Field Review: Bear Creek Milpitas

mike31c · 12-09-2006, 07:26 PM

Full Field Review for Bear Creek Milpitas, Nov 07, 2006

My previous post about this review was to make an attempt to keep most bias out of the review. However, since it was a weekday with less then average number of players playing at the time, I am probably going to have to come back at another time to give me a clear idea on how this field really is and, I am sorry to say, I am going to have to put aside my set rules to give this field a “fair” review.

There was a total of 5 players so needless to say, I am guessing some of the “rules” might have been bent just to speed things along. I will explain as I type out the review.

Points awarded as follows:

#1 Location of the field (5 pts)
#2 Field Choices (5 pts)
#3 Prices (10 pts)
#4 Kind of players (20 pts)
#5 Safety (20 pts)
#6 Field Amenities (15 pts)
#7 MCB Factor (25 pts)

Total Possible 100 points based on an imaginary mathematical formula that I just made up.

1: Field Location
The field was clearly identifiable and close to two major freeways with plenty of parking. That’s a plus in my book. Except since it was just us 5 players plus a couple of employees, I am not sure how “full” the parking lot would get on a busy day. In any case, I am basing the review on what happened this day.
--> Plus 5 pts.

2: Field Choices
Okay, this field had quite a few air bunker courts set-up, including what looked like a full sized X-Ball Court, but since it was just the 5 of us, I am going to skip the rule of changing of the field. I am sure if I had owned this facility, I would not want just the 5 players messing up all the fields. And quite frankly, it’s been a while since I’ve played, and using an unfamiliar gun, I could not shoot worth a dang so it would not matter what field we were on.

If you do go here, at least try to learn what all the bunkers are called. I felt really, REALLY bad when I called out “he’s over there by that…that…Triangle Thingy” and the time I just gave my fellow teammate a blank stare when he told me something about “in my mirror”.

(My fault on the second part because had I been thinking about what he said, I could of guessed what he was telling me and in all honesty, I have never bothered to “learn” their language of modern speedball

)

The players here take their game more seriously then most other fields that I have been to. More on that in a moment.

2a) If you have allergies to dust, then I am going to suggest that you play elsewhere. The ground cover was not tanbark but actual dirt. Combine that with an indoor facility, and you got dust everywhere! If you bring your own food, I would suggest that you make sure it’s covered or kept in your car.
2b) No real mud problems except for when the occasional player drop their drink onto the floor itself or somehow manage to get onto the field. And watch out for the paint puddles that manage to form near pillars.
2c) Totally flat +1
--> Plus 5 pts.

#3: Prices
3a) I paid $20 for about 3 hours of play. For a Thursday, I don’t think that is too much out of line since the HPA is included. It’s $30 per session (they have both morning sessions and afternoon sessions) or $35 for “all day play” on Saturdays and $25 per session on Sundays or $35 for all day play. And that price includes HPA. That should be a plus but…
3b) Absolutely, positively, no CO2. And that includes 12grams! I was told by the owner that the city does not want the facility to have CO2 and they are required to have a special permit for using CO2. Not totally sure if that’s the truth, but since this facility took a long time to get permits for everything in it, on it, and around it, then I am inclined to believe it. You can see all the official permits “granted by the city” above the cash register in their main lobby. But without 12grams, then a lot of our Stock Class Guns AS stock class would be useless. I’m sorry but I aint gonna stick a HPA tank on my PGP! Minus 5pts.
3c) It’s Field Paint Only. I was going to ding this facility because I knew it was FPO but since the prices are very reasonable, I am going to let this slide. A bag of paint is $15 plus tax. I think that’s reasonable. So I got the Case for $45.00 for “Hemorrhage.” Shot very decently in my Automag (except it was really flaking out on me for some reason) and also decently on a borrowed Impulse. Yes, for the first time in my life, I had fired a semi-electro in a game.
--> Minus 5pts if only for the lack of 12grams. Sorry, but most of us are willing to pay a bit more and travel more just to get to a field that is more accommodating to old school play.

