GEO3. WHAT DO WE RECKON?

Following on from our other mini product reviews we thought we should give our ballers eye view on our new toys. The Planet Eclipse GEO3. Before we go any further, if you're after gas efficiency specs, weight figures or ball on ball accuracy numbers then you're gonna be massively disappointed. Our reviews are very much what we think about the product, not necessarily supported by accurate figures. So yeah, pretty useless I suppose. But don't let that spoil a good read though eh.

Prior to our GEO3 hook up we shot our GFH Edition EGO05s which were awesome!! Accurate, fast and easy to use with a good feel about em on the field, plus they look sick in GFH Green. Moving to the GEO felt a little strange because of the massive size difference and the fact they shoot completely differently. Obviously the EGO is an open bolt design whilst the GEO has the spool system. What difference does this make? Well the gun seems a lot smaller with a lower profile and all the magic stuff happens inside so you don't see a bolt buzzing back and forth as you let rip, which is something I thought I'd miss.

On the field the GEO feels light and almost like an extension of your arm because of this lower profile. There's pretty much zero kick to it when opening up, you really do almost forget it's in your hand. The last CPPS event was the first time we even shot them, so no road test, no practice shooting, no trial run or anything. Real Pros. We wanted to do this to see just how much of a difference it made and how easily you can adapt to it. VERY easily is the result of that little test. Chris had a couple of issues with his but the Planet Techs made a quick tweak and he was off again.

Running and gunning, diving, crawling, gun-fighting; all this felt super natural with the GEO without any clumsiness or awkwardness that some gats have. We bonded with these bad boys instantly. Zero breaks, zero leaks, zero problems. Incredible!! And I usually break stuff.

The GEO sits pretty much at the top of the food chain when it comes to markers and for very good reason. We saw lots of other top end markers go down at the weekend which shouldn't really happen when you spend upwards of £1000 on one. The GEO was faultless, even with 5 star grade tournament paint that broke on clouds.

Ok, so maybe a bit of tech stuff. Ball on ball this thing was awesome. Snapping, wrapping, laning and feasting was easy with steady streams flying everywhere. With a trusty Flash Signature trigger job this is such an easy gun to shoot and to keep shooting. I pretty much kept mine rolling constantly without a splutter or fear of breaks...when I was alive that is.

Gas efficiency was hard to judge as I used my 45; I only ever plan on living for 2-3 minutes a game. But on a 3k fill I managed 3 pots and half a loader which only used around 12-1500 psi so I reckon if you're a 5 pot ninja you're good with a 45.

Good points:
Light, small, fast, looks pretty cool, simple to fix (not that I ever get into that side of things), bullet proof, zero kick.

Bad points:
Doesn't come in GFH Green...yet, maybe a little too quiet and kickless? Cost. That's about it.

Verdict:
Awesome piece of high end kit that feels as much a part of you as Ash's chainsaw in Evil Dead 2. Easy to shoot, hold, play with and feast with. Plus, you get amazing support from Planet Eclipse as always if something does go wrong.

So there we are. Pretty much no technical specs at all, just our experience of coming back into the game, strapping on some GEO and getting out there. We can't wait to get back out there and add a few more kills to the belt.

The only thing that DOES need to be put through its paces is us. But we'll get there.

PUSH YOURSELF.

Now, I gotta admit I do like to reminisce...a lot...but that's mainly because I love to look back on good times and never want to forget them. I think it's always good to remember the good stuff you've experienced as that is what shapes our lives. Never, ever forget the things that make you who you are. Ever.

So why's this relevant? Well, I introduce something very dear to our hearts and shaped our lives as ballers. PUSH.

Like all the great skate videos I used to watch when I was busting myself up like a stuntman, PUSH has that 'coming of age' feel about it. It doesn't just show you something and how to do it; it captures the whole emotion and feeling of that era of paintball, which I'm pretty sure anyone playing around the 12 year mark will completely understand.

What is it then? Well, pull up a chair, grab a pack of biscuits and a cup of tea and let me tell you a little story.

When we played Bully's Series in 2000 we set up a fresh little team called K2 (we'll do a post all about K2 soon, you'll like it). All buddies, getting together to play paintball once a month for fun. This then became hugely competitive and we started to take things more seriously, playing the Mayhem Masters, Campaign Cup, French Masters, ZAP European Indoor and more, but still having a ton of fun at the heart of it. During the week we'd all hook up at Chris' house, watch paintball vids, talk about our plans for the weekend and basically LIVE paintball. Good times; no, GREAT times. Traumahead Sports VHS tapes, yes kids actual video tapes, were our vice. We loved em. Watching hours of event footage from the states to copy how the big players did things and trying out some of their tactics really helped us build a team that played pretty solid paintball. Watching these videos defined our 'golden days' of paintball as we grew into the sport. We loved Traumahead, but a certain mister Patrick Spohrer decided one day to create a totally new way of telling the paintball story, that became so much more than simply showing games. Enter PUSH.

