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Search through the general guides on here
Goggles are most important
Getting to retailers, trade stands at events or checking out other players gear will allow you to see what's around, get some hands on, try on a few goggles
There is no such thing as paintball gear for tournament, woodsball or scenario
They are all paintball
What there is though is ergonomics - in a tournament/speedball style game instant and instinctive moves may be vital - something ergonomicaly right, with a small footprint to make you faster at getting the shot off, a smaller target etc will help
Rof is less of an issue - maximums are capped so the majority of appropriate markers and hoppers will keep up and put out enough paint
Something ideal for speedball is just as good for the woods
The woods and scenario field will be bigger and more diverse than the tournament field. You can forgo some of the speedball needs, but with them you can still take an advantage in the woods
Air - avoid co2 unless it is the system used at sites you attend (and if so this will be a factor in your choice of gun)
By default to for a 3000psi aluminium/steel cylinder. This saves over £100 compared to a fibre cylinder
If money is no object then go for a fibre cylinder - but put more work into deciding on the right one. For fibre you need to consider your needs for size and shape for ergonomics
You need much more gear then goggles, gun, hopper, batteries, and air.
You will need paint to play with (buy it where you play)
You need pots/pods to hold the paint
You need something to carry the pots/pods (a pod belt or a vest rig)
You need good footwear, and depending on your style you need general grip, sprinting grip, comfort for all day wear. Vitally you need ankle support
You need playing clothes (and remember to pack clean clothes to go home)
You do not need specialist clothing, you need something comfortable, preferably in layers so you can wear as much or as little.
Loose soft clothing promotes bounce
Consider you forehead, head and hair. Wear a cap or bandanna, and preferably forehead padding
Consider your neck, but don't overdo a big scarf and affect your airflow which can increase goggle fogging
Add sundries such as barrel swab, rubber goggle squeegee to shift paint, microfibre to clean the lens (just a bit of wet and a bit of dry - no fancy chemicals, basic tools, spares for your gun and knowledge to do basic checks, a handheld chrono can be nice
You need something to carry it all
An important note - if you plan on speedball and intend to join a team don't buy everything - you may suddenly find yourself picked up by a sponsored team and you have already spent all your money on the wrong brands or colour scheme then need to buy discounted but still a lot of £ from the sponsor
Not sure on your preferred style or not aware of all that paintball can offer - check out the 'what paintball costs thread' for a summary
Goggles are most important
Getting to retailers, trade stands at events or checking out other players gear will allow you to see what's around, get some hands on, try on a few goggles
There is no such thing as paintball gear for tournament, woodsball or scenario
They are all paintball
What there is though is ergonomics - in a tournament/speedball style game instant and instinctive moves may be vital - something ergonomicaly right, with a small footprint to make you faster at getting the shot off, a smaller target etc will help
Rof is less of an issue - maximums are capped so the majority of appropriate markers and hoppers will keep up and put out enough paint
Something ideal for speedball is just as good for the woods
The woods and scenario field will be bigger and more diverse than the tournament field. You can forgo some of the speedball needs, but with them you can still take an advantage in the woods
Air - avoid co2 unless it is the system used at sites you attend (and if so this will be a factor in your choice of gun)
By default to for a 3000psi aluminium/steel cylinder. This saves over £100 compared to a fibre cylinder
If money is no object then go for a fibre cylinder - but put more work into deciding on the right one. For fibre you need to consider your needs for size and shape for ergonomics
You need much more gear then goggles, gun, hopper, batteries, and air.
You will need paint to play with (buy it where you play)
You need pots/pods to hold the paint
You need something to carry the pots/pods (a pod belt or a vest rig)
You need good footwear, and depending on your style you need general grip, sprinting grip, comfort for all day wear. Vitally you need ankle support
You need playing clothes (and remember to pack clean clothes to go home)
You do not need specialist clothing, you need something comfortable, preferably in layers so you can wear as much or as little.
