Paging Animal...

[Crawlin]

I was just wondering if you could give me some recommendations on some paintball equipment. was just looking for some fun, easy to use, reliable guns. Figure if we are going to have this gathering, i might as well get my own gun since some aren't all that expensive. not really concerned about price, just want something that fits the above description.

Chris

[animal]

First off, people wll think I'm some safety nazi here, but spend money on a GOOD mask/goggle. Don't go buy the cheapest piece of junk you can find because the problem will not be with safety. Junk masks will ruin the game for you by fogging up when you least want them to. You'll have to look out the unfogged bottom of the goggle by raising your chin. This will lead to increased probability of a neck hit. It won't kill you, but it'll hurt for a few minutes, and look terrible for a week. Do yourself a favor and buy a mask that has a thermal lens. That means it's got an extra pane that's very thin on the inside. Replacement thermal lenses are in the 20-25 dollar range but they should last you a season at least if you play like I do. Also, when cleaning, you can immerse all parts of the goggles in water except the thermal lens. Clean it with a paper towel dabbed in water, then dry with a dry paper towel. This is single best investment you can make for playing the game. If you don't have fog in your lens, you'll be able to see everything. Trust me, fog ruins paintball. (there's not as much problem indoors, but I'm a sweaty bastard when I play regardless) Some people like the "v-force" masks too, but I don't believe they make a thermal lens for them. Your best bet, is to go and find a mask that uses the JT spectra lens. There are many makes that use that same lens, so they're plentiful (and cheaper) when you need to buy a replacement. They come in all colors and mirrored (not recommended indoor) as well.

Next off paintball markers. I don't call them guns because bleeding heart liberals and the media like to call the game an unsafe sport that uses guns... which it is FAR FROM. (Per capita, paintball has less injurys than bowling on a national basis. ) Anyways, there are a lot of variety in markers. So many that I've lost track of what's what. For beginner markers though, not much has changed. Everyone will tell you something different. It's just like cars. My personal preference for a very nice starter gun is the tippmann model 98 (or custom 98 as it's called now). The main reason, you could drive over it with a dump truck, pick it up and fire it. It's durable as hell. It's not the epitomy of efficient, but still not all that bad. I've seen them increasingly more common and I think walmart even sells them now. They also have the "players pack" that includes a tank and goggles. The goggles are usuallly junk so you may just want to pick up the gun and the goggles seperate. Other good starter markers include the kingman spyders and PMI pirahnas. Tippmann also has the A5 out now which looks alot like an mp5. It's newer, still durable as the old ones, has a newer feed system, and costs almost double.

[animal]

You'll also need a gas system. There are 2 types. CO2, and Nitrogen or compressed air (same thing as far as paintball goes). Compressed systems require you to get the tank tested every 3 years and generally cost more. They also however improve accuracy because the air charge is more consistent than co2. A good tank with built in regulator will run $150-$200 unless you get a heavy metal tank (~$100) Compressed tanks cost between 1 and 4 bux to fill. Co2 will be cheaper. Co2 tanks are 20-25 bux and cost 1-2 ux to fill. Co2 will in general last longer than it's compressed air counterpart, but is less accurate.

Don't buy into the long barrel hype. It's already been scientifically proven that any barrel longer than 12" is hurting efficiency and gives no added benefit to accuracy... in paintball anyways. Also you want a smooth bore barrel. The "rifling" they have in some paintball barrels is ineffective if not hurting accuracy. This only holds true because of the physics of a liquid filled projectile.

Last but not least the loader. If you want to pull the trigger fast, only to come up with a dry shot and have to shake the marker, then stick with a standard gravity fed loader. They also make motorized loaders that churn the balls to make them fall down the tube without getting hung up. A year ago I'd say it really wasn't necessary for the newbie, but they're coming down in price. You can decide. A motorized loader will let you lay down a much longer string of balls at a time without worrying about a misfeed. When you get to higher end markers they are a must, feed systems are the bottle neck. I spent $350 on my feed system just to make it keep up with the rate that the marker can achieve.

Packs and gear. There's a whole assortment available. You dont need a pack but it can help if you sling paint like I do. My pack will hold almost 1000 paintballs in addition to the 200 in the marker I start with. I've never used all 1000 in a game. It's all i how you play. I'd suggest you pass on the pack and other clothing until you get more into the sport.

That's really about all I have to say for beginners save one thing. DO NOT BUY A BRASS EAGLE MARKER. Their paintballs suck, their markers have plastic seals that break, and suck worse than their paintballs. The only thing brass eagle is good for is they own JT (goggles) and also make some nice clothes.

[animal]

So in short:

Beginner semi auto markers:
Tippman Model 98 or custom 98 (no real difference besides upgradability) or
Kingman spyder or
PMI Pirahna

and for a beginner I'd get a co2 tank no less than 12 oz.

Beginner masks:
Go with a good mask. I like and mask that uses a JT spectra lens since they're common and easy to find replacements for.


Stay away from:
Brass eagle brand markers and paintballs
Autocockers - a little advanced for the beginner because of all the moving parts. a good marker though.
long barrels (longer than 12-14")
sheridan markers (just dont seem to hold up very long).

[Crawlin]

thanks a ton! that's a lot of good info there. i was gonna call it a marker after realizing that's what most people called them when i was reading pbreview.com but didn't want to see dumb if i got the term wrong, hahaha. Thanks again!!!

Chris