Paintball gurus ... educate me a little please. -- Been there done that now!

[GCS]

I got to thinking about a bunch of friends and family getting together one day for a paintball outing. None of us have ever done this but all are interested. There seems to be several places in my area to play that will host parties and provide the field, equipment, refs etc.

Can you guys share your thoughts on this with me particularly if you have done the get together thing before.


Questions I am being asked by friends are as follows:

What's a fair price & time length to do this?

Does it hurt?

What should we wear/how should we dress?

Safety -- looks like all the gear is provided (goggles, mask etc) but what else should we be concerned about?


**this thread is probably more for the casual paintball folks than you hardcore guys with your own equipment but feel free to chime in as well**


Thanks in advance for your advice.


Updated 9/1/2009


So Saturday was the day and in a nutshell it was a BLAST!!!

10 of us went and got to play. We did not have enough for a private party but all the "strangers" we played with were really cool. Only 1 or 2 were a little "over the top" and nailing all of us.

Overall we had a GREAT time ... everyone.

Our markers were Tippman 98s except 2 of us had Vibes as they ran out of Tipps. We first checked in and watched about a 15 min or so saftey video then one of the refs came over and gave us marker training, field rules, etc. We were then sent off to gear up and get ready. All in all about 30 mins of rules and safety stuff.

Geared up and ready the ref went over some basic game rules and then covered mask and barrel saftey/rules one more time (theme of the day as we heard this a lot -- understandably so). We were now led off to our first trial of impending doom!!

First 2 games were on "Spools field" -- smallish flat field with large wooden wire spools set up as cover all over the place. Both games were elimination games (i.e. shoot anyone) so it was a decent way to start ... no real tactics/strategy needed.

Game 1 - Ref blows the whistle and we are off. People are chargin' and hollarin' and paintballs are flyin' all over the place. I managed to get to the first rung of barriers quick and easy. I then poke my head out and start laying down fire to make my next advance. Whooshh... I took off laying fire as fast as I can (btw I had the Vibe so this was pretty easy to do) just to get to the next barrier. Whewww, made it. Gather myself and then take peak ... SPLAT!!! right in the grill. I'm out ... DAMN!

So I raise my arms and walk off to the side thinking crap I lasted about 45 seconds, that sucks! Also I am like that was awesome and didn't hurt a bit let's go again.

Game 2 - Ref blows and I take off. I skip barriers 1-2 and head straight for the heart of the field. No shots fired at me as I think everyone was shocked I was running right at them LOL! So I get to the 3rd barrier set and take cover. I lean out to the right and spot 2 guys moving up. One dead in my sights ... pop, pop, pop ... tagged him in the knee - 1 down. Then a quick 10 degree shift to the left and I spot the second guy ... pop, pop, pop, pop, pop tagged him too. All the sudden I have incoming fire so I hide BUT stupid me go so enamored with my "kills" I wanted to watch the guys walk off the field due to my handy work and what do you know SPLAT! another one right in the grill. I'm out again ... damn! Lasted about 2 mins in this game

So game 2 ends and we head back to the staging area to reload and head to the next field.

At this point I am pumped up and really having a good time. Haven't been tagged anywhere but the grill and my tank so I am like sweet this didn't hurt.


Games 3-4: The Village
Elimination style game

So the next games were on a wooded field with 2 towers, a barn and lots of stone bunkers. Slight elevation changes but overall relatively flat. Lots of room on the field and plenty of spots to hide and make maneuvers.

Game 3 starts and we all make our breaks. Even though this was elimination style everyone was really playing as 2 separate teams so we didn't go after our own teammates until we took all the others out.

I head down the right side, no action yet. I then see the other team making a break and lay down fire. They turn and start firing back. I make bee-line and a huge slide to hide behind a fallen tree. Myself and 1 other player start battling the 4 guys on the other side back and forth. My buddy takes out 1 guy and I get another. Then my friend gets tagged ... I pop up to make a move forward and tag one other guy hiding. Then the 4th guy pops up from the corner and he and I go at it like a gun fight ... whoever drew first was gonna win!! We both turn and open up simultaneously ... pop, pop, pop ... both of us get each either. I took one in the chest and it stung but not too bad. We both high fived each other as that was a pure adrenaline rush going head to head like that and we were laughing about the rest of the day (and we didn't even know one another).

