Paintball Clothing

suicidexcuse

I have to play paintball tomorrow for a company retreat. We have about 35 (mostly guys) people playing. I've never played paintball so I just wanted to know a few things.

What clothes are best to wear? We'll be playing out in the hot sun so I was thinking shorts and t-shirt but they say wear heavier clothes if you don't want it to hurt as much. So which would be better?

Any other tips anyone can provide me with? I'm really nervous about this since I'm very uncoordinated and don't want to become everyone's target.

Pariel

Unless you're getting show from pretty close, getting hit doesn't hurt a whole lot.

That said, if you don't want to have welts, wear pretty thick clothing. An undershirt and long sleeved t-shirt normally do the trick, if you can get your hands on an actual paintball jersey. Baggier is better.

schuss

Ideal wear is loose ventilated clothing that covers all your skin. I always wore an army surplus uniform and jeans.

Skoal Cat

I had some ratty camo pants that I'd wear with a t-shirt. You want long pants and some good outdoor shoes (I preferred hiking boots since I played in the woods)

pacbowl

Take a look at this page to get a feel for what to wear. Notice all the shirts are longsleeved and everything is tan/green/camo colored. Obviously bright colors are out as you don't want to stick out like a sore thumb. You don't have to get a full facemask, but at least get some sort of hat and eye protection.

Skoal Cat

What? Wait, no, you want a full face mask. I'd be shocked if the place you went to didn't require it.
Also, paintball isn't about covert ops. A good player is running and is loud communicating with his team. Bright colors don't matter when you're running around and yelling. Teams full of amateurs are quiet as fuck. Teams full of experienced players are wildly different.

edit
http://www.google.com/search?q=paintball+jersey&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1067&bih=514&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=4WYnTpuONYr40gHfpLjSCg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CEwQ_AUoAQ
The colors, Duke!

Esh

What Skoal said. Full face protection is a must.

UEAKCrash

Yeah, it mostly depends on if they are playing woodsball or speedball. I used to play a ton of speedball and did tournaments and such. It was all very in the open, and we all wore bright colors and yelled a lot. I wore padded pants (Dye C8's) and a thin jersey. Kept me cool and worked good for sliding.

If they are going woods, a bit of camo isn't going to hurt. For someone just starting out and isn't planning on playing a ton, jeans and an old longsleeve shirt would probably be fine. The first shot will hurt the most but after that your adrenaline will be pumping and you will barely feel it. I used to referee for an indoor field and I would pick someone out at the start of the day to shoot me in the back a few times to get me going.

Full face protection is ABSOLUTELY required. If you get hit in the mouth up close you will most likely lose a tooth. Anyone not wearing a full face mask is either highly misinformed or plain stupid. Barrel bags/ plugs should also be used when masks aren't being worn. If it is an organized field they should take care of all of this, if it's just a bunch of people going out, someone should know the important safety stuff.

As for tips, just have fun and keep your eyes open. If you wear glasses you might want to invest in some anti-fog spray, maybe even just for your mask, depending on the mask. Cheaper ones tend to fog easily. If you can't see you can't shoot anyone!

Watch where you paint is shooting and try to aim with that rather than down the barrel like a regular gun. Not only is it going to have an arc, but a lot of barrels aren't perfect or get dirty and a ball will either go all over the place or lean in one direction. Funny quick story about that, I actually shot someone AROUND their cover using the curve of my dirty barrel.

Just be safe and shoot some of your co-workers! Don't worry about the pain too much, it happens very fast and only hurts for a few seconds. Then you get to show off your bad ass paintball battle wounds! (generally just a paintball sized red mark, sometimes slightly broken skin, nothing too bad. It's like a very circular bruise.)

Esh

I haven't played in like 16 years, so I went poking around on sites at some of the newer guns...

http://www.paintballguns.net/CORE_CORE_Tippmann_A5_Centurion_Sniper_Marker_Package_2093/

WANT.

BradicusMaximus

Is this taking place in the woods or a field with inflatables and whatnot. If its the latter, just be sure to communicate. A good player is one who can communicate with the team, i.e locations of other players. Baggy clothing is often prefered, makes movement a lot easier and can slow the impact of the ball. I wore short sleeve shirts playing in the summer just because I can't stand the heat. The paintballs really don't hurt all that much, but if you're playing smart you shouldn't have to worry about them all too much :P Also, you'd be insane not to wear a facemask.

