of those speed pod things that Dye makes. He could just push it in there and it would load automatically. Good luck!

[TAG]

Tom,

Tried calling but got Voicemail...I will try again tomorrow. If you still wish to discuss this tonight we are up until the AM ;) Just let me know and I will give you a call.

Collegeboy...
I am not sure if he will be using both of his arms while he is playing or not. This is something I will ask him during our chat tomorrow.

Bob,
We all appreciate the offer for your services. Once we get this thing down to a final design we might be making that call......thanks so much for the help.

I think we are heading in the right direction with a single large paint container. I will know more after I speak with Tom tomorrow.

[Xerces]

not much to say that hasn't already been covered. it looks like the backpack warp design seems to be the best for loading purposes.


I am not sure if he will be using both of his arms while he is playing or not. This is something I will ask him during our chat tomorrow.

i don't know how you have this set up, but it seems 2 arms would be better for stability reasons.

[cougar20th]

well first off let him know he's doing the right thing not giving up. i applaude him for that.

now as for triggering the gun. dont artifical arms use some sort of pressure switch to activate the different areas? could you rig a similar switch to fire the gun. i dont know much about it but just a thought.

[TAG]

cougar..
We will eventually have the arm fire the gun through one of the sensor pads in the shoulder. Right now we are using a rubber encased pressure switch that can be used with his mouth.

We were having a slight problem with the mouth switch wearing out so Ken Crane from PerformanceAngel.com is sending us a new version that might solve the problem.
As soon as the arms' engineers get in touch with me we will finalize verion 2 ;)

[synreal]

i found these slimline, hardcase backpacks that might be of some assistance. one of my biggest fears in holding large ammounts of paint in a backpack would be crushing one or two of the buggers and wrecking an entire load of rounds.

http://www.s-trademart.com/co/c/cypher/pgroup.html?grp=8

http://www.s-trademart.com/co/c/cypher/img/oimg_010315203112.jpg

i also think that a dual, gear run warp setup would most likely be ideal, one at the base of the pack and one either on the marker or chest mounted roughly at firing level (i'm assuming that the range of motion that the marker goes through will be limited, so a closer tether should be able to be kept)

best wishes on a certainly triuphant return to the sport. :)

[magmonkey]

I know you have had other offers but if you need any parts machined let me know me and my guys are more than willing to help

gliney the mag monkey

[cockroach]

What a show of human spirit! Best wishes Richard.

[Clare]

wow, Richard is a true role model and inspiration to many!:)

[DyNasTy]

Send my best wishes to Richard, He is truly an extraordinary person to be able to bounce back like that and come back to the sport he loves.

Good luck on the feed system, I will try to come up with a desighn as well in the next couple of days, Ive kinda got some idea right now but I wanna make sure it will work.

[GRAY SKULL]

Bob,Bambi wants to do a comeback story on richard when you guys get him ready to play,i guess.This would be a great article to read in the Action pursuit games magazine ,that goes all over the country.Good luck guys,and if you need any assistance Bob ,let me know.

Reece
Z.I.P.P.
ZIP IT PAINTBALL PRODUCTS

i ALSO SEEN THE BACKPACK LOADER IN PITTSBURGH ,AND IT WILL WORK GOOD ,JUST A FEW MODIFICATIONS AND IT WILL ROCK!!!

GOOD LUCK RICHARD...

[Shrabis]

Hey guys I want to say thanks to everyone for just posting up something. You really don't know what it means to me and I could not even began to explain what it means to Richard. Being able to play ball with him again will be by far the coolest thing ever. When this first happened to my freind I had thought I would never get to play on a feild with him again. That really took my drive to play the sport away. Thanks to the Bob and everyone else with TAG for doing everything that they have done to help Richard out.

It is just plain cool that everyone has taken the time to read this and just took the time to post something in reply. When we first talked about getting something rigged up for him to play I, nor did he, think there would be this kind of a response. I am still stuned and I can only say thanks to everyone for careing and helping out


Travis Boyd

[Boble86]

How about a voice activation for his shooting. This is just suggetion and it might work or it might not. Example:little microphone in his mask and when his says like "shoot" it shoots.

