Interview With Nelson Lau (CEO of Milsig)

Nelson Lau, the Milsig mastermind, was kind enough to answer a few questions for me. I believe he was very frank in his responses, and there are definitely some answers to questions people have been posting on forums and elsewhere. Read on:

What were some of the challenges faced by Milsig in 2010?

2010 was a bit of a rough year for us in many aspects, and we faced several tough challenges. The biggest one was on the production end, where our manufacturing side couldn’t keep up with demand. As a result, many popular products were constantly back-ordered. We attacked this problem by streamlining production by focusing more of our production resources on producing the more popular products, and simultaneously reducing older and weaker performing SKUs. We have also just incorporated a real time inventory system, where the production side can track the latest sales trends and make the proper adjustments using more accurate forecasts.

Team Showcase - Team SPECTRE

Want to get your team showcased? Click here!

Team photo.

Name: Team SPECTRE
Location: Flint, Michigan
Size: 30 players
Home field: Landing Zone Paintball

Crypsis on Facebook

Crypsis is now on Facebook! I'm going to be asking some questions about what you guys would like to see carried as more and more stock is ordered. Like Crypsis on Facebook now and get your voice heard, not to mention probably get in on some sweet deals in the near future. Oh, and giveaways? Hell yeah.

Team Showcase - Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP)

Want to get your team showcased? Click here!

Team Photo

Name: Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP)

Location: Portugal

Size: (Not listed)

The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps -- CEP, is a selection of Portuguese paintball players that gather with the purpose of participating in one of the biggest paintball events of the world, where they proudly carried their national colors.

Casualties of the Paintball Munition Wars

For quite some time, the mainstream paintball industry was quite content with the ubiquitous .68 caliber PEG spheres. This came after a long series of trials and errors with different calibers used, that I won't go into (if you really want to know a lot about it, ask one of the aging paintballers that populates MCB and I'm sure they'll give you a lengthy speech about ye olde caliber decision [love you guys]), with the masses settling on a .68 inch diameter paintball.

But, people are always looking to make money innovate, and in the recent past we've seen several new kinds of munitions pop up. Ever wonder how they're doing?

Team Showcase - Partisanos Paintball Team

Name: Partisanos Paintball Team

Location: Argentina (drawing players from the states of Tucumán, Catamarca, La Rioja and Santiago del Estero)

Size: ~50 players

Team Photo

FPS Russia = Paintball Fan

FPS Russia is a very well known Youtube partner that cranks out a lot of hilarious videogame and firearm related videos. What I didn't know until today was that he's apparently an avid paintballer. Check out the video above to see him in action at Living Legends. For a taste of his regular videos, check this out:

Team Showcase - Introduction

A team from Argentina.

Things are really busy on my end these days, so let's see some content from you guys! Specifically, I'd love to hear about your paintball team. There are lots of little and large teams out there that get little to no coverage or publicity, particularly those that don't run around shooting each other with space dildos and dressing like juggalo rugby players. That being said, I'm mainly looking for "milsim paintball teams", which I know is a fairly loose definition. But, if you're a reader/fan of Grey Ops, chances are you'll be the kind of team that I'd feature.

Sport Smoke Giveaway - Canadians Included!

Sport Smoke has run giveaways in the past, but until now they've been for the United States only. Myself and others had mentioned several times to them that they should run the contest for both the United States and Canada, and wouldn't you know it, they did it!

I saw Sport Smoke grenades in action for the first time this past weekend at the Hurt Locker 2 scenario held at PRZ in Picton, Ontario. I have to say, they worked better than I thought they would. My only gripe is that the retail prices for these 'nades is a bit over the top. Thankfully you have this contest to enter and win some freebies! Take note that the contest is only available to those that are 21 or older (I'm assuming because of the pyrotechnic nature of these devices).

Click here to enter.

News Roundup - May 24th

RAP4 rolls out Generation 7 of their popular T68 platform, adding a few new features.

Tactical Mod is rolling out a nice looking SCAR sight that will fit on any commonly sized paintball barrel, and will soon be selling a line of water transferred marker accessories (including some in A-TACS).

Crypsis - Camo Week

Many of you may have noticed that my presence on the blog has been a bit slowed as of late. It's not a matter of disinterest, but I've been keeping something on the backburner that I'm now ready to reveal. This revelation takes the form of Crypsis, something that I only hinted at before.

Here's what you need to know:

Crypsis will be a new camouflage solution for North America, providing hard to find, exotic, and sought after camouflage apparel and gear to the masses. But it doesn't stop there. Crypsis is beyond just a store, it will be a complete camouflage solution. That includes a large social media presence, a resource for camouflage information and much more. Many businesses focus on catering to a specific group (professionals, airsofters, paintballers, hunters etc.), but this won't be the case for Crypsis. Camouflage is one of my great passions, and the approach of the business will reflect that.