UEAKCrash

This was my baby back in the day:

http://www.directpaintball.com/Bob-Long-Chris-LaSoya-Intimidator-Paintball-Guns-P6313.aspx
In yellow/ black.

I should dig up a picture of mine, custom as hell, $1400 stock when I bought it, had probably at least 2k invested in it. I was REALLY into the paintballs.

Skoal Cat

Tim!!!
One friend went Auto Cocker, one went Mag, and I stayed Spyder. Omg, memories.

Esh

UEAKCrash wrote:

This was my baby back in the day:

http://www.directpaintball.com/Bob-Long-Chris-LaSoya-Intimidator-Paintball-Guns-P6313.aspx
In yellow/ black.

I should dig up a picture of mine, custom as hell, $1400 stock when I bought it, had probably at least 2k invested in it. I was REALLY into the paintballs.

What was the LCD screen for?

UEAKCrash

Esh wrote:

UEAKCrash wrote:

This was my baby back in the day:

http://www.directpaintball.com/Bob-Long-Chris-LaSoya-Intimidator-Paintball-Guns-P6313.aspx
In yellow/ black.

I should dig up a picture of mine, custom as hell, $1400 stock when I bought it, had probably at least 2k invested in it. I was REALLY into the paintballs.

What was the LCD screen for?

Lots and lots of customization. It had an electronic eye in it to tell if a ball was loaded or not, and if it wasn't it wouldn't fire, or it could be delayed, etc etc. Kept track of how many shots I fired, how fast I was shooting, game timer, and my favorite part...

Temperature gauge.

Also I just dug this up:

It's me like... 6-7 years ago? Jesus. The bright one, not the little kid...

Temporal Paradox

Word of advice, wear a cup. Trust me.

UEAKCrash

I was lucky enough that I never got hit in the crotch or the neck. Both of those suck, from what I hear.

Midshipman

Temporal Paradox wrote:

Word of advice, wear a cup. Trust me.

I don't think I've ever seen someone wear a cup playing paintball. If you are worried about that you could just wear some shorts between your pants and your underwear.

Skoal Cat

What makes you think you'd be able to see the cup?

SkyCaptain

I wore a cup when I went paintballing. Just seemed prudent.

spool32

Gloves too. Getting shot in the knuckles hurt worse than anywhere I was ever hit.
Memories! We used to go out with the paratroopers at Barksdale AFB... that was so much fun!

acidlacedpenguin

camo pants, a red bandana, and a mullet. Make sure to grease up with suntan oil to get the full Rambo effect.

alternatively, a turban and layered cotton and silk body dress.

Dr. Frenchenstein

you could probably just go with a padded cup instead of a plastic one (i think MMA guys use them), if comfort is an issue, but i've also never been shot in the junk.

mr_mich

My first two hits were in the adam's apple and balls. Neither was that bad. You'll be squatting, a lot, so if your pants are loose enough you'll have a bit of give in the crotch region. Gloves are definitely a must though, I'd recommend you bring some fingerless weight lifting gloves if you have any, if only to protect your knuckles. I maintain that those were the worst shots I ever took.

Find out if you'll be playing woods or speedball. If you're playing speedball, then pretty much anything will do, just bring good footwear for running/sliding. If in the woods, you have to start considering all the dumb brush, weird rocky terrain, bugs, etc.

see317

It's surprisingly difficult to shoot someone in the junk when they're half behind cover and returning fire.
It's also surprisingly difficult to shoot someone in the junk when they're running towards you.

Really, it's near impossible to shoot someone in the junk with a paintball gun unless they're standing there letting you shoot them in the junk.
Sure, there's always a chance of a lucky shot (or unlucky, depending on which side of the paintball you're on) but it's nothing to be worried about if you've got a pair of semi-baggy jeans on.

I'd recommend a full face mask, gloves (getting shot in the knuckles stings like a bitch and your knuckles are always right there when you're taking a shot), a baggy long sleeved shirt that breathes and semi-baggy jeans. Shoes should be something you can run in, and if you can get something with ankle support it wouldn't hurt.
I'd also recommend some kind of bandanna or hat to keep the sweat out of your eyes. Remember, you're wearing a full face mask, you can't really wipe the sweat out in the middle of a match.