#4: Kind of Players
Boy this is getting tough. Okay, the players there today were the tourney players that I despise so much. But they were not the “agg N00b l33t” speaking twits and they were actually nice folks so I am going to let this slide… Again, with only 5 players, there is not really a fair sample of the players that do come to this field.
4a) N/A
4b) Okay, during the second game, my Automag’s bolt locked forward and dumped all the air out. I have no clue to as why it did that (I’ll save it for another post.) So, before the next game started, one of the other players let me borrow his Impulse. This guy does not know me from some schmuck and he was going to let me borrow his fancy 2nd year Impulse electo. That alone tells me a lot of what kind of players come here.
--> Plus 20 Pts. (that may change when I go there on a more busy day)

#5: Safety
If I was to base the review on just what happened today, then I would be forced to give this field a minus 20 pts.
5a) The Ref and players were removing their goggles IN the playing field itself. When they did so, the rest of us were told to point our guns in the other direction…
5b) To be fair, they did chrono all guns coming into the field for the FIRST game using a handheld chrono. But they didn’t chrono my borrowed Impulse and was basically using the honor system to keep our guns below the max chrono of 275 (it was, but that’s besides the point). There is a stationary chrono station where I think you are basically expected to make sure it IS below 275 FPS.
5c) What safety briefing?
5d) I have no clue to what field specific rules were since they were probably included in the safety briefing that we never got!

This is where I am bending my own rules… There was a total of 5 players. 4 of them were friends that came together, one of them was a ref for Bear Creek Paintball and 3 of the 4 were or are tourney players… I was the odd man out but they knew I was not some noob who never fired a paintball gun before. I am going out on a limb here and am going to guess that they do offer safety briefings to the masses and this was just skipped because we all knew the basic rules. Is this acceptable behavior on the gaming field? Yes, the other 4 were friends and knew enough NOT to be firing their guns when someone had their mask off but still...

Also, I am going to guess that if they did have more players onto the field, a safety briefing and more chrono checks would have been conducted. And the tourney players would have been kept separate from the rec players with rules clearly spelled out.

At the same time, that is all guesswork in my part. I need to come back here on some weekend or something. Or they could be choosing to depend on the players to act responsible enough to do what is right for the situation…
--> Minus 10pts I’ll split the points on safety so I can get a clearer picture of what really happens here.

#6: Field Amenities
6a)This place has the real bathrooms expected in an indoor facility.

6b) They don’t have vending machines but they do have a menu of items available for purchase including pop-tarts and microwave burritos along with the standard fare of chips, candy bars and various sodas and other drinks. With the two microwave ovens they have, you could bring your own food and heat it up.

6c) They have two tables with spray bottles and toilet paper to handle a larger crowed that apparently comes in on Friday Nights and, of course, weekends.

They have many tables to set-up your gear and many are set-up against the gaming fields so you got front row seats to some of the fields. Not sure if that is a good idea with all the paint that might fly into the netting but that’s to be expected in a paintball facility.

Like sliding? You can, but watch out for the unpadded metal posts that are everywhere.

Self-serve HPA refills. Perhaps that’s why they don’t have co2? Because, frankly, too many people are not aware how to fill a co2 tank safely in the first place?

Designated smoking area so that’s a plus

The “proshop” does have parts for many modern guns except for modern pumps and the guy at the counter would not touch my kp-3 when I asked him if he could “fix this”. That’s was to be expected. But when they only had one box for the A5, and the another for the m98, that tells me they are catering to the “high-end” crowd. Too bad, since IIsports in San Jose fracking CLOSED, I am now in the process of looking for a new place that I can trust with my older guns in the even of issues that are coming up.

I would have to say though, some of the employees did know what the kp-3 was.
--> Plus 15 pts.

#7 MCB Factor
I am going to have to say this is not very pump friendly because the lack of 12grams and co2. Of course, they would not stop me from using my e-sniper. I even challenged one of the other players to one-on-one with pumps. I offered him the use of my e-sniper and I was going to use one of my untested p68’s. He didn’t take me up on the offer.

Not sure if I can judge this field fairly because with the small sample of players at this day. I expected it to be slow however, had I been there last week on a Thursday, there was apparently about 20 players on-site.

I can’t score this field with either a negative or a positive unless I get a real idea on what happens here. But since most of the crew that I regularly play with either uses 12grams or co2, I don’t think we would be coming here on a regular basis if at all.

That being said, the players that I played with that day are of a higher caliber then your average rec player. The owners of Bear Creek Milpitas do have regular tournaments and have their regular players attending their tournaments. So, if you want to gain experience in playing with more experienced players, on a field that looks more regulation NPPL/XPL field then your typical smaller field, then this IS the place to do so.

In fact, I might just show up again next Thursday to lay waste to more paint…Why? Because I really did have fun in that short amount of time that we did play. And that is the whole point of paintball in the first place right?

Total Score Based on MCB+Safety = 1 Star
Total Score Based on all other factors = 4 Stars

You can decide for yourself if it’s worth it.

Shiba-Kun · 12-12-2006, 12:46 AM

Nice review. The only thing that I'd expand upon is that it is an indoor facility. Hence the speedball/airball centric layout. If a person is looking for a "walk in the woods" then they might be a bit disappointed when they showed up LOL!