Taking Care of Your Camouflage Clothing - Camo Week

The purchase of camouflage clothing and gear represents a significant investment on the part of the consumer. One can easily drop several hundred dollars on a complete set-up, and many will own more than one set-up. Those that invest in this kind of gear range from: those needing it in a professional capacity, paintballers, airsofters, hunters (a big one) and military enthusiasts. So if all those groups are investing so much every year in camouflage gear, why not take proper care of it?

In talking with Steve from A-TACS/DCS the other day, he posited that the reason for many people not taking care of their camouflage gear properly was that they don't know how to, and I agree. If you google "caring for camouflage clothing" or something of the sort, you turn up a whole lot of promotional material, but not a lot of actual help. This post will try to rectify that to some extent, and as time goes on I'd like to continually update it to provide a comprehensive resource for taking care of your camouflage. It will focus on actual garments as opposed to other miscellaneous gear, because there are often specific instructions depending upon the item/material involved, and the garments themselves really are the basis for your camouflage set-up.

Milsig Box Mag Poll

Milsig, you'd best not be trollin'.

For those of you that were only planning on having a Milsig box magazine at around the same time the next Duke Nukem game comes out (hopefully some of you will get that reference), it looks like there might be a faint glimmer of hope on the horizon. Milsig Industries just posted a poll to their Facebook page, asking the public how big they'd like the box magazine to be (FYI, I voted for 200).

The Wolf's Bounty

In a release from TechT's Facebook page:

"ATTENTION ALL PAINTBALL NINJAS!!! TECHT HAS ISSUED A CONTRACT ON THE WOLF! TECHT PAINTBALL hereby issues a contract on The “Wolf” aka “Duke” at Living Legends 2011! For a confirmed assasination of the infamous general at Living Legends 2011, TECHT PAINTBALL will award an iFit Kit Paintball Boring Kit!

Rules:
1. The kill must be a confirmed paintball marker kill of “Duke”, aka “The Wolf” by“Warhammer, aka ”Bad Karma Six”.

2. You must be a Facebook fan of TECHT PAINTBALL and BAD KARMA PAINTBALL TEAM prior to the start of the game to claim the contract.

3. A 6 piece iFit Kit will be awarded for a body shot, or a 9 piece iFit Kit will be awarded for a head shot!

Accutact Anglesight

Accutact is now producing an optical device, called the Anglesight, that essentially turns anything that has a picatinny rail into a Cornershot. Conceivably, this could work for any paintball marker on the marker that has picatinny rails on it. There are typically rules against "blind firing" during a paintball game, but with this device exceptions could possibly be made. No info on pricing is to be found on the product web page, but there is a list of dealers where it should be available.

What Happened to Canada's Camouflage? - Camo Week

Lots of new camouflage patterns seem to be popping up all over the place, but let's take a look at a couple Canadian camouflage patterns that have gone AWOL as of late:

CUEPAT (not actually CUEPAT pictured, but another urban pattern by the apocryphal awardee of the CUEPAT contract, Hyperstealth)

Flecktarn Conspiracy - Camo Week

As many males know, any significant amount of time in a female-specific clothing store will slowly turn your mind to mush. In my impaired altered state, I came upon a revelatory discovery... The shysters at Suzy Shier are hocking surplus Flecktarn material as a summery material for their dresses! We here at Grey Ops take camouflage seriously (well, we take everything seriously), and this kind of thing can't be tolerated.

The proof.

Suzy Shier, you're on notice. Get your shit together.

A Nice Video From SAS' Scoundrel

Krylon (The Poor Man's Duracoat) - Camo Week

Mike and myself have mentioned Krylon a few times on Grey Ops, but we've never dedicated any length of time to talking about it. Well it's high time to rectify that, because for paintballers, airsofters and hunters, it's an excellent alternative to costly means of camouflaging your marker/gun.

What is it?

If people are looking to camouflage something, when they say "Krylon" they're normally talking about Krylon's "Fusion" line-up. Specifically, they're often talking about  Krylon's "Camouflage Fusion" paint, which offers several popular matte finish muted colours such as Olive, Khaki and Black (there are in fact now 6 kinds of Camouflage Fusion, but I have yet to see a full compliment in any one store).

A-TACS BDUs - Gear Week/Camo Week

Let's start off the camo week (you can read about the problems that have been occurring with Google's blogging service here) here on Grey Ops by doing a crossover of sorts. I was recently given the awesome opportunity to take a look at Propper's new Army Combat Uniform in the A-TACS pattern. I put it through its paces at a field Mike and myself will be frequenting a lot this summer (Tactik in Gatineau) and here are my impressions (less talk more pictures):

A lot of camouflage gear has the problem of not being dead on with the colour correct pattern, no such issues here! In the picture above I placed the Propper ACU top next to the colour correct A-TACS swatch I have, perfect match down to the exact tone.

