We had a tourneyment there last weekend, it was June 8. One of the fields we played on was a three man field, with mixed barrels and airball. The second field was freaken logs. Next, all day long, it took about 5 minutes to fill each person's air tank. Eventually it got so bad, the owner told the players he wanted to shorten the game times from 7 minutes to 4 minutes, and fill everyones tank to like 2000psi. That caused a little comotion. And the air station, key word, STATION, not plural, almost killed like 3 people because hoses shot out from there connections etc. It was terrible, not to mention, you needed to walk about .25miles to get to the fields, and it was uphill. Granted, you could move your equipment to the fields, but that was a pain in the ass cuz of all the uphill. The one thing i can say i was pleased about during the tourneyment however, were the refs. Throughout the entire Virginia Pursuit Cup, those were the best refs by far. Also, they had a cool castle field, that was incredibly awesome. We should have played the tourneyment on that field. All in all, not to happy with the place, i think its pretty crummy. Sorry, but thats my professional opinion. Go play Skyline, or Pevs definitely.
I've played Hogback more than 3 dozen times in the last year and here's my review:
Pros:
-Jim does a great job with the safety briefing and is very informative and helpful for new players.
-The woods fields are pretty nice. Nice variety.
Cons:
-Refs are the worst in VA. Sit on the sidelines together talking, rarely involve themselves in the game. Do not split teams evenly and take forever between games.
-Drive to parking lot is full of potholes and is one lane. Be careful.
-Parking lot is pathetic. When it's muddy, forget about it.
-The walk to the fields is a killer. You walk up a hill, in total an 1/8 mile hike before you get to your field.
-No proshop, crappy field paint and old, beat up rental gear.
-One Porta John
-One speedball field - for walk ons only. No practice fields for tourney players.
-Expensive for private groups.
-Great potential but the owner doesn't put ANY funds into the field. It's a shame. They could do quite well if they sold decent paint, had edible lunches (enough with the hot dogs people), had half a pro shot, kept up their fields, trained their refs, and added a practice area for teams.
This place has gone down hill quite a bit in the last year. I would suggest anyone in the area go to Skyline. They are the nicest, most involved people with the best reffing and some interesting fields for walk ons and sufficient practice fields for tourney players.
Pev's @ AG - Pev's completely outclasses Hogback in every way.
Review:
I have to say that this field was pretty bad. The refs were terrible, the people running the counter for sign ins and all were clueless, and it was one of the most disorganized fields I have ever played. For example, when the refs were told about someone wiping by several of us, they did nothing, and I mean nothing, they didn't even talk to the player in question. This went on for the entire day. And speaking of the refs, for a game of well over 30 players there were 2 refs, who stood in one spot and watched the game go. Compared to the refs at Pev's @ AG, which included 4-5 for the same size group and they moved all throughout the field during play, these guys were terrible. The disorganization of the staff led to the game starting well over an hour late. It also led to several players never getting chrono'd and caused lunch to be very late. I also do not agree with the "20ft rule" and the "Statue of Liberty" rule. I can understand not allowing bunkering in rec ball, but the surrender rule for close range contact should be allowed. And having to stand wherever you got hit and hold the flag up till someone takes it from you is just ridiculous. All of this, and this isn't everything, combined with the owner being really snappy with people and just generally not a friendly guy, just makes the field terrible. The only good thing about it is the actual playing fields themselves, but they aren't enough to bring me back to Hogback.
I used to love this field. About 3 months ago I would have given it a 10. The people are really nice, yet they still enforce the saftey rules. However, I had to drop this rating 4 points just from my last visit. I left my bag unattended for about 20 minutes and it was robbed. Not only had the perps ripped open the bag, they took my gloves, cleaning kit and about 1000 paintballs. I found the cleaning kit (mostly empty) and about 300 paintballs but I asked for help finding my gloves and was told they could do nothing. If you can keep your stuff under control and don't mind the really long steep hike up the mountain...it is a mountain kid you not, then go have fun. It is a great place for newbies or to take your kids. The fields offer much variety and are quite fun. I don't know though. I'm moving and I don't plan on playing there if I visit my friends here.
