The Smart Paintballer Starts With the Equipment First, Then Comes the Fun!
Vaughn Balchunas asked:
Don’t like being called a newbie? Tip number one: don’t act like a newbie. New paintball players sometimes don’t realize that the game is only fun if you’re well prepared. But get the right outfit, the right gun, and have a basic idea of what you’re doing, and you’ll be fine.
First and foremost, goggles. Wear them. Get the ones specifically made for paintball. Get high-grade ones. Make sure they fit. Because if you get shot in the face and get paint in your eyes because you neglected to wear goggles, you never know how badly your vision could be compromised—and if the resulting injury is bad, you might not be able to play paintball again. After you get the goggles, know how to take care of them. This is true of all of your equipment. Take care of your stuff, and your stuff will take care of you.
Remember to tailor your clothes to the place you’ll be playing. Don’t show up to a dark wooded area in a bright yellow jumpsuit or else you’ll be covered in more paint splatters than a Pollack painting. Get a good pair of shoes that are worn in. No one wants to go home with blisters. Get something to cover your face. A mask, perhaps, or go bandito style with a bandana. Paint can be sticky, and it’s easier to clean if it’s not all over your skin.
Then there’s the weapon-of-choice. Paintball guns, also called “markers,” and they are almost as many different kinds of guns as there are people who play the game to begin with. They generally look pretty similar in shape. If you’re a new player, try a gun that doesn’t require a lot of steps before being able to shoot. Get started with a simple and cheap gun while you learn how to use it, how to load it, and most importantly, how to take care of it. Plenty of new players start off using expensive, tournament-ready guns, but until you can use your gun properly and know how to clean it better than you can wash your own face, stick with something a little cheaper. That way, if you don’t take care of it, you’re not out as much money when you have to replace it.
Talk to people who have been playing for a long time, see what they suggest for someone who has never played paintball before. Or check it out online. There are plenty forums and websites geared towards putting paintball players together. Ask questions because only a newbie is cocky enough to ignore the potential for advice from people who definitely know better. Don’t be a newbie.
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Don’t like being called a newbie? Tip number one: don’t act like a newbie. New paintball players sometimes don’t realize that the game is only fun if you’re well prepared. But get the right outfit, the right gun, and have a basic idea of what you’re doing, and you’ll be fine.
First and foremost, goggles. Wear them. Get the ones specifically made for paintball. Get high-grade ones. Make sure they fit. Because if you get shot in the face and get paint in your eyes because you neglected to wear goggles, you never know how badly your vision could be compromised—and if the resulting injury is bad, you might not be able to play paintball again. After you get the goggles, know how to take care of them. This is true of all of your equipment. Take care of your stuff, and your stuff will take care of you.
Remember to tailor your clothes to the place you’ll be playing. Don’t show up to a dark wooded area in a bright yellow jumpsuit or else you’ll be covered in more paint splatters than a Pollack painting. Get a good pair of shoes that are worn in. No one wants to go home with blisters. Get something to cover your face. A mask, perhaps, or go bandito style with a bandana. Paint can be sticky, and it’s easier to clean if it’s not all over your skin.
Then there’s the weapon-of-choice. Paintball guns, also called “markers,” and they are almost as many different kinds of guns as there are people who play the game to begin with. They generally look pretty similar in shape. If you’re a new player, try a gun that doesn’t require a lot of steps before being able to shoot. Get started with a simple and cheap gun while you learn how to use it, how to load it, and most importantly, how to take care of it. Plenty of new players start off using expensive, tournament-ready guns, but until you can use your gun properly and know how to clean it better than you can wash your own face, stick with something a little cheaper. That way, if you don’t take care of it, you’re not out as much money when you have to replace it.
Talk to people who have been playing for a long time, see what they suggest for someone who has never played paintball before. Or check it out online. There are plenty forums and websites geared towards putting paintball players together. Ask questions because only a newbie is cocky enough to ignore the potential for advice from people who definitely know better. Don’t be a newbie.
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Paintball Variety
Mike Lang asked:
Paintballs can be found at many prices all the way from the more expensive, tournament grade paintballs, to the cheaper ones suitable for recreational paintball games and practice.