[theraidenproject]

Originally posted by Boble86
How about a voice activation for his shooting. This is just suggetion and it might work or it might not. Example:little microphone in his mask and when his says like "shoot" it shoots.

Haha, there was a Super Soaker like you described in, IIRC, the mid 90's. Or maybe it was a Nerf gun? I don't rememebr, but I remember trying one, and it was pretty awkward. I would not suggest a whole day paintballing with it. Can you imagine saying "shoot" 2000 times? You'd lose your voice by the end of the day.
Anyway, best of luck to Richard, if I had any usefull skills for this, I would gladly contribute.

[TAG]

I played around with that idea but it did nto pan out. I think the mouth switch will work until we can get tapped into the arms electronics.

thanks for all the ideas the support.

Bobby and Magmonkey.....thanks so much for the offers. You guys are great. Currently we are having the grip made out of alu. but we have thought of delrin to lower the weight. Once we get the first piece in we will know what needs to be changed or adjusted.

It appears his right arm might not be back for a month or better o we are currently working with his electro/mechanical right arm. We will get him playing with this one...then make the necessary adjustments after he is woring with the right one.

I spent quiet a bit of time on the phone (and webcam) with Tom Kaye on Wednesday so the back pack will be assembled soon. He has offered to supply Richard with the necessary warp feeds to get the paint to his gun......truely a 1st class person in the industry.

Again...our thanks goes out to everyone here @ AO, Tom Kaye and the paintball industry.

Travis.....told ya it would come together ;)

[yeahthatsme]

wow, this is so amazing. richard, if you read this, your truly an inspiration, and i am so amazed by your ability to come back.

tom, and the others, this is why i love AGD, and AO, you guys are amazing!

[bofh]

Originally posted by TheAngelGuy.com
I spent quiet a bit of time on the phone (and webcam) with Tom Kaye on Wednesday so the back pack will be assembled soon. He has offered to supply Richard with the necessary warp feeds to get the paint to his gun......truely a 1st class person in the industry.

I feel ackward saying this, but I'll do it anyway.

Tom, this is a guy, I think, you should sponser.

Outfitting Richard, I think, would be a lot more effective than outfitting a team. Richard's gear will also showcase your technology extremely well.

[Shrabis]

Hey guys just wanted to let everyone know that Richard is keeping up with post and is overwhelmed that everyone is so careing and offering help.

Richard can not wait to be able to play again he calls me everyday to let me know how things are going. We will be showing up at Mardi Gras and hopefully he will be playing.

I would like to send a special thanks to Bob and Tom K for there help with going above and beyond what was ever expected. I never thought when I can Bob about hooking up a trigger something like this would happen.

Thanks again everyone and see ya at the Mardi Gras Open

[TAG]

bofh...
Actually Tom has done quiet a bit. He has provided equipment (warps) and even offered more items if our current suppliers do not work out. Richard (and our entire team) will be wearing AGD logos and promoting them as much as possible. I wish we could do more.....but I just do not know how to show my appreciation for what he has done. In the 03' season we will all show more support for AGD....I guarantee it.

I could come up with a ton of nice things to say about Tom but what it boils down to is this......He is a wonderful man and according to the girls associated with our team....a babe ;)

Travis.....Its from the heart guy. You are a great friend and an awesome team-mate.

[bofh]

Originally posted by TheAngelGuy.com
bofh...
Actually Tom has done quiet a bit. He has provided equipment (warps) and even offered more items if our current suppliers do not work out. Richard (and our entire team) will be wearing AGD logos and promoting them as much as possible. I wish we could do more.....but I just do not know how to show my appreciation for what he has done. In the 03' season we will all show more support for AGD....I guarantee it.

I figured that he had, but I want to draw attention to that fact that this may give much better exposure than pro team.

[TAG]

Just an update on all those that have been assisting us with this project.

I contacted several plastics companies about making a mold for a hard back. We went this direction from Toms input and the info we got from this community.

That did not go over well.....even if we offered to pay for the mold to be made no one was interested. I thought it would be nice to have a product that could be assembled incase others needed it to play....oh well. Still have not given up on it yet so......

I have a guy that might blow some fiberglass on a shell design so we might end up with what we need afterall. ;)
Some of the guys from www.Moistdonut.com are helping us with this.