Big props for the extensive review of your experience!

12-09-2006, 07:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
mike31c MCB Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California Posts: 866	Field Review: Bear Creek Milpitas Full Field Review for Bear Creek Milpitas, Nov 07, 2006 My previous post about this review was to make an attempt to keep most bias out of the review. However, since it was a weekday with less then average number of players playing at the time, I am probably going to have to come back at another time to give me a clear idea on how this field really is and, I am sorry to say, I am going to have to put aside my set rules to give this field a “fair” review. There was a total of 5 players so needless to say, I am guessing some of the “rules” might have been bent just to speed things along. I will explain as I type out the review. Points awarded as follows: #1 Location of the field (5 pts) #2 Field Choices (5 pts) #3 Prices (10 pts) #4 Kind of players (20 pts) #5 Safety (20 pts) #6 Field Amenities (15 pts) #7 MCB Factor (25 pts) Total Possible 100 points based on an imaginary mathematical formula that I just made up. 1: Field Location The field was clearly identifiable and close to two major freeways with plenty of parking. That’s a plus in my book. Except since it was just us 5 players plus a couple of employees, I am not sure how “full” the parking lot would get on a busy day. In any case, I am basing the review on what happened this day. --> Plus 5 pts. 2: Field Choices Okay, this field had quite a few air bunker courts set-up, including what looked like a full sized X-Ball Court, but since it was just the 5 of us, I am going to skip the rule of changing of the field. I am sure if I had owned this facility, I would not want just the 5 players messing up all the fields. And quite frankly, it’s been a while since I’ve played, and using an unfamiliar gun, I could not shoot worth a dang so it would not matter what field we were on. If you do go here, at least try to learn what all the bunkers are called. I felt really, REALLY bad when I called out “he’s over there by that…that…Triangle Thingy” and the time I just gave my fellow teammate a blank stare when he told me something about “in my mirror”. (My fault on the second part because had I been thinking about what he said, I could of guessed what he was telling me and in all honesty, I have never bothered to “learn” their language of modern speedball ) The players here take their game more seriously then most other fields that I have been to. More on that in a moment. 2a) If you have allergies to dust, then I am going to suggest that you play elsewhere. The ground cover was not tanbark but actual dirt. Combine that with an indoor facility, and you got dust everywhere! If you bring your own food, I would suggest that you make sure it’s covered or kept in your car. 2b) No real mud problems except for when the occasional player drop their drink onto the floor itself or somehow manage to get onto the field. And watch out for the paint puddles that manage to form near pillars. 2c) Totally flat +1 --> Plus 5 pts. #3: Prices 3a) I paid $20 for about 3 hours of play. For a Thursday, I don’t think that is too much out of line since the HPA is included. It’s $30 per session (they have both morning sessions and afternoon sessions) or $35 for “all day play” on Saturdays and $25 per session on Sundays or $35 for all day play. And that price includes HPA. That should be a plus but… 3b) Absolutely, positively, no CO2. And that includes 12grams! I was told by the owner that the city does not want the facility to have CO2 and they are required to have a special permit for using CO2. Not totally sure if that’s the truth, but since this facility took a long time to get permits for everything in it, on it, and around it, then I am inclined to believe it. You can see all the official permits “granted by the city” above the cash register in their main lobby. But without 12grams, then a lot of our Stock Class Guns AS stock class would be useless. I’m sorry but I aint gonna stick a HPA tank on my PGP! Minus 5pts. 3c) It’s Field Paint Only. I was going to ding this facility because I knew it was FPO but since the prices are very reasonable, I am going to let this slide. A bag of paint is $15 plus tax. I think that’s reasonable. So I got the Case for $45.00 for “Hemorrhage.” Shot very decently in my Automag (except it was really flaking out on me for some reason) and also decently on a borrowed Impulse. Yes, for the first time in my life, I had fired a semi-electro in a game. --> Minus 5pts if only for the lack of 12grams. Sorry, but most of us are willing to pay a bit more and travel more just to get to a field that is more accommodating to old school play. #4: Kind of Players Boy this is getting tough. Okay, the players there today were the tourney players that I despise so much. But they were not the “agg N00b l33t” speaking twits and they were actually nice folks so I am going to let this slide… Again, with only 5 players, there is not really a fair sample of the players that do come to this field. 