Game 4 same field (last one I will PBP on)

We start the game and I move up to middle - no firing just getting position. I am sitting in a good spot to catch guys making a break on my right when all of the sudden I see something on my left. I turn and see 4 guys all behind the same small barrier (big mistake for them). I have the perfect angle pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop I drop all 4 in an instant before they even see me, wooohooo!!!

The game progresses on and I link up with 2 other guys on my team and we start working the right flank as a 3 man team. One of the guys with me is really good, lots of experience and the right gear. He swings out wide and kind of behind the other guys while myself and the other guy are in front of a group of the other team drawing an a$$load of fire! As he signals he is making a move in we pop out and unload like crazy pinning 5 guys in the bunker who then get tagged by the flanker. We move up and proceed across the middle of the field to rest of the other team. We get attacked and take cover and then guess what ... I ran out of ammo, damn!!! So I decide to go nuts and draw fire while the other guys take them out. This was not something I want to do again as I got blasted about 10-15 times at once but we took out all their guys and the game was down to just the 2 guys I was with.

Games 5-7 were on other fields and were lots of fun. The last being on a very large field with big towers, catwalks, trenches etc. Full team based with reinsertion. This game was EXHAUSTING and the one where I took my worst hit.

Basically a point blank chest shot from about 4 feet away and man did that SOB hurt, I mean it REALLY REALLY hurt (still does at this point). No other shots hurt but this one.

In general had an awesome time and cannot wait to go back.

I have spent the last several days researching gear, tactics, etc and will most likely make the investment in some basic stuff (no high end stuff) and start playing about once a month. I am 99% sure I am headed back there this w/e to play. Haven't found anyone of my group to go with me yet but hey it's not like I can't just walk on by myself.

Anyway thought you guys might like to read feedback from a newbie.

Thanks for reading.



EDIT -- BTW the cost ended up being as follows

$39 per person for 1 3 hour session -- Included all equipment, field fee, and 500 rounds

We had 10 people so $390 and I bought 1 extra case of paint for $56 = $446 in all.

I happened across some Gift Certs for 1/2 price so I bought 3 of them for $54 each = $162. Certs were valued at $116 each.

Total Cost - $446
Less GCs - ($348)
Balance - $98

My actual out of pocket cost was $162 + $98 = $260

The other 9 players paid $15 each to me so end result was $135 for me which the wife paid for (birthday gathering for me).


Overall it was 100% worth it!

 

[Ns1]

expect 50-100 if you rent everything. paintballs are expensive. don't get shitty paint or you'll hate the experience

50-100 for a minimum of 4 hours. seriously the cost of paintballs/co2 is a huge variable expense

no matter how much you budget, you will go over

private parties > public x infinity

yes it hurts

it hurts alot more when you're close

and even more when you're close and shot in the back point blank by a teammate

nut shots hurt - alot.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Ns1
expect 50-100 if you rent everything. paintballs are expensive. don't get shitty paint or you'll hate the experience

50-100 for a minimum of 4 hours. seriously the cost of paintballs/co2 is a huge variable expense

no matter how much you budget, you will go over

private parties > public x infinity

yes it hurts

it hurts alot more when you're close

and even more when you're close and shot in the back point blank by a teammate

nut shots hurt - alot.

all of this

if you get hit on bare skin from close enough the welt it leaves looks like ringworm

 

[meltdown75]

i played once and it was AWESOME. i've always wanted to do it again!