We do appreciate all of the input and ideas....looks like we will be assembling the gun next week. Richard got his new Right arm in and it rocks !! He will be a paint flingin' machine when this is over ;)

[TAG]

sorry I forgot to stick this in

[TAG]

Richard is on the right :)

[EsPo]

this is a truly amazing man, i hope you get him back into the paintball world, good luck :)

[unarmed ;)]

I just want to thank everyone involved in this for your support and kindness. It really means alot to have an oppurtunity to play ball again.
If anyone needs to contact me for any reason feel free to email me at herm1391@yahoo.com

I also want to really thank the people at AGD and Bob "The Angel Guy" Sandifer. (hope I spelled your name right Bob =)..).

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart,
Richard Stephens

[TAG]

Richard,
Glad to see ya post and welcome to AO :) Lots of great folks on this forum and I know you will have a great time here.

No thanks needed....just helping a new friend play paintball.

To The Forum:
Got the Angel and air system from WDP this past week and immdiately started working on the electronics and grip. All of the electronics have been removed and relocated to a backpack to eliminate some of the weight on the arm.

Marc at Tarantula made a new grip for the gun so it would be easier for Richard to hold. After a few minutes finding the correct location in the hand he looked like he had been playing that way from the beginning. It seems to be easy to aim and you an imagine how tight he can play.

We have already stripped the PCB of any buttons and other items that are not needed so the board can be made as small as possible. Everything will be hardwired to eliminate any chance of a connector being pulled out or a possible bad connection.

As soon as we finish the new PCB I will post a pic along with the modified gun.

Getting closer ;)

[Load SM5]

Great news to hear. Keep us posted.

Richard, welcome to AO and know you're an inspiration to us all.:)

[dropkick1]

awesome, it seems that things are realy going well now, good luck richard and keep it up, i know that i'm inspired by your drive and determination to play as well:D .

ken

[manike]

Bob if you get the back pack set up CAD modelled you can have it built as a one off in very robust glass re-inforced plastic by a process called SLS. It's a rapid prototyping technique that fuses powdered materials to make real useable parts. I can help with contacts to get it made if you need or can't find help in the USA.

You can make phenomenally strong pieces this way that will take the rigours of play.

[TAG]

Richards first day out with new gun setup.
He is still using a hopper until we can get some of the kinks worked out of the backpack.

[vf-xx]

no other words than:

that's just damn cool!! Rock on!!

[dropkick1]

wow, that is awesome, it gives me goose bumps just to see him over come losing his arms, that is so awesome man, rock on!

ken

[Bobby_Lee]

Hiya Richard!
I'm thinkin' I'ld much rather have you on my side than against me!:D Welcome to AO.
Bob
(The other Bob)
Angel Eyes Custom Acryic Grips

[Jack & Coke]

better?

[Jack & Coke]

Integrate an Emag (no grip frame and no battery) into an arm accessory attachment?

Align the emag internals (i.e. board and noid) horizontal inside the arm.

Locate the battery inside the arm also.

[athomas]

If he can manouver a gun with his arms, he is able to put the gun in a position to load it I assume. Put a bulk plastic container of some sort on his chest. Have a feed neck similar to a JT slammer pack on the bottom. Put a JT slammer feed neck on the loader. Now, to load the gun he just has to move the gun under the pack on his chest and pull up. The bottom of the loader will open into the hopper. When its full, pull the gun away and the hopper and pack will close. The gun will be fully loaded and ready to go.

[SpongeBobSquarePants]

Here is my idea pretty simple, just don't know how to trigger it. Have a back pack, and either A-funnel the balls to a warp or B have the warp suck in the balls and then spit them back out the other end. Run the warp lines on top of the shoulder straps of the backpack. Splice the 2 lines together and run them into the hopper. Very simple idea may be a little work to get it working though.

GOOD LUCK AND BEST WISHS

-Wes

[IcantBelieveit]

yea but you need speed, a warp would take too long. Unless you are talking about just feeding the gun period from the backpack. I like the chest idea, but if he fell...SPLAT!!...good ideas guys. And that is awesome that he got back into the game after such a tragedy

[unarmed ;)]

Thank you all for the great ideas and I just cant put into words how good it is to play again. Its players like you all that make the sport fun and enjoyable. I'v got to give Bob (The Angel Guy) alot of credit, without him,his wife, and a great friend Travis Boyd this would have been more of a challenge to accomplish. Through their hard work and kindness it became possible for me to play ball and hopefully compete in tourneys in the near future.