The more you pay for the paintball, the better it will be. Expensive paintballs will be more accurate and don’t break as easily as the cheaper brands do. The expensive ones have uniform size and shape. They travel farther and don’t curve and the paint shows up better. More expensive paint balls don’t sting as much when they hit you. Cheaper balls are often misshapen and not entirely round. They may have dimples that cause them to drift to the right or left making accuracy an issue. They will sometimes break in the barrel instead of resisting the pressure and breaking on your opponent.
Some of the manufacturers that make tournament grade paintballs are Diablo, Evil, Nelson, and Core. The content of these balls are different than those used for recreational paintball. The shell is made from a very thin shelled gelatin that won’t break inside the barrel of the gun. The paint inside the paintball in these brands is newer and brighter so it can be seen easily even with goggles or a mask on.
There are cheaper paintballs that can be bought but the materials used to make them are not as good as the more expensive ones. The paint is often older and doesn’t show up as well or may *****. The paint is often harder to clean. If you are using paintballs for practice or for recreational games don’t hesitate to purchase the cheaper ones but if you are serious about your game, go for the better balls.
Some manufacturers make specialty paintballs. There ones that glow in the dark for use in night games. These are pretty expensive but worth it if you are going to play in the dark. You can also get winterized and non winterized paintballs. You are starting to find unusual colors in paintballs such as pink. Some paintballs combine 2 different colors.
Core Action Paintballs are a little more expensive than most but boast that the shell breaks on the target instead of inside the barrel. They are sold in a 2000 round box with 4 bags of 500 paintballs each. You can get them for about $45 to $55 per box. Evil Paint balls are a little more expensive at $65. Most tournament grade paint balls will cost you anywhere from $50 to $100 per 2000 round box. Some sell in lots of 500 per box as well.
Monster sells boxes of practice paintballs and you can get a box of 500 for about $15 to $20. Watch eBay for cheaper paint balls as well. There is usually a deal on them there. You will some times see a box of 2000 for $30 or $40.
No one ever said paint ball was cheap. Supplies cost a bit of money but if you are a real enthusiast you can find what you need at a price you can usually afford.
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Paintballs can be found at many prices all the way from the more expensive, tournament grade paintballs, to the cheaper ones suitable for recreational paintball games and practice.
The more you pay for the paintball, the better it will be. Expensive paintballs will be more accurate and don’t break as easily as the cheaper brands do. The expensive ones have uniform size and shape. They travel farther and don’t curve and the paint shows up better. More expensive paint balls don’t sting as much when they hit you. Cheaper balls are often misshapen and not entirely round. They may have dimples that cause them to drift to the right or left making accuracy an issue. They will sometimes break in the barrel instead of resisting the pressure and breaking on your opponent.
Some of the manufacturers that make tournament grade paintballs are Diablo, Evil, Nelson, and Core. The content of these balls are different than those used for recreational paintball. The shell is made from a very thin shelled gelatin that won’t break inside the barrel of the gun. The paint inside the paintball in these brands is newer and brighter so it can be seen easily even with goggles or a mask on.
There are cheaper paintballs that can be bought but the materials used to make them are not as good as the more expensive ones. The paint is often older and doesn’t show up as well or may *****. The paint is often harder to clean. If you are using paintballs for practice or for recreational games don’t hesitate to purchase the cheaper ones but if you are serious about your game, go for the better balls.
Some manufacturers make specialty paintballs. There ones that glow in the dark for use in night games. These are pretty expensive but worth it if you are going to play in the dark. You can also get winterized and non winterized paintballs. You are starting to find unusual colors in paintballs such as pink. Some paintballs combine 2 different colors.
Core Action Paintballs are a little more expensive than most but boast that the shell breaks on the target instead of inside the barrel. They are sold in a 2000 round box with 4 bags of 500 paintballs each. You can get them for about $45 to $55 per box. Evil Paint balls are a little more expensive at $65. Most tournament grade paint balls will cost you anywhere from $50 to $100 per 2000 round box. Some sell in lots of 500 per box as well.
Monster sells boxes of practice paintballs and you can get a box of 500 for about $15 to $20. Watch eBay for cheaper paint balls as well. There is usually a deal on them there. You will some times see a box of 2000 for $30 or $40.
