REVIEW: Dye I4 Mask, DyeCam

        Those of you who know me, and those who have been around to read the reviews of the V-Force Grillz and Sly Profit masks which appeared in close proximity to each other, know I'm often in a bind for a mask that agrees with me. My old Grillz is hanging on for dear life in my gear bag as I wright this, and the Profit mangled my head so bad I sold it as promptly as I could since returning it over the border was not cost effective. I had no idea what I should do for a mask this season and was seriously contemplating the Angel Eyes up until Dye announced their plans to hop on the Milsim bandwagon and release the Dye I4 in “DyeCam” (homage to Crye Precision Multicam). Being the obsessive compulsive that I am, I decided I should try them since DyeCam camoflage scheme would

compliment the Valken V-Cam gear I was planning on ordering at the time.

        So what is the mask like? Tiny, for one thing; this is Dye's ultra small profile mask for itty bitty speedballers with a camoflage skin draped over it in lieu of the vibrant colorful highlights the mask typically has. Fit-wise, it's tight, at least on me. When I put the mask on my abnormally large head, I need to loosen the straps of the mask all the way to make it slide it on and then it fits just right. My jaw line is definitely quite exposed when I wear it but surprisingly my chin is not, and fully opening my mouth does not quite expose my teeth which is a plus given this issue on some other small masks. The other highly exposed part of my face is my forehead, again, larger than most (it is my room mate, not me in the pictures). The mask comes with no visor in case you didn't know, however this adds to the masks very small profile as a result, and lacking that visor definitely does something for air flow to prevent fogging. There isn't much more to the mask than the lens itself, the rubbery material along the bottom and pads on the ears make up an exceptionally small part of the masks remaining surface area and are just barely adequate to protect the remaining parts the lens does not cover.

That optic is not on a riser, and if it weren't for the blur caused
by all the extra glass, you would see the shooter's eye

        It's a small mask with a minimalist design for sure. If you're interested in buying one and have done your research you likely know this already. If it sounded like I had some complaints in the last paragraph, I really didn't. I don't mind any of exposed areas on my face that wearing this mask results in, it actually provides almost equal protection to the Grillz without having excess material hanging off my face. My forehead is big, so no matter what mask I wear, that's going to be exposed for sure, I'm only a little worried about my jaw line and even there not so much given my jaw is protected by the stock of my gun usually while the other half is tucked behind my cover. Weight wise, you can barely tell the mask is on your face but here's where the mask really shines: a tight enough profile to use your iron sights. We've all put a stock on a Milsim gun at some point, whether we play with one on all the time or not. This mask is so tight to my face that I can put my head to the stock and sight in a target using the iron sites that are normally unusable due to mask bulk preventing one from getting their head low enough to do so. No riser is needed with this mask to look down an optic, and no pressure is needed to force your head down low enough to use the sights, you can literally rest your head on the stock and see down them as you would if you weren't wearing the mask at all! Coming from a guy who's head is as enormous as mine, that's really saying something.

You can see the jaw line below the mask, as well as a little bit
of chin, the forehead is not quite as visible on my model in
this shot

        Some who've read the Sly Profit review might be wondering why I'm showering the Dye I4 with praise after griping about size and protection issues with the Profit the whole way through. I was really expecting a heftier mask when I purchased that one. I did my research before ordering since I couldn't try before purchasing given my semi-remote location and was really expecting the V-Force Grills with newer anti-fog features, a different profile and that neat dual strap feature. It turned out to be a vice grip on my head that was fogging before the day was half over and I wasn't even exerting myself much since it was a reffing day. This time around I was expecting the smaller size and knew I'd be exposed with a Dye I4, I did try it on and liked the feel, the profile was nice, and although it's tight to my head, it doesn't hurt my ears nearly as much as the Profit did.

