User Review: Smart Parts SP-1

I don’t want to pretend this is a full-blown review, since I only used this gun once and the rest is merely stuff I’ve heard from others. But I thought I’d post my thoughts anyway.

I was hooked up with an SP-1 for my first ever paintball game. My friend had a couple of these markers he used as loaners and he let me use one of them. Let me just say, in hindsight, I think I really lucked-out.

This gun was a pleasure to shoot. It had a cool military-looking body design that woodsball players tend to like, shot very fast, and very quiet, and was quite lightweight. I was set up with a Spyder Fasta loader, which worked just fine for me. I ran the marker off of CO2. Apparently the Smart Parts SP-1, and it’s non-woodsball twin – the Vibe, are capable of running off CO2. However, my friend claimed that attaching a CO2 bottle directly to the SP-1 tends to freeze the internals and cause some damage – especially when shooting really fast or using full-auto mode. So he had me wear the CO2 bottle on a hip pack and ran a remote line attaching it to the gun. This seemed to work fine for me.

After using it that day, I’ve done some online research, and this really does seem to be one of the best entry-level woodsball guns out there. It has really simple bolt-out-the-back maintenance (spool valve design), a low-force bolt action that doesn’t chop paint, is in an affordable price range, and just plain shoots well. Three settings: semi auto, three round burst, and full auto. I only used semi-auto.

All in all, a nice, no-hassle outing. This gun stacked up perfectly well against the Spyders and Tippmann A-5s on the field. I’d actually say it’s probably a better gun than either of those options. Great entry-level electronic gun for people who want to play in the woods at an affordable price-point. With Smart Parts reportedly going under, the future of this gun is uncertain, but I definitely enjoyed using it.

Tactical Tip: "Campers" Win in Small-Scale Fights

I was hoping to clear out the backlog of battle reports and equipment reviews I had planned, before diving into the new stuff I'm learning about paintball today. But I just came across a good tip that I think is helpful, and I wanted to post it before I forgot about it.

When you have a small number of people fighting it out, the people with the most patience tend to win. Camping wins small engagements.

At least, that's what Mike from TechPB says (more on TechPB in a later post). Check out this YouTube broadcast of his regular paintball radio show at about the 0:27:05 mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWy9u2aIT0A&NR=1

Someone calls in saying he and his friends are doing a speedball tournament with only three-man format for teams. Mike tells him that in games of that size, "campers win three-man tournaments."

Camping, of course is when you sit in one spot and shoot, rather than aggressively moving. According to Mike, this kind of behavior serves well when there aren't a lot of players to keep track of. Especially in one-on-one scenarios. They guy with the most patience, who waits, is much more likely to make the kill than the guy who goes all "aggro" and makes a run for it.

I can't add too much to this, except to note that the one time I had a one-on-one situation, this totally proved to be the case. I was stalking a guy in the woods. He knew where I was, I knew where he was. I went down on one knee behind a tree, sighted-in on a clear lane of fire, and waited. He blinked first and ran for it and I pegged him in the middle of my lane of fire.

Just something you might want to file away for any time you find yourself in a one-on-one situation.