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Friday, November 23, 2012

Surviving Dec 21

Well who knows right? I mean everyone is going on about how the world is condemned to some ridiculous end come December 21st. Assuming the panic mongers are right, and that all things are done as we know it - i suggest partying like its 1999,and come Dec 20 see where the chips fall in the morning! But Chance favours the prepared mind, so how do we prepare?

Every other website and reality TV show is telling you how to do it, things to get, things to hoard, places to go, etc. But honestly, common sense is your best weapon. Be realistic and forget about Hollywood for a while. For you veterans out there, you can fall back on the 4 survival necessities - food, shelter, water, fire. Based on your location, some will be easier than others. Living in a rain forest like we do, water isn't really an issue. food and shelter should be fairly easy if the world doesn't actually explode and fire is as easy as matches and lighters meets "everything flammable". Lets face it - surviving in an urban area is easy - unless the area is way to dangerous to live in!

So, to add to the craziness lets choose a "preferred method" of Armageddon! I choose zombie apocalypse! I love The Walking Dead TV show and Zombie Land! And for all you neigh-sayers, i will have you know that the US government "Emergency Readiness"website lists survival tips for the Zombie option, so hey - you never know ;)

Now  i would be lying if i didn't say that working at Valley Combat hasn't lead to many "what if" scenario's, and believe me - we have a Zombie plan!

First things first - GET OUT OF THE CITY! That's right folks, when your neighbors are turning into blood thirsty brain eating monsters, the best place to be is away from the crowds. Head to the hills! Get out of town, into the woods - every zombie show I've ever seen (short of Resident Evil), I've never seen zombie animals. So if you're living in the woods, you might want some camping supplies - tent, sleeping bag, fire starting kit, etc etc. And of course food - army rations keep forever, and will feed you for months while taking up next to no storage space. Again we live in a rain forest so water really isn't an issue, but maybe water purification tablets would help - and a couple of bottles to do the "sterilizing" in. So, there you are - camping happily in the woods, eating army rations, drinking purified water, sleeping in a tent, by your camp fire - all is right in the world. But eventually you will have to go to town, get supplies, medicine maybe? What about poachers or big angry wild life? Then what.

OWN A GUN! Again i know what you're going to say. But let me offer this: Better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it. It's all fine and dandy, go ahead club zombies with your 3 wood, or machete or whatever it is you decide to use, but be realistic; Others will be armed, and they WILL take what they want if they are armed and you are not. Not to mention a gun is a great way to get "other food" when your rations run out. That being said - don't go and buy the coolest most powerful thing you can buy. Buy practical. Buy something with ammunition being readily available - from almost anywhere. *8 gauge shot guns are cool - but 12 gauge ammo is everywhere - you get the idea. And for the record - a 22cal round has no problem killing most animals and zombies alike - as well as the occasional poacher. So be reasonable with your purchase.

OK so you're a camping , well armed survivor. Now what... Well if Sun Tzu showed us anything - its strength in numbers - heck the zombies seem to even know that! So if your running to the hills, bring friends. Vcat staff have a predetermined mustering area, and escape/evade plan. LOL.

Well then. You and your buddy's armed and fed, camping away - disaster avoided! But what if? What if you could leave town? What if you had no choice but to remain in the city? Well then, the plan changes a bit. First things first - arm yourself! You're in a city - food, water, shelter, fire, etc - its easy to come by, you just have to take it - and hold it! This is where you don't mess around. Arm yourself. I personally have a few "must haves". Hand gun, shotgun, long rifle (even a .22 would be fine), and a big knife - and a whacker of sorts. Machete, baseball bat, 3 wood, whatever... My choice is the Cold Steel Indian war club - or gun stock club. Now then, staying at home is just fine - until zombie waves invade, or roaming armed poachers decide to knock. Or until you run out of food, water, gas, etc... So once again i say be preemptive in your decisions... 2 or 3 places you should "take" and hold are as follows - in order of best to worst...