        I must confess that aside from fit and feel tests, I haven't run this mask through sufficient trials just yet. Testing the mask thus far has included wearing it around the house for long periods at a time, a hot shower which didn't induce any fogging, and two days of reffing games at the local field. Those field days yielded some impressive results though: Fogging was a huge issue for all the renters, regulars, and other refs on both days as it's still cold there while remaining hot in our masks. The Dye I4 had no issues with even a little condensation anywhere but directly in front of my mouth. This condensation was much more manageable than that which occurs on the Sly Profit as this mask doesn't hook under your chin, causing spittle to transfer onto, and later dribble down your neck. *shiver*

        I plan on putting up and addendum review for this mask later in the season once it's been beat on some more, and I'll probably do a few more follow ups on things like the Valken Zulu and Sierra line (soon to be reviewed) as well as the Milsig RRV vest once those have been run through some more paces. Until then however, I'm very pleased with these goggles from Dye and have a feeling they'll be in my gear bag for a very long time.
       ADDENDUM: I still love the mask, have worn it in every kind of weather imaginable barring a tornado or hurricane and they have never once fogged on me or any other heavy breather at my field whose purchased one. Since buying one and sporting it at my field earlier this season, it's become the most sought after mask in Kamloops. Most people still wear JT hard plastic Flex masks at KPG but those are usually what they purchased as a first mask. If an upgrade from an entry level face protector is what those people are after, then they usually end up buying an I4, the I4's only competition up there being the Sly Profit and more than 50% of those who have purchased those are having buyer's remorse! I have encountered two issues though, one very small, and one somewhat bigger: Due to lacking a visor of any kind, the vent above the lens are exposed to the elements, this allows paint spray to fall into the mask sometimes, as well as rain water. Not a huge deal if you clean it quickly after but if outside pollutants fall inside and aren't cleaned quickly, it will lead to problem 2. The mask will bubble a bit. The coating itself doesn't come off or rise off the surface of the mask and it's only the inside surface where it's an issue, but anywhere I had outside pollutants touch, there is a permanently distorted spot if I didn't clean it immediately. On the bright side, if you have this issue, Dye makes very affordable replacement lenses at only 30$ CAD from paintballgear.ca.

PS: this is the same mask as in the Feb 22nd Valken Milsig gear shoot a few posts back, you can find more mask media Here

RANT: "It's Not Real Enough" Part I

        I don't think I've done this yet, I haven't gone off on a seemingly vicious tirade regarding some paintball related topic on the blog yet so I'm actually going to try and be nice when I do right now so as not piss any readers off. Oh I'm back on the Milsim path again, FYI, I know I was branching off there for awhile but we're definitely back on topic talking about all things that are meant to look black, brown, and green. I digress... I call this the “Not Real Enough Part One” Rant because I know there will be more realism posts in the future. There is a certain something I bump into on forums in particular that grinds my gears more and more every time I see it and it's so silly... it's aesthetics. Not what owners do to their guns but the way the markers come from the manufacturer.

TPN Bravo One

BT Omega

Milsig Commando

RAP4 T68

Real Life Colt M4

        There's too many complaints to tackle at once, or perhaps ever so I'll mention the most common one I encounter, especially with Milsigs and other assault rifle Milsim markers: gaps between magazine wells and triggers. There are a lot of stocks and front ends that look and feel delightful, and barrel wise most tactical marker manufacturers do a really good job of making a barrel that looks and performs well given the .68 calibre parameters they have to work with. Receiver-wise though things aren't always so great and some people just can't be reasoned with. I can't address every issue that every receiver has which makes nay-sayers say nay, but every Milsim marker receiver has one of three problems which haven't effectively been worked around yet. One and two are closely related: if you manage to rig the marker so that mag well and trigger are smack together like on the real thing, you end up with (1) a whole length of extra marker receiver hanging off the front or (2) hanging off the back. In the case of the BT Omega it's particularly pronounced at the front, less so on the TPN Bravo One, and it can be seen at the back of the RAP4 T68 (Images below for your reference). With Milsigs and souped up Tippmann A5's and 98 Customs, there is a gap between the trigger and mag well and no extra receiver hanging off the back or front. What you gain is return is another spot for air supply in that spot, though not on the C98. Look to the left and you can see all the markers I'm talking about as well as the actual Colt M4and can decide for yourself what looks most real. Keeping in mind of course that ll of these markers can be mag fed with the new Tacamo receiver modification kits. I have to say that I'm really partial to the Milsig design, and I'm not saying that just because I own one. You can run an air through stock or air in stock system, and if that's not your cup of tea you can connect your air directly to the bottom of the power tube between the mag and trigger or run a steel braided bottom line to connect your air on the back of the pistol grip. Not even the Tippmann A5 offers that many options for air connections.