pevs.....oag..........ag..............all are good fields.....all have their plus' and minus'
Review:
great woods play......it's very open.....not too much brush...............BUT IT IS A PAIN IN THE BUTT to get the fields.....the course is on a freaking' mountain.....they don't call it hogsback mountain for nothing. By the time you get to the first field you want to rest for about 1 hour. Other than that....very nice fields, good setup, good refs......a great value for the money
Last edited on Tuesday, April 8th, 2003 at 1:24 pm PST
I think this is a great feild for woods ball, then again im not that big on playing speed ball, but im pretty good. people say that all the fields are the same but thats a flat out lie, they can be flat, or go up and down, they have forts and castles. a all out huge field, i havent been their in a while, but since its getting nice out i will be heading out. any way great staff, and i love the wooded fields, i didnt like pevs old field it was really small, but they got a new one and i havent given it a chance yet. any way hogbacks gives you alot of different playing space, and its not for beginners, more for expenerince, cuz their rental costs are pretty high. however ifyou own your own gun, or use a freinds, it only cost 10 bucks for like 7 hours of play 10-5. they also cook lunch too. the only real advise i could see to give them is maybe open a infield store, and sell some of the basic merchandise. and possible drop the cost of feild paint. in addition this feild is great
I've only played this field twice. And it was a few years ago so I'm hoping things have changed sense then.
When I went, it was with a private party both times (b-day). The good of it was the fields. They are outstanding woods fields as a whole. Yes they could use some upkeep but they are still good designs. Well thought out and fun every time. The hike between fields isn't so bad as VAG IMO. As it tends to be drawn out over a greater distance and the elevation change is more gradule than VAG's obsticle course! : )
Ok the bad. When I went, we were charged (brace yourself) $50/head (yes, that's FIFTY) for rentals. The rentals were standard Tippman markers that were of course, falling appart (I've only been to one field that took care of their tippy rentals, and that was in Az). This was unexcusable. The price was sky high. I suspect he saw a sucker coming with the guy who got the group together, wish I'd known ahead of time. If things have changed and it's priced in the average range now, then I'm happy, because it'd be an excellent field on whole.
The other complaint I had was the food. Having helped host big events (I'm in the SCA), I know what it's like to try and feed everybody. But they weren't very organized when I was there and it was simple burger/dog fare. Which I don't mind at all but what would it take to run some power and have a soda machine or something?
It's hard to find. I drove that main road every day to and from work otherwise I'd have NEVER even come CLOSE to finding this place! There is _NO_ sign out front and the road sign is hard to see as you go zooming past. The gravel road isn't that bad, the fellow below must have never driven on back roads or something *shrug* The drive in is actually quite nice I thought. Very pretty.
Paint. You had to use their paint. Period. Own gear or no. This has always pissed me off. But most fields try to get fair paint if nothing else. This was third rate practice stuff tho and combined with the ill kept tippmans, it made for VERY close engagments. Which of course meant a whole lot of "surrender a$$hole!" fights thanks to the 20' rule. Another thing I've never liked in the sport. Just shoot them in a HARD SPOT.....sheesh.
Overall. If they have brought their prices in-line with industry norms then I'd say to check the field out for sure! I'm not sure why they were shafting our group but I gather their prices are normally in the average range. The food is "ok" but pack a lunch if you want more than burgers and dogs. Pack LOTS of FLUIDS!!!!!!! Some guys compain that they have a lame speedball field and no supair. Well for me that's a-ok, wish they'd take the smaller fields out and be strictly woods but that's me (I play longball with a LP setup).
Give 'em a look-see. Find out their street addy and look them up on mapblast or something before you go and when you see the big horse place off to one side, start looking accross the street!!! Good luck finding it the first try : )
And I can't stress it enough. Pack your own water! When I went there wasn't enough to go around the whole day (for them to sell I mean).
I give this a seven. Because I think it's a slightly above average field.
great feilds, good staff, this was the first place ive ever played paintball at and is my main feild that i go to. The 20 foot rule is great if your not in the mood to at shot at point blank. This feld could use a little rentivation but other than that Hogback is doing a great job!
Hogback is really nice and has a very nice staff. Hogback is more for newer kids to the sport. They have a 20 foot rule which I dont really like, but it will keep insurance down and make their prices cheaper. The intrance fee is a cheap $10. They got some cool speedball fields, but their nothing like NPPL fields like hyperball or sup. air. I heard that they will be getting a sup. air field, but im not sure about that.
Pevs @ AG...I guess better, but the people at Hogback are much nicer...
Review:
Hogback is an ok field. However, this lack is made up by the SUPER-friendly staff and ref, among others the owner, Jim. THough it is true that there is a "trek" between each field, it is, IMO, very vluable time to talk with other players, which i find fun... I have recently been added, i believe, to that "inner circle" you guys speak of...All you have to do is go out onto the field and play well...Anyways i am gonan give it an 8 out of ten, because they dont have sup'air ball, only speed-ball composed of a field called "mini-bunkers" and "barrels"
