hopper tilted inside bunker

[Magmoormaster]

Ok, I keep hearing this: keep your hopper in so you will have less showing. The thing is, if you tilt your hopper in, your arm and tank is exposed! So why do people always say this? Am I just wrong?

[jitters93]

your arm/tank wont stick out as much plus it would be towards the lower parts of the bunker instead of having your loader stick straight out the top

[shadonite]

Your arm and tank shouldn't really be that exposed unless you stick your elbow out as if you were holding a rifle (which I see often). If you do that, just keep your arm tucked down and you shouldn't be exposed much unless you lean out too far. The only reason I keep my hopper in is I just naturally hold my marker tilted so I can look down the side of my barrel without my hopper getting in the way. Having my hopper hidden is just a bonus for me.

[Ebonclaw]

Don't think of it as tilting the gun on the axis of the frame, think of it as pivoting it on the tank's axis. Here's an illustration. Lay the gun on the floor. Now bring the gun up into a position you could shoulder it in if you were shooting prone, with the tank still touching the floor. The tank didn't have to come off the floor for the gun to be tilted up, same thing here. In fact, the gun could be brought from laying flat, to a prone position with the tank hardly moving at all, aside from being turned on its side.

[Tabris17]

Hoppers also provide a more up front and obvious target then a tank. You will rarely see a tank hit unless the person is getting run on or shot from the side. Hopper hits are much more common and tucking it in slightly removes the hopper from the equation so there is less chance of it getting hit. Then you just have to keep your arm tucked in and not 'chicken wing' it like you see more inexperienced players doing.
But if you think that's silly, remember to tuck in your barrel. I shot a guy out in a tourney on the barrel because it was sticking out of his bunker. And you better believe I was aiming for it, I'll shoot your foot if I have too.

[NoelyDeezNutz]

the general rule is to follow the profile of the bunker you are playing...

stand up can the hopper would sit almost vertical...
dorito, the hopper would be at more of an angle...

anything more, is really just comfort level... some people feel more comfy with the marker tilted 45* no matter what... some like playing vertical, no matter what...

those become weaknesses when playing against better players, and they can easily catch on to things like that... so learn to adapt and tilt to follow the profile of the bunker you're playing... it will make life easier...

[Dees_Troy]

If you're playing over the top of a bunker, tilting roughly 45 degrees can help bring the hopper in line with your mask or head instead of sitting above your head, which reduces your profile.

After that, tilting to stay in line with the bunker you are playing is usually best. There may be a slight advantage to tilting the hopper in and leaving the tank and your arms/hands further out since paintballs almost always break on the hopper and are slightly less likely to break on your hands, arms, and tank cover (if you use one). If you tilt against the direction of the bunker (e.g. hopper sticking way out), your hopper will stick out long before you get your barrel around the bunker making it easier for your enemy to see and know where you're coming out at before you can shoot. This bad tilt also means you have to move further in/out for snap shooting.

I'm waiting for someone to come out with an adjustable elbow/breach/feedneck that allows you to change the angle of your hopper in the middle of the game quickly and easily for an even better shooting profile.

[Tabris17]

I need to practice what I preach, I got a few hopper hits in a tourney yesterday because I wasn't tucking my hopper in like I was supposed too.