...
Simple
HPA can dangerous in most situations if it isn't managed correctly -
Fact
I personally believe Stako's are fine & HPAC are probably the best Air suppliers around - they know their onions about tanks and air - end of.
I think the recent accidents are a culmination of MANY factors. Oil was a new factor recently - how many people can honestly hold their hands up and say they know more than even the basics of looking after your air tank??? Before some of you nobbers start, I'm
not saying this applies in particular to Nige but as a general question on the whole to the paintball community...? Not many i bet...
Nobody said to me at any point prior to the Madrid incident "hey don't put oil in your fill nipple..." Never had a reason too as i think even my basic common sense would have stopped me but who stops little Herbert or Johnny doing it because his tank jams on the fill rig and thinks that would be a solution...
When i started paintballing - none of the shops mentioned anything about air - I bought my marker, air tank, goggs, protection etc etc but never did anyone mention the dangers of playing with a big air bomb stuck under your face! Not saying the shops are to blame as that's bull, but what i am badly saying here is that educating people (and also sites) in the safe use of HPA would be my first course here. I've been to sites where they still use big air tanks and even those have $hit me up using them...
So where do we learn? It's normally from hearsay, forums, advice at games/training etc. But its not till something happens does someone say something..
We need to be looking at solutions, not witch hunting and banning. If more people had productive ideas then surely we could go forward as opposed to shouting "BAN" at Stako each time or blaming HPAC or the holy mother for that matter...
After trawling through this thread, i was surprised to find I wasn't aware of the scheme done with Fat Bobs and HPAC and this training/pass scheme which seems a great step - especially as I see way, way, way too many people at the fill rigs messing about (CC 06 was a scary one..) blasting air into their tanks in one go, no break etc - Maybe we should ask HPAC or the fields to take responsibility for filling up for everyone in the meantime? Or even do a scheme of competent use of air/tanks? Only then would you at least say that it was the bottles/regs fault as it was filled correctly etc etc etc - I know it's not foolproof but a a step in the right direction maybe?
Training is one step - slowing the fill I would also hazard a guess would be another step (lets face it, it would only slow you down by a minute or so and if your filling up late - tough!) Does it matter how quick it fills up???
One thing I do know is I'm glad Nige is okay and still about to tell this story, even if he now sports a "brown" go faster stripe in his pants...
I don't know the facts on this as I've mentioned and not embarrassed to say I know jack $$$$ about air and it's effects, how it ignites etc, but oddly I know quite a bit more than most which makes me worry about the large amount of people out there who know way less than me - if that makes sense...
But people should look at the broader picture here and wait till more information is available to the cause. So you can put your pitchforks and flaming torches away for now... and maybe come up with some solutions which will help everyone play safely. Remember it's your choice/opinion etc to use them in the meantime.
Glad you're cool Nige
EDIT: flame away..