        What's really mind boggling about aesthetic and realism complaints is when they come from someone using a hopper fed Milsim-like scenario marker or when a speedballer has something to say regarding realism! I've been on the receiving end of this treatment before: “Nah, that gun doesn't look real enough, I'll do it right or not do it at all. 'Scuse me while a fling some ropes of balls, bro.” Wow, just wow. I have nothing against hopper-ballers, having a hopper on your gun means nothing to me at all and I'd hate for anyone to think I'm being an elitist and saying if you don't run magazines you're not Milsim. Tac-cap, 200 round, Rotor or Prophecy, it's all great as long as you're playing and having a good time but I have to grimace and roll my eyes when someone lectures me on how real my M-Series Paradigm ISN'T while they walk onto the field with a TM-15 which has no gap between the trigger and *fake* magazine, and more paint than I shoot in a day.

        Muffin, I'm sorry it's not real enough for you, but until you become a wiz kid with pneumatics and deliver your proof of concept Milsim marker, could you maybe keep the arrogant aesthetics critiques to yourself? I'm not calling anyone on the Milsig forums out here, 99% of the guys who have made the comment there I have a lot of respect for and they haven't let this hinder them in buying a Milsig. The only reason this bothers me is because I really have encountered hyper anal milsimmers, speedballers, and airsofters who make aesthetics the most important factor in a purchase and disregard performance. It's so phenomenally unimportant.... missing that gap between the mag-well and trigger guard still makes you less intimidating than a clever new player with a rental gun.

Kamloops Paintball Games: Team Fusion

        A few short months ago, Valken, via their Facebook page put up a shout out for paintball teams they were looking to sponsor for the 2011 season. This was in early February when new blog posts on here were a much more frequent occurrence. Being the charismatic fellow that I am, I decided to contact the gentleman at the email address provided in the call out in regards as to what it would take to get a team in Kamloops sponsored, and what the team's obligation to Valken would be in return for a gear discount deal. After several days of back and forth emailing, the creation of a group Facebook page as a communication hub for a team, and rounding up some players since I had no people on board at the time of first contact, a Valken sponsored Kamloops paintball team was created.

         As something of a shameless self plug, I'm going to announce all you regular readers the creation of the Kamloops Paintball Games: Fusion paintball team. The choice in team name can be best explained in the last 'Haters Gonna Hate' post on the next page of posts. Some might describe the team as a clutch of recreational paintballers but I'm hoping to quickly shape this team into just the right kind of effective blend of both speedball and milsim play styles working in tandem with eachother.

         I know, it seems like I'm doing a big self plug for myself and the team mates here but the experience is going to be a great thing for the blog as well. Aside from just being able to make nice big galleries of not one, but all six of the camoflages that Valken offers in the V-tac line, I'll be able to provide reviews of both the Sierra and Zulu builds of the gear. The blog will also start to double as a log of the goings on in the team, from start to finish so not only myself, but you as well can read along about the good moves we make in regards to gaining sponsorship and attending events and some of the bad ones we make too. This team was non existent at first contact with Valken and now it's really starting to take shape so I'll also be able to make some 'how-to' posts for new teams regarding approaching companies for sponsorships, how to structure your letters, what to have on hand when you first try to get their attention.

