How much does paintball hurt?
It’s a question we get asked often. The thought of a paintball hurtling towards some sensitive part of your anatomy is not the most comforting thought for those unaware of the reality and relative safety of playing paintball with a reputable company.
The answer, of course, isn’t as simple as ‘it doesn’t hurt at all’ or ‘it hurts like a punch in the face’. The answer can even vary depending on the operator you choose to play with, as some go to greater lengths to make the experience as painless as possible. In this article we will look at a few ways playing with Delta Force Paintball helps to take the pain out of paintball.
Paintball Choice
There are paintballs… and there are paintballs. With so many centres to keep supplied with paintballs, our logistics department purchase large amounts of paintballs for dispatch on a regular basis. The quality and brand of paintball we choose must meet several standards in regards to quality. Test firing of each batch is all part of ensuring that when you are out in the field and getting shot at, you are safe without removing the thrill of the game. We reject batches of paint if they fail our quality control inspections and tests.
As Safe As You Make It
You’ve probably seen those macho photos of guys with huge red and purple, angry looking welts that they proudly display as badges of honour from their day on the battlefield. You can certainly come along and gather a few decent welts of your own if you want… simply refuse the protective safety gear we give you free with your admission fee. OR, you can finish your day of paintball and return home with your memories of a thrilling day with no obvious marks to your body simply by wearing our full protective system.
Dressed To Survive
As mentioned above, your admission fee (whether paid separately from paintballs or as part of a money saving discount pack) includes several items specifically designed to reduce the impact of an incoming paintball or three. Aside from the fully enclosed yet well ventilated helmet and goggles, we also provide you with fully laundered, camouflaged overalls complete with a padded neck collar. Under these overalls we also issue you with torso protection in the form of a lightweight but padded body armour vest which takes care of any hits around your trunk region. If you also chose to wear the armoured gloves available, it would be a very special paintball indeed that found any skin to hit.
Rules Are Rules
Various paintball operators tend to employ a variety of rules on their fields. How these rules are then applied, or how effectively they are applied, can be a matter of debate. At Delta Force we have so many years of experience with so many customers (surpassing 5 million in total) that we’ve had plenty of time and data to develop a set of game play options and rules that complement our policy of safety and making paintballing a recreation available to as many people as possible. Our professional staff have a set of rules to apply depending on the game play, ages or capabilities of the players.
But What About The Pain?
We have two very strict rules that will go a long way to putting you at ease. Firstly, NO head shots. We not only discourage shots to the head – we go one step further by ensuring no one gets eliminated from game play if they are accidentally hit in the head. It happens of course but the full head gear we issue protects you completely. If someone is seen to be purposely shooting others in the head then that person may lose their privilege to play paintball for the rest of the day. The other rule is we don’t allow players to shoot each other when they are within 3 metres.
In the end, if you wear all our safety gear and abide by the rules, it’s rare for a paintball to actually hurt, despite the impact when you get hit. However, that sudden, and often unexpected incoming round and splatter of paint is still an adrenaline pumping moment, and the fear of being sent to the re-spawn barrel or eliminated from the game at hand, is thrill enough.
When we consider we have kids as young as 10 years and adults well past retirement age returning to play, there’s no real pain in our paintball.