COSTCO - loaded with food, water, clothes, shelter - heck even generators and medical supplies. Completely made of concrete - with only one main door - a few steel exit doors and a rear loading door. One or two people on the roof with long rifles and you can see anyone approaching from the 4 acres of concrete parking lot. Very easy to defend with half a dozen people - and can live there for easily a year or more.

Superstore or Wal-Mart - same kinda game - but a bit more glass walls to barricade up but still loaded with supplies.

Finally - I'd say a government building. They usually are secure, and brick. Be it the police station, fire hall, court house etc. Easy to defend, usually central for "shopping trips", and most employees in city buildings will be the first to run, as they seem to have more freedoms than the average blue collar worker - so the buildings most likely will be abandoned.

There you have it - MY survival plan for the zombie apocalypse! Probably riddled with holes and failures - as I'm sure you have better ideas than me. So feel free - comment away and tell us how you'd survive the impending doom of Dec 21!

C


Friday, November 2, 2012

And Here We Go!

Alright people, its time! (Imagine Bruce Buffers voice when you read that... Good right?)

That's right folks, its time for us to turn our rants, raves, trials, tribulations, and everything else that is on the mind of Valley Combat staff upon the world! Read first hand whats new and exciting, or whats boring and crappy, and everything in between. This blog will keep you up to date with all the happenings of the Valley Combat world. Included is our YouTube video's, as well as links to our website and Facebook page.

Sooo without further ado... (Drum roll please)... ... ...

Greetings and salutations my hordes of adoring fans, and welcome. Today I thought it would be suiting to discuss the off season paintball season. Yes that's correct, you heard right. There is a season of paintball during the "off season". Just because it rains or snows doesn't mean we can't let balls fly! It just means we have to be more intelligent about it, pick our games more carefully, and of course be ready for what the weather will throw at us.

First things first, if you're going to play outdoors in the fall and winter, you're going to need some clothes to keep you warm. I'll skip right over the "mom" portion of this and just say, dress in layers and bring a change of clothes. You DO NOT want to climb into your vehicle after a day in the rain and mud without fresh clothes.

Secondly, choose your game. It might not be the fast and furious games you've grown accustomed to in the 28 degree sunny summertime weather, but it can be just as much fun if you plan it out. I recommend some woods-ball in the winter; Its usually dryer due to tree cover, usually a little less muddy, and you can get some good tactical games in without having to run full tilt through open fields where water can pool up. Nothing worse than full gallop to full swim in 0.3 seconds. It will also allow you the luxury of playing with that bad ass pump gun you've been dying to use, but hate being out gunned with. Nobody goes full auto with a 30 round hopper and lives long enough to be proud about it. This is also a great opportunity to get your old "first gun" out. You know the 98 custom you put on waivers the day you got your new fully electronic, low pressure, high cyclic rate, paint slinging, nightmare causing, multi-coloured, overpriced paintball gun of doom. Ya put that bad boy to rest for awhile and take out the gun that started it all! The simple ones tend to really like the cold wet weather, and if you drop them, its not your next paycheck to undo the damage.

The benefits to tactical games; First it allows you to use tactics and practice your game better, rather than slinging buckets of paint, secondly it allows you to use WAY LESS PAINT than usual, which means you can buy the expensive Powder Balls. Why do you want the powder balls? Well, they're made of a wax shell - so impervious to wet weather, they are filled with powder - impervious to colder temperatures, which pretty much guarantee's a "no issue, no paint breakage in the gun" kinda day. Which in any weather is a great day of paintball.

And at this point i would be amiss by not saying GET A GOOD ANTI-FOG. No matter how warm, dry, and perfect your day outside will be, the cold wet weather will bring the fog of hell to your masks. We are strong advocates of Op-Drops if you're the "plan ahead" kinda player. Otherwise your only other choice is Fog Zero. Apply as needed, when needed, and your good to go for each and every game.

Well folks, that's it for now. Get your gear together, and get  your butt outside, and as always, play safe!

(I wanted to sign out with " And remember shop smart, shop S-Mart, but i didn't think anyone would get it, and we're not S-Mart, so it just didn't fit. But it would have been funny, trust me)      :)


Cory