I remember the night well. Most of the K2 mob were there and we played it. First impressions were that we just wanted games and we were a bit miffed by it. It seemed a little too artsy. So we played it again, and again and I think we almost watched it 4 times back to back that night, which set the tone for our love of this movie. What Patrick Spohrer, Bryon Benini and their crew had achieved was incredible. A road movie that embodied the very soul of everything that paintball means to every single paintballer on the planet. The hunger to win, the love of playing, the passion for the game, the upset that comes with loss and above all; the bond that paintball creates between every member of every team. And its this bond between team mates that PUSH captures so, so well.

This film itself came out in 2001 and is a documentary style film following the journey to the 2000 World Cup. It follows the stories of the biggest names in paintball history, who's teams and players pretty much laid the foundations of tournament paintball as we know it. Avalanche, Ironmen, Image, Aftershock and the All Americans take centre stage to show us, through the eyes of their superstar players, their stories.

Chris LaSoya, Rocky Cagnoni, Shane Pestrana, Mike Bruno, Billy Ceranski, young Matty Marshall and Todd Martinez; all the big old school names who were the dominant role models give interviews, tell stories and talk about their feelings before and after key games in the run up to the Cup. There's footage of players goofing around outside of ball, having a laugh together and sharing their paintball roller coaster ride to the Cup, something that just hadn't been done to this standard before. It truly was...IS, a groundbreaking piece of film making that set the tone for how new paintball films were to be approached.

Then there's the soundtrack. Every single track, when you hear it even now, strikes a chord of emotion right through you. Maybe it's because of the good times we had then, maybe its the awesome film sections related to the tracks that makes you feel all gooey inside, whatever it is the soundtrack is amazing. So much so that we've managed to find most of the tracks and created a Spotify playlist in the sidebar. I gotta admit, the night before every event from 2001 to the present day I always listen to one particular track. It gets me in THAT place...you know what I mean.

I could literally go on all day about PUSH and how much it means to us. But I won't. And I'll be honest, I love PUSH so much but no review could ever really do it justice. You should experience it for yourselves. We love to see all the new school documentary series' that are now being pumped out monthly such as the Artifact Series, which do a similar thing. They take us into a world that some of us have tasted, that some of us never will and that some of us aspire to reach. And this, my compadres, is all because of a film called PUSH.

Is this a good watch?
No, it's an AMAZING watch. The action, although dated now is brilliant and features some of the games most eye opening moves, such as Cagnoni's snake attack. The stories are superb and ones that we can all relate to, even now.

Highlights:
So, so many. This film is loaded with gems and one liners. Look out for Rocky Cagnoni diving the snake, Danny Love crying like a baby and Renick Miller getting all confused with his Aftershock maths.

Verdict:
This is a must-see for any self respecting paintballer, more than ever if you ask me, with all the big money moves and career balling that goes on nowadays. It captures the very soul of what paintballing is to everyone at every level and for that alone is worth it.

Right, I'm off to watch it again and have a little cry.

ECLIPSE PRODUCT REVIEW.

Okey dokey, review time. We're Planet Eclipse fanbois, we make no bones about that. Not because that's all we know; we've both shot a few different whips and tried different gear over the years but we always go back to Eclipse. It's where our hearts are and we really do think they make the best quality gear and a ridiculous amount of design effort goes into every little thing they do. Which brings us smoothly into our pre-battle test review of our latest kit that was in our support crate.


Eclipse Overload Slide Shorts:
I've never really felt the need for a pair of these, even though I dive around quite a lot. These are real nice and tight but have a soft flex to em so don't feel like they're cutting off your circulation. The padding's in all the right places and if, like me, you don't like wearing a cup then there's a thin foam padded piece that fits into a Velcro pouch. Great idea!

Eclipse Overload Padded Jersey:
Makes you feel a bit like Scotty Kemp when you wear it...apart from the stretchy belly part that shows us 30 something's where we need to cut the calories. This is more suited for someone who's used to wearing a padded undergarment, I just don't feel comfortable with anything other than a tee, but I'm gonna give it a whirl to see how it does. Design wise, again this is really cool with neat padding in all the right places with a good level of stretch to the fabric.Chris loves this thing, mainly cuz he wants to look muscular. Overall a really cool item, well padded and comfortable, but I'll need to play in it first to give a true opinion.

Eclipse Overload Pads:
Juuuuuust plain awesome!! I've been rocking the same DYE pads since 2002 which is a good product endorsement I suppose but I know Chris had loads of issues with his cutting into his soft, peach-like skin. The new Eclipse Distortion pads are really well made as you'd expect from any Eclipse product, but they're well considered too. A nice wide padded area so your knee will survive any serious Platoon death throw moments and the comfy sleeve means they are super nice to wear. Their stretchy Velcro strap works a treat too so you can wear em as loose or as tight as you like without em sliding about.