Dr. Airsoft (A.K.A. Mark Vauhan, M.D.) - Gear Week

There's certainly no lack of pundits in the airsoft/paintball world, but among them very few are concerned with safety awareness, and there are exactly zero that dedicate themselves to it. That is, other than Mark Vaughan. Dr. Vaughan runs a Youtube channel that focuses on "Airsoft Medecine", and covers everything from injury prevention to protective gear reviews. While many of the masks are airsoft-specific, there are plenty of accessories that are also used in paintball (including some that shouldn't be, but unfortunately are by some groups).

Here's an example of one of his videos:

For more info on trips and falls check out Mike's post on the subject.

Crypsis Teaser - Gear Week

"No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one 

concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution."

A-TACS Ares Armor Release - Gear Week

A-TACS is continuing to expand its roster of licensees, up this time:

"Now Available, Ares Armor Introduces a Full Line of High-End Packs and Kit in A-TACS

Ares Armor is well known within the tactical community not only for functionality, versatility and quality of their customized gear, but also for the direct experience operating in the field that influences every single piece of gear they design–and now, it's all available in A-TACS.

New Black and Green Kitanica Shorts (XI.A) - Gear Week

Pictures of the new colours as yet unavailable, I'll post them up when they come in.

Grey Ops has some exclusive news for you Kitanica fans out there. Kitanica will soon be releasing their very popular XI.A shorts in black and green, as well having more shorts available in the original khaki. In addition, the shorts will be more accesible to a diverse group, as their sizing will be expanded to S, M, L, XL, and XXL (previously only available in M, L and XL. Their previous run of shorts sold out in a month, so keep your eyes peeled for the next release if you're looking to pick some up!

Marker of the Month (April 2011) - Le Longue Carbine

Specs: [Unknown]

Update (May 4th 2011):

• Requires two separate actions; cock the hammer, then open the breach/bolt to insert one ball at a time
  
• The packing rod cocks the hammer, the other hammer retracts the bolt and there is a trigger for each to give it an authentic delay

California Paintball/Airsoft in Trouble - Bill 798

Hope you Californians like this, cause if some people have 

their way, it's all you'll be able to play with.

For those of you playing paintball and airsoft with realistic looking markers/guns in California, you'd better check out a bill introduced by Senator De León. This bill jeopardizes your ability to use and own airsoft guns and paintball markers that aren't coloured brightly or are transparent (to the point where you can see the internal workings of the device) by limiting the sale and distribution of these devices.

Here are some excerpts:

This bill would make the provision imposing a civil fine on the sale,

manufacture, transportation, receipt, or distribution of imitation

firearms for commercial purposes applicable to BB devices

A Question of Propriety - Gear Week

It's generally agreed upon that there are certain patches that are appropriate to wear in paintball (and by extension airsoft), and those that aren't (along with a large grey area). Most agree that patches that replicate or emulate the likeness in whole or part of real military patches are off limits, because those patches are earned, not bought. Sure there are plenty of patches that fall into that in-between area, and there are some individuals that don't show respect where respect is due, but generally the debate is a moot point when it comes to patches.

However a recent question that was posed on a forum made me scratch my head, with that being, "Are berets appropriate to wear in paintball, and if so what berets are considered appropriate or not?" It's not a question of whether or not people DO wear them (because I've seen a few), and I suppose I just hadn't thought about it till now (funnily enough, as I write this I'm watching the "Paintball" movie on Netflix, and two of the characters are wearing berets).

Morning Twilight Theatre - May 2nd 2011

Milsim Labs' Test of their RPG round:

When I first saw Milsim Labs' foam rocket, I was a bit dubious as to how well it would fly. Clearly I was wrong to question how well it would work!

New Lightweight WTFPB Offerings - Gear Week

WTFPB (Whisky Two-Four Paintball) is always coming out with inventive paintball/airsoft-specific offerings, and this gear week they're rolling out some cool products that have definitely caught my eye. These new offerings are all about speed and keeping weight down, perfect for games in the summer heat.

Bullseye Vest

"Pistol players now have a dedicated rig for their setup. Available for either TPX mags or Tiberius mags, the Bullseye offers space for eight spare magazines to finish the fight.

The belly band is made of stretchy 4" elastic that is doubled over to make a secure yet comfortable fit. Hook and loop closure ensures that it'll stay put."

Bin Laden Not Dead!

Down but not out.

United States News Reports are flooding in, supposedly Osama Bin Laden is dead. The Globe and Mail Reports, "U.S. President Barack Obama is about to announce Osama bin Laden is dead and the United States has his body..."

Well were here at Grey Ops are privy to more intel than commonplace news sources (a result of a combination of ninjas and a global intelligence network), and we're reporting that Mr. Bin Laden is not dead!