Budget balling. Tips and hints on how to get started cheap cheap.

[Duke1143]

Can be a good way to save some money, but can also cause you problems as many normal sports bags either won't be big enough for all of your kit or will not be strong enough to cope with the weight.

What I would suggest is that people look at things like Cricket bags. Most are comparable to paintball kit bags in terms of size, can carry plenty of weight, have decent wheels for if you don't feel like carrying them, and are far cheaper.

For example, right now if you want a big kitbag from Planet Eclipse then you're best option is this:

£150
34x82x36cm

However you could buy the following as an alternative:

£40
30x83x30cm

Both bags have a separate compartment at the end so you can split your kit up, but the Kookaburra bag has a large compartment at either end so you can keep muddy shoes or something away from the rest of your kit at the end of the day. Build quality is pretty much identical, size is pretty much identical, and yet the cricket bag is £110 cheaper.

It's a no brainer really.

love a post like this, helps with telling you what and not but give your a perfect example! cheers!

 

[M4rkm93]

If you're playing woodsball/scenario or even tournament, try and stick to shooting semi auto.
It will force to pick your shots better and save you ripping through loads of paint unnecessarily.
Unless you're holding lanes down playing Millenium events/ CPPS, etc. you don't need to be blasting through paint.

 

[RandyOne]

Hi All,

I'm just starting out again and i must admit i was worried about the price of all the equipment.

However I went to a sports clothing shop near where I stay (Blue and Red logo for anyone wanting to guess) and picked up some really good stuff for very little compared to paintball branded gear.

Such as MMA Knee pads and Elbow pads. £40 on paintball site for just the knee pads. £15 for Knee and elbow pads in the sports shop.
Gloves, £30 on paint balling site, £7.99 for cycling gloves, they are basically the same.
This extended to clothing also.

I think the main point here is " Just because your playing paintball doesn't mean that you need to only wear paintball".

 

[Pandamonium]

If you think that you need something think twice. We all get shiney kit syndrome and you should talk to some one with the gear first to see if its worth it. And wait, shop around, push for bargains. think of the resale value if you have to have it. see if you will loose money on selling it again

 

[H]

Don't buy an aftermarket barrel, the stock one that comes with your gun is great.

 

[Tom]

Don't buy an aftermarket barrel, the stock one that comes with your gun is great.

Further to that I would say a barrel sizing kit will grant you the ability to size and gain 'consistency/efficiency' but they are not cheap. You can go for partial kits with certain sizes, but that way you compromise by not having the full range which means if you don't have the right size on the day and overbore then there's little point in having the kit

Instead gather a variety of barrels over time with different sizes
You don't need flashy barrels, and standard ones will be a good size
You never go too far wrong with 'overbore' - it means you don't get 'optimum' efficiency, but it will be reliable

Pick a marker with a standard barrel thread and build up your barrel collection over time

 

[Canon Fodder]

Once you've got your first set up stay out of the classified ad's on forums for a year. Every time you go to a walk on someone will be shooting faster/further/more accurately than you are and you'll convince yourself that if you bought the same kit as them you'd be as good as them.

Most of the time it's the player rather than the equipment that's made the difference, keep what you've got and play more.

 

[jahlad]

people have already mentioned that the first bit of kit you should buy is a decent mask, but if buying 2nd hand unless it was from someone i knew i would always change the lens for a new one, for the sake of a lens i wouldnt want to risk my eyesight on a lens i do not know the history of. also if buying a 2nd hand mask check if the previous owner smokes, i can think of nothing worse that putting someone elses ashtray on my face

 

[James Gleeson]

Run a magfed marker, paint is essentially expensive, mag fed encourages you to take your time and pick shots instead of wasting paint at something your not quite sure if you can get. Added bonus you can play mag fed games aswell. If you have paint left over, take it home, shoot in your garden and if you still have some left, use it next time you go paintballing, providing you store your paint correctly (Not all sites let you use your own paint, I play at NPF and you are allowed site paint only)

 

[connor96]

quite right ive had a pair of events 07 and there lasting forever

cannot go wrong with a good mask currently looking at the e-flex and have used the i3 as well once you use a good mask the rentals are the worst thing in the world