Loose soft clothing promotes bounce
Consider you forehead, head and hair. Wear a cap or bandanna, and preferably forehead padding
Consider your neck, but don't overdo a big scarf and affect your airflow which can increase goggle fogging
Add sundries such as barrel swab, rubber goggle squeegee to shift paint, microfibre to clean the lens (just a bit of wet and a bit of dry - no fancy chemicals, basic tools, spares for your gun and knowledge to do basic checks, a handheld chrono can be nice
You need something to carry it all
An important note - if you plan on speedball and intend to join a team don't buy everything - you may suddenly find yourself picked up by a sponsored team and you have already spent all your money on the wrong brands or colour scheme then need to buy discounted but still a lot of £ from the sponsor
Not sure on your preferred style or not aware of all that paintball can offer - check out the 'what paintball costs thread' for a summary
New to paintball myself building up my kit to try and get in to tournement paintball although i grew up on paintball fields as my dad was captain of topcats but this was back before speedball/sup air
Great post tommika very informative will be a good read for alot of new players
Mikey
Great post tommika very informative will be a good read for alot of new players
Mikey
I did forget something:
Gloves
These do not need to be anything special.
Hands, fingers, and particularly knuckles get shot. There are also cuts, scrapes and nettles.
If you're into diving then gloves will help.
The thinnest glove will still reduce direct skin impact.
If you use pyro then having a glove on will help protect your hand if you do silly things such as me and throw back flashbangs.
*** Not the cleverest thing in the world - treat pyro with respect, even safe levels of paintball pyro can injure if not respected ***
And always use reputable suppliers that meet UK/Euro safety standards - a few years ago one of our guys had a mk9 detonate on striking in his hand - wearing quality gloves which took the damage that you don't want on skin.
Gloves
These do not need to be anything special.
Hands, fingers, and particularly knuckles get shot. There are also cuts, scrapes and nettles.
If you're into diving then gloves will help.
The thinnest glove will still reduce direct skin impact.
If you use pyro then having a glove on will help protect your hand if you do silly things such as me and throw back flashbangs.
*** Not the cleverest thing in the world - treat pyro with respect, even safe levels of paintball pyro can injure if not respected ***
And always use reputable suppliers that meet UK/Euro safety standards - a few years ago one of our guys had a mk9 detonate on striking in his hand - wearing quality gloves which took the damage that you don't want on skin.
Would fingerless gloves work fine? I wouldn't want my fingers being covered because I'd feel like it's restricting me while I'm playing
Yes - fingerless gloves have always been my preference - and pretty much for the same reason you have given
With full fingers on your trigger hand covering the finger may restrict the space you have in the trigger guard, and reduce the feeling in your finger to feel the trigger point.
It's also sometimes frustrating trying to switch on electronics with a gloved finger
When you are holding the gun or diving onto the ground the ends of your fingers don't realy need the protection. It's the knuckles that matter!
Any comfortable glove will do - I'm not too keen on the hard backed paintball gloves, and mostly use either of the Empire THT glove, which is fingerless or the tippmann gloves which have fingers but I've either cut the fingers or made holes ..... I'll explain further on
(I don't know if the tippmanns are available anymore-but other paintball and non paintball gloves are available)
Other gloves i have used are cycling gloves, weightlifting gloves, biker style fingerless gloves etc
For cutting the tippmanns I have done something similar to mike Phillips in the video below. However on the right hand for my main shooting hand I have cut them to fingerless, for the left hand I have cut holes on the insides of the fingers as mike shows so that I can get my fingers out to shoot left handed or to press buttons etc
I only cut for the shooting fingers on each hand, so the thumb and two fingers are uncut, on the right two fingers are fingerless, on the left two fingers have holes so can be covered or uncovered
To bring the above into context, pictures of how I cut my gloves:
Contrary to what I thought when I wrote the above post, I only cut down two fingers on the right hand. (I'm old and the memories a bit Shakey!) So it is half full glove and half fingerless
The left glove remains fully fingered but I have two holes cut in the two first fingers
Note that I have cut 3 sides of each hole which leaves a flap that covers the finger when it's inside (as if that makes any difference)
To get my fingers out its easiest to do two handed, but I can reasonably easily get a finger out one handed with a little wiggling. That means I can do so if I want to press a button or make it easier to switch hands without stopping shooting.
Contrary to what I thought when I wrote the above post, I only cut down two fingers on the right hand. (I'm old and the memories a bit Shakey!) So it is half full glove and half fingerless
The left glove remains fully fingered but I have two holes cut in the two first fingers
Note that I have cut 3 sides of each hole which leaves a flap that covers the finger when it's inside (as if that makes any difference)
To get my fingers out its easiest to do two handed, but I can reasonably easily get a finger out one handed with a little wiggling. That means I can do so if I want to press a button or make it easier to switch hands without stopping shooting.