Tac Vest or Battle Pack

[DirtyDownSouth]

As a newbie to paintball im starting to gather some gear but im unsure which of the above to go for.Im looking to attend walk-ons and some of the BIG games so I want to know what would be more suitable a tac vest or battle pack.Not sure how many pods I would need for a walk-on but I like the idea of the tac vest as the pods are at the front.Anyone have any thoughts on which is best for walk-ons etc.

 

[nick "the shadow cat"]

If its any help I use a tack vest purely for the fact that it can hold my air tank on my back and the weight is taken off my marker. It also holds up to 6 140 shotpots and 3 100 pots. Or what ever combinations you want. The down side is i get quite hot in it. Hope that helps

 

[Tom]

Both, but I'm greedy and like to have everything

For a walkon you don't really need lots of pods - it depends on how much you shoot and the efficiently of your gun / the air you are carrying. Walkon games are probably around half an hour to an hour at a time, so you can restock
Unless you are giving out paint then you don't need to weigh yourself down with more than you can shoot

At an event such as a scenario with respawns, in game air fills etc you may carry more paint, but consider that against weighing yourself down and how far you have to go to replenish

A pod belt is simple and efficient (some, but more rarely now can hold a bottle if you go remote)

A tac vest lets you carry more than paint depending on configuration, and is either fixed or can be changed if it's Molle etc (and you're heading to more £)
If you're going to carry paint pods, radio, misc stuff such as chocolate, notepad pen (if you're involving in 'complex' scenarios), torch, dump pouch or 'prop' gathering bag then Molle allows you to configure what you want
Molle costs much more to setup, but if you chop & change then one Molle vest and lots of pouches cost less then multiple vests (possibly!)
You can get almost both in one with some 'yoke' style Pod belts / mini Molle rigs

Personal preference is key, how comfortable it is to you and how natural it is to draw a pod etc

 

[brab]

Is there general consensus on remotes (given a bottle on the back was mentioned above)? On 'most pics' the tank is on the gun rather than remote - do those with remotes put a stock of some sort on and are they typically found on big games (i don't know - i'm thinking long time frames, bigger tanks and piles of paint) rather than walk on? There's a far selection on sale but i don't think i've ever seen one in the flesh.

 

[Tom]

Is there general consensus on remotes (given a bottle on the back was mentioned above)? On 'most pics' the tank is on the gun rather than remote - do those with remotes put a stock of some sort on and are they typically found on big games (i don't know - i'm thinking long time frames, bigger tanks and piles of paint) rather than walk on? There's a far selection on sale but i don't think i've ever seen one in the flesh.

A remote line does the job of taking weight off the gun and putting it on your vest etc
(Too heavy, too big etc)
But has the disadvantage of losing the natural stock of a cylinder and requiring you to use a stock to keep the gun steady, and gives you something to get tangled up in the woods or one more thing to go wrong

People also may prefer the feel or look of a stock

A typical 3000psi cylinder has a flat base, which can feel awkward (you can now buy a curved base 3000psi cylinder)

A fibre cylinder has a curved base which along with the ergonomics of 'specific paintball gun' design rolls in your shoulder


If you do opt for a remote line then avoid the basic non-slide check design (there aren't that many about now)
As a minimum go for one with an on/off slide check so that you can turn the air off and disconnect
In preference to that get a psi-works / pro connect style remote line which self seals when you disconnect

Then think about how you are going to fill your air. If it's on your back then you have to get someone to fill it for you or take off your vest at the fill station
To solve that you can get a remote fill line (which means another line hanging off you to get tangled up)
Note that you can't see the gauge on your cylinder so have to guess that you have air left before charging forward for glory

 

[brab]

Thanks for explaining.
I quiet like the idea of the weight being on the back - but the point you bring up with it getting snagged seems to more than offset that.
Wasn't aware there were curved base metal cylinders - thanks - was just umming and aahing over fancy CF air systems and trying to justify the expense. Seems like a reasonable alternative!

 

[smudgerebt]

For big games I have the Eclipse Tac-Vest (in HDE) that lets me carry around 2000 paint plus spare bottle since I carry a bottle on the gun.

Add on a dump pouch as well for all the empties.

Weighs alot so your not going for a jog with it on, you are however very good for fire support.