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Post by Waldo on May 4, 2008 12:13:45 GMT -5
i spoke to josh after words, i was also supprised that he was strong enough and loved the game so much that he kept playing afterwords
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Post by prodigy on May 4, 2008 12:37:09 GMT -5
I just got off the phone with Smoke. He said he is doing well(all things considered), he said he's cut up pretty good but his hearing is returning. He also thanks you guys for the well wishes.
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Post by ROCKSTAR on May 4, 2008 13:31:05 GMT -5
Good to hear it Prodigy. We were worried for him. Some of my guys from SSK were in attendance for Malvern Hill and called me last night about the incident. Please let him know that we all wish him well.
SouthSide Killaz
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Post by VooDoo on May 4, 2008 13:48:39 GMT -5
Smoke, my man....you definately have an Angel running with you on the field. Everyone on SP Anarchy is thankful you were not injured to any further extent than you were, and we wish you a speedy and pain-free recovery. You scared the heck out of us, Brother....not the huge "Boom" that sounded like a "Bird-Banger" X 10, but over the fact that we came a breath away from loseing one of our own in the community. We are all blessed.....It could have been a very dark day for many. I can honestly say that we saw the hand of god protecting us that day.
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Post by Baby Steak on May 4, 2008 14:19:39 GMT -5
Well said VooDoo.
Smoke, The MERCs are truly thankful you were not seriously injured and wish you a speedy recovery. You are one tough dude!!!
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Post by Aldva on May 4, 2008 14:56:41 GMT -5
SoVa, wishes Josh a speedy and complete recovery. I was standing with Ronn, when his laws exploded and we all knew at once something had gone terribly wrong. It was great to see, that he was able to stick with it for the rest of the game, it took heart. But what is best, is that there will were no serious, long term implications from the incident.
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Post by mushroom on May 4, 2008 16:38:33 GMT -5
Just remember Smoke...
Chics dig scars
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Post by Ronn on May 4, 2008 17:43:53 GMT -5
That's CIgars.
Chics dig cigars!
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Post by spudcrazy on May 4, 2008 22:28:01 GMT -5
Just for clarification, did the LAW have a pop-off valve??? If not, it should have never been allowed on the field. Also, just FYI for anyone wanting to build a launcher (I told this to Prodigy when he was building his LAW), I always err on the side of having a bigger air chamber, that way you can run the launcher on much lower air pressure. All my launchers will shoot at the allowed FPS with no more than 90psi. Even though I ALWAYS have a blow-off valve (which is mandatory in the GSRP), at 90psi there would NOT be the catastrophic failure. At worst, a crack and peel. When I consulted on the SpudTech website years ago (hence the name Spudcrazy), we actually did catastrophic failure tests on PVC for optimal pressure in regards to safety and UNDER 100psi was RELATIVELY safe, meaning no shrapnel when failure occured. Again, great, but unfortunate call by the SPlatbrothers management. But this goes to show, if ANYONE wants to build their own spudlaunchers, make sure you do a ton of reading and learn what to do to prevent this kind of this. Doom Labs of DeadByDawn and myself have tons of experience with this kind of stuff. These kind of failures CAN be prevented. I am so glad SMOKE is okay because it could have been much worse!!!! (Sorry for the diatribe, but these launchers have a place in my heart. Not to mention it was SpudLauncher building that got me introduced to paintball.... I go back to the day of building mortars with the old tin Coke cans, ducttape, and lighter fluid. How many of you remember tin Coke cans? Oh God I feel old.)
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Post by FearNone on May 5, 2008 8:36:54 GMT -5
Way to hang in there Smoke. You're lucky! Could have been a lot worse. The Man upstairs was looking after you . Hope your wounds heal quick buddy!
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Post by Severe on May 5, 2008 8:59:43 GMT -5
Spuds, I didn't get to see the specific law in question. At least I didn't look at it close enough to see if there was a blow-off valve.
I'd love to see another thread discussing the change in rules and what exceptions, if any, there will be. I know the ball-valved type launchers that use a 5-6" piece of rolled steel for the expansion chamber are popular. I'm wondering if those will be allowed.