No one ever said paint ball was cheap. Supplies cost a bit of money but if you are a real enthusiast you can find what you need at a price you can usually afford.
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How to Make Paintballs
davemathews asked:
There are quite a few different opinions that are out there when it comes to how to make paintballs yourself at home. You might also get a few questioning glances about why you even want to bother taking all of that time to make your own paintballs. You need to remember to make your paintballs small enough to fit into the barrel of any of the paintball guns out there. Make no mistake about it you are going to be much better served by making reusable paintballs out of modeling clay (because it is durable) that you can use over and over again (for a while at least).
Some would say that making your own reusable paintballs is more economical; while others say that the single use paintballs that are commercially available are the best. If you are making your own paintballs according to the popular how to make paintballs guides and articles many will advise you that Crayola’s Model Magic Modeling Clay is the best thing to use to make a reusable paintball that is durable and workable; while other guides will advise you to create a shell out of silicone tubing or another easy to work material (like the gelatin based material that commercial paintballs are made from) that you would fill with paint that is both water-soluble and friendly and messy colorful enough to really make their presence known, seen and felt when you get hit by them. Firing any of these types of paintballs out of the popular paintball guns is easy to do.
The paintball that you make yourself is not going to be as perfect as those that you can buy that are commercially made; yet that is the beauty of it as well. If you already have some type of mold made to shape the shells of your paintballs you are halfway there. You need to remember to make the paintballs the right size to fit into the barrel of the paintball gun that you are likely to be using. You also need to remember that there are different sizes and calibers of paintball guns just like there are in regular guns that shoot bullets. It has been said (and easily proven by doing a search) that there are so many different how to make paintballs articles that you could refer to so that you have a better idea about how to go about making your own paintballs.
Making your own paintball mold is pretty easy (or so some of the available how to make paintballs articles and guides state) and does not take that much time or cost that much. Those of you that have paintball guns and want to get involved with all of the excitement of the various paintball tournaments and get into some pretty wicked paintball fights with your friends need to remember that paintball come in as many sizes as the guns themselves do; and are measured in calibers (just as bullets are). Too large a paintball will not fit in your gun; and too small will not go anywhere.
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There are quite a few different opinions that are out there when it comes to how to make paintballs yourself at home. You might also get a few questioning glances about why you even want to bother taking all of that time to make your own paintballs. You need to remember to make your paintballs small enough to fit into the barrel of any of the paintball guns out there. Make no mistake about it you are going to be much better served by making reusable paintballs out of modeling clay (because it is durable) that you can use over and over again (for a while at least).
Some would say that making your own reusable paintballs is more economical; while others say that the single use paintballs that are commercially available are the best. If you are making your own paintballs according to the popular how to make paintballs guides and articles many will advise you that Crayola’s Model Magic Modeling Clay is the best thing to use to make a reusable paintball that is durable and workable; while other guides will advise you to create a shell out of silicone tubing or another easy to work material (like the gelatin based material that commercial paintballs are made from) that you would fill with paint that is both water-soluble and friendly and messy colorful enough to really make their presence known, seen and felt when you get hit by them. Firing any of these types of paintballs out of the popular paintball guns is easy to do.
The paintball that you make yourself is not going to be as perfect as those that you can buy that are commercially made; yet that is the beauty of it as well. If you already have some type of mold made to shape the shells of your paintballs you are halfway there. You need to remember to make the paintballs the right size to fit into the barrel of the paintball gun that you are likely to be using. You also need to remember that there are different sizes and calibers of paintball guns just like there are in regular guns that shoot bullets. It has been said (and easily proven by doing a search) that there are so many different how to make paintballs articles that you could refer to so that you have a better idea about how to go about making your own paintballs.
Making your own paintball mold is pretty easy (or so some of the available how to make paintballs articles and guides state) and does not take that much time or cost that much. Those of you that have paintball guns and want to get involved with all of the excitement of the various paintball tournaments and get into some pretty wicked paintball fights with your friends need to remember that paintball come in as many sizes as the guns themselves do; and are measured in calibers (just as bullets are). Too large a paintball will not fit in your gun; and too small will not go anywhere.
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