Paintball Equipment

The paintball equipment used may depend on the game type, for example: woodsball, speedball, or scenario; on how much money one is willing to spend on equipment; and personal preference. However, almost every player will utilize three basic pieces of equipment:

• Paintball marker: also known as a "paintball gun", this is the primary piece of equipment, used to mark the opposing player with paintballs. The paintball gun must have a loader or "hopper" or magazines attached to feed paint into the marker, and will be either spring-fed, gravity-fed (where balls drop into the loading chamber), or electronically force-fed. Modern markers require a compressed-air tank or CO2 tank. In contrast, very early bolt-action paintball markers used disposable silver capsules (12-gram CO2 cartridges) normally seen in pellet guns. In the mid to late 1980s, marker mechanics improved to include constant air pressure and semi-automatic operation. Further improvements included increased rates of fire; carbon dioxide (CO2) tanks from 3.5 to 40 ounces, and compressed-air or nitrogen tanks in a variety of sizes and pressure capacities up to 5000 PSI. The use of unstable CO2 causes damage to the low-pressure pneumatic components inside electronic markers, therefore the more stable compressed air is preferred by owners of such markers.
• Paintballs (pellets): Paintballs, the ammunition used in the marker, are spherical gelatin capsules containing primarily polyethylene glycol, other non-toxic and water-soluble substances, and dye. The quality of paintballs is dependent on the brittleness of the ball's shell, the roundness of the sphere, and the thickness of the fill; higher-quality balls are almost perfectly spherical, with a very thin shell to guarantee breaking upon impact, and a thick, brightly colored fill that is difficult to hide or wipe off during the game. The highest-grade paintballs incorporate cornstarch and metallic flake into the fill to leave a thick glittery "splat" that is very obvious against any background color, and hard to wipe off. Almost all paintballs in use today are biodegradeable. All ingredients used in the making of a paintball are food-grade quality and are harmless to the participants and environment. Manufacturers and distributors have been making the effort to move away from the traditional oil-based paints and compressed CO2 gas propellant, to a more friendly water-based formula and compressed air in an effort to become more "eco-friendly". Paintballs come in a variety of sizes, including of 0.50" (.50 Caliber) an 0.68" (.68 Caliber).
• Mask or goggles: Masks are safety devices players are required to wear at all times on the field, to protect them from paintballs. The original equipment used by players were safety goggles of the type used in labs and wood shops; today's goggles are derived from skiing/snowboarding goggles, with an attached shell that completely covers the eyes, mouth, ears and nostrils of the wearer. Masks can also feature throat guards. Modern masks have developed to be less bulky compared with older designs. Some players may remove the mouth and/or ear protection for aesthetic or comfort reasons, but this is neither recommended nor often allowed at commercial venues.

Additional equipment, commonly seen among frequent players, tournament participants, and professional players include:

• Pods and pod packs: The most common addition to the above "mandatory" equipment, pods are plastic containers, usually with flip-open lids, that store paintballs in a ready-to-use manner. Pods are available in many sizes, including 10, 80, 100 and 140-round sizes, with the larger 140-round pods being most common among tournament players. Pods are carried by the player in pod packs or harnesses which facilitate easy access to the pods during play. There are several designs of pod packs, from belt loops allowing a recreational player to carry one or two extra pods, to harness designs generally designed for either tournament-style or scenario-style players.
• Squeegee/swab - From time to time, a paintball will break inside the player's marker. When this happens it coats the inner surfaces of the marker with paint, especially the barrel, which considerably reduces accuracy. While speedball and tournament players generally have no time to clear this obstruction and instead simply "shoot through it", woodsball and scenario players generally carry a tool to allow them to clear the barrel following a break. There are several types of squeegee, most of which are advantageous in two of three areas and disadvantageous in the last: cleaning time, effectiveness, and storage space.
• Paintball jerseys and pants: Originally derived from motocross and BMX attire, tournament players commonly wear special outer clothing with integrated padding that allows the player a free range of motion, and helps protect the player both from paintball hits and from incidental contact with rocks and hard ground. Certain designs of jersey and pant even advertise lower incidence of hits, due to increased "bounce-offs" and "breakaways". In indoor fields, where shooting generally happens at very close range, hard-shelled armor is sometimes worn to protect the player from bruising and welts from close-range hits.
• Elbow and knee pads: Common among outdoor sports, players can choose to help protect knee, elbow and even hip joints from jarring impact with the use of pads. For paintball, these pads are generally soft foam worn inside a player's pants to prevent abrasion of the pad against the ground.
• Gloves: Paintball impacts to the hands, knuckles and fingers can be extremely painful and temporarily debilitating. In addition, this being an outdoor sport, players are often prone or crawling which can cause scrapes to the hands. Padded or armored gloves help reduce the potential for injury to the hands from these things.
• Athletic supporter: Also called a jockstrap with cup pocket and protective cup. Also common in other sports involving potential impact of fast-moving objects, players generally take care to protect sensitive or vulnerable anatomical areas from painful hits and injury; men commonly wear an athletic supporter with a rigid cup similar to types used in football, lacrosse, hockey or baseball, while women often wear a pelvic protector and a padded or hard-shelled sports bra also commonly seen in the aforementioned sports.
• Other paint marking equipment: Normally seen in scenario play only, and disallowed at most tournaments, other forms of paint-marking equipment are sold, such as paint-grenades (paint-filled balloons or lengths of surgical hose), "rocket launchers" (shooting nerf rounds to take out tanks), "paint throwers" (designed to model the effect of flamethrowers, basically a large water cannon filled with paint), and markers (used for close range, usually a bright color, simulating a knife.).
• Vehicles: Again normally only seen in scenario play, a variety of vehicles have been devised based on go-karts, pickup trucks, ATVs, small off-road vehicles, etc. to create "armored vehicles", within which players are protected from hits and can move around on the field. Such vehicles may employ a wide range of mounted paint-discharging weaponry.
• Hats/Toques/Bandanas: Commonly worn by all levels of players to protect the forehead from direct paintball hits, and stop sweat from running down in to the mask.

• Outline
  

  SPORTS WORLD

  Paintball

  Paintball is a game developed in the 1980s in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with dye-filled, breakable, oil and gelatin paintballs, or pellets, usually shot from a carbon dioxide or compressed air (Nitrogen) powered “paintball marker”. The game is regularly played at a sporting level with organized competition involving major tournaments, professional teams, and players.

  Equipment: The paintball equipment used may depend on the game type, for example: woodsball, speedball, or scenario; on how much money one is willing to spend on equipment; and personal preference.

  Gameplay: The most basic game rule is that players must attempt to accomplish a goal without being shot and marked with a paintball.

  Enforcement: Regulated games are overseen by referees or marshals, who patrol the course to ensure enforcement of the rules and the safety of the players.

  Strategy: Player and team strategy varies depending on the size and layout of the field and the total number and experience level of players.

  Playing Venues: Paintball is played at both commercial venues, which require paid admission, and private land; both of which may include multiple fields of varying size and layout.

  Positions: The idea of player positions in paintball refers to the general mindsets and roles of play assumed by players of the sport.

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Paintball" and "Player positions (paintball)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.