[JASonic]

Does anyone here paintball? My son wants to do it with his friends. It looked kind of expensive for the gear/gun and all. Its not dangerous is it?

[06RedfireGT]

is used to be into paintball. its not dangerous cause you wear a mask that protect your face. you should probably just start him out with a cheaper gun to see if he really wants to get into it, then he can upgrade. a good starter gun is a Tippmann 98 Custom, they run like $100 and are indestructible. the only thing is it stings pretty bad when you get hit and it can leave some pretty nasty welts. the only gear you need is a mask, and gun.

[Tony_90fox]

Dudes were lobbing them at me and kept hitting the top of meh head. lol, stings for a minute, then goes away...Just make sure he knows the rules...Some dudes are dickheads if you are new on the field...I have only played a few times, but i loved it.

Dangerous: no

[MustangMatt96GT]

I have a 98 Tippman, Mask, 3 CO2 tanks and handful of other things if you are interested!

[El_Cangri]

ohh dude get good protective stuff..... i got the spyder.. really nice gun not the best but really good runs like 120$+ (its also good for begginers IMO)

u need protective gear cause getting hit at high psi leaves marks for months (i talk by experience)

[06RedfireGT]

the protective stuff really isn't neccessary. most fields limit the velocity of the gun. the padded clothing does help some.

[El_Cangri]

here they dont..

[Reset]

paintball is safe, as long as you play at the right places. It's safer if you make sure your son is playing with either responsible adults (to keep the kids from doing stupid stuff) or at a park. Most paintball parks will check speeds on guns (generally 300 fps max). I've been at a park with a 300 limit, and the the only time i've seen skin broken by a paintball with some guy whose gun was shooting 340+fps.. He was removed from the park by the way.

I used to be into it, and i go occasionally now (only when i'm invited). I would let him go once and rent a gun (usually not too expensive but its better than buying him a gun he uses once). After that, if he really likes it, you should get him (or make him buy) his own gun, because renting all the time can be expensive (also he will have more fun with a better gun). I would start him off with a cheap one and if he is still doing it after a year or couple of years, then look into better guns.

[00vabchgt]

Originally Posted by 06RedfireGT is used to be into paintball. its not dangerous cause you wear a mask that protect your face. you should probably just start him out with a cheaper gun to see if he really wants to get into it, then he can upgrade. a good starter gun is a Tippmann 98 Custom, they run like $100 and are indestructible. the only thing is it stings pretty bad when you get hit and it can leave some pretty nasty welts. the only gear you need is a mask, and gun.

+1. i bought a tippmann 98 when they first came out in 1998. still got it and it's still a great gun.

[BWAL09]

how old is your son? call me a pussy, but paintball can be pretty painful depending on where you get shot.. and he will get huge bruises all over.. i suggest wearing like 8 shirts and 3 pairs of pants to minimize pain lol

[MustangMatt96GT]

oh bwal! lol it doesnt hurt that bad! lol only 2shirts and 2 pants with a sweatshirt!

[bwb3]

Im seriously into it. my best friend owns a field here in gainesville and i work, play, head reff, etc. im also on a D2 Xball team. but u probably dont know what that means so i'll stick to the basics. many parrents are conserned that it might be dangerous, this sport is not dangerous if you or your children play at a certified field. our field requires people to wear a mask, because the only way to get seriously hurt by a paintball gun is to be shot in the eyes or temple, the face mask prevents this, and fields require them, so the most you'll get from playing is geting welts from getting shot and it doesn't hurt to bad because fields also require the velocity of the guns to be a certain speed(under 300 feet per second, yes it sounds fast but it feel like geting hit with a rubberband). fields also require the guns to be pluged in the safe zone (usually the place wear you park, not on the field of play). most fields have multiple reffs onthe field to make sure things go safe(like making sure masks stay down, plugs go on,etc.), and to help players out. this is a family sport and is safe. Here is my friends fields website, it can help you with describing the rules and safty of the game. www.firststrikepaintball.com. if you have anyother questions i'd also be happy to ask. it can be expensive if you get into it seriously. but our starting retal package starts at $35 and that includes mask,gun, tank, tube that carry extra paintballs, and 500 paintballs. so its not to bad.

Questions welcome!
Ben

[beheivjer]

me and the wife play, She uses my older spyder 2 and i have a spyder acs i like both of them they are really good guns. I where a pair of my dads old military pants and a tshirt to play and the wife wears sweat pants and a sweat shirt. we mostly play speed ball so i had to get the electronic trigger and the electric hopper so i can just dump the paint out. Its alot of fun the league here has a fater son team 55/25 and they are doing very well so its a game for all ages and it really doesnt hurt as long as you are not 5 feet away. let him go maybe go with have fun.

[Reset]

Originally Posted by BWAL09 how old is your son? call me a pussy, but paintball can be pretty painful depending on where you get shot.. and he will get huge bruises all over.. i suggest wearing like 8 shirts and 3 pairs of pants to minimize pain lol

lol i usually wear like one shirt with a jacket-like camo thing and jeans.. never have had any bruises (even when i used to just wear 2 shirts). It really doesn't hurt its just like a sting but it is temporary and doesn't hurt that bad.

[neverfastenough1]

Get your kid the protective stuff. Start small like said before. I started my kids off with the little pump ones from Wal-Mart. The youngest one had enough after the first ball hit his hand and left it swollen and bruised. The oldest one used to go shoot at a neighbors house. I always told him he could only go if it was adult supervised. One day him and his friend (the neighbor) were standing in front of the kids house, and the kids "adult" dad comes out on the porch and yells for them. Well they weren't wearing any gear because they weren't using their guns. So when they turned around, he shoots at them with one of their cheap 29 dollar Wal-Mart guns. Hits my kid right in the eye. It was swollen for a week or so. We found out about a year later that he is legally blind and permanently blind in that eye. he never mentioned anything about it before. And that was the "adult" I thought was supervising them all this time. My oldest still shoots and I will be getting me a gun when I get back. It is fun, but depending on your sons age I would make sure he is going to like it after getting hit a couple times.

[06RedfireGT]

neverfastenough1 if that was my son that guy would have been blind in both eyes and paralyzed when i was done with him.

[bwb3]

keep it on the field, things like that give the sport a bad name. PAINTBALL + WEARING A MASK + PAINTBALL FIELD = FUN.

oh fields have a 10yr old age requirement. and all fields require a waver to be signed if the child is under 18.

[blazor]

my best friend pballs ever weekend. i dont think it has to be, but he spends a lot of money. $700-1500 for a gun here and there. couple hundred bucks on gear here and there. plus admission to fields and stuff. i dont think you have to spend that much on a gun though. its pretty safe as long as you wear a mask. you get welts and stuff, but it wont kill you. let him go, just make him pay for it haha

[06RedfireGT]

well playing in the woods is perfectly safe as long as you play like your on a field.

[bwb3]

Originally Posted by blazor my best friend pballs ever weekend. i dont think it has to be, but he spends a lot of money. $700-1500 for a gun here and there. couple hundred bucks on gear here and there. plus admission to fields and stuff. i dont think you have to spend that much on a gun though. its pretty safe as long as you wear a mask. you get welts and stuff, but it wont kill you. let him go, just make him pay for it haha

yes guns can cost that much but those are high price cmpetition level guns, mine cost around 1200. a good entry level gun starts around $80-150