English
The X-Days traditionally herald the end of the paintball season in early December. The paintball fair organized by Paint Xtreme managing director Lars Herzig is now in its 16th year in a row and is still the largest paintball fair in Germany. As in every year, this time everything of rank and name was on site. Numerous big brands and manufacturers were represented among the exhibitors and had both special offers and one or the other new product in their luggage. We were there for you and summarized the X-Days in lots of great pictures for you.
After the X-Days were held at the new PX store location in Bad Camberg last year due to Corona, this year they returned to the tried and tested location in Waldems. Unfortunately, in the run-up to the trade fair, there were the usual problems with the Corona regulations again this year. These changed at times every few days and so it happened that the organization team of the X-Days published new information for its visitors almost every week and also had to adjust the number of participants and the conditions on site several times. In the end, Germany's largest paintball fair could take place as planned, albeit with some conditions. Actually, around 1000 to 1200 visitors are expected at the X-Days every year. Unfortunately, this number was not possible in 2021, as the space restrictions per participant allowed a maximum number of visitors of 600 people, spread over two days of the fair.
Nevertheless, the best of the situation was made, all visitors were always informed in advance and the visit on site was made as pleasant as possible. At this point we would like to anticipate the final conclusion of trade fair organizer and Paint Xtreme boss Lars Herzig:
"The X-Days were in actually in this year a great success in all aspects and we are happy to have pulled it off!”.
That's what we call a positive conclusion and it's actually already a done deal that the X-Days will be held again in 2022 and that the organizers will again be fully committed and highly motivated. But now we come to the actual topic, namely the current X-Days. As already mentioned, all major brands and manufacturers were represented on site. In addition to the big players of the international paintball scene such as Smart Parts / GoG, Dye, Virtue, Planet Eclipse, Tippmann, HK Army and First Strike, numerous small and medium-sized companies such as TSP (Tactical Sports Parts), Patchwerk and Enolagaye were at the X -Days included. The organizers of the event and tournament scene could not be missing either. Bertl was again represented with a very large SBG stand and this year even had a second stand at the other end of the hall to promote his new MagFed event, the Euro Super Game. A really strong presence for the woodland and scenario area of the paintball scene.
What was more represented in scenario events this year was unfortunately missing in terms of tournament sports. Unfortunately, the DPL had to cancel its participation at very short notice one day before the start of the trade fair due to illness and so it happened that tournament sports were practically not represented at the X-Days this year. From our point of view, unfortunately, another low blow for the already badly battered German tournament landscape.
Of course, there were numerous trade fair highlights again this year. One was the annual auction and raffle. On the X-Days you can not only shop cheaply, but every year you can also increase at various auctions from 1 euro or grab great prizes from raffle tickets. Incidentally, the proceeds from the tombola this year were a whopping 3,500 euros and will be donated in full.
Lars Herzig told us: “This year we will split the money between several charitable projects. 1,500 euros go to the Löwenherz children's hospice, for example. We are donating 500 euros to the youth fire brigade in Steinfischbach. Then another 500 euros will go to the youth department of the Red Cross in Steinfischbach, as well as to the Animal Aid Project from the Battleground. In addition, we had asked for support for Jule (called NIPS, a paintballer from the scene) in advance and will also support you with a 500 euro donation" .
That was worth it! The charity aspect has always been an integral part of X-Days and we think it's always a great thing. Keep it up! What probably interests most readers is the question: what was new this year at the X-Days? – The answer: A lot! The list of new products was significantly longer this year than in the previous year. For this reason, we unfortunately do not want to or cannot go into all the individual product innovations at this point. But here is a small overview for you.
Umarex was there with its brand new HDX shotgun. Luxe and Shocker presented numerous fresh laser design editions of their markers. First Strike has introduced a new 300 bar version of its T15. This model already has a 300 bar HP system built into the shoulder rest as standard. There was also a new "Vietnam conversion" of the T15 to admire.
There were also many new products from the military outfitter Tasmanian Tiger and various new products from Virtue, HK Army and Dye. – You can find more information about these products, for example, in the new products section at the front of this issue. The abundance of new products caused wide eyes and a good mood among the visitors. Innovations are always one of the absolute highlights of every trade fair, and that's exactly what people come to. In general, the mood among the visitors on both days of the fair was very good. This could also be due to the lower number of visitors and the associated additional space per visitor. It was just a bit more relaxed and looser this year and not quite as crowded. Based on this experience, the organizers are already considering maintaining the concept with fewer visitors for the coming year. The current planning provides for a maximum number of visitors of 400 people per day, divided into four ticket groups of 100 tickets each. But the year is still long and plans can of course change again. Let's wait and see which concept the X-Days Crew will present to us at the end of 2022.
Of course, there were also free tech courses on site again this year. Here the players were shown how to maintain their markers and fix small errors themselves on the field. The courses are fully booked almost every year, registration in advance is mandatory. This year it was possible to sign up for Dye, Planet Eclipse, First Strike and Luxe marker tech courses. The question and answer interview with Bertl and Lars, which was recorded directly on the X-Days in the improvised Battleground Studio, should not go unmentioned. In addition, the raffle and various other areas of the fair were recorded in image and sound. You can find the videos behind the two QR codes here at the end of the article.
That was the X-Days 2021. As always, we had a lot of fun and we will be back next year to be part of Germany's largest paintball fair. See you next year…