Thank You All,
Richard Stephens

PS The pic of my arm with a built in Mag is sweet.

[Sinistarr]

First, WELCOME TO AO RICHARD!!!

ya'll should have seen Richard, he was grinning ear to ear after he shot out Travis! Yes he did get a kill! It was not given to him either, he held travis in his bunker and nailed him as he leaned out to snap shoot richard.

It only took richard a few shots to get the angle and range, then it was just a matter of time.

That was too cool! Richard is back! Just need to make a few adjustments and the game is on!

G

[Peach]

Very cool... You have my best wishes. If you guys do the the warp path... get the higher voltage warp setup, the web-site is spacing me right now but they are the guy that make the SFL's and such.

[vf-xx]

ROTFL!!!!! hahahahahahahahaha

Welcome Richard. Glad you can have a sense of humor about this. Love your screen name.

If you're ever down in Texas give us a holler, we'll put together something for ya.

[R.J.(fretard)]

dude your great
we wanna see ya at d-day
best wishes dude

[Bobby_Lee]

Hello Richard. I believe I have a working prototype that will go into a backback. I just gave it a try and it seems to work just fine. It holds approx 750-1000 rounds. The top (above the Halo/Warp combo) can be changed to something larger. The top has a sliding door for the paint. It has both a clear lexan face and a black ABS face. These are removable and interchangeable. (For cleaning, etc.) The Halo can be removed and disassembled for maintenance/repair. And of course, where would we be without the Warp?! This is awesome. In the last picture the tube had fallen out for just a moment and I had paintballs all over my kitchen. I'm guessing the weight of the unit without paintballs to be about 12 lbs. The size of the unit is approx 9" wide by 5" deep (front to back) and 19" in height (Warp and Halo included)I've never met Tom Kaye before but this warp feed is perfect for this! The only thing left is a longer length of hose and Richard!:) Check out the photos and ask any questions you may have. I expect to send this to Bob on Tuesday for tuneing and backpack fitting. Props to Scott from TheAngelGuy.com for the original mockup!
A skirt or covering for the warp/halo can be added

[Bobby_Lee]

Here's a pic of the interior.

[Bobby_Lee]

pic showing paint flow

[Bobby_Lee]

when the hose popped off:eek:

[FutureMagOwner]

lol that looks really cool and people thought halos were blimps before :)

[Lee]

i havn't read all the posts, so forgive me if this has been mentioned already.

how about an air driven system?

there are scuba tanks small enough to be worn, or a "spare air" type scuba bottle may work. this could concievebly power the marker and the feed system. don't ask me how to make it, i just thought i'd throw that into the mix.

could electricity for a warp be generated by an air driven turbine? kind of like a hydro electric deal but obviously smaller.

could this generate enough electricity to give a warp with a larger or stronger motor enough "ooomph" to generate sufficient push to get the rounds to travel from a backpack system to a marker?

also, there is a product i saw at the cup last year for loading tubes which could possibly be converted to feed into a revvy then into a warp, or possibly straight into a warp. this product held roughly 1000 rnds with a hand operated gate at the bottom of a funnel neck. i'm sure most of you have either heard of or seen one and know what i mean.

a friend and i had kicked this around but we both lacked the knowlege tools etc to even attempt it. we also didn't think it would go over well with your average player, but in these circumstances.......?

[LittlePaintballBoy]

here is my thought, its a backpack with half a halo in it (im thinkin tsa, its sound activated.) the halo would feed to a warp which would put the balls in the gun.

[unarmed ;)]

hello everyone!

Wow the loader system looks amazing, im looking forward to giving it a try soon. Thanks to everyone who has put time and thought into thus and any other ideas to help me get back on the field agaikn, I greatly appreciate it.

Richard

[Blazestorm]

I love the nickname.

