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Paintball Equipment:
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Dictionary What is paintball? Things you need to play General advice Game types |
OK.... so you have been playing paintball for a while now, and you are tired of renting your paintball equipment ... the time has come to buy your own! How do you make sure you don't waste your money? First thing to remember - paintball is not the cheapest sport around :-) This means you have to buy smart, or you will land up needing to sell your house (only joking!) The solution is to think about your purchases - there is a difference between what you want and what you need! Unless you are competing in serious tournaments, there is no need to spend a fortune kitting yourself out with the "latest and greatest". Instead, focus on getting paintball equipment which suites both your budget and your requirements.
What? Why am I starting with this... and not the paintball marker? Basically, your goggles are the most important piece of paintball equipment you will EVER buy. Apart from the safety thing (how much are your eyes worth to you?), the best marker on the planet will not help you if you can't see anything because your goggles have fogged up! So don't skimp on your goggles... get the best pair that you can afford. I highly recommend that you get a new set of goggles with thermal lenses. The extra $20 or $30 will be worth every cent! You should make sure that the goggles provide you with good peripheral vision, good protection of your face, ears and temples and that they are comfortable.  |
OK... the bit you've been waiting for! What marker should you buy? My advice: get something simple, a marker that is tough, performs realiably under any conditions and doesn't require hours of maintenance after every game. Suprisingly enough, this means you should buy something cheap! A marker which is under $200 will be more than adequate for most players. The more expensive ones might have some extra bells and whistles, but this just means the gun needs more mechanical tweaking before it works properly! A lot of the "entry level" markers can also be upgraded as you go along to improve various aspects of the gun's performance. This is generally a much better route to follow than immediately going out and buying a $600 marker. And besides, if you are only playing once or twice a month, why spend so much money??? Remember too, that the more expensive markers generally fire a lot faster... which means you have to buy more paintballs! I am not saying that the expensive markers are not worth it! I just think that you only NEED an expensive marker when you play paintball very regularly, and very seriously.  When it comes to entry level paintball markers, your options are quite wide. Guns to think about: Tippman Model 98, Brass Eagle Raptor, ACI Illustrator. There are many other cheap markers out there - buy someting which suites your budget.
There are a few accessories which you need to get for your paintball marker. Some of these will come with your marker, others won't. Things you will need to get include:
An alternative: there are some very good "complete packages" available from the Internet's Paintball Discount Store, which have everything you need to get started. They have a package for some of the best brand names around... and they vary in price from entry level to top of the range. Well worth a look! |
There is some paintball equipment available which will increase your safety, or at least help prevent unneccesary pain! Although none of this equipment is absolutely neccessary, you might want to consider buying some of these..... Kneepads are very handy to have if you are the type of player who dives around a lot. They will also protect you from direct hits on your kneecap from a paintball, but it's usually objects on the ground which hurt your knees more.  Gloves can also be very useful. Taking a hit on a knuckle can be an unpleasant experience! Gloves made for paintball generally leave the fingers "open" so that you still have freedom of movement, while protecting the rest of your hand.  Throat Protectors are great! Not really necessary for long range encounters, but man, do they help when you are getting hit close up!   |
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