It is no longer news that paintball is a fun, exciting, and interesting game among different people. If not paintball, which other game would allow you to shoot your best friend in the butt without committing a crime? If you still doubt this game, now is the time for you to develop confidence and hit a paintball field.
But before you start playing paintball, there is a long list of paintball equipment you need to be familiar with. Thankfully, in this paintball equipment guide, we have done the hard work job. Your job is to skim through this article to know the major paintball equipment required to safely play the game. You will also learn paintball equipment cost to enable you to set your budget.
Are you wondering about the paintball equipment to enable you to get started? Then let’s dive in!
What Paintball Equipment Do I Need for?
Before we expatiate each of these equipments, let’s give you an overview of what to expect:
- Paintball mask
- Paintball marker or gun
- Hooper
- Safety gear
- Paintball Headband
- Paintball
- Screwdriver
- Snack and water ( this is to make the game interesting)
- Extra O-rings
In no particular order, let’s explain each of this equipment.
Paintball Gun or Marker
The first and major equipment required to play paintball is a paintball marker or gun. Without a paintball gun, the game itself won’t be fun and interesting. Would you rather throw beanbags at your friends? So you see how important a paintball gun is to the game. If you are a paintball enthusiast that wants to play the game for the fun of it, you may consider renting a paintball gun when you get to the paintball field. But if you want to play the game as a career, we suggest you purchase your paintball marker or gun – this will not only help you save cost, you will also master your model or type of gun.
When you hit the market to make a buying decision, there are many models to choose from. What you should look out for is the model that is handy, sturdy, and fit your hand. As for the cost, you can get a quality paintball gun for as low as $40. If you consider renting one, then expect to shell out between $10 to $20 at a paintball store.
Paintball Mask
The next important paintball equipment you need to add to your paintball to-do list is a paintball mask. We understand the excitement that comes with handling a paintball marker, but before you blow your budget on a paintball gun, expect to shell out around $25 to $30 to purchase a paintball mask.
A paintball mask will protect your face from paintball. We know you must have heard different stories of how paintball can mess a player’s face. You don’t want that to happen to you. When next you hit the market, get a paintball mask before you hit the playing field.
Additional Safety Gear
If you plan on rolling or ducking as you play paintball, extra paintball gears such as elbow pads and kneepads will help to protect you from bruises and injuries. You can also get paintball-specific pants and vests to protect yourself from paintball sting further.
To protect your hand, we suggest you buy quality paintball gloves. On the Amazon marketplace, quality paintball gloves go for around $19 to $24. With $14 to $20, you also get quality paintball kneepads and elbow pads.
Headbands
Paintball headbands or headwraps are also important, especially when you are playing on a hot sunny day. Sweating is annoying, and it might distract you from the gameplay. Headbands will help to deal with this. Besides, if you got long hair, you can tie it with a headwrap. It will absorb the sweat and make your scalp dry. So, choosing the best paintball headband is crucial and you can get it within a small budget.
Hopper
A hopper stores your ammo, just like magazine stores the ammo of a real gun. A paintball hopper comes into two types – electronic and gravity-fed hopper. The former uses electronic circuitry to power a motor that feeds paintballs to the gun or marker for firing.
On the other hand, the latter has no moving parts; thus, it is a less expensive option and takes time for paintballs to get into the gun for firing. At times, you may have to shake the hopper to dislodge balls into the gun.
From our experience, an electronic-fed hopper is more reliable and flexible, as it can enable you to fire more than 15 paintballs in a second. With a minimum of $99, you can get a quality paintball hopper from paintball stores.
Paintballs
The next paintball equipment is the paintballs. At its very core, paintballs are compressed paint into a ball-like shape. Paintballs come in varying calibers and sizes, just like bullets. Before you purchase any paintballs, look out for those whose calibers will match your paintball marker or gun.
Besides, select different colors from your opponents so that you can easily identify who hit who.
Air Tank
Paintball tank is important equipment as it provides the needed propulsion to shoot paintballs. On the market, there are two types of paintball tanks – compressed air and CO2. Most paintball guns on the market are compatible with CO2. The reason for this is not far-fetched, CO2 is more cost-efficient; plus, it is easy to refill compared to compressed air tanks. However, the drawback of using CO2 is that you will start to experience pressure fluctuations once the liquid changes state to a gas.
On the other hand, compressed air tanks are not affected by elevation or weather, and they offer reliable performance than their CO2 counterparts. However, the major issue with using compressed air tanks is that you will require a specialist to refill the tank. Plus, they cost a lot more than CO2 tanks.
Screw Driver And Extra O-rings
Lastly, it would help if you had a small screwdriver to help you assemble or disassemble your paintball marker or gun when the need arises. It would be best if you also had extra O-rings should, in case your O-rings wears out. O-rings help to prevent air leakage in your marker.
Wrapping It Up….
It is one thing to play paintball and another thing to know paintball equipment cost. Knowing the cost will enable you to set your budget. Ensure you purchase this important equipment to enable you to catch the fun.
Lest we forget, go to the paintball field with water and snacks to keep you hydrated!