4a) N/A 4b) Okay, during the second game, my Automag’s bolt locked forward and dumped all the air out. I have no clue to as why it did that (I’ll save it for another post.) So, before the next game started, one of the other players let me borrow his Impulse. This guy does not know me from some schmuck and he was going to let me borrow his fancy 2nd year Impulse electo. That alone tells me a lot of what kind of players come here. --> Plus 20 Pts. (that may change when I go there on a more busy day) #5: Safety If I was to base the review on just what happened today, then I would be forced to give this field a minus 20 pts. 5a) The Ref and players were removing their goggles IN the playing field itself. When they did so, the rest of us were told to point our guns in the other direction… 5b) To be fair, they did chrono all guns coming into the field for the FIRST game using a handheld chrono. But they didn’t chrono my borrowed Impulse and was basically using the honor system to keep our guns below the max chrono of 275 (it was, but that’s besides the point). There is a stationary chrono station where I think you are basically expected to make sure it IS below 275 FPS. 5c) What safety briefing? 5d) I have no clue to what field specific rules were since they were probably included in the safety briefing that we never got! This is where I am bending my own rules… There was a total of 5 players. 4 of them were friends that came together, one of them was a ref for Bear Creek Paintball and 3 of the 4 were or are tourney players… I was the odd man out but they knew I was not some noob who never fired a paintball gun before. I am going out on a limb here and am going to guess that they do offer safety briefings to the masses and this was just skipped because we all knew the basic rules. Is this acceptable behavior on the gaming field? Yes, the other 4 were friends and knew enough NOT to be firing their guns when someone had their mask off but still... Also, I am going to guess that if they did have more players onto the field, a safety briefing and more chrono checks would have been conducted. And the tourney players would have been kept separate from the rec players with rules clearly spelled out. At the same time, that is all guesswork in my part. I need to come back here on some weekend or something. Or they could be choosing to depend on the players to act responsible enough to do what is right for the situation… --> Minus 10pts I’ll split the points on safety so I can get a clearer picture of what really happens here. #6: Field Amenities 6a)This place has the real bathrooms expected in an indoor facility. 6b) They don’t have vending machines but they do have a menu of items available for purchase including pop-tarts and microwave burritos along with the standard fare of chips, candy bars and various sodas and other drinks. With the two microwave ovens they have, you could bring your own food and heat it up. 6c) They have two tables with spray bottles and toilet paper to handle a larger crowed that apparently comes in on Friday Nights and, of course, weekends. They have many tables to set-up your gear and many are set-up against the gaming fields so you got front row seats to some of the fields. Not sure if that is a good idea with all the paint that might fly into the netting but that’s to be expected in a paintball facility. Like sliding? You can, but watch out for the unpadded metal posts that are everywhere. Self-serve HPA refills. Perhaps that’s why they don’t have co2? Because, frankly, too many people are not aware how to fill a co2 tank safely in the first place? Designated smoking area so that’s a plus The “proshop” does have parts for many modern guns except for modern pumps and the guy at the counter would not touch my kp-3 when I asked him if he could “fix this”. That’s was to be expected. But when they only had one box for the A5, and the another for the m98, that tells me they are catering to the “high-end” crowd. Too bad, since IIsports in San Jose fracking CLOSED, I am now in the process of looking for a new place that I can trust with my older guns in the even of issues that are coming up. I would have to say though, some of the employees did know what the kp-3 was. --> Plus 15 pts. #7 MCB Factor I am going to have to say this is not very pump friendly because the lack of 12grams and co2. Of course, they would not stop me from using my e-sniper. I even challenged one of the other players to one-on-one with pumps. I offered him the use of my e-sniper and I was going to use one of my untested p68’s. He didn’t take me up on the offer. Not sure if I can judge this field fairly because with the small sample of players at this day. I expected it to be slow however, had I been there last week on a Thursday, there was apparently about 20 players on-site. I can’t score this field with either a negative or a positive unless I get a real idea on what happens here. But since most of the crew that I regularly play with either uses 12grams or co2, I don’t think we would be coming here on a regular basis if at all. That being said, the players that I played with that day are of a higher caliber then your average rec player. The owners of Bear Creek Milpitas do have regular tournaments and have their regular players attending their tournaments. So, if you want to gain experience in playing with more experienced players, on a field that looks more regulation NPPL/XPL field then your typical smaller field, then this IS the place to do so. In fact, I might just show up again next Thursday to lay waste to more paint…Why? Because I really did have fun in that short amount of time that we did play. And that is the whole point of paintball in the first place right? Total Score Based on MCB+Safety = 1 Star Total Score Based on all other factors = 4 Stars You can decide for yourself if it’s worth it.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

12-12-2006, 12:46 AM	#2 (permalink)
Shiba-Kun MCB Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,392	Nice review. The only thing that I'd expand upon is that it is an indoor facility. Hence the speedball/airball centric layout. If a person is looking for a "walk in the woods" then they might be a bit disappointed when they showed up LOL! Big props for the extensive review of your experience!