# So I'm going to be playing paintball. What should I know? What are your experiences? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 19, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386 "2011-05-19T00:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/21 "2011-05-24T17:40:12Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > Contrary to some suggestions in this thread, people actually _don’t_ “tweak their velocity”. Commercial fields chronograph all markers to the same speed, usually something around 270-280FPS for outdoor play. I beg to differ. > [@Omniscient](#): > > Not entirely true. Courses test for a MAXIMUM velocity. Pros and high-end players will tweak their speed right up to that threshold. Amateurs with cheap equipment can often be firing well below that threshold, as much as 50 fps. Rental guns are sometimes tested once a day, once a week or worse and often they might be set to a consistent speed that’s well below the allowed max to avoid the need to readjust frequently. It’s common for one rented Tippman in a group to shoot much slower and less accurate than another in the same group. Good ranges will limit this, but you simply can’t know for sure. People with their own equipment are going to almost always be more consistent and right up at that speed threshold. > > Again, a blatantly hot gun can be obvious. But, there’s a significant difference between a high-end gun with a clean, well maintained barrel that’s perfectly fit to the markers diameter. That high-end custom rig that’s shooting at exactly 280 fps is a much different animal than the rental that shoots at 255 fps with a barrel that’s a fraction of an inch too big allowing a lot of air leakage and a gun whose barrel velocity dips as the tank drains. > > Long story short, good players with pricey equipment do “tweak”. Those tweaks are important and will go a long ways to tipping he balance of power in a game. This precisely matches my experience and observations. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/22 "2011-05-24T18:14:24Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > It makes a BIG difference whether you’re using rented guns or somebody’s personal weapon…generally rented guns are lower-velocity and personal guns are tweaked to the highest velocity the field or organization permits. Another big difference-maker is whether you’ll be using full-auto or semi-auto (one shot at a time, but repeating) fire. This is very true in my experience. I dress much lighter than most people, because I’ve got a pretty high pain tolerance, and while those balls sting pretty hard, it was never that bad. Yeah, it left a welt, but it fades after a few hours. Then I went with a guy who’s really into it, has his own guns, and got hit at ~20 yards on the bare skin (wrist between sleeve and glove). That was an entirely different experience. Having said that, my advice for the OP is that most first time players are pretty inaccurate, and tend to play very conservatively. I’ve managed to pull some coups just by being ballsy – get some covering fire, and then just run and grab the damn flag. Who dares wins. And even if you don’t it’s more fun than spending half an hour hunched behind a stump, shooting at another guy hunched behind a stump. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/23 "2011-05-24T18:58:45Z")
I played for the first time this Saturday and, to be honest, I’d hesitate to do it again (at least at this location). There was no organization, and because our group of 21 people wasn’t large enough to warrant our “own” games (minimum was 35) they set us against another group of about 25 people to play, us vs them. Thing is, we were all total noobies, and they were all experienced people with their own equipment. At first it wasn’t so bad, but after 2-3 games of them killing us all rather quickly, they started to become impatient and downright mean. One of my teammates was out, she had her cork in the gun, hands up, called out “touché!” (“hit!”), was walking off the site, and an asshole sniped her under the chin from below - and yes, his position was such that he could tell she was already out of the game. From about 15 feet away, onto her unprotected neck. The same asshole - or one with the same hat at least - shot one other guy three times in the back of the head from close range, again, once the guy was already out and as he was trying to climb down a ladder in order to leave the site. The guy basically fell the last 2-3 rungs of the ladder. Another took the time to shoot a 14-year old girl repeatedly in the ribs from close range, as she tried to put the stopper into her gun and leave, in tears (and yes, you could tell this was a child, not an adult by her size). I paired up with her for our last game, and we did alright for a while, but again, once we were out, they kept shooting at us… had I not been out of paintballs at that point, I was tempted to march right up to the asshole and shoot him pointblank. I know I hit him at least once, and he never stopped - they all kept playing even once “killed”. Appeals to the refs did nothing - they were a bunch of teenagers working a summer job and had no authority. It turned what could have been a pleasant day into a miserable experience. We asked to be split from that group, and they wouldn’t do it. They should have mixed both groups together to balance out skill and experience levels, but the other group wouldn’t hear of it. Just awful. I also apparently leave my left side vulnerable - every hit I had was on that side (I’m a righty…I assume this is a common phenomenon?) I bruise at nothing; my shoulder is black, and I basically have a bruise from my left hip to my knee from all the hits I took in the leg! One in the kidney, and one in the left hand. That really didn’t bother me, though; it’s not so painful that I wouldn’t play again because of that, though I like to wear short sleeves and dresses in the summer and I’d be too embarrassed to always be so bruised if I played regularly! Basically, I’d only do it again if I knew it was only amongst friends, skill levels were mixed, and some sense of organization was instilled. Though I’ll give the site credit - it was beautiful, with lots of cool “scenarios” and structures to play on. I just hate playing against loser asshole 35 year old army-wannabe men who feel the need to beat up on 14 year old girls to prove their manliness! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Miltonyz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Miltonyz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miltonyz)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/24 "2011-05-24T20:43:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Sorry, but no. I was right in my original post, at least up through the time I stopped playing, which would have been late 90s. The barrels that came with most guns were smoothbore. I personally ordered and installed rifled barrels for two different paintball guns I own…a Tippman Pro Light, and an Automag. Both guns showed marked improvement after installing the new barrels. The Automag had a considerable range and accuracy advantage over any rental gun, and low-to-mid-range privately owned guns. Sorry but that is wrong. Rifling makes 0 difference in paintball guns. I believe that we are not able to link to other forums, but here is a quote from Tom Kaye creator of the Automag. > [@](#): > > In order to test this properly we actually developed a gun that spun the barrel, with the ball in it, up to 30,000 RPM’s and then shot the ball out. In this way we knew the ball and the fill were completely up to speed when it left the barrel. We had visions of a spinning barrel paintgun that would make that high speed turbo wine! Unfortunately this didn’t improve the accuracy because the ball is still too light. > > As a final test we developed a barrel that had three razor edged knife blades running down the length of the bore. Using our plastic paintballs they wedged in the blades perfectly and we spun up the barrel and fired more test rounds. Because the knives would cut the ball we could examine them after the fact to see if they were rotating in the barrel etc. Again unfortunately we saw no improvement in accuracy and gave up. > Based on this data we believe round paintballs are too light and have lousy aerodynamics to expect any more accuracy than what we are currently getting. When the military came to us and wanted a more accurate non lethal system we made a bullet shaped, spin stabilized paintball that far outperformed any equal weight round projectile. Accuracy by volume has been, and will remain, the best way to score eliminations. > > Just the facts from, > > AGD ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/25 "2011-05-24T21:16:18Z")
> [@Miltonyz](#): > > Sorry but that is wrong. Rifling makes 0 difference in paintball guns. I believe that we are not able to link to other forums, but here is a quote from Tom Kaye creator of the Automag. I saw a marked improvement with my own eyes. Gun w/original barrel = shorter range, less accurate Gun with after market barrel = longer range, more accurate. Accuracy with a paintball gun is a relative term, but there was a significant difference in performance between “tricked out” guns and stock or rental guns. Maybe things have changed since the late 90s. I dunno. But I do know what I saw and experienced. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/26 "2011-05-25T12:31:35Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > It’ll be chaos. No one on these types of casual impromptu outings will have anything resembling coordination. It’s like asking people who have never even watched a basketball game to run an effective pick and roll. So quit the strategy and settle more for effective communication (i.e. cover me, you take the high ground, look out on your right), though honestly that might even be too much to ask. People tend to get pumped up and either run around willy-nilly or spend way too much time seeking cover with their head down, unaware of their surroundings. I agree that if no one knows what they are doing, then it’s chaos, but I think the OP may take advantage of his training to good effect. Me and a group of newbie girls got teamed up with three serving RAF men for one game and they had us drilled in 5 minutes. We totally overwhelmed the other team with coordinated tactics/covering each other as we stormed the encampment etc, it was FAB! ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/27 "2011-05-25T13:08:44Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I agree that if no one knows what they are doing, then it’s chaos, but I think the OP may take advantage of his training to good effect. Me and a group of newbie girls got teamed up with three serving RAF men for one game and they had us drilled in 5 minutes. We totally overwhelmed the other team with coordinated tactics/covering each other as we stormed the encampment etc, it was FAB! What did they show you how to do? I was thinking of training others in leap frogging (A stops and keeps a lookout while B advances then B stops and keeps a lookout while A advances), fix & flank (A shoots to keep the foe pinned while B flanks the foe) and the Autralian peelback (A and B shoot at the enemy to keep their heads down while C pulls back some distance away, then A and C shoot while B pulls back, then B and C shoot while A pulls back). ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/28 "2011-05-25T17:05:08Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I have eyeglasses. Do paintball helmets usually allow one to also wear eyeglasses? > > Where do you get anti-fog stuff? Any easy to get products that can be substituted? > In the military, we used spit to prevent gask masks fogging up so some people must do that. Are the masks usually washed? > > From what distance does trajectory curve have to be taken into account? Eyeglasses will probably fog. It’s a real bitch to deal with. Spit is an acceptable way to deal with it, but it’s temporary. Some masks will have anti-fog coatings that kind of work; your rental mask almost certainly will not, or will not anymore. You can’t remove your mask during a game to deal with it, but it can help to pull it a fraction of an inch away from your face, let the hot, humid air vent, and let it return. The exact legality