 

[SSSnail]

-You can rent all equipments, down to the overalls, but please buy your own masks for hygiene's sake.
-Plan on spending a day there, most places closes at 4PM unless it's some indoor shit.
-Hurts like hell, but you won't notice it due to adrenaline. Rental equipments won't hit that hard, but you'll still have bruises.
-Wear loose clothing, and the stuffs that you don't mind rolling in the dirt with because you will. Leave your Douche and Cabana shits at home.
-Don't point shits and faces and pull triggers.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Uhmm you can probably get in for less than 50 - 100. I'd say I paid around 35 for my first time. Make sure you get in on coupons and stuff. Yeah some guys will shoot more paint and you might need more paint and more CO2 refills, but you can easily get more paint from the women who don't shoot as much =P

As for hurting yeah it doesn't hurt as bad when you're far away, but when you're close.. it stings and those become ugly bruises for a few days. Like I've turned corners where I swear was clear but I guess the guy really hid silently for a few minutes and he pops out and taps me in the chest. Those sting like wow.

If it's your first time, definitely go with a private party. Don't let some guys join in to ruin it all. Like we've had people who wanted to play with us and TBH it kinda ruins the fun because out of our party of like 10 or so that went only 2 of us had our own equipment. Basically in the end it was me and my friend with our own markers against the guys who had their response triggers and stuff. Come on, we were totally out classed... I mean the only upgrade I've gotten was a barrel but these guys are decked out in everything.

 

[GCS]

Nut shots, yikes!! :shocked:

 

[drum]

I'm interested in this as well as I am going with a group of friends soon for the first time.

 

[Safeway]

You'll want to cover your entire body. The last time I went out paintballing, it was 45F so dressing warm helped a lot with the pain. On hot days, you will still want to wear jeans and a long-sleeve shirt.

 

[darkxshade]

If you're surrounded and about to get shot... drop the marker and cover your balls.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Uhmm you can probably get in for less than 50 - 100. I'd say I paid around 35 for my first time. Make sure you get in on coupons and stuff. Yeah some guys will shoot more paint and you might need more paint and more CO2 refills, but you can easily get more paint from the women who don't shoot as much =P

35 for field + rental I'd say is pretty average, 5-10 bucks per fill of co2 + cost of paint...

If you're trigger happy you could easily blow through half a case of paint in the span of a few hours...

playing speedball you can EASILY dump 1/4 case of paint in 10 minutes

 

[Porter21]

Questions I am being asked by friends are as follows:

What's a fair price & time length to do this?
I used to spend about 15 bucks on paint because I owned a gun. You can normally rent gun w/ air, without paint for 10-15 bucks. I used to play pball from about 10 am to 5 or 6pm
Does it hurt?
It can, depending on where you are hit and the conditions. If you are hit on bare skin, of course it will sting some, especially if it is cold out. Sometimes you may get hit and not even know you were tagged. It all depends on clothing.
What should we wear/how should we dress?
If you want to be hidden, wear camo (woods games). If you are playing something like speedball, I would wear something baggy. Baggy clothes have the best chances of keeping you pain free as well as keeping the paint from breaking.
Safety -- looks like all the gear is provided (goggles, mask etc) but what else should we be concerned about?
All you really need is a mask. You can buy a normal one that mainly covers the front of your face or buy one that covers the back of your head ( I would just wear a backwards hat). As far as any other protection equipment, you should be fine. If you happen to be that scared you can buy a chest protector, knee pads, and wear 5 layers of clothes.

Hope this helps.

Obviously when I played, I had my gun and I bought paint at a retail store. Field fees such as CO2 fills and rental with field fee can be around 50 bucks. Owning one is a lot cheaper. Fields often times make you use their own paint.

 

[GCS]

Originally posted by: Porter21
Questions I am being asked by friends are as follows:

What's a fair price & time length to do this?
I used to spend about 15 bucks on paint because I owned a gun. You can normally rent gun w/ air, without paint for 10-15 bucks. I used to play pball from about 10 am to 5 or 6pm
Does it hurt?
It can, depending on where you are hit and the conditions. If you are hit on bare skin, of course it will sting some, especially if it is cold out. Sometimes you may get hit and not even know you were tagged. It all depends on clothing.
What should we wear/how should we dress?
If you want to be hidden, wear camo (woods games). If you are playing something like speedball, I would wear something baggy. Baggy clothes have the best chances of keeping you pain free as well as keeping the paint from breaking.
Safety -- looks like all the gear is provided (goggles, mask etc) but what else should we be concerned about?
All you really need is a mask. You can buy a normal one that mainly covers the front of your face or buy one that covers the back of your head ( I would just wear a backwards hat). As far as any other protection equipment, you should be fine. If you happen to be that scared you can buy a chest protector, knee pads, and wear 5 layers of clothes.

