The typical paintball set-up can be quite heavy, especially if you have an all metal high-pressure air tank and especially during an all day event. A good portion of the weight associated with a paintball gun comes from the mounted tank. Large CO2 and compressed air paintball tanks can add a few poundsusually around 4 to 5 which not only makes the marker feel heavier but unbalanced as well. This can limit the responsiveness of the player adding precious time to running and shooting.
Using a paintball remote line can cure many of the drawbacks of having a tank mounted directly to the paintball gun. Remote lines come in a number of different configurations although their primary function is the same. A remote allows you to relocate your air tank to a location off the paintball gun. Normally, players using a remote will place their tank in a paintball harness or a pouch associated with a tactical vest.
Remote lines can be constructed from various materials like steel or plastic. The plastic coated ‘coil’ line is the most popular type used today. The coil remote looks similar to a telephone line. It extends and contacts while the player moves. Most coil remotes can stretch from about 4 - 6 feet and contact back down to 3 feet. The recoiling of the remote keeps the line from interfering with the player during kneeling, laying and running.
There are two primary types of paintball coil remote lines available. All remotes have a quick disconnect. This is a basic fitting that allows you to quickly detach the remote from the paintball gun. Some remote lines also have a slide check fitting. This is a fitting that is placed between the remote line and the quick disconnect fitting. The slide check has an outer sleeve that can be slid to one side or the other. Sliding the collar of the slide check will ‘check’ or stop the air which prevents the air from flowing when the remote is disconnected at the paintball gun but still attached to the tank. in simplicity is a simple on-off valve Remotes without a slide check that are connected to a filled tank and disconnected at the gun will expel air. Without the slide check fitting, a player has to remove the remote from the air source first.
Just about all remote lines can function with a CO2 tank as well as an HPA (Compressed Air) tank. in fact CO2 tanks will actually work better with a cool remote line because it acts as an expansion chamber and allows the gas to expand and turned from a liquid to a gas The tank application can depend on the factory rated burst pressure of the line itself. Typically micro-line or macro-line style remotes are for CO2 only, although they are rarely used today and production has virtually stopped. Remote line burst pressure is a rating used by the factory to indicate the pressure in PSI (pounds per square inch) at which the remote will burst or lose structural integrity. Most burst pressure ratings are 2-3 times more than the max pressure of the tank. This makes remote lines a safe accessory to use in the sport of paintball.
