Paintball has been around since the early 1980s, but in the last couple of years, its popularity has exploded around the world. Starting out with a few guys in shop goggles with tree-marking equipment, it has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. Several different types of paintball exist, including recreational paintball, stock class, and tournament paintball. Naturally, the lines dividing these three categories are quite blurry, and there is a great deal of overlap. One thing that they all have in common, however, is the paintball.

Games usually consist of either capture-the-flag or straight elimination. Teams start at opposite ends of a field, which is either woodlands or constructed in an arena with obstacles. In capture-the-flag, each team attempts to gain control of a flag. In two-flag games, each team must capture the other team's flag and return it to their own home base. In a single-flag (aka centre-flag, aka football) game, the centrally-located flag must be advanced to the opposing team's home base. Typically, if a player is hit and marked by a paintball, that player is eliminated until the next game begins. Straight-elimination games are won when an entire team is eliminated. Games generally take anywhere from five minutes to half an hour. Naturally, variations abound, and your local field might have all sorts of different kinds of games.

Typically, paintballs consist of a firm gelatin shell approximately 1cm in diameter, filled with a mixture of food colouring, water, and detergent. Mixtures vary, but most are based on this simple formula. This 'paint' is non-toxic, biodegradable, and (mostly) washable¹.

Equipment

Safety Equipment

As in all other sports, safety is extremely important to paintballers. The single most important piece of safety equipment is the mask. The mask consists of heavy-duty lexan goggles, face protection, and head protection. All three are vital to ensure the safety of the player. No substitutions are acceptable. Do not use shop goggles, ski goggles, BMX goggles, or any other type of mask in place of proper paintball safety gear.

Secondly, sturdy clothing and footwear is recommended. The vast, vast majority of paintball injuries have nothing to do with the paintballs themselves. Generally, if someone is hurt playing paintball, they suffer a twisted ankle, sprained wrist, or any other common physical injury that can be sustained in a sport such as soccer or basketball².

Finally, it is important that male players wear appropriate protection while playing. Paintballers don't want to end up no-ballers so athletic cups are a must.

If all of this safety equipment is worn, injuries can be nearly eliminated.

Markers

The paintballs are generally propelled by a pressured-gas marker. These markers come in at least three different forms. First, there is the simplest and earliest kind of marker - the stock pistol. Next came constant-air pump-action markers. Finally, semi-automatic (and some fully-automatic) markers appeared on the scene. All three are still in use today.

Stock pistols are powered by small, 12g carbon-dioxide cylinders. This small amount of CO₂ often allows for only 20 or 30 shots before it must be replaced. Stock pistols often hold no more than a handful of paintballs in a tube on top of the marker, and reloading after shooting a paintball requires a somewhat cumbersome pump action. To be a true 'stock' gun, some very specific restrictions must be followed. These restrictions may be found in the 'resources' section below.

Pump-action pistols were the next to arrive. They were originally modifications to the stock-class pistols to improve their performance. Often a large paintball loader sits on top of the marker, holding as many as 200 paintballs. The paintballs feed into the marker by gravity, and the whole system is tuned to allow very rapid firing. An experienced paintballer can often shoot several paintballs per second for a short burst. Often, these pump-action markers are powered by larger cylinders of carbon-dioxide. 7oz, 12oz, and 20oz tanks are all common, providing hundreds of shots without a refill.

Semi-automatic markers were the next logical progression. With each pull of the marker's trigger, a ball is fired, and another is loaded into the marker. Modern semi-automatic markers with advanced paintball-feeding systems can fire eight balls per second or more for an extended period of time. To improve performance over extended periods of time, the thermodynamically-limiting carbon-dioxide propellant was replaced on many markers with a compressed-air system. This new system provides much more reliable and consistent operation in the marker, but at a higher price.

Types Of Game

Recreational Paintball

Recreational paintball may be simply defined as paintball played by the masses. The majority of the paintball industry caters to so-called 'rec players'. These people typically play a couple of times a year (or less), and often don't own their own equipment. They show up to a paintball field without any gear, and rent what they need. The field owners give them an orientation, including a safety briefing, and help them get on their way. Church groups, office parties, stag parties, birthday parties, weekend getaways, and spur-of-the-moment thrill-seekers usually fall into this category.

Characteristically, recreational paintball is fun, laid-back, and easy-going. Few players keep track of how many games are won and lost, and often players help each other. Nobody takes things too seriously, and at the end of the day complete strangers often become friends.

The largest form of rec paintball is the 'big game.' Big games often consist of hundreds of players together for an entire weekend. A single game often lasts the entire weekend, and can be run under a fantasy scenario.

Stock Class Paintball

Stock class paintball is usually defined as a strict adherence to restrictions on the paintball marker. This type of paintball came about in reaction to the increasing capabilities and expense of paintball equipment. Top-of-the-line, modern, tournament quality paintball markers can cost thousands of dollars to buy, and hundreds to maintain. Paintballs can be expensive too - at a typical cost of several cents per paintball, it is easy to see how shooting thousands of paintballs in a single day can become expensive.

Stock class paintball attempts to level the playing field economically. All players are restricted to 'low-tech' markers. These are generally the stock pistols mentioned above. The rate of fire is much lower in a stock game. Often, players will use less than a hundred paintballs in an entire day of play. This contrasts quite sharply with tournament paintball, where it is common for players to average 500 or more paintballs in a single game. Stock class emphasizes stealth, teamwork, and aim over 'spray-and-pray' pitched-paint battles. Make no mistake, however, stock-class is no less intense than any other kind of paintball. It can be just as much fun as other types of paintball, but with a much lower price tag.

Although stock is separate from the tournament paintball, stock-class tournaments do exist. For more information, see 'resources' section below.

Tournament Paintball

The third general category of paintball is tournament paintball. Although tournaments exist for all forms of paintball, the nominal 'tournament paintball' generally describes a highly-structured game that has more in common with football than recreational paintball.

Teams are generally a group of players that have played and practiced together for a considerable length of time. The equipment used is often of the highest quality, and the highest expense. This form of paintball is undoubtedly the most expensive kind to play, but many also believe it is the best. That, of course, is up to the individual player.

Tournament paintball has become quite a large part of the paintball world in recent years. Large tournament circuits such as the NPPL and the Great Western Series have toured the North American Continent, and the rest of the world as well. Smaller, local tournament circuits have also sprung up, giving variety for those who might not have the resources to travel extensively. There is something for nearly everyone who wants to try their hand at tournament play.

New Player's Guide

Playing paintball for the first time can be a bit confusing. Often people don't know what to do, and could use a little guidance. Probably the easiest way to get into paintball is to play with an experienced friend. They can help you out on your first day, and give you advice on what to bring along with you, what it'll cost, where you'll go, and how you should conduct yourself.

Failing that, you'll have to take matters into your own hands. First, look in the Yellow Pages or on the Internet, and find a few fields. If it's cold and snowy outside, maybe you'll pick an indoor field.

The single most important thing to look for in a field is its safety-consciousness. Ensure that the rental masks that the field gives to you are in good repair. Look for fine cracks in the lens: if you see these, return them and ask for a new pair. If they hassle you about it, find a new field. Also, insist on a least one on-field referee for every ten players. These referees not only ensure fair-play, but they watch out for the safety of the players.

Internet Resources

There are many different resources available on the web. Probably the best (and oldest) paintball site is Warpig paintball. They have a great site, and can help you find what you need - whether it's rec, stock, or tournament-oriented.

For those of you who read usenet, the site rec.sport.paintball is always a great source of information. The people are usually friendly and helpful.