130 Elite Colourway - Zip Dump Pouch & Linen Sheaths

 Small iterative changes ahead of the next game continue. I noted in my original specification that I'd need an auxiliary pouch on my vest. Given the need to carry spare spare gas for my Mayday, spare ring caps and other bits then having a standard small zip dump pouch to cover the last bit of black patching under the arm.

You can see in the background of that photo that I've started to populate the Velcro of my water bladder. The one of the best bits of this design is filling up the space with the various morale patches sourced from around the community.

Linen strap sheaths:

I picked up some linen for my new shemagh in royal blue and figured I'd use the off cuts to break up the black up even more. They're just a simple tube of linen with the straps threaded through and tucked into the ends. The additional thing about linen is that it'll be softer on my neck skin.

I've got a blue field cap en route that I'll add some Velcro to so that I can put some patches on that, too. The main thing with a hat will be to keep the sun off and my hair under control. Other next steps for the 130 rig will be looking at communications. Otherwise, I'm starting to mull porting the lessons learned on this rig over into my high energy DPM load out.

Oh and I need to get the Tempus field ready again but we don't actually need blasters to play this game, right? :D

Updates to Mayday Mk2 holster

 

I noted after my initial deployment of the Mayday Mk2 holster that it had a nasty habit of releasing the latch on the blaster preventing drawing or allowing the hinged muzzle to flap about.

I essentially just removed the sloped material at the spine of the holster and accidentally made it ambidextrous. The grip on the blaster is now essentially entirely on the muzzle of the blaster itself. There's precedent for that in other holsters so I'm not overly concerned about retention.

The trigger guard then also provides a very handy depth limiter to prevent over insertion and the blaster falling through. The muzzle shape doesn't make the return the smoothest but if you're trying to return this that rapidly then you've gone and goofed. Remember, the Mayday Mk2 fills a specific role for me: either as a shield busting system or a last ditch hold out scatter shot. Neither situation means return speed and transition back to primary. 

I'll go back and review my specification post and see what's next. The next game I'll be at will be Bristol Blast on 20th July at Wigton Crescent. It's the last guaranteed game I can attend due to starting the full time post in August so I'll be sure to make the most of the day.

Impact Grenade Holder & Admin Pouch

I might have mentioned in one of my after action reports that having the correct equipment for the environment you find yourself playing is essential. I'm not sure I ever actually posted that report but I do remember distinctly being in field and remarking on the necessity of grenades for breaking stalemates in enclosed spaces. Bristol Blast and Games of Foam have grenade rules that see these snap powered grenades clearing rooms if they go off. Of course, that means I need a means of carrying these. Fancy Impact Blaster did a wonderful job of putting my logo on the top of these.

 

 

 

The pouch also includes a slot for my phone and some pens as needed. There's also a slot pocket for maps and other documents as needed. It's a simple MOLLE mounted panel otherwise.

The orange and blue are slowly taking over the black of the base vest which is nice. I'll probably source a metre of orange linen in order to replace my black shemagh. There's a good chance then I'll be able to use the left over to make some linen wraps for the shoulder straps to cover them over. In terms of the remaining coverage, there's a small amount of black in the lower right region that I might co-opt for communications equipment. Bristol Blast doesn't typically need radios, the sites can be co-ordinated using runners. That being said, future proofing the rig and giving me the option is certainly something to think about.

130FPS Blaster Hardware

I realised after putting my Bristol Blast May/June review that I hadn't actually remembered to post about the hardware I've acquired for the 130FPS load out.

I'd shared this on Instagram but forgot about putting it up here. We have a Tempus blaster as a primary with snap grenades and the May Day Mk2 that uses the 40MAX shells to fire a variety of ammunition. I've got dual MEGA and half dart scatter shot shells for use. 

The Impact Grenades use cap gun charges to set off a bang. The folks over at Fancy Impact Blasters were able to pop the BoffTac logo into the caps so I can identify who the grenades belong to after I've thrown them.

Finally a close up of the May Day Mk 2.

Bristol Blast May & June 130FPS Equipment Review

I've been managing to get to Bristol Blast the last couple of months and testing out my 130FPS equipment load. I moved to London a number of years ago and being able to get back to my spiritual home and one of the UK's Nerfing back bones is fantastic.

Choo! Choo! We're a train blog now!

Now, Bristol Blast is a 130 FPS event run in a pair of chapels in Bristol, UK. Playing in the chapel and its grounds means you've got both corridor and open spaces to play in creating a mixed play environment. You have effective shield rules which see Demolisher Rockets and MEGA ammo have special roles but no snap grenades or pyrotechnics. There's a range of player ages and abilities and it really is a great entry point for players entering the UK scene.

Tactical Gear:

Now, Blogspot appears to have eaten my photos which makes referring back to equipment difficult. I'll try and fix that in a little while but for now, here's the link to the post discussing the equipment load I was running.