Also, water and sunblock. Bring lots of both.

mr_mich

Just wanted to ping again about the full facemask thing.

If you get there and people just have hats and goggles, leave.

SniperGuy

I always wore jeans and a tshirt, at least until I got some BDUs from an army surplus store. Highly recommend those if you can get 'em. Nice protection, very cool even in the heat, and camo!

Also a tip, lean side to side like in FPSes that have those buttons when you're behind cover. You don't expose as much and can keep an accurate bead on people.

I miss playing paintball. Our park used to do massive scenario games in the woods where they would have huge armies battling across all of their "theme" areas.

Midshipman

Skoal Cat wrote:

What makes you think you'd be able to see the cup?

A soft cup I wouldn't be able to see, but a hard cup has a rather distinctive profile.

SniperGuy

You don't need a cup if you aren't wearing tight pants with no underwear. Loose comfy jeans and boxers is plenty of nut protection.

I mean if you're that worried, by all means, but it's not necessary. The worst imo is a shot to the neck. Or in the mouth visor when your mouth is open. Bleck.

Figgy

..... don't wear a cup. The chances a ball is going to hit there are so god damned remote. Most of the time you're going to be crouched behind something, and your clothing will be bunched up in the area anyway.

And as far as face protection, that will be provided. It will be a full face mask and it will fog like a fuck all day long.

EWom

I got hit in the dick once playing paintball. So, I'd say wear a cup based on that experience. Also, I'd get some cheap work or mechanics gloves from somewhere like Ace or Home Depot , that have a little padding on the fingers and knuckles. It seemed like the place I got hit, that hurt the most (other than the dick shot) was the fingers.

Figgy

EWom wrote:

I got hit in the dick once playing paintball. So, I'd say wear a cup based on that experience. Also, I'd get some cheap work or mechanics gloves from somewhere like Ace or Home Depot , that have a little padding on the fingers and knuckles. It seemed like the place I got hit, that hurt the most (other than the dick shot) was the fingers.

I was walking down the street once and a car clipped a rock that hit me in the knee. I don't wear knee pads when walking down the street, though.

But seriously, I played paintball twice weekly for years and never wore a cup. Don't wear a cup. Really. It's not needed. Gloves are also not needed if you're just going once. Wear an old t-shirt over an old long-sleeve shirt. Cargo khakies. Running shoes or something with ankle support. Done.

The guy is going once, he's not preparing for a season of pro paintball.

MrDelish

This thread is from July of last year, Figgy. I'm guessing he's already gone, especially since the OP said he was going "tomorrow."

Paladin

w/e I'm still going to put in my opinion

Spend all your money on a good mask with an internal lens with an easily swappable lens apparatus for cleaning, and make sure the mask's as comfortable as can be. You can skimp on everything else; I like wearing polyester over cheap liner because the smoothness and pliability = balls rolling off where they would otherwise splatter, especially around excess folds near the crotch area everyone seems to be worrying about. It's extremely washable, disposable, and doesn't ricochet enough to make people call foul play, so it's terribly convenient. Buying camo = not playing paintball often or spending a fortune washing them as camo is pointless after several bouts of full neon colors.

Figgy

MrDelish wrote:

This thread is from July of last year, Figgy. I'm guessing he's already gone, especially since the OP said he was going "tomorrow."

Hmm, this was the first thread in the forum. That's weird.

Aioua

Figgy wrote:

MrDelish wrote:

This thread is from July of last year, Figgy. I'm guessing he's already gone, especially since the OP said he was going "tomorrow."

Hmm, this was the first thread in the forum. That's weird.

Spam account probably posted in it, bumping it to the top. The account was then deleted, and its posts hidden, but the thread remains.

Thro

Aioua wrote:

Figgy wrote:

MrDelish wrote:

This thread is from July of last year, Figgy. I'm guessing he's already gone, especially since the OP said he was going "tomorrow."

Hmm, this was the first thread in the forum. That's weird.

Spam account probably posted in it, bumping it to the top. The account was then deleted, and its posts hidden, but the thread remains.

Really? Cause it seems to happen a lot to threads recently. I thought it was a bug.
Spam/new posters makes more sense though.