Hope this helps.

Obviously when I played, I had my gun and I bought paint at a retail store. Field fees such as CO2 fills and rental with field fee can be around 50 bucks. Owning one is a lot cheaper. Fields often times make you use their own paint.

Good informative answer.

Not worried a lot about the hurt as I would expect it to sting, just don't want to walk away like I joined Fight Club or something.

We would most likely just do the rental of everything as I doubt this would turn into a regular thing for any of us enough to warrant drop big bucks on equipment.

Based on a cursory look around the area most of the places appear to be

Equipment Rental and Park Admission Combos:

SplatBrothers® PaintBall Park STARTER Rental PackageSTARTER Package: Only $29 PER PERSON
1 Session of play (either morning or afternoon session)
Goggles/face mask
Tippmann 98 Custom paintball gun
High Pressure Air Tank

SplatBrothers® PaintBall Park PLAYER Rental PackagePLAYER Package: Only $39 PER PERSON
1 Session of play (either morning or afternoon session)
Goggles/face mask
Tippmann 98 Custom paintball gun
High Pressure Air Tank
500 Paintballs


House Paint Case (2000 rounds) $59
Tournament Grade Paint Case (2000 rounds) $69

Air Fees (if purchased individually)
Compressed Air Fill $1.50 per 1,000 psi

Equipment Rentals (if rented separately)
Paintball Pack - $5 (holds 500 rounds)
Air Tank - $5
Goggle/Mask - $5


SplatBrothers® PaintBall Park EXPERT Rental PackageEXPERT Package: Only $49 PER PERSON
Both sessions of play (all day)
Goggles/face mask
Tippmann 98 Custom paintball gun
High Pressure Air Tank
500 Paintballs
Paintball pack (holds 500 rounds)
All-Day-Play
Lunch - 2 "Splat" Dogs, your choice of chips, and Pepsi® product


That is just one place but the other 2 I have looked at are basically the same setup/price.

 

[dyna]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Uhmm you can probably get in for less than 50 - 100. I'd say I paid around 35 for my first time. Make sure you get in on coupons and stuff. Yeah some guys will shoot more paint and you might need more paint and more CO2 refills, but you can easily get more paint from the women who don't shoot as much =P

As for hurting yeah it doesn't hurt as bad when you're far away, but when you're close.. it stings and those become ugly bruises for a few days. Like I've turned corners where I swear was clear but I guess the guy really hid silently for a few minutes and he pops out and taps me in the chest. Those sting like wow.

If it's your first time, definitely go with a private party. Don't let some guys join in to ruin it all. Like we've had people who wanted to play with us and TBH it kinda ruins the fun because out of our party of like 10 or so that went only 2 of us had our own equipment. Basically in the end it was me and my friend with our own markers against the guys who had their response triggers and stuff. Come on, we were totally out classed... I mean the only upgrade I've gotten was a barrel but these guys are decked out in everything.

This sounds about right and definitely get the private party. Last private party I went to it was 40 bucks for a rental marker/free air/mask + 500 paintballs.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: GCS
Nut shots, yikes!! :shocked:

I'd wear a cup. I always liked shooting people in the neck right under the mask - that really hurts them.

 

[compbuilder00]

Woodsball > Speedball

Just try to not get shot in the nuts or in the neck. It SUCKS !

 

[Jeffg010]

The place I go will rent for the day for $57 you get gun, mask, ammo pods, and 500 paint balls. I was out of ammo the second match and bought a case of 2000 for $55 because my friend was a member and gets them at that price, the regular price is $83. The place I go will only let you use their paint balls because of insurance so don't show up with your own. Each match was 15 mins of either elimination or cap the flag witch was in the middle of the field. It was cool that most were low-end paintballers from 10 year olds to 40-year-old geezers and even girls played. They just mixed in you with each other. If you had few friends you get to be on the same team and the ref just evens it out. Each team had a blue or red band on their arm but forget about being able to see that. I just shot at people that were facing me.