          It's going to be awhile until the blog sees a new post as two weeks of non stop school work and season's opening clean up work at the field are fast approaching. Four weeks until school is out for summer and many months of reffing, playing and blogging are to be had, so for you guys in the lower latitudes who are already out of the snow, happy playing until then

REVIEW: Valken 2010 Redemption Pants - Black Skulls

       I feel like I've been committing smilsim acrilege a fair bit lately, what with some perhaps overly friendly speedball articles, the camera lens article, and the general lack of text articles regarding milsim since the Valken V-Cam shoot back in February, but I have to do it again. As a primer for some reviews and articles to come, most likely after April 30^th, I'm going to share with you now a review of the Valken 2010 Black Skulls Redemption Pants, if for no other reason then them happening to be the only source of inspiration while in I'm in the midst of term papers. I know this model is pretty well impossible to find at the pro shop these days on account of it being old news from a year a half ago but I need to give them a review now because they're a good pant; really quite exceptional for Valken's first year building paintball gear so would it be such a leap to say their 2011 gear is just as solid if not better?

       I picked up a pair of these pants in last months of 2009 on a bit of a whim. I certainly had trouble justifying the purchase but knew it wasn't too much of a crime if it was something I enjoyed and planned on getting a whole lot of use out of. That, and I somehow imagined them being interesting camo for playing among birch trees which is an environment I still have never actually played in. I ordered a Double XL size through ANS gear, and they arrived in a very timely fashion though they were much too large. I'm about a 39' waist so nothing fits me, everything is too big or too small so I had to send these enormous pants back to ANS and ordered a Large size that supports at most a 38' waist thinking it'd would force me to eat a little healthier so I could fit into them come the opening of the 2010 season. Despite being a little tight around the waist the first few times I tried them on and buttoned them up, the pants started to fit very quickly, no diet required, and other than the waist area the rest of the pants fit perfect with lots of slack around the hips and all the way down to the ankles. The diet plan went out the window in a hurry.

Side Slide Panel and Squeegee Pocket

        Enough with the story of how they landed in my lap and on to the pros and cons of these pants. Cons first...? I'm sitting here, blankly staring at the floor right now and trying to think of something that really grinds my gears about these pants and I honestly can't say I can think of anything. If I really had to complain it would have to be about the material around the hole where you put a barrel squeegee, this area is a getting a little fuzzy and frayed from wear but not enough to compromise the pant. Until I purchased a pair of Valken pants, I was using a pair of Empire Contact 08 Special Edition Woodland pants for paintball and those were the golden standard I measured every pair I came across to. These Valken ones have quite thoroughly ousted them.

       A lot of people have compared them to the Empire pants and I can see where the draw some of the similarities between the two designs, but having owned both of pants, I can say with some certainty that the Valken pants are everything you loved in the style of the Empire pant, and then made better. There are stretch panels in the same locations on the Valken pants but for some reason, the way they're situated on the Redemption pants just feels more natural. You can squat, kneel, belly crawl and do any number of other awkward maneuvers in these pants which just feel more natural than on the similar Empire Contact pant. The aforementioned squeegee hole on the Valken Pants is in the same location on the Redemption pants as it is on Empire's and so many other brands of pants as well. I've personally never encountered a pair of pants with a holder on side of the ankle though I've heard they exist and are quite awkward and am happy to say that's not where this holder is, this one is right on your hip, both sides of the pant. On another note regarding this area of the pant, the smooth, slippery material on the hips to reduce friction when sliding into a bunker extends further down the side of your leg on these pants than it does on the Contact pant.

       Ventilation wise it's no contest: the Valken Pants beat the Empire ones hand down. The ventilation panels are on the same part of both pants, all the way up and down the inside the leg, as well as sizable panels on running along the back of the legs, but for some reason the Empire ones don't get the same sort of through-flow of air as the Valken Pants. I spent some time reffing in both pants over the course of the 2010 season and given that Kamloops BC is a desert and these are both dark coloured pants, one would think I'd be dieing on the field from heat stroke. This was the case with the Empire Contact pants but wasn't so with the Valken ones. With Empire's pants I had to continually walk around the field to ensure there was ventilation on my legs or I'd start to perspire quite quickly, with the Valken's Redemption pant I was kept cool and dry, even while sitting still in direct sunlight.

