Chapter 2

Paintball Equipment

THE BASICS

The equipment needed to play paintball is relatively straightforward when it comes to gear. You’ll need a mask, a marker, a Barrel Blocking Device (BBD), an air tank, a loader (or magazine), and some paintballs.

We’ll go through each one of these pieces of basic gear so you can understand what they’re used for and how they work, thus enabling you to help your child make good purchasing decisions.

THE MASK

Hear this loud and clear: THE ONLY INDISPENSABLE PIECE OF PAINTBALL GEAR (besides the BBD) IS A PAINTBALL-APPROVED PROTECTIVE MASK.

Believe it or not, you can play without a marker, without paint, without a tank, without a loader – but you can’t play without a mask. (I frequently made players compete without their markers during practice and drills – they think I’m crazy, but they thank me later…)

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This is a rather lengthy chapter as there is a lot of specialized equipment to cover.  I provide a description of each of the essential pieces of gear, starting with the absolutely required safety equipment (Mask and Barrel Blocking Device); major pieces of equipment, such as the marker or gun, the air tank and the loader (magazine) are described and discussed in some detail.   Other, important but non-essential gear is covered at the end of the chapter.

Paintball guns, as the ‘glamour’ product of the industry, are covered extensively: differences between classes of marker and their major technological divides are explained.

Advice on what and when to purchase is also provided.