Re: co2 shut off valves

[Frank Pittelli <frank-at-pittelli.com>]

With regard to the safety approaches suggested by everyone, I am pleased 
to say that everyone is right ... safety in-depth is our friend.  That 
said, let me just give a little background about the two primary safety 
rules regarding the paintball guns in our vehicles:

Rule III.1.a:
        Paintball cannons must be equiped with either a muzzle plug
        or muzzle cap that stops all paintballs from leaving the muzzle.
        The muzzle plug or cap must be painted bright red and must      
        permanently attached to the muzzle by a strong line.

Rule III.1.b:
        An easily accessible and readily marked on-off value must be
        installed in the CO2 supply system that allows the paintball
        cannon to be effectively disabled in the field, regardless of
        the state of the R/C system.

The first rule is intended to prevent a paintball gun from firing a 
projectile and is consistent with the rules followed by every paintball 
facility around the world.   It is the primary rule for preventing an 
accidental discharge, regardless of the cause, and it focuses on the 
last segment of the gun system ... the muzzle.

The second rule also helps prevent accidental discharges of the gun, but 
it was primarily intended to prevent mishaps throughout the gun system 
itself.  For that reason, it focuses on the first segment of the gun 
system ... the CO2 supply.  This rule comes from over 20 years of 
experience in the R/C warship world, where lots and lots of minor 
mishaps have occurred while people work on their systems over lunch 
breaks and other times.  When something pressurized blows, it is always 
nice to have a shut-off valve that can stop the situation at its source.

Combined, these two safety rules will prevent a large number of problems 
(although not all of them) related to the CO2 system.  Add in the 
battery cut-off accessible from the outside rear of the vehicle and I 
think we'll be positioned in a very safe operational world.  Naturally, 
over time we can adjust the safety rules as we learn more and more about 
the frailities of the human mind :-)

        Frank P.