You show great spirit and drive. Something horrible happened yet you pushed on and on. I really hope you continue to play this sport for as long as possible and I hope that your accident will not affect your life forever :D

[PzYcO]

Originally posted by Jack & Coke
Integrate an Emag (no grip frame and no battery) into an arm accessory attachment?

Align the emag internals (i.e. board and noid) horizontal inside the arm.

Locate the battery inside the arm also.

oh god, you'll see everyone with one of those soon! :) that would rock... lol, but where would the air go? :/


Good luck on pball richard:)

[cgrieves]

Incidentally, there is a rucksack made specifically for motorcyclists...... guess what my other (expensive) hobby is ;)..... it's designed to be aerodynamic with a hard outer shell and incorporates a back protector into the bargain. As such it would be pretty comfortable, easy to get on and off, and probably very easy to modify for this sort of usage.

Unfortunately I can't remember the manufacturer or model..... I do seem to recall it was a german or scandinavian company though.

If I can dig out any more information I will post it up here.

[cgrieves]

Just found this... it's not the exact product I was thinking of, but it's probably easier to obtain in the US. Looks ideal!

http://www.speed-pac.com/pac_speed.html

[jdev]

Richrad,

first off, I want to say, way to go. I admire your story for "getting back on the horse" as it were and overcoming all obstacles to come back and play paintball again. I wish you the best of luck in your comeback.

secondly,

Bobby_Lee: that pack idea is an excellent idea. what I was curious on is the actual size of it in proportion to being on someones back (maybe snap a quick photo of it on your back or something?). Also, what material is the pack itself made of? I would think something like plasic or lightweight aluminum (i couldnt really tell clearly from the pictures (or i just missed a post saying what you made it of ;) ))

what I am driving at is this. maybe making a mount on the side of the pack that would allow a tank, maybe a 45/45 or a 68/45 with a remote coil line that would feed directly to the gun. that may free up more mobility for richard, and keep more things all together. just a thought.

[TAG]

Just to add some extra info.....
We tested all types of direct feed systems and "bag Like" hoppers setups.

We found that when using a small amount of paint (100 to 400 rounds) everything was fine. Once we started putting "real world" quantities in the systems the loader motors would bog down and the system would come to a sudden stop due to the weight. Tom Blevins came up with the initial shelf idea then Scott Anderson built a small cardboard model to see how it performed.

After this Bobby_Lee refined and polished the idea to what you see now. We not only needed a system that would feed but it was extremely important that it would be durable, easy to maintain and clean and hold the paint needed to play tournament ball.

The entire system will be placed in a backpack that will be made by Richard at Impact ( www.TopStitch.net ). This will keep the loading system secure and also have pockets for Richards External electronics and tank. Based on Richards pack designs this item will be extremely comfortable and durable. From what I understand it will use a system of chest straps and shoulder straps to keep it secure and all of the weight will be distributed throughout the waist and shoulders.

Richards arm will be modified this week to accept the new switches in the harness and his angel will be tested this weekend.

Thanks for all the support and assistance with this project. Thanks to users of this forum, AGD, WDP and Angel Eyes Richard will be back on the field soon.

It is wonderful to see a community like this get involved on such an unusual project. People always ask why we have the AGD lion on our TheAngelGuy factory team jerseys......I think it is pretty obvious ;)

Richard.....ya gotta come see me so we can finish the electronics.

[reefer madness]

shoulder-mounted, voice-activated, warp hooked up to 1000 round hopper, hopper can be worn on back

[MarineRDNC]

Bob, Im new to the boards but I just want you to tell Richard to keep on keepin on! I know how it feels not to be able to play paintball. I'm 16 yrs old and last september I got diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. I'm not allowed to play till I get cleared from everything and I get my port taken out of my chest. (a port is how cancer patients get their chemo nowadays instead of getting an IV everytime... IV's suck!) But just tell him to keep on living and trying for what he wants and he'll be playin tourney ball in no time! Thanks Bob!

