The biggest concern while playing paintball is the safety and security of the players. Wearing the proper paintball gear will help to ensure that nobody will become injured while playing this fast-paced sport. Without a doubt, the use of air-pressured guns can be very dangerous if a person is not wearing appropriate safety gear.
There is a variety of paintball gear required when playing this sport, not just the paintball gun or marker. To help ensure you have all the proper equipment for this action-packed sport, below is a list of gears each person must have before he or she plays the sport.
1. The paintball mask is an essential piece of equipment that will protect your face. Since most serious injuries incurred are in the face, you are not allowed to play if you do not wear a protective mask.
2. Eye protection is another important piece of protection. Investing in a good set of goggles will prevent any splat of paint for getting into your eyes.
3. Each person must have a paintball gun. The gun is used to eliminate your opponent, and thus is a critical piece in your arsenal. Remember to thoroughly research the different types of guns available before making your selection.
Is it me or all these paintball guns you see on the fields lately all looking the same nowadays? Have you laid eyes on these military style paintball guns yet? Hold on, lemme back up about 15 years or so. I remember back in the early ’90s as a high schooler, me and my nerdy buddies would get together on weekends and head on down to the local indoor paintball field with our Tracer pump-action guns and play all day long, both days of the weekend. The sport has changed dramatically since those days, both in price and the caliber (no pun intended) of the playing equipment. Heck, they even have their own “lingo” these days.
But the markers (guns), oh my god. These things are crazy. RAP4.com has the most unbelievable evolution of paintball guns I have ever seen. I’ve seen some of these crazy “home grown” guns, but the military style paintball markers on this site are as close to the real thing as you can get. They’ve got everything you could want for the look and feel of real weapons systems. I can’t name them all, but they’ve got AK-47’s, MP-5s, M-4s, a huge selection of replica handguns. All are available in .68 caliber, and alot of them are available in the smaller .43 caliber.
Paintball is growing by leaps and bounds. It is a great form of exercise that can be loads of fun and involves endurance, tactical strategy, shooting accuracy, and many other skills but can be played by contestants of all skill levels. It can become an expensive hobby but it does not cost much money to get started if you know what you need and where to get it.
First, I do recommend borrowing a gun or renting one before you invest any money. When you do get ready to purchase all you will need is the gun, or marker as it can be called, a mask, and the paintballs. The gun should also have the hopper to hold the paintballs and a CO2 tank or other kind of pressurized air to propel them. You should also get a barrel cleaner and some lubricant to maintain the weapon. Most guns are very easy to take apart and clean. They can usually be taken apart with an allen key and then should be cleaned and oiled. The mask you get depends on you but only needs to cover the whole face. There are some masks that are made for paintball but any thing you have that does the job will suffice to get started. Just make sure you don’t forget the paintballs.