Being back in the field, I was reminded of something I learned during my Master's degree: it's possible to forget stuff and sometimes you forget what you knew in the first place. This was the case with a few lessons that I rapidly relearned. At the top of the list being that Humans vs Zombies rounds require light, mobile play and that the vest isn't the kit for that. To that end, the skirmish belt with its four magazines and dump pouch are essential. I also plan to remove my water bottle from the skirmish belt and leave the hydration bladder solely on my vest in order to allow the belt to be as light as possible.

The holster I built for the MayDay Mk2 needs rebuilding as it has the nasty habit of the latch opening and spilling the shell from the blaster when drawing. I've got a few ideas on how to fix that. The shell holders themselves work fine but need relocating and I think a Demo Rocket shell or two might be in order rather than the scatter shot half dart shells I've got at the moment. Better that way around to give me shield busting capability. I've not had tactical situations where the scatter shot is more useful than portable shield busting.

The skirmish belt design itself is working out really well. The only draw back is the inclusion of hook tape on the inside of the panel to affix it to my duty belt which I modified to add loop tape to. The abrasiveness of the hook tape has damaged some of the orange edging tape around the edge of the belt. I think I'll either need to remove it or add some blanking tape for transport.

I initially wanted to run the Talon holder inverted but found I was dropping magazines during HvZ games when running at pace. Inverted was fine in human vs human games where I was rarely running but outright sprinting proved too much for the elastic retention. Upright, it's working fine and I've found a position where the mags don't argue with the vest too much when they're in place there.

The zip dump pouch works fine, I just need to add more patches to it in the same way as the hydration bladder because patches are cool! 

Blasters:

The Tempus I debuted at Bristol Blast in May while the Gryphon served in June. The Tempus was on its debut outing and I rapidly ran into trouble with the trigger cluster. I hadn't accounted for thermal expansion and as the afternoon worn on, there wasn't enough tolerance in the moving parts and it began to stick. Follow up shots became maybe and given that most of my in field shots are two shot bursts with correction after the first shot, that is a problem. I took it home and stripped it down. Real life got in the way (Oh boy did it get in the way in short order) and I wasn't able to get everything together in time for Bristol Blast in June. To that end, I pulled my Gryphon off the wall, stuck a LiPo in it and ran it.

The problem with the Gryphon is that it has been in service a long time and is well over due for an overhaul/replacement. This thing has gotten a serious beating in its life and was built in a time before a lot of modern build standards and design. The stock point and muzzle block were screwed into plastic and the screws stripped over time finally failing during the event. I managed to tape things back together as seen above. There was just enough thread left in the flywheel cage to keep it attached but it needed constant tightening. The photo below also shows the residual damage from the time things fell off the wall and the blaster took the entire arsenal falling down on top of it.

Now, I don't have my own printer anymore since I prefer to let other folks do the tricky bit for me. Additionally, the rest of the plastic is sound so I'd rather keep it if I can. The use of heat set inserts would be perfect in this case since the holes are already piloted and I can just pop the inserts straight in for a tighter bond.

With these a little bit of thread lock, it should prevent a repeat of the failure.

The problem is equally visible at the back end. This can be partially fixed by the use of heat set inserts but in the long run that back piece of plastic is going to need to be replaced entirely.

All buttoned up and ready to run again. Working on both blasters side by side has taught me the value of soft factors in blasters. I mentioned above about forgetting things, well this another of those things. Sure, the numbers don't always mean things are the best and my preference for the Tempus over the Gryphon is the feel in hand which is a soft factor in itself. However, the Tempus is much, much less servicable than the Gryphon. I was able to remove the forward block of the Gryphon and repair the stock in less than hour with just a few screws. Configuring the Tempus' trigger group has involved entire disassembly of the blaster almost down to basic components. Side by side, the Gryphon is less robust and feels much lighter in hand which is not what I want from a primary blaster. However, if the Tempus proves to be less servicable once it's set up then it might just be out competed by it's svelter predecessor.

Future thoughts:

I don't have a compelling case for a 130FPS blaster in blacked out colours now that Green Cloaks has imploded. Any close quarters work done at high FPS games where I'd be using the DPM colour way can be completed by whatever secondary/sidearm that I opt for in that use case. To that end, the future for the Gryphon might be a reprint in blue/orange and reusing the existing hardware.

In terms of tactical gear, the changes I noted about the May Day holster need to be made. I also need to get some 40MAX shells reordered since my last lot when missing in the post. I still need an effective way to carry my snap grenades but obviously while I'm at Bristol Blast that's less of a priority given the lack of rules for them. It'll probably fold into an general admin pouch for myself anyway so I guess I'll revisit the spec I put together for it and go from there. Otherwise, I need some sort of field cap to keep my hair out of my face. That or a bandana.

I'll hopefully be headed for Bristol Blast on 20th July. I'm in the process of moving house and starting the new job so hopefully I can capitalise on life being more flexible until then. Once I start in August, it might be a little trickier to attend things. I've sorely missed classic 130FPS Nerf in the wonderful spaces that we get to play here in the UK.

Until next time, here's a Class 220 sitting at Bristol Parkway...