[Bobby_Lee]

MarineRDNG: I pray all will turn out well for you. I'm sure eveyone here on these forums feel blessed to be able to play paintball and only worry about ROF and $ and etc. Get well and back on the field!
Joey D: The box itself is made of ABS (I can't spell what that stands for)Basically an acrylic and styrene hybrid that has high impact properties and is easily formed and machined. It happens that the Halo is in that vein as well. (Welds and glues well together.) The clear piece is polycarbonate (Lexan) Being that it is more or less modular, I can seperate the Halo/Warp and change out the top to a larger(volume) unit.It also is easy to alter, ie machining, drilling and so on. The length of it is approx 19" as is. I had the wife hold it to my back and then I did the same with her. This seemed to be fine. We could shorten the height and build it further out (From the back) We'll have to see once it is in the harness. I'm sure we'll have alot of fine tuning yet to do.
Bob: Let me know once you have the unit if you need me to add anything to it from my end.

[unarmed ;)]

Thanks for the post Marine, but more important than me, you keep on keeping on. Never give up on anything in life especially life itself. I look forward to seeing you on the field one day soon.

Sincerely,.
Richard Stephens

[MarineRDNC]

Hey Richard! It's good to hear from ya. Thanks for the advice... and I plan on keepin on! Just like Joe Dirt says, "Life's a garden, Dig it". I don't know where you're from but if you and your buds ever make it to Dayton, Ohio you oughta play at our field Rush Paintball, check it out at www.RUSH-Paintball.com if you want. Hope to hear from ya soon.

MarineRDNC@hotmail.com

Ryan

[Lone Wolf2]

Hey richard its sterling.Im lookin forward to seein u on the field and in general.But i cant wait to see how everything works out and we get it workin good.But I just also wanna thank everybody on the forums and in the buisness.Yall prolly dont know how much richard appreciates this.But it just makes me feel a whole lot better knowing that he can get back out and play the sport he loves.Oh and BOB( tag ) Can we try to get a vid of him playin to show some ppl if its ok wit him and u.But again i just wanna say thanks.And ill c-yall all later.:D :D :D

[Shrabis]

MarineRDNC I really hate to here of the situation, but stay strong and everything will turn out right. You will be playing in no time. If we can work it out once you get back able to play Richard and myself will make a trip up to your feild and play some ball, if you will let us of course.

Bobby Lee thanks again for the pack and helping to make my little "idea" about getting richard to play again to stay alive. You made his day when he got to see the pack, he bum rushed me in the yard to ask me if I had seen yet. Excited would be a understatement :).

Scott and Tom thanks for the idea on the pack and bringing it to "life"

Bob we will be comeing down sometime Sat afternoon. I am not sure if I will be getting off at 12 or 5 yet.

Richard I will get to play you again on Sunday. Uga, Vegas and Mark or comeing down too and maybe Johnathen. So we will have plenty of peeps to play aginst

[MarineRDNC]

Shrabis: Hey yeah that would be awesome! I actually work up at the field every now and then when I can so if you guys come up soon even if I'm not able to play, just let me know when you're coming and I'll be there. Just email me and let me know! And I'll be hanging in there as best as I can! You hang in there too Richard! hope to see you guys soon.

Ryan

[Bobby_Lee]

Just an update. The loader is, in fact, on its way to Bob as we speak. I believe he'll have it tomorrow 5/30 :D

[Bobby_Lee]

Hiya Bob, Dee, Scott and all. Wondering how the pack is/was working out. If you need any additional ABS parts or lexan let me know.
Just the other Bob:)

[Benfica4ever]

Wow, i think its awsome what you guys are doing for him, thats really cool of you guys.:D

[TAG]

Bobby....
The pack is working great but Richard injured himself so we have not been able to get him here for FIT and testing of the electronics in his arm.

We will be sending the pack off to M-Pack to have a backpack made for it and the AIR system he will use.

Excellent work Bob......you definatly spent quiet a bit of time on this project and it is deeply appreciated. We will be picking up some longer hose for the warp feed from AGD then as soon as the pack comes back from Richard at M-pack we will get everything on the field for testing. So....everything works great ;)

Thanks again to everyone that is making this happen...

[unarmed ;)]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to let everyuone know im going to be in Chicago for this weekends events and would love to meet anyone I havent met in person. Hope to see you all there.
Richard

[goat]

Richard
Overcoming adversity is a truely heroic undertaking, keep the great sense of humor and know that you have inspired many people.
hope to trade some paint with you some day,
Goat

[manike]

Thought you might find this on E-bay interesting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3614397069&category=16048

As long as you remain fairly 'upright' when playing I do think it best to get the paint feed system as high up as possible so you don't have to work too much against gravity and can actually use it to help feeding.

