How should a good indoor paintball/reball park be?

[larsjorgen]

I'm new to these forums, so hopefully I'm posting this the right place.

I'm planning to make an indoor paintball/reball park, but I'm not sure how it should be. Been watching some videos online, and it seems like people like to run and then slide on the floor to cover (like here around 1:30).

So should I have a parquet floor or something like that, maybe like the kind they have in sports halls? (Right now it's just a concrete floor).

Size - its about 220m2, is that too little? And the roof is 2.4 m high. And should I have these balloons (not sure what it's called in English) for people to hide behind, or would it work just as well with stationary objects made of metal or wood?

I'm planning to rent it out to people, so I kinda wanna give them what they want. And I'm not too familiar with this; I've been rec-'softgunning' for several years, but almost always outdoors.

 

[Liam92]

Most use of reball facilities like this is to give small teams training facilities. The ideal goal would be to get as close to a millennium size field as possible, since this is the standard. however with that area being 1620m2 it's not exactly easy to achieve that, especially with the cost of renting space in a warehouse etc to do that.
even for providing some space to train, 220m2 might be a little on the low side, so if you have the opportunity to increase the size even a little, this will give teams the space to practise 3 on 3 or similar. Personally I'd aim for around 600m2 to get some decent space if possible.

Floor wise, if you could i would lay down short astro turf which will provide better grip and take a little of the impact out of landing on concrete. This does mean it isn't quite as easy to sweep up the reballs as it would be on concrete but its not really a problem with short turf. especially if you invested in an 'ammo up' you would have no problem.

For the inflatable bunkers, these are the ideal choice because they are what are used by tournament fields. again, if possible get a set of millennium bunkers (not outdated tombstones, bricks etc.) since this will appeal to more teams. Obviously if the budget doesn't stretch this far then buying some cheaper inflatables will suffice. the advantage of using the inflatables is they are very easy to rearrange in to new layouts and this would be of significant benefit to teams looking to do some drills.

Hope all of this helps, and give us a shout if you get it going!

 

[Missy-Q]

If you are setting this up as a business, and want to make money...
Don't do speedball at all.
Don't do reball.
Don't use inflatables.
Don't cater to teams
Don't use astro-turf


The secret to a good indoor is in the drainage. You need to clean it regularly and you need the resulting waste to run off the property.

 

[larsjorgen]

Thanks for all the input!

We have played with our airsoft guns inside the same barn, and we never thought there wasn't enough space. But then again, we were only 6-7 players. Maybe it will look different when everything is set up. Time will show. I'll probably be posting pics here in a while.

A few questions for you, Missy-Q:

Why no speedball? Because of the small space?

Why no reball? (Quite frankly I find the splattering paintballs to be a lot more fun, is that what you meant?)

Why no inflatables? (We were considering using old car and tractor tires, as I've seen that been used before)

Teams will probably use the field a lot and we will lose money we would have gotten from regular customers. Was that what you meant? We are however planning on making it into a club, because if we do that it's possible to get financial support from the municipality.

Also, this is a barn with a concrete floor, as I mentioned earlier, and we have holes in the floor. It would be perfect for paintball; the walls are all water proof so it wouldn't be a problem to wash it off now and then.

But about the floor - will it be ok with just the concrete floor? I'm just thinking, I can't remember to have slid on a floor even once when shooting with my friends. We are off course just amateurs having fun while bruising each other, but so are probably 95% of the people that will use the field. Unless someone gives me a good reason for doing something with the floor, I think I'll just leave it as it is.

 

[F3Z]

I'm sure Missy-Q was pointing out the fact that reball centers do not make a profit generally speaking. Very few have managed to set up a reball arena and turn a profit because they try to cater to teams who lose interest pretty quick and the rental customers have no interest in playing on "bouncy castles" let alone without being able to see the hits.

Also concrete floor plus paint will be very very slippery and you'd be up the hospital with a broken ankle in no time.

 

[larsjorgen]

Oh, I see. Well that makes sence, really. I've tried reball a few times, didn't like it too much. A lot more fun with paint. But would old car tires work for as cover to hide behind.

I think we'll just leave the floor as it is, it's got a good grip right now.

 

[Missy-Q]

For the surface, sand, gravel or woodchip. if you use sand or woodchip you will cycle it every 2 years. Gravel can be washed in place provided you have good drainage, otherwise you have to cart it outside to clean it. Sand will be cheapest and is easy to fall on, but will cause you more maintenance on your equipment. I use gravel, but have used all of the above in the past.

No reball - because your main source of revenue is paint sales.
No teams - because they are an inferior source of revenue than recreational players.
No speedball/inflatables - because thats not what the recreational player (95% of the market) wants. They want milsim.

My advice is to find a role-model first. No-one commenting here runs a successful indoor field and so you're not going to learn too much. Try googling these - Defcon Paintball (Toronto), SGT Splatters (Toronto),. Rampage City Paintball (Calgary), Paintball Action Games (Edmonton). The Canadians lead the world on indoor fields, due to seaonal/weather contraints (they have a 7 month outdoor season), so they will be the best ones to follow in terms of the most effective business model. In contrast, Indoor fields have been less successful in the UK as you have a 10/11 month season, which makes outdoor fields a lot more profitable.

You also have to have a handle on your demographic. Indoor fields work in highly populated area's, downtown cores etc. If they have to drive out to you, it's unlikely they will drive past an outdoor to get to you. Indoor paintball is more costly to run, more hassle and requires more liability and insurance than outdoor. They are also limited by space so your expansion would have to be into weeknight games as your capacity is fixed by your square footage.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Missy-Q]

Re. car tyres. Yes they would work in a pinch, and companies will actually pay you to take them away. Typically you want something better than that though. Invest in 3/4" ply, build a Killhouse type arena, and that will get you the most traction in my experience. You need to fit 30-40 guys on there. If you can't fit that many on, you can't make it pay.

 

[Care_Bears]

Foam Re-Balls are going to be an issue here , to retrieve then wash then dry then re-use, Big problem with all that have tried this, ( also ruins the guns and hoppers ) If you don`t want to use Paintballs because of the liquid it leaves, have you thought about using powder balls ?? leaves a hit with a powder residue.