General

[D3adpool]

Ahhh I see what the disconnect here is... at least for me.

I live in NYC. 2x2 apartment. When I go to the field. I use all my paint. I have no space to be storing cases of paint. I dont keep paint on me to test or for a later date because chances are its going to spoil before I can use it again. So when I go to the field I tend to use up all my paint because I know its going to spoil if I save it.

For folks that have the means to tech markers, test inventions and store paint I can see why this would be a strong enough incentive....

ok cool... I get it now...

[CJOttawa]

When you play stock class, very high end paint versus mid grade means the difference between a frustrating day trying to take shots on someone and missing ... and making long range one-balls connect and break.

I shoot less paint when it shoots straight. Paying more for it, I'd break even - except I'd be far less frustrated with how my day went.

[original farside]

DAMN. i usually play there on thursday night. i had to work late tonight. i would have loved to give you guys an unbiased review. and i missed my buddy chuck hendsch who is there playing and testing. maybe i can still get a little to shoot later. i missed some oportunities tonight.

[Eskimo]

I cant wait to see it, the biggest factor for me is the longer shelf life. As a pumper thats like gold.

buying a case for me sometimes feels like a waste of my money. I might be able to shoot the first 1000 with no issues, but after that even keeping the paint in a cool location and rolling bags every night still i find dimples here and there, And when I rec play I'll shoot maybe 200 Paintballs with my stock class a day. max.

so by the time I reach the last bag many of the balls are only useful if i'm 25 feet from someone. else they zing away in a random direction.

the second thing which I REALLY exited about however, is the ball to ball consistency. almost certain in one of the interviews they said they are manufacturing these at +/- 0.02 on the bore size, so a bag of 0.689's is max 0.691's and smallest at 0.687. Which is Fantastic! Because most companies are about +/- 0.04 and only the high grade paint sometimes reaches +/- 0.03.

So once again, a small increase in ball to ball consistency, along with a much longer shelf life.

I can see these things being a pumpers dream. those two alone, without factoring in the rest (like ball swelling on humid days, which wont occur from the waterproof shell) is fantastic. and when ever we push more more consistent paintballs. this reduces the price on what was considered "top tier" before. So maybe with the release of this, other mid range prices will drop a small bit. allowing fields/people to use better paint instead of lower grades. or at least offer the option at a better price.

[Horizon]

Maybe I'm odd, but I can't say that I've ever noticed paintballs that are more or less nice and round, but have the odd little dimple (or flat spot) to shoot that poorly. I've shot paint where every ball has a flat spot or two or three, but still shot nice and straight.

I would assume that balls that are mis-shaped (oblong instead of round) or underfilled (one side heavier than the other) would have much poorer performance.

Dimples, I've never really had a serious problem with.

[JKR]

They are claiming to manufacture the balls at a size of .686 +/- .003. No other ball can come close to making such claims in consistency and would at best be probably around +/- .005.

I have been following the paint for a very long time and have read or heard about everything that has been printed or recorded. Although the price still remains to be seen, the only known downfall of this paint is the weight of the balls. Most paint today falls between 2.8 grams and the ASTM maximum weight of 3.5 grams. Hydrotec is estimated to be 2.8 grams or so and therefore would theoretically have less effective range. However, the shell's breaking potential as well as the consistency may offset this light weight somewhat. No one except the HT people know for now.

For me, the resiliency of the shell to the elements and the shelf life are the biggest pluses for me. To have a ball that won't swell or dimple and will keep in storage for two years is huge! I go to great lengths when I store paint to keep it as fresh and round as possible and this paint will be a huge improvement over current paint in that regard.

Time will tell if it will be worth it. Price, performance, and how competitors react to this will dictate my future paint purchases. I was becoming very disenchanted with RPS paint and their ever-decreasing quality and size and have been counting on Hydrotec to alleviate these problems. However, with my recent induction to the Valken paintball fanclub, I find my reliance on Hydrotec to be a white knight to be less important. Redemption shoots better than any paint I have had in a long, long time!

[uv_halo]

Originally Posted by blackrain

Remember. "Perfect Circle" Was suppose to be the paint that would put everyone out of business. Instead, the police now use it as Pepper balls.

I wish Tom Kaye would have released this stuff for market.

Later,
Blackrain

He tried. According to Tom Kaye, they didn't make enough of a difference for players to pay the .13/ball for them. I add that ROF and ammo capacity increases made the .02 ball that much more appealing.

Originally Posted by Deuce

Steve,
IIRC Perfect Circle is the maker of the First Strike so those claims are still at least partially true. That and I have some pepperballs, I wouldn't want to get hit with those shells. I'm much less worried about the powder in them than the damage those plastic shells do personally.

Given that they're molded, I could easily imagine using slightly thinner shells. If I was selling pepperballs, I would want them to be fairly durable as I sure as hell wouldn't them breaking in the armory.

Originally Posted by Chris From Flurry

I hope they shoot well. I just think the press release could have been worded better.

PB Explosion is a very nice paintball facility. It is at the location of an old amusement park. Their indoor field was made where the ice rink was and has full bleachers for spectators. They also have a complete finished lounge with a full bar and fireplace! The outdoor theme fields are very nice and made well. Check out the pictures on their website if you haven't seen it before. Paintball Explosion: Indoor & Outdoor Paintball Fields & Store near Chicago, IL

So a case of FPO paint here is normally $85 + admission so this comes out to be slightly cheaper than normal to be one of the first to try out this paint.

This is an extremely valid and relevant point.

In the end, I think the new fill and, shelf-life make this product good for a lot of folks. I wonder how the new shell will work out. For example, is it more rigid/fragile similar to the FS round shell?

If the shell is water and heat resistant, and slightly more rigid, it makes the ball a perfect candidate for mag-fed systems that keep paint under tension. For example, If I tried to carry a T8.x or a TipX as a secondary at a big game (because I shoot FS rounds out of my primary), halfway through the day, regular paintballs would be overcompressed and mushed. Hydrotec balls may be perfectly fine, and maybe I could even unload my unused mags back into the box for another day.

[PistolRogue]

Originally Posted by D3adpool

But is shelf life a factor for 1 day's play as a player? As a field owner, I understand that is a big selling point to purchase the paint but as a player im indifferent. I just want paint that performs at a reasonable price.

In this economy a 3 handle on the cost of paint would price the rec-folks / birthday crowd / other out. Im either going to play less or stop playing at that price point.

See, you say this as if you're under the assumption that the paint the field is giving you just got there that morning... Many times (especially at places like Skirmish) you could be getting a case that's been sitting around in storage for months...

I'm with CJ on the notion that dimple-less paint is a great thing that I'd be willing to pay for. But it's only something I'd be willing to pay a premium for once it's been proven... I'm not going to pay top dollar for a case of beta-test.

[D3adpool]

Yeah I thought about it more and I do see the value in it. I was mostly reacting to the sticker shock of paying $125 for paint when I was paying $85 or a 47% increase in my cost.

But yeah should I perform I see value in having longer lasting and round / consistent paint now.

Originally Posted by PistolRogue

See, you say this as if you're under the assumption that the paint the field is giving you just got there that morning... Many times (especially at places like Skirmish) you could be getting a case that's been sitting around in storage for months...

I'm with CJ on the notion that dimple-less paint is a great thing that I'd be willing to pay for. But it's only something I'd be willing to pay a premium for once it's been proven... I'm not going to pay top dollar for a case of beta-test.

[Bonesjackson]

A guy over on Reddit was able to get his hands on a case of this stuff:

This stuff is pretty cool. : paintball