Sun 25 Mar 2007
People who know me, know that I live life extremely. Illustration: most people play Frisbee, but I play Ultimate Frisbee. 
I’m crazy like that. And then we have paintball. So that I am clear, there is paintball, and then there is paintball. And we’re not talking about Sporting vs Wargames paintball. That debate has already been settled. Apologies to the sporty paintball losers.
I’m talking about a complex of run-down, abandoned buildings in the middle of the Utah desert. I’m talking about a group of 40 or 50 pro wargame paintballers tooled up with combat gear. I talking fully automatic guns running off compressed air (not CO2) modded to resemble assault rifles. A casual observer might suppose the action is a local SWAT team training exercise. The reality is not much further from that supposition. Enter a local company, OPs Gear, which specializes in training military and law enforcement with real-to-life exercises. To spread the word, they send a bunch of their employees out each Saturday to show off their products. Yes, I was on the OPs Gear team and yes, we won every round. 
These guys have even built an indoor city inside a warehouse in north Salt lake so military groups can practice their Urban Assault tactics. I’m told that, excepting that the guns shoot paintballs, nearly every other detail is indicative of actual combat. Now, if only they’d invite me to that warehouse to check it out…
Oh, and here is a GoogleMap with GPS waypoints to the Toole Paintball location.
Warning: There’s something about the possibility of being hit by a rapidly moving projectile that motivates one’s heart to beat faster, one’s feet to move more quickly and one’s brain to be more alert. It’s quite the exercise and, at the end, you’re likely to find your energy has been completely sapped. You’d be wise to schedule some rest time after the games.
March 26th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Thanks for the kind words about OPSGEAR and the Urban Warfare Center. Ryan - if you want to see the Urban Warfare Center, come by and I’ll give you a quick tour.
We do not charge our Police and Military for the training. To help fund that training, we decided to make it available to civilians on a reservation basis only: $35/person, 12 person minimum gets you 4 hours (you’ll be smoked). Includes 500 round of paint per person, semi-auto marker, face mask / helmet and a safety officer to help out. You can bring your own gear, price is still the same since it funds the training for the warriors who protect our streets and our interests abroad. Call for details 801.936.2322. Come and play where SWAT trains… and support a great cause!
March 26th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Ryan, where is the photo of me?
–Will
March 27th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Let’s get a closeup of the bald head! Bald head, I say!
March 27th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
More blogposts, please.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Somehow, I feel that Carolynn has a vested interest in Ryan posting blogs. I wonder what that interest could be… Traffic, humor, or something deeper?
March 27th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Sheer boredom. But thanks for the inquiry.
March 28th, 2007 at 7:41 am
William, let’s not scare away the other readers, ok?
March 28th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Ryan, how extreme are you really? When you play Ultimate Frisbee are you one of those guys that screams “ULTIMATE!!!” when the frisbee is kicked off to the other team. When you scream it does your voice crack and do the veins in your neck pop out and your face turn purple and people on your team decide that they don’t want to play anymore because they fear the retribution when they make a mistake? Cuz that’s what I call an extreme Ultimate Frisbee player!