Nice Big Kevlar Knees, Just in Case the Product Shot Didn't
Convince You

       Both pants have a substantial knee pad region which is highly resistant to getting cut open on any jagged edges you might slide along. The Redemption pants are clear winners again with a knee pd extending from above the knee to almost all the way down the shin. The padding in both pants' knee area's does leave something to be desired though, such as a denser layer of neoprene-like material on the inside where your leg is. When you hit the ground hard the padding with protect you from nasty gouges to the skin but you will still feel any hard and jagged surfaces you land on. This problem can be rectified with paintball knee pads underneath these pants but wearing knee pads sort of defeats the purpose of built in pant padding, doesn't it?

Elastic Belt Waist Adjustment Strap

       Two more quick things: both the Valken and Empire pants have the same kind of elastic strap system on the waist for users to adjust the pant size to their own hips, both systems involve two stretchy pieces of material which is pulled forward through a belt loop and then hooked back and secured in place by velcro. Both pants also have a rubbery panel extending a short ways up into the lower back area to lend some grip to any pod pack you wish to use. The Empire Contact pant has a larger rubber area but I find this causes my jersey to bunch up in that area in bizarre and uncomfortable ways. The Redemption pant has a smaller rubbery area and does not have that problem, it's a trade off in that regard I guess.

Rubber Lower Back Panel To Hold Your Pod Pack in Place

       Some may have a few complaints about my comparing a 2008 model of an Empire pant to a 2010 Valken model but it's not a very unfair comparison. Empire has been around a lot longer than Valken, especially given Gino Postorivo's signing of the non competition clause with Empire back when his original business was assimilated by Kee Action Sports. Valken Paintball is the new company on the block and comparing their first high end model paintball pant to that of another juggernaut of a company that's been around longer would clearly make the Empire the more formidable contender. Paraphrasing from earlier: the 2010 Redemption pant is old news and the 2011 stuff has been out for quite a while, replacing their predecessors. I'm reviewing them now, only because I believe the construction of these pants, as well as their durability over a full season of reffing and playing is indicative of the quality to come from the 2011 Redemption and Crusade lines that are out now.

PS: sorry the pictures couldn't be better this time around, no one is here to model for me, maybe next time!

SUCH A SLACKER: I'm still here if you guys are!

       Holy 3 weeks, Batman! To both of my adoring fans, a.k.a. Mom and Dad, I must apologize for my flakiness with the blog in past weeks. Eight Pound Ops is indeed still alive, it's just not kicking right now. I literally have 35 ideas for entries that really don't involve getting off my butt whatsoever to type up, however with school being as big a part of my life as it is right now, my study breaks just don't look so appealing if a micro-essay on paintball is what I plan on doing to fill it, even if only takes about an hour to type each page and a bit post which I think is pretty respectable.

       Eight Pound Ops also has a Youtube account (eightpoundops) now which is pretty note worthy for me. I've never actually had a Youtube account or thrown anything up on there via a friend in the past so it's a totally new experience. The channel is going to double as a personal channel and let me quell anyone's worries that this does not appear to be a professional way of going about the channel now: I promise that any material on there that deviates from milsim paintball will be of the same mature nature that everything on the blog has been so far; There will be no video's of my and friends and I doing asinine things like the one gallon challenge or cayenne challenge or engaging in other forms of jack-assery.

       Another thing: since I'm choked with school and photography related endeavours at this time, if anyone who does read this blog on a regular basis has a request for an article it would be great if you commented here and let me know so I can prioritize and deliver the material you want instead of whatever tickles my fancy when I get around to writing one. So c'mon regulars and irregulars! Let me know what would make the readings here a better experience!