The worst part was the mask and they were in bad shape. The first mask I had was all scuffed up and I played one round and said screw this and got anther mask. It was better but still not that grate. The vision on these mask sucked from the rental and next time I play I'm getting a band new one.

I played in shorts and tee shirt and was shot bare in the knee. It hurts for about 2 to 3 second but not as bad as I though it would be. Also bring anther set of cloths to change when you are done. You will be loaded with paint and it will mess your car up bad if you don't.

Over all it was the best time I had in a long long time. I going to be joining as a member and doing this more often.

 

[GCS]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: GCS
Nut shots, yikes!! :shocked:

I'd wear a cup. I always liked shooting people in the neck right under the mask - that really hurts them.

I don't wanna play against you spidey!! :laugh:

 

[Kirby]

The place I went was $20 for gun (tipmann 98 custom), mask, air (refills free too), and we could play as long as we wanted. We did have to buy our paintballs though. Last time I played I had bruises on my collar bone, elbow, back, ass, and arm pit. The arm pit was the most painful.

 

[DT4K]

I've organized games with a bunch of my neighbors. One place we went was $25, the other was $30. Both of these prices included the field fee, basic equipment rental, and all day CO2 refills. One place was 10am to 5pm, the other was 10am to 6pm.
The only thing not included in that price was paint.
Paint can vary a lot, but around here, the basic field paint is $40 to $50 per case (2000 rounds). I'd plan on using between a half and a full case of paint per person. Just depends on whether you are selective with your shots or whether you go crazy with the trigger. It also depends on the terrain. If you're playing on a big wooded field, you may use more paint because you'll be firing from farther away where it takes more shots to hit someone.

So bottom line, probably $50 to $80 per person for a day of paintballing.

If it's a bunch of beginners, you definitely want to do a private party. Many places will do private games if you have at least 10 people.
It's a lot more fun when you don't have to play against/with a bunch of kids who play every weekend and have high end electronic guns that they can shoot at 15 rounds per second on semi-auto.

 

[SonnyDaze]

Make sure you use a chrono if the field provides one. Good safety measure. Anything over 300fps can hurt your ass real good.

 

[GCS]

Originally posted by: SonnyDaze
Make sure you use a chrono if the field provides one. Good safety measure. Anything over 300fps can hurt your ass real good.

What's this (for the paintball illiterate crowd ... i.e. me)?

 

[SN4p]

Originally posted by: GCS

Originally posted by: SonnyDaze
Make sure you use a chrono if the field provides one. Good safety measure. Anything over 300fps can hurt your ass real good.

What's this (for the paintball illiterate crowd ... i.e. me)?

It measures the speed of the paintball. Feet per second. 285 is usually field limit.

And they probably have the rentals shooting ~260 anyway. Shouldn't have to worry about it.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: SonnyDaze
Make sure you use a chrono if the field provides one. Good safety measure. Anything over 300fps can hurt your ass real good.

Anything over 300 is unsafe and if you go to a real field, they will chrono every gun, whether it's a rental or your own, before you are allowed to play. Depending on the field, they will set the max speed anywhere from 250 (typical for indoors) to 300 (big outdoor fields).

I've never been hit in the nuts, but I've come close. We were playing a field where there is a ravine in front of one of the bases. I ran and slid on my ass down into the ravine trying to take cover and got nailed about 5 times from some guys in a sniper tower. All 5 welts were on my inner thighs, very very close to the family jewels.

By the way, the least painful place to get hit is actually the head or any place bony. Maybe because the paintball breaks as soon as it hits, which disperses the energy.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: GCS

Originally posted by: SonnyDaze
Make sure you use a chrono if the field provides one. Good safety measure. Anything over 300fps can hurt your ass real good.

What's this (for the paintball illiterate crowd ... i.e. me)?

Measures the speed of the paintball. 300 feet per second is max for safety. You can adjust how fast the paintball travels - higher and it goes really straight but hurts like a mother. If you are found to be running a hot gun you'll get permabanned at most places.