"outlaw" paintball
- Thread starter Bullseye
- Start date
It's this that worries me and should provide sufficient concern to make sure we should discourage renegade paintball; for every responsibly minded set of players who do play renegade ball, you can bet your bottom dollar we got another bunch of idiots queued up behind them just ready to fulfill the 'accident waiting to happen' prediction .. I think it's something best left unexplored ....
That's the point. If any Tom, Dick or Harry were just setting up 'outlaw' games on any scrap of woodland or private land they could find - they may think they are doing it 'right' but they maybe complete retards and they could be doing it 'very wrong' without even being aware.
If you play at a site, the site will be subject to all the laws of the land regarding Health and Safety and registered with the local authority. They may also be a member of the UKPSF meaning they'll have signed up to the code of practise. Essentially, a site will be obligated to do things 'right' and the judgement as to whether they are doing it right or not is made by professionals........not by mates.
Whilst the vast majority of paintball players are eminently sensible and mature individuals, there are plenty of complete tools as well (a reflection of society in general as opposed to just paintball) and 5 minutes on any forum will give you plenty of ammunition to back that point up.
If there was to be an 'incident' whereby a member of the public was injured, or even a participating player was badly hurt, the consequent fall out for the industry in general could be significant and at the very least it would bring unwanted attention.
You can find a walk-on for a tenner nowadays where people can play in a controlled and safe environment. It'd cost you more than a tenner to net an area off, staff it, boundary tape off hazards, complete risk assessments, put up signage, bring in your own legal HPA provision, transport in your paint and keep it in decent condition and the other million and one things that I can't be arsed to list.
Final point, if a participant or a member of the public were injured, the land owner would not necessarily be exempt from prosecution nor civil claim just because he'd rented it to you and you were insured. If one of my kids were injured by a stray ball as they cycled along next some private land that was hosting an 'outlaw' game, I could just as easily pursue the landowner for permitting his property to be used in a way that represented a danger or hazard to the public.
I'll be honest, the above arguments are only scratching the surface.
Paintball isn't a cheap hobby. To play paintball costs money. If you can't afford to pay a tenner to local site owner for a walk-on - then you probably have the wrong hobby. That may sound tough - but it is what it is.
It's the same old story mate, a few will spoil it for the many. It's a shame you can't shoot common sense into people!
I do agree with alot all of you are saying.
£10 for a walk-on is good value but it's the paint from sites, they have to make money somewhere. Also some places (near me) don't entertain walk ons as there is very little money for it. This could lead to people who have a genuine interest in the sport to give it up which, as a knock on effect because the sport then declines in participants. Surely for the sport to grow (and for prices to drop) it needs as many players as possible (except the idiots, but that's another story).
Maybe some sites should try a membership a bit like golf clubs, where a annual fee allows play anytime as long as booked?
I still think that, done right, by the right people in the right place it is ok, by me at least. But not by, like I said, Joe public down the local woods
£10 for a walk-on is good value but it's the paint from sites, they have to make money somewhere. Also some places (near me) don't entertain walk ons as there is very little money for it. This could lead to people who have a genuine interest in the sport to give it up which, as a knock on effect because the sport then declines in participants. Surely for the sport to grow (and for prices to drop) it needs as many players as possible (except the idiots, but that's another story).
Maybe some sites should try a membership a bit like golf clubs, where a annual fee allows play anytime as long as booked?
I still think that, done right, by the right people in the right place it is ok, by me at least. But not by, like I said, Joe public down the local woods
Like a lot of things in life, it's a grey area, and in this case it needs to be reduced to a 'lesser of evils'; And in my opinion, there is a lot more chance of people being put off by potential 'incidents' whilst indulging in unregulated renegade paintball than will be turned off by paint prices at regulated sites ... to me, that's a no-brainer.
I suppose. But we are, at the moment, living in a money driven time.
Do not get me wrong, I am in no way saying what's right or wrong. I can see from here the cons outweigh the pros, which is a shame as I'm sure it would give the sport the booster shot it needs.
Do not get me wrong, I am in no way saying what's right or wrong. I can see from here the cons outweigh the pros, which is a shame as I'm sure it would give the sport the booster shot it needs.
NPF run membership schemes which include free entry on site, discount on paint, discount on equipment from the shop and discount on events. It works very well
Lets say someone owned a LOT of land - enough so a generous playing area in the middle is still 150 yards from the perimeter and there are no public rights of way across the land.
Now let's assume each 'player' has a decent modern mask, knee pads etc and they have all chrono'ed to 280ish fps and has been playing for over a year.
Now they set up a safe zone and use barrel socks in a responsible manner.
Then they set up signs at logical points of entry indicating the use of paintball markers on the land.
Now make sure there are at least 2 First Aiders present.
Under these conditions it would be safe and I would have no problem with it.
You've also done 90% of the work to setup a site!
If anyone is now trespassing on the land then they deserve what they get IMHO. Not sure on the legal side though.
On a side note there is a public right of way right across my nearest site, which is UKPSF registered.
Now let's assume each 'player' has a decent modern mask, knee pads etc and they have all chrono'ed to 280ish fps and has been playing for over a year.
Now they set up a safe zone and use barrel socks in a responsible manner.
Then they set up signs at logical points of entry indicating the use of paintball markers on the land.
Now make sure there are at least 2 First Aiders present.
Under these conditions it would be safe and I would have no problem with it.
You've also done 90% of the work to setup a site!
If anyone is now trespassing on the land then they deserve what they get IMHO. Not sure on the legal side though.
On a side note there is a public right of way right across my nearest site, which is UKPSF registered.