Jul 08, 2021

Paintball Beginner's Guide

What is paintball and what do you need to play?

We've created a guide that explains what paintball is and what equipment you need to play! If you're completely new, it might be a good idea to try it out before buying equipment so you know a bit about what you need or want. Contact your nearest paintball club and they'll help you! The paintball community is very inclusive, so they'll more than likely be happy to help! Wondering if it hurts to play, the answer is no.You're so full of adrenaline and as long as you have some clothes on, it doesn't really hurt, but you can expect to get a couple of bruises! Paintball is great exercise, suitable for all ages, both genders and is incredibly fun!

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 wasn't until the 1970s that the 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 USA, paintball has become a bigger sport than snowboarding and soccer!

Paintball Equipment

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

Paintball Marker

There are mechanical, electric, semi-automatic, and fully-automatic markers! I recommend checking what those you're going to play with have, so you can buy the same as they use so you're on an equal footing.We have markers in all price ranges, so really it's just your budget that sets the limits! A classic and safe choice is the Tippmann 98, which is a semi-automatic marker that's easy to use and delivers good performance. Another model is the Tippmann Stormer Basic, which is a mechanical paintball marker that's very easy to use! You can 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 reasonably priced option (do not work on fully-automatic markers). If you want a better option, choose an electric magazine. They feed the balls a bit faster, have a higher capacity, and the balls are less likely to jam because they have something called "anti-jam", but these magazines are again quite a bit more expensive.A standard gravity feed magazine with 200 shots that fits most markers can be found here!

Air/Co2 tanks

When choosing which tank to get, it's smart to check with what they offer where you're going to play or where you can refill the tank. The most common is air, and most markers are ready to use with air. An advantage of choosing Co2 is that it's cheaper and is a good choice if you're buying a mechanical marker. But not all paintball markers can use Co2 due to the internals, and not all places have refills for it. All Tippmann markers can use Co2 and air. We usually recommend beginners to buy a 0.8L 200 bar air tank.You'll get a reasonable and good tank perfect for your use! You can find such a tank here! Otherwise, you can find all our air and Co2 tanks here! If you're unsure about what to choose, send us an email at post@game-on.no.

Paintball masks

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

Paintballs

As a beginner or for rental markers like T12, Tippmann 98, and SW-1, we recommend buying affordable paintballs, as they are harder and don't break as easily - We highly recommend Virst Field Paintballs! Generally, we say that 500 shots are enough for one tank, but if you're playing all day and have the opportunity to refill the tank with air/Co2, we recommend having between 1000 to 2000 paintballs. A box contains 2000 paintballs. You can find all our paintballs here! We also recommend buying pods to hold paintballs while you play and a pod belt.You'll find both here!