       P.S. I'm really not so good at this kind of thing but... Keep Japan in your thoughts. If you can't donate, don't pray, and if volunteering is not feasible for you right now at least be aware and spread some of that awareness, it's a lousy time for apathy right now. This earthquake disaster is a particularly big one and is going really resonate for a lot of families and economies around the world.

GALLERY: Valken V-Tac - Milsig Gear Shoot - Feb 22nd, 2011

       There's probably a whole lot of people on my facebook who are getting tired of seeing these pictures in their news feed but it's going to show up once more via my twitter feed. No lengthy text posts prepared at the moment but I decided to figure out how to use Picasa and post some gear pictures from a shoot I did with a team mate yesterday.

        Next thing on the to do list for the blog is to figure out the youtube account as I still don't know how to work that (I need to get with the times, right?). I've rounded up a crew of locals to make a team with and we bagged a modest Valken sponsorship for the 2011 so expect to see a lot more media of the whole team come summer, as well as reviews of all the products we try

       Have a look at the pictures, enjoy, click to enlarge! this is only two of close to 20 shots I imported and processed, I encourage you to follow this link to the full public album: Valken - Milsig Gear Shoot

A DIFFERENT KIND OF SHOOTING: Sigma 70-300mm Lens Overview

What's in the box

       Here's a non-paintball entry way out of left field for you. Say you're in my boat, at least the one I was in last year anyway, and playing is not an option in spite of being present at the field all the time. Maybe you're a ref, maybe you're injured and can't run and dive about the bunkers on your field, or maybe money is an issue and you can't drop 80 on a box of balls every week. What if like so many North Americans today, you have a digital camera, perhaps of the DSLR variety and you want to take shots of your friends playing but have trouble getting super close to the action and can't drop 2000$ on a telephoto lens or don't want to take said 2000$ lens into a shooting zone? There's an option out there that can be purchases with a protective filter for less than 200$ CAD at most retailers which fits exactly that bill.

Fully set up and elongated

WarHammer 40k Figurine, only a few inches tall
that's some good macro

       If you know not a thing about cameras I may start speaking a different language right now, but for the rest of you, let me introduce you to the Sigma 70-300mm telephoto lens, one of the best-for-the-money lenses you can grab for an SLR for amateur/budget shooting. The lens is a lightweight as zoom lenses go at just half a kilogram; I have some smaller ones that are heavier and posses less zoom capabilities than this lens and it's a pretty easy one to hand hold for longer periods of time. It's also a pretty long beast and looks fairly impressive on the front of you camera, if not a little Freudian in it's design. It also includes a sun shade to keep light coming from the side from making it's way into the lens barrel and polluting the image.

       Function wise it's very versatile. In normal use it's a very handy telephoto lens but the lens has a switch that allows it to turn into a very capable macro lens between the 200-300mm zoom ranges; it's perhaps even more capable at macro than it is as a telephoto as can be scene in the Warhammer 40K figurine shot. But as good as the lens is there are a few gripes I have about it that can be easily overcome with just a little practice in manual mode.

       First up is a small one that just a little post processing in just about any photo editing program can rectify. At the extreme ends of the lenses zoom, those being 70mm and 300mm respectively, the lens has a habit of adding a little bit of haze to the image. This I've been told is a common problem with a lot of Sigma lenses, and no offense to the company, but this brand is cheaper by about 100$ on average for a reason. If you don't wish to use a photo editing program and do post processing because you think that's sacrilege like a lot of photographers do, you can overcome the haze by operating the lens within it's two extremes.

That lens and I, Freud would be proud

       Second is the reason why learning to become a little more competent in manual focus is of such value: the lens does not focus very quick. This much I don't know is a common problem of Sigma's but on this particular model it is. It will over shoot it's focus, back track, go a little bit too far, then a little too close before it finally has the subject in focus and it's not a fast process, nor a quiet one. I've used an alcohol analogy to explain it a few times: When I'm sober (I really don't drink at all to be honest) my eyes are like a good Nikon lens, but after a few drinks their focus time is more like a Sigma. You follow? If you learn to be proficient in shooting in manual focus modes you can also overcome your camera sticking it's tongue out at you and saying the subject is too dark or light and not releasing the shutter when it's told to do so.

