How to Play Paintball Safely
Wear all appropriate safety equipment (headgear, barrel bag, barrel sleeve, etc.)., Play at a certified course with responsible refs and strict rules., Never shoot at wildlife or stray domestic animals however irritating they may be., Watch out for...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Wear all appropriate safety equipment (headgear
Purchase your own equipment or use the equipment provided by the event organizer.
If you're not happy with the safety equipment provided, don't participate.
The paintball Mask is the most important piece of equipment.
You must always wear your mask when on the field.
Do not remove it on the field at any time, even if it fogs up.
If your mask fogs up, call yourself out, and ask for a ref to escort you to the deadbox.
Keep everything on until everyone is in and the barrels are plugged.
It could cause serious injury. -
Step 2: barrel bag
This will increase your chance of NOT being hurt in paintball. , That crow that is blowing your cover, might give away an enemy position later so leave it alone! Cruelty to animals is illegal.
Paintball should not be played in areas where wildlife is protected or where rare plants or trees grow. ,). , If the nozzle comes off, there is a high risk of serious injury and/or death. ,, This will help prevent pain, if hit. , Paintball is a young extreme sport and has no mechanism in place for proper reporting of paintball accidents.
So we have no statistics, therefore there must be no injuries, has been the idea so far.
In reality, field owners frequently admit to the increase in injury over the past three years.
You are responsible for your safety and that of the others around you. , A paintball travels at 200fps (feet per second) and can do serious damage to your body.
Without proper goggle safety, you can lose an eye.
Or worse, you can shoot someone else's eye out because you're too lazy to be safe. , With the increase in electronic triggers that can be fired with even a light touch, barrel safety using plugs and condoms is vital.
Accidental triggering happens ALL the time even among veteran players.
When you are not in the game, you must put the barrel condom or plug into the barrel.
Even if the gun is not loaded, or there is no air in the air tank.
Again, how YOU play affects many other people, not just by being safe, but also by being a good example to others.
If you do NOT use a plug or condom because you know the gun is unloaded, someone else may decide to copy you except his gun may be loaded.
Be smart.
Keep our sport safe! , Overshooting occurs when you shoot someone more times than needed.
Not only is this behavior reserved for mules, it also can be dangerous.
Often players make the excuse that the overshot player was cheating and wouldn't call himself out.
This may be true, but as often if not more often, the player who's being shot at is afraid to leave cover.
It's not appropriate for a 12 year old kid to be cowering in cover, while some 28yr old pounds his position like an insane person because he is certain the kid is cheating and not coming out even though he was hit.
Don't overshoot.
It takes the fun out of playing paintball. , If you're in the heat of it, things can get hard fast and sometimes close.
That's okay, it's paintball.
But if you come up on someone and shoot him from point blank instead of calling out Surrender first, then you're messed up.
Shout out surrender, it's much more satisfying and if they don't surrender IMMEDIATELY shoot them once or twice and apologize for shooting at them so close.
This is paintball, and it's supposed to be about FUN.
Shooting someone at very close range is not fun, it's inflicting pain and physical damage. (If you shoot someone close range a lot of times, they'll be hating you after the game; if you make them surrender, you can all laugh and be friends after the game because you made him JUMP! and it was pretty funny.) , Read the manual if you own your own gear.
It's easy to read, and will teach you how to take care of your gear.
Paintball uses gear that is heavy duty, not kids toys at all.
Treat your gear with respect. , If you are turning the bottle more than 4-5 turns, you must stop and inspect the bottle.
The valve of a HPA or CO2 bottle holds back up to 4500 pounds per square inch of pressure, if you are unscrewing the valve by accident, you will soon have a murderous rocket in your hand that will fly out and destroy things and kill people.
This is serious.
There were two sad deaths in 2005 because of bottle flying off and striking people.
One was a mother, the other a young player.
Learn how to properly remove your bottle and pay attention.an exemption to the 4-5 full turns is a paintball gun like the Tippman 98 custom which says on the owners manual to unscrew it 3/4 turns then use up the rest of the gas and before you unscrew the air tank mark it with paint just a thin line ,, If you're on the field and you see someone without goggles on, yell at them to put them on and go make sure. -
Step 3: barrel sleeve
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Step 4: etc.).
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Step 5: Play at a certified course with responsible refs and strict rules.
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Step 6: Never shoot at wildlife or stray domestic animals however irritating they may be.
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Step 7: Watch out for natural hazards (roots
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Step 8: animals
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Step 9: cliffs
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Step 10: Have your CO2 tank inspected as recommended by the manufacturer.
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Step 11: Keep eyes away from the air release valve.