Hypothetical question Spuds... would wrapping a PVC expansion chamber in duct tape (no, not you Duct Tape) effectively prevent the fragmentation of the material in a catastrophic failure? I'm assuming this is a two-fold failure of both the PVC material and the blow-off valve protection.
For those of you interested, Smoke has posted some 'results' pictures on the Krisis forums. He's definitely in good spirits. He has posted a new sig-able response of, "I fought the LAW but the LAW won!"
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Post by spudcrazy on May 5, 2008 9:33:43 GMT -5
Good question Severe, we actually tested that and believe it or not, it made the failure worse. Don't ask me how or why, but the fragmentation was a lot worse. I think it had something to do with preserving the energy (kinetic engergy) during the failure and causing more shattering. Think of a shatterproof windows that are designed to break up into tons of small chardes. They are held in place by an internal clear sheet of film. The glass is designed to break up into a million pieces but are then held in place by the film. Well in the case of the PVC wrapped in duct-tape, the same principal applies, but when you add to the equation, the explosive force of the failure, now all those tiny chardes become airborne.
Personally, I think a little cooling period should be placed on the new restrictions and find out why the failure occured. When we ran our tests, this was with NO blow-off valve. We found the blow-off valves tend to "safely" fail. That is to say that when they fail, they fail as a result of UNDER pressure, not over pressure. The only way I could see a failure WITH a blow-off valve is if the PVC was dropped. Fatigue, in this case, could only mean that there was a crack or something in the PVC or joint, prior to the failure, because any over pressurization should have been handled by the blow-off valve. I have NEVER seen a blow-off valve fail in the "locked" position, meaning it would NOT open in the case of overpressure.
FYI, the way we ran our tests was to pressuring a closed pressure chamber (i.e. length of PVC with the only opening being a schrader valve and both ends sealed with an end-cap). Pressurizing to a specific pressure, then doing 1. a drop test on to a solid surface and 2. blowing up an M-80 underneath the PVC. Drop test always yeilded a failure above 6'.
As a side, I suppose you could wrap the PVC in fiberglass/epoxy resin, just like the HPA tanks. In order to lighten the tanks for firefighters, this is ONE of the reasons they are wrapped in fiberglass, so that they can decrease the thickness of the aluminum tank, plus it allows more flexibility to temperature than a solid steel or heavy gauge aluminum....
BTW, I have built multiple COMBUSTION launchers, in which a real explosion happens within the chamber, and even there, I have NEVER had a failure. If done correctly, PVC launchers can be every bit as safe as a "store" bought launcher. Proper inspection is the key...
Proper inspection would be to check for safety blow-off valve. Make sure there is NOTHING threaded in to single wall PVC (i.e. all valves and such are threaded in to a JOINT). No screws holding joints and couplings together. The pressure chamber should have a gauge measuring pressure. Pressure should never go above 125psi (for PVC), 100psi (for ABS), and for paintball, a regulator should be inline. Also, PVC should NEVER be used with CO2, unless it is the cartridge type of CO2 and the chamber is such a size that one cartridge only yeilds no more than 2 shots. Lastly, if you want to be REAL safe, have the player fill his/her chamber up to 40psi, then spray the chamber with Windex and look for bubbles. If you see bubbles, then there is a leak which could mean a breech in integrity.
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Post by spudcrazy on May 5, 2008 9:50:55 GMT -5
Holy crap, I just saw the pics. Dang Smoke, I am so glad to see you are okay. Those are VERY close to your jugular. You are one tough dude!!!!
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Post by prodigy on May 5, 2008 11:42:45 GMT -5
I am pretty sure that Smoke's launcher did not have a pop-off valve. We had been pushing for him to get one before he continued to use it for fear something like this would happen.
I will say, when I took Charlotte up to SB, I do not recall having it inspected for safety. I remember asking, and mentioning the pop-off valve, but I think a mandatory safety check would POSSIBLY prevented something like this. I am in NO WAY blaming Splatbrothers, I am just reflecting on my experience.
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Post by spudcrazy on May 5, 2008 12:32:48 GMT -5
I think a mandatory safety check would POSSIBLY prevented something like this. I believe you are correct, sir!!! However, lesson learned!!! Spoken by an advocate for the advancement of SpudLaunchers everywhere ;D ;D ;D!!!!
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