       Only one more thing to moan about really quick: the lens does not the best max f-stop around. A really good (low number) f-stop in a telephoto lens usually translates to a whole lot more dinero though. If you decide to shoot in low light, very shady places, or even at an indoor field you may need to get creative with some manual mode features in your camera. Tweaking the ISO or active-d lighting to fill out the shadows can help and more importantly, get your shutter speed as close to at least 1/125^th of a second to keep your shots crisp and minimize the shake that hand holding a zoom lens can cause. A tripod can help but that's a heavy chunk of gear to lug about for a casual shooter to drag along. Getting closer to the action and using less zoom from the lens can improve your max aperture too and still get you nice bokeh for portrait-like combat shots. Remember though, a dark, under exposed shot can be brightened to look better than an over exposed shot that's been darkened most of the time so don't sweat a under exposure too much.

Taken with this lens, not a bad action shot

       So all in all you get a pretty good deal on this lens and a UV or A-1 filter to protect it at 200$. It takes a little bit of a creative user to get some pretty slick shots with it given it's limitations, but Sigma's delivered a pretty versatile little lens here, great macro and telephoto features at a reasonable price; it gives similar 70-300mm lenses made by Canon or Nikon a run for the money.

REVIEW: 5.11 Coyote ATAC Boots, 8 Inch

Side Zip!

       Some people like to play paintball wearing running shoes. Some like to play while wearing cleats. Both these options are good if you don't play often, and cleats are actually ideal if you speedball and only intend to play on a small flat field. Unfortunately for cleat wearers, some fields, the one I work at included, don't allow cleats because they have a habit of tearing up the earth they bite into and it's rotten if you have to swap out your shoes and put on your every day footwear which ends up getting dirty with various forms of paintball filth. I think it's safe to say that regardless of the terrain you play on, ankle support is a much desired feature in the footwear you paintball in, be it for milsim or speedball. No one likes it when a rogue tree root sticks out of the ground and makes you roll your ankle when you're dashing along, eyes on the enemy and not on the ground. Paintballer or not, we all know that feeling and it has a habit of ending with us hitting the ground hard and it's not always an easy injury to walk off. Just last year I had a friend take a spill off uneven terrain which put him out of work and play for more than a month. Let me introduce to you a boot with ankle support which I don't think can be beat for the money you pay for it.

Very good ventilation on the soles to keep your feet cool
and dry

       These are the 5.11 Coyote ATAC boots in the 8 inch format and I gotta jump right into some of the really neat features of this boot right away, I'm too excited not to. First and foremost: I love the side zip on the boot. The zipper runs from the top, all the way  to near the sole of the boot, and it lets you slide in and out of the boot with ease, even when it's fully tightened up.

       Cool feature number 2: The sole of the boot itself is amazing. It's a comfortable one but after extended wear you may wish to replace it once it's compacted from enough abuse. What makes it so fantastical in my mind is it's the best anti-bacterial sole I've ever used, even after a year of wearing these, there's no noticeable foot smell from them in my entry foyer.

       Cool feature number 3: one way vents along the sides of the boot. When you take a step with these boots on, your foot moving around in the boot causes some air to be pushed out. Not a whole heck of a lot can sneak back in and that which does helps to keep your feet at a nice temperature. Water isn't likely to get in through here so a short dash through a creek or a walk through a dewy environment is possible while still keeping your feet dry. The boots are also pretty good for a couple of hours in the snow, but after about 4 your feet are going to start getting damp even if you've applied copious water-proofing.