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Step 12: Wear a cup/jock strap
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Step 13: if you are a male.
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Step 14: Do not necessarily believe the 'facts' that paintball is safer than tennis or bowling.
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Step 15: Goggles must be worn anytime you're on the field of play or in a place where guns are being fired in unsafe condition.
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Step 16: Barrel bags and barrel plugs stop balls from being shot out of the gun.
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Step 17: Do not overshoot people.
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Step 18: Do not shoot people up close.
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Step 19: Know your gear.
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Step 20: Unscrewing your HPA or CO2 bottle from your gun takes about 3-4 full turns.
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Step 21: Do not shoot anything except paint balls or practice balls.
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Step 22: Do not shoot at anyone not wearing proper paintball goggles.
Detailed Guide
Purchase your own equipment or use the equipment provided by the event organizer.
If you're not happy with the safety equipment provided, don't participate.
The paintball Mask is the most important piece of equipment.
You must always wear your mask when on the field.
Do not remove it on the field at any time, even if it fogs up.
If your mask fogs up, call yourself out, and ask for a ref to escort you to the deadbox.
Keep everything on until everyone is in and the barrels are plugged.
It could cause serious injury.
This will increase your chance of NOT being hurt in paintball. , That crow that is blowing your cover, might give away an enemy position later so leave it alone! Cruelty to animals is illegal.
Paintball should not be played in areas where wildlife is protected or where rare plants or trees grow. ,). , If the nozzle comes off, there is a high risk of serious injury and/or death. ,, This will help prevent pain, if hit. , Paintball is a young extreme sport and has no mechanism in place for proper reporting of paintball accidents.
So we have no statistics, therefore there must be no injuries, has been the idea so far.
In reality, field owners frequently admit to the increase in injury over the past three years.
You are responsible for your safety and that of the others around you. , A paintball travels at 200fps (feet per second) and can do serious damage to your body.
Without proper goggle safety, you can lose an eye.
Or worse, you can shoot someone else's eye out because you're too lazy to be safe. , With the increase in electronic triggers that can be fired with even a light touch, barrel safety using plugs and condoms is vital.
Accidental triggering happens ALL the time even among veteran players.
When you are not in the game, you must put the barrel condom or plug into the barrel.
Even if the gun is not loaded, or there is no air in the air tank.
Again, how YOU play affects many other people, not just by being safe, but also by being a good example to others.
If you do NOT use a plug or condom because you know the gun is unloaded, someone else may decide to copy you except his gun may be loaded.
Be smart.
Keep our sport safe! , Overshooting occurs when you shoot someone more times than needed.
Not only is this behavior reserved for mules, it also can be dangerous.
Often players make the excuse that the overshot player was cheating and wouldn't call himself out.
This may be true, but as often if not more often, the player who's being shot at is afraid to leave cover.
It's not appropriate for a 12 year old kid to be cowering in cover, while some 28yr old pounds his position like an insane person because he is certain the kid is cheating and not coming out even though he was hit.
Don't overshoot.
It takes the fun out of playing paintball. , If you're in the heat of it, things can get hard fast and sometimes close.
That's okay, it's paintball.
But if you come up on someone and shoot him from point blank instead of calling out Surrender first, then you're messed up.
Shout out surrender, it's much more satisfying and if they don't surrender IMMEDIATELY shoot them once or twice and apologize for shooting at them so close.
This is paintball, and it's supposed to be about FUN.
Shooting someone at very close range is not fun, it's inflicting pain and physical damage. (If you shoot someone close range a lot of times, they'll be hating you after the game; if you make them surrender, you can all laugh and be friends after the game because you made him JUMP! and it was pretty funny.) , Read the manual if you own your own gear.
It's easy to read, and will teach you how to take care of your gear.
Paintball uses gear that is heavy duty, not kids toys at all.
Treat your gear with respect. , If you are turning the bottle more than 4-5 turns, you must stop and inspect the bottle.
The valve of a HPA or CO2 bottle holds back up to 4500 pounds per square inch of pressure, if you are unscrewing the valve by accident, you will soon have a murderous rocket in your hand that will fly out and destroy things and kill people.
This is serious.
There were two sad deaths in 2005 because of bottle flying off and striking people.
One was a mother, the other a young player.
Learn how to properly remove your bottle and pay attention.an exemption to the 4-5 full turns is a paintball gun like the Tippman 98 custom which says on the owners manual to unscrew it 3/4 turns then use up the rest of the gas and before you unscrew the air tank mark it with paint just a thin line ,, If you're on the field and you see someone without goggles on, yell at them to put them on and go make sure.
About the Author
Margaret Hughes
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in cooking and beyond.
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