The arm pads are crazy good, with a twist in their tail, literally. These have been twisted to bend and move naturally with your elbow so they'll never end up halfway around your arm like some pads do ad they feel really natural and comfy. Also, the now essential thumb loops are also included with good quality stitching to stop em ripping your thumb off.

Eclipse Distortion Gauntlet Gloves:
So, the gauntlet. These things are an amazing piece of thinking and design and will work brilliantly for people who fancy something a little different. They're a bit like an MMA glove but with no separation between the fingers, more like a sleeve that covers and protects your knuckles. They're elasticated inside around your fingers to keep your digits in check. For me, these are brilliant but I don't like how they hold my fingers together, kinda freaks me out but that's purely a personal thing. And for those non-glove wearers they have these cool wristbands with thumbholes which protect your hands but give you bags of freedom. Kinda Emo looking but they feel an look awesome!!

Socks:
Do NOT forget about these bamboo based socks. These things are by far the comfiest socks I've ever owned and the bamboo fabric means more sweat dissipation which means dryer and less stinky dogs. Awesome!! They come in ankle length or trainer sock style in one colour way.

So there we are. The GFH looking hot, sexy and legendary, with a bit of our view on a few things. All reviews we post will be shortened and added to our reviews archive up top.

Like I say, these are our views and really don't reflect everyone's so give everything a try as what doesn't work for us may be perfect for you.

Keep it GFH.

GIVING THE NEW MASKS A GRILLIN.

Everyone who plays ball has some sort of mask preference. Mine has always been the JT ProFlex. Since we first started playing it was the only mask I really wanted to use. It's kinda the mask that every baller could recognise even if you just saw the outline of it. It's the iconic paintball mask! Now Al never liked it? Something about it being too big for his pea head and too much fussy stuff like the soft ears and the large rubber chin piece. His joint was always the Dye Invision masks. They always felt too cramped for my head, and where a bit too much of a ghay design for me. Suited him perfectly for some reason.

So this season we where lucky enough to pick up V-Force as a sponsor. Now it's not like me to not want to wear anything that I got for free, but let me tell you, I was not looking forward to putting the Flex away! Al will tell you all about my whiny texts saying can't I just keep the flex, pwidy pweese!

See one of my problems was that back when we played EXL for Shockwave we where also sponsored by V-Force. They where a great sponsor and hooked us up with all the masks and lenses we could ever need, but at the time their flagship mask was the Profiler. It was actually a pretty good mask. Huge field of vision, lenses where straight forward to change compared to a Flex, and they were pretty bullet proof with the build quality. Problem was, I just didn't think they looked good with that massive fishbowl lens! Thing is, we all know paintball is 50% shooting fools and 50% looking good, so the Profiler just looked sooooo much worse than my trusty Flex. Yeah, a tinted lens helped, but it still didn't quite do it for me.

Now the one good thing about the Profiler was that for a whole year of full on EXL Xball, the mask performed perfectly. Never fogged once, hardly had to change a lens and it's still sat in my kitbag as a spare to the good ole Flex. This was the thing though. Once my sponsorship deal ended, I switched back to the mask I love. That is the true acid test.

Well now we're back in the V-Force stable, I was expecting to be a bit disappointed when I had to put the Flex to one side. Gotta say, they have really surprised me with the newest addition to the range......The V-Force Grill. This thing looks about a million times better than the Profiler! The lens has been shrunk but without cutting down on peripheral vision, and the whole feel and fit of the mask is better. It's close fitting, but not like the Dye masks that feel small. The lens can be changed in seconds by just ripping the strap off then popping it out. Even the foam round the lens can be whipped off and replaced if it gets to sweaty and stinky after those long 'Race Too' games.

Never thought I'd say it, but I'm actually a bit of a convert. It doesn't hurt that some of the top Pro teams out there are rocking them too like Impact, Heat, X-Factor and the always good to watch, Aftershock. This is the first mask I've actually considered as a replacement for my ageing Flex in forever! I've only used it a couple of times now, but it has all of the Profilers good points with non of the ugly looks. It looks totally bad ass, and throw in a smoke or mirrored lens and you'll look like a flippin serial killer at the field!

So there you have it, I might have finally found a new favorite mask. I guess time will tell, but you'll all know sooner or later as I'll always keep my Flex as a backup, it's just that that is all it might ever be now!!

Oh and the mask modding has already started. Couldn't help myself really. Every mask I have ever had has always had my K2 strap grafted onto it, and this thing is no exception. Double strapping it with the K2 was probably the easiest thing ever. Just push the new strap through the loops and your done! No sewing, or cutting. Just straight on and easily reversible. Now that's my kind of mod!!