Jul 08, 2021

Paintball Beginner's Guide

What is paintball and what do you need to play?

We have created a guide that explains what paintball is and what equipment you need to play! If you are completely new, it might be good to try it out before you buy equipment so you know a little about what you need or want. Contact the nearest paintball club and they will help you! The paintball community itself is a very inclusive environment so they will probably be more than happy to help! If you're wondering if it hurts to play, the answer is no. You are so full of adrenaline and as long as you have some clothes on it doesn't hurt much, but you can expect to get a few bruises! Paintball is very good exercise, suitable for all ages, both sexes and not least is incredibly fun!

First a bit of history

Did you know that the paintball marker was invented in 1960 and was then used to mark trees by lumberjacks? It was only in 1970 that the actual game of paintball was invented and The world's first official paintball game was played in 1981. It didn't take many years after that for it to become a very popular sport all over the world! In the US, paintball has become a bigger sport than snowboarding and English football!

Paintball equipment

So what do you need to play paintball? Quite a lot actually! You need a marker (the weapon itself), a magazine, air/Co2 tank, paintball mask and of course paintballs! All of this comes in many different variations which we will go through now.

Paintball marker

There are both mechanical, electric, semi-automatic and fully-automatic markers! I recommend that you check what the people you are going to play with have, so that you can buy the same thing that they use so that you are on the same page. We have markers in all price ranges, so here it is only your budget that sets limits! A classic and a safe choice is the Tippmann 98 which is a semi-automatic marker that is easy to use and offers good performance. Another model is the Tippmann Stormer Basic which is a mechanical paintball marker that is very easy to use! You will find all our markers here!

Paintball magazine

As a first time purchase we recommend a gravity feed magazine. They are mechanically driven, work well and are a affordable alternative (does not work on fully automatic markers). Do you want one better option is to choose an electric magazine. They feed the balls a bit faster, have a higher capacity and the balls don't get stuck as easily as they have something called "anti-jam". but these magazines are again quite a bit more expensive. You will find a standard gravity feed magazine with 200 shots that fits most markers here!

Air/Co2 tanks

When choosing which tank to have, it is a good idea to inquire about what they offer where you will be playing or where you can fill up the tank. The most common is air and the vast majority of markers are made ready for use with air. An advantage of choosing Co2 is that it is cheaper and is a good choice if you are buying a mechanical marker. But not all paintball markers can use Co2 because of the innards and Not all places stock it. All Tippmann markers can use Co2 and air. We usually recommend for beginners to buy a 0.8L 200 bar air tank.You then get an affordable and good tank, perfect for your use! You can find such a tank here! Otherwise you will find all our air and Co2 tanks here! If you are in doubt about what to choose, send us an email atpost@game-on.no .

Paintball masks

We recommend that you buy a mask that covers the entire face good quality with double glazing. You want one that fits well and doesn't fog, because if not it can ruin the whole game! Therefore recommend to invest a little and buy a slightly more expensive one mask. If you normally wear glasses, we recommend that you buy the Dye i5 as you will have room for them under the mask. Otherwise, you will find all our paintball masks here!

Paintballs

As a beginner or for rental markers such as T12, Tippmann 98 and SW-1, we recommend that you buy inexpensive paintballs, because they are the hardest and do not crack so easily - We highly recommend Worst Field Paintball Balls! In general, we say that 500 shots are enough for a tank, but should you play for a whole day and have the option to fill the tank with air/Co2, we recommend that you have between 1000 and 2000 paintballs. In a box there are 2000 paintballs. You can find all our paintballs here! We also recommend that you buy pods to hold paintballs in when you play and a pods belt. You will find both parts here!