[darc]

Richard, after reading your first post, I stood up and cheered (it's 4am too). Tom Kaye was right, you are a champion and if there was ever an instance of courage in paintball, it was your first step back onto the field.

My other comment is about the AO community. It's brilliant people like Tom Kaye who attract other smart people to form the nexus that is AO. After seeing Bobby_Lee's device, I realized that this place isn't just a message board but a genuine community.

I've now realized why there are fanatics in the Automag camp. And I'm proud to be counted amongst them.

[GaryWV]

Well, I want you to know you have my full support, Richard youre an inspiration to us all. When I get a job (Im only 15, and Ive been turned down by many places) Id like to help you by donating some money if I can, Thank you Richard and everyone helping this brave guy out, this just goes to show you wahat an amazing community of people we have in paintball, everyone helps everyone, and it makes me so happy to be involved with people like you.

Thank you so much,
Gary Long

[LoveMyMagMoreThanYou]

WOW, this whole thread is filled with many inspirational stories. A guy overcoming a physical obstacle to playing paintball and many people rising to a call for help. Richard if you are anywhere near the Pacific Northwest, email me. I would be extremely honored to take the field with you.

[Grassroots]

Jeebus, I thought it was bad when my lung collapsed a couple years ago and i couldnt do anything. i pretty much gave up with most stuff. Richard, you truely are an inspiration(i know that this has been said to you like 500 times already, but i havent slept in like three days and my creativness isnt exactly peaking) to all the paintballers i know. i told them to read this thread and they all said to hang in there and continue to own on the field.

BTW, great name! its nice that you can keep a sense of humour about something like that. lemme know how all of this stuff turns out in the end. ive been trying to think up some ideas, but none of them really seem to work. OH I GOT AN IDEA. wormholes.... you can put a worm hole in the bottom of the bag and use the string theory to transport all of the balls to another worm hole over the vertical feed. lemme get some quantum physics books and ill let you know how my idea is working.

-danny

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

well...it's been 3 months now...
you gonna tell us about the wormhole idea anytime soon?

[TAG]

well...here is an update.
The loading system has been built and the HALO that pushes the paint has been upgraded by Odyssey.

The whole system has been shipped to M-PACK in cali so a custom pack can be built.

As soon as it gets back Richard is playing ball ;)

[LoveMyMagMoreThanYou]

I've been wondering what happened to Richard. I'm glad to hear that things are still in the works. I just wish that I could be of some help. My offer to Richard is still open.

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

lol i had to bring this thread back. the story about richard is just great.

[nickname]

This is the coolest thread on the board, hey let me invite you to the game of the year (in my opinon) texas throwdown. T3-the machine war. It's gonna rock, Hope to see you there.

Cody

[Latchkey]

I nominate this thread to become part of the historic posts. It is definitely worthy of it...

[Cryer]

Originally posted by No Limitz Paintball
I nominate this thread to become part of the historic posts. It is definitely worthy of it...

I was all ready to jump in with that "holy thread resurection, batman" pic... but, uh yeah...

I second the motion!;)

[Latchkey]

Yeah, I saw that I saved the link in my favorites.

But yeah I was hoping for none of those...

This thread truely deserves to be remembered...

[RenagadeOfFunk]

I want to see this loader in action :)...

...I'm proud of Rich keeping up our good name :) (Bunker them for me...;) )

[Chronobreak]

alright guys FAIR WARNING

THIS IS AN OLD TOPIC, please dont post unles you have more info to add, or are aware of the dates


most the links are dead, as well as the pic attachments. i was wondering what ever came of these backpack/s and if i can view and possibly purchase one somewhere

thanks

--edit realised its in historic so i hope no one would post something stupid.. :tard:

[Tunaman]

Well that's just amazing. You guys let me know if there is anything I can do to help out. ;) ;)

[eric_503]

what might of been easyer would of been a q loader with a longer tube to hold maye 600 paintballs a game

[Chris Nearchos]

would anybody happen to have any pics of the setup by anychance?
thanks,
chris