of this will depend on your field, but it is pretty safe if you’ve already taken cover. Take a couple test shots before you play the game. It’ll get you a sense of how the gun works, how to aim, what kind of range you have, and so on. > [@mnemosyne](#): > > I played for the first time this Saturday and, to be honest, I’d hesitate to do it again (at least at this location)… > > Though I’ll give the site credit - it was beautiful, with lots of cool “scenarios” and structures to play on. I just hate playing against loser asshole 35 year old army-wannabe men who feel the need to beat up on 14 year old girls to prove their manliness! :rolleyes: Yeah. I originally started playing paintball because I thought there would be fewer assholes there than in airsoft because of the actual markings. Damn, but there are some jerkoffs in these games. I rarely had fun on commercial fields but I enjoyed playing little two-on-two and three-on-three games in the woods. If you get the chance, play with _actual_ military guys. They may whip you pretty well, but in my experience they’re pretty friendly about telling you what you did wrong and certainly will not pepper you after you’re already hit. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/29 "2011-05-25T17:47:30Z")
I’ve heard people talk about catapults to represent “paint artillery” and water-balloon like paintball “hand-grenades,” although I’ve never personally seen any such devices. My fantasy, which I have sadly never actually put into practice, is to duct-tape a standard 2-inch paintbrush to my gun barrel, dip it into paint just before we start, and thus wield a _paintball bayonet_. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/30 "2011-05-25T18:10:45Z")
I’ve seen paint grenades used. They weren’t particularly useful, and were pretty expensive. Seems like there were two types…one with a bladder that would bounce and, in theory, spread paint around an area, and another that would sorta explode. I was too cheap to buy any for myself. Think they were going about $4 each. Also saw a few guys using smoke. This was useful to a certain extent, but again, was expensive… ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/31 "2011-05-25T19:14:18Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Gun w/original barrel = shorter range, less accurate > > Gun with after market barrel = longer range, more accurate. This certainly could be true but it’s not due to any rifling. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/32 "2011-05-25T19:30:47Z")
16 years playing around 40 games, 2 years reffing hundreds. > [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > How do I prepare myself? -Don’t drink the night before, or during the game. -Jeans are ok, but cargo pants are better. -Camo is unnecessary, but black sucks…it gets hot out there. -Bunkers are death traps if you’re outnumbered and they can flank you at will. -If you’re allowed to bring your own paint, do so, you can get it at Fleet Farm or even WalMart. A case of 1000 should be enough for the day if you love to shoot…and you probably will. -Don’t worry about the pain of getting shot, it feels like getting snapped with a rubber band, the chances are good if you have injuries they’ll come from jacking your knee on stumps or tripping. _ **MOST IMPORTANT** _ -When you’re out there don’t be afraid to yell for help or coordinate attacks. Flanking is key and the chances are good they already know were you are so you won’t be giving away your position. The dead can’t talk but you can, let everyone know who died so your teammates can patch up weak spots in your line. In short, communicate. Rookies never do this and it’s by far the fastest way to become more successful. > [@Sailboat](#): > > I’ve heard people talk about catapults to represent “paint artillery” and water-balloon like paintball “hand-grenades,” although I’ve never personally seen any such devices. Utter waste of money. ---
**Author:** ![MobiusStripes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@MobiusStripes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MobiusStripes)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/33 "2011-05-25T19:48:39Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > What did they show you how to do? > > I was thinking of training others in leap frogging (A stops and keeps a lookout while B advances then B stops and keeps a lookout while A advances), fix & flank (A shoots to keep the foe pinned while B flanks the foe) and the Autralian peelback (A and B shoot at the enemy to keep their heads down while C pulls back some distance away, then A and C shoot while B pulls back, then B and C shoot while A pulls back). In my experience those will all be very useful. In general I’ve found that the concept of covering fire works very well. Leap frogging is always good for advancing or retreating (esp when the non-movers are laying down covering fire). Open and loud communication is key to all of those. It’s hard to see hand signals (mask) and hard to hear (mask) so just belt it out. Yes, the other team will hear. They’re still unlikely to pop their heads up when paintballs are flying near them. Oh, and something I forgot earlier, moving perpendicular to the attackers is usually good too. Paintballs move fast but they aren’t bullets. (I’ve seen paintballs dodged at long ranges. Close up.. not so much.) Most people don’t lead their shots that well and you can often stay in front of the usually “spray and pray” stream. Running right at an attacker is bound to get you shot. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386/34 "2011-05-25T23:06:11Z")
I wear glasses. On both the occasions i’ve tried paintballing my glasses have fogged up almost immediately. This is despite putting the antifogging agent on them. The last occasion was for a stag do (bachelor party). After having had to be led of the field by a marshal for the second time that day (as i was effectively blind) i said “To hell with this” and sat out the rest of the action. I hope you have better luck [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-going-to-be-playing-paintball-what-should-i-know-what-are-your-experiences/582386.md?page=1)