What Do I Need to Play Paintball? Paintball Gear That Matters!

 

Playing paintball is the ultimate thrill and lets you put your skills to the test against friends, siblings and classmates. You may have already gone to a paintball field a few times and played with rentals, and now you’re ready to buy paintball gear to have as your own. Let us help you with what you need to know about buying cool paintball gear!

 

The first and most important piece of paintball equipment you should get is your paintball mask. This is the only piece of paintball gear you actually need in order to step on the field. Paintball masks come in all different colors and varieties for comfort and fit. When choosing your paintball mask, the part that truly determines your playing experience is the lens. Paintball mask lenses come in single-pane and dual-pane forms, the dual pane being the more desirable choice. Dual pane lenses, also referred to as anti-fog lenses, keep your paintball lenses from fogging up during gameplay, leaving you able to see clearly and focus on having a great time!

 

Paintball masks vary in price and have a wide range, from below $50 to above $200! Premium features like more comfortable foam, better construction, breathability and goggle straps are factors that contribute to price differences, along with some options being more stylish and what one would expect of a cool paintball mask. At the bare minimum, a Helix for $40 from Empire Paintball  with dual pane lenses will perfectly cover what you need, but a Bunkerkings CMD from Virtue Paintball for around $160 will offer a much more comfortable playing experience while also giving you the dual pane anti-fogging lens. Both get the job done, but you don’t need to break the bank to play paintball!

 

After you’ve selected your cool paintball mask, the next most important paintball gear you will need is actually not your paintball gun! We highly suggest picking up a compressed air tank! Of course you can still shoot a paintball gun with CO2, and we absolutely carry CO2 tanks, but we strongly encourage the purchase of compressed air tanks.

 

Compressed air runs cleaner, is safer and gives you the option of using electronic paintball guns in the future should you choose to. Using CO2 on an electronic paintball gun will get the circuit board wet from condensation and render your paintball gun useless! A great compressed air tank to start off with is the HK Army Aluminum Compressed Air Tank because it is durable, costs the same as its competitors but has the advantage of giving you multiple color options to choose from!

 

Finally, now we will recommend your paintball gun! For just getting into the game, we will offer up two mechanical paintball options and one electronic paintball gun selection.

For the first paintball marker option which will also be the least expensive, we recommend the JT Stealth. JT Paintball has been a leading paintball manufacturer for nearly as long as the game’s existence! They know what they’re doing in terms of high-quality paintball gear. The JT Stealth is lightweight and extremely comfortable in the hands; great for a first marker for paintball players of all ages!

 

The next paintball gun we would recommend is the Planet Eclipse Emek. The Emek uses a bolt system featured on Planet Eclipse’s highest end flagship paintball gun, the CS2 Pro, for a fraction of the cost. Low maintenance, a reliable brand and very comfortable in the hands, the Emek offers the fun of being able to upgrade parts on your paintball gun and let you really customize your experience!

 

Finally, a sold option for a beginner electronic paintball gun is without a doubt the Empire Mini GS. The mini platform has been around for quite some time from Empire Paintball, another industry giant with decades of experience manufacturing products and making paintball guns! The Empire Mini GS in inexpensive for an electronic paintball gun and allows you to really get a feel for how fast paintball can move at the tournament level, if you choose to try that!

 

With all of these paintball gun options, you will need a hopper. A hopper is what loads paintballs into your paintball gun. You can use a gravity fed paintball hopper for all of the above selections, but for something like the Empire Mini GS that can achieve high rates of fire, you may want to look into electronic paintball hoppers like the Spire IR2. They have a reputation for never jamming and can feed extremely quickly! As a fun final note, the Planet Eclipse Emek is also compatible with the Planet Eclipse PALS loader which uses pneumatic paddles and excess air from firing the paintball marker to cycle paintballs faster than a gravity fed hopper into your paintball gun.

 

Now that you know what paintball gear you should buy, head on over to Punishers Paintball to buy what gear you need to play paintball!

 

***Based out of Mansfield, Ohio, Punishers Paintball is dedicated to delivering premium products and even higher quality customer service, every time. Growing paintball is our mission and we take pride as ambassadors to the sport.***