       Last two cool things: the boots have small pouches on the outside which 5.11 says is ideal for “hand cuff keys or a small pocket knife,” whether you need either of these on the paintball field is questionable but it's a nice spot to stash a Leatherman or some O-rings for on the go, and the last thing, almost not worth mentioning for paintball, is the really neat treads around the toe of the boot. It's a V shaped pattern for those times when you need to vault a chain link fence real fast, You can tell that a lot of effort went into the design, they really pulled out all the stops on this 130$ boot.

For when you just have to vault that chain link fence

       Holy cow, all that talk so far and not a mention of fit or comfort. Good news, the 5.11 ATACs have that too. They come in a broad variety of sizes including wide ones and I'd have to recommend getting a pair that's half a size too small and suffering through the early wear stage. This will break them in to the ideal size for your foot. In regards to wide sizes of the boot, I wear a wide size and it fits me like a glove (or boot?). The widest point of my foot is just shy of 4.5 inches across so if your foot is in that ball park then wide is what you should order. As for the ankle support thanks to the 8 inch height, it's fantastic. The boots have a nice firm upper portion which will keep your ankle in an upright position without restricting the ability to flex your leg forward, such as when crouching. These boots were great for a full season of reffing and playing paintball on rocky, shaley, uneven mountain terrain and I even took to wearing them off the field in my day to day errands as well; once you try that ankle support out it's hard to go back to wearing whimpy little Sketchers! Not to mention the boots are pretty stylish when poking out under a pair of jeans. The boots are very light too, and 5.11 is definitely not lieing when they say it was built off a running shoe platform. I've shown these boots to several friends and they have been very surprised by the light weight; these really beat running around the field in a pair of old steel toe work boots.

Small side pocket for a a knife of handcuff key,
you can insert it all the way in, it's located just below the top

       I have just one complaint about these boots. Story time first: By some stroke of luck I have ended up with two really good pairs of these after A: I ordered a new pair to replace my old ones and B: 5.11 offered to replace the old boots free of charge as a product honouring thing which was great. Product wear and tear is supposed to happen though, so why did they so willingly replace them? The boots' heels wore out after less than 6 months. Part of the problem here was me on account of my placing new insoles over top of the old ones. I guess this caused there to be friction where friction shouldn't be, but in the end this made the boot heel wear out quicker than it should. Alas, I'm working my way through pair number 2 which doesn't have my silly added pair insoles installed on top of the existing ones and there's already some wear in the same area of the heel of these boots. I slowed the wear by removing the sole, and laying a strip of duct tape along the foot and up the heel area, then reinstalling the sole to make the friction occur against my sock and the duct tape and not the fabric in the heel of the boot. ADDENDUM: Pair 2 has just recently died on me here in July of 2011, so that's 2 pairs in just over 1 year. I dragged the life of these ones out well beyond where I should have and the heel wore so badly that it created a hole where my foot could slide into, but not slide out of making removal super difficult. 5.11 has suggested that people purchase a pair of boots one or one half size small to create a better fit and remedy this. That's what I tried to do with pair number 2 but they still died on me. No one else who visits the local tactical shop has had this problem once, let alone twice like I have, so it must be user error or my own mutant feet. I might not wear many more pairs of these boots but I still don't hesitate to recommend them because they are So. Damn. Comfy.

       The 5.11 ATAC 8 inch boot is a brilliant system overall, and I know 5.11 is constantly taking suggestions from owners of their gear for ideas to improve the design. They actually asked me to send them my worn out boots for the them to inspect and keep documents about on hand for future design reference, that's good customer support right there, very cool! Sure, my first pair wore out after 6-ish months but I'd say that I'm partly to blame for that; 6 months is probably the minimum life span of the boot and even if that's all you get out of them that's still 180 paintball days! If you need some proper quality footwear for paintball (or even hiking and day to day life) and don't mind the 130$ price tag these are an excellent pair of boots that you can't go wrong with. Unless 5.11 followed these up with something better, I can see myself wearing pairs of the 8 inch ATACs for awhile.