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Bill's Paintball Page

PAINTBALL - The Ultimate Thrill in the Ultimate Sport

I take one for the team.

Paintball is an action sport in which your goal is (mainly) to capture a flag in enemy territory and return it safely to your territory. In this game you are equipped with paintball guns (more Come get some! commonly called in the sport as "markers") that use CO2 or Nitrogen to shoot balls of water soluble dye incased in a gelcap (paintballs) at you around 295 feet per second. The paintballs do not harm you since they break on impact and leave you covered in various colors. The markers can be either Stock (pistol-like that hold no more than 12 balls at a time), Pump Action (Pump the gun to reload), Semi (pull the trigger to shoot 1 ball), or F/A or Fully Automatic (Hold down the trigger to shoot a barrage of balls). Semi Automatic fields are the most popular (but not nessicarily the most fun.) Whenever you are painted with a paintball, you are out of the game. Then you leave the field and wait moronically for the round to end. Whichever team has retrieved the flag and returned it to their base or whichever team has the most players after about 15 minutes of play wins.

I myself have played several times, with my friend DAN, BRYAN,and JIM. I plan to play many more times, hopefully in things called "big games" or "scenerio games", which are more role-playing based than standard paintball. Some players just play recreationally, and some actually play as amatures and professionals. I would classify myself as strictly recreational. So be warned that you're going to get a very recrational opinion on this game...

If you haven't played before, starting is not hard at all. First locate the nearest field and give them a call. Usually field have "open play" days which allow single people to walk on and play, or if you have a group of people, most fields will give you a private session. Most fields have rental markers and masks to play with, and a good day of paintball will only cost you about $35-50 on Taking fire! most fields. Paintball has been proven to be a very safe sport in recent studies. It was shown that it has a lower injury rate than bowling or even golf. The paintballs only sting for a second, and with proper safety gear (which is required to play) the chances of getting hurt are reduced to almost none. Anyone can play Paintball, no matter what shape you are in, there is a position on the field that can suit you well.

I now possess my own equipment and I use it whenever I can, either to practice or to play. I am a proud owner of a Tricked Spyder Compact (Information on the Spyder Semi-Auto), a semi-automatic paintball marker with a bunch of goodies including a Smart Parts BOSS Barrel, Star-Fire Bolt, High Capacity Expansion Chamber, Bottom Line set up, Field Strip Back Block, Raised Sight Rail, 45 Grip, and Lightened Trigger. It is also run with a remote to a 12oz. tank which provides plenty of shots for a full day of Paintball. The 12 oz. is carried in a Indian Springs 4+1 (Half-Pack) which keeps me from running out of shots in an intense game as well.. My Spyder has functioned great since purchase. I have put about 10 cases through it so far, and I am pleased to say I have had very few ball breaks. Overall, I like my Spyder and have had no major problems with it what-so-ever. I am also known to carry a Tippmann SL-68 II pump-action marker for those pump games, and a stock class PGP pistol. Recently I've found a lot of enjoyment playing on Semi fields with my PGP. Marking people with tricked out 'Mags and 'Cockers with a PGP is one of the most enlightening things I think you can do while on a Paintball field... The PGP is also carried as a back-up when I use my Spyder. This is the setup that I use when I play here,. With this set up the Spyder can hold its own against more professional markers like Automags or Autocockers. The trigger is fast and smooth and the marker itself is very lightweight. The Spyder is comparable to such other popular markers as the Tippman Pro/Mini-Lite, Carbine, VM-68, Patriot II, Raptor, Alley Cat, F2/F4 Illustrator, and other middle class paintball markers of the kind. I will warn you however that paintball is NOT an inexpensive sport to get into, and it is very addictive. Starting equipment will cost you up to $300, but you will want to upgrade it as time goes by. I started out with a $200 set up, and now I have spent over $800 just for upgrades and improvements and other markers!

There are a lot of people who see paintball as a war game. They believe paintball all about killing and harm, which only introduces violence to the world. To them I must ask what is boxing and football and wrestling and any other sport in which one of the main objectives is to physically harm or damage your opponents? Paintball compared to these is a totally NONVIOLENT sport in the physical sense. On the move!Some paintball players may see it as a war game, but to most (especially professional players) it is a well defined sport with rules and regulations and not a display of hyperactive terrorists with semi-automatic weapons. I will admit that there are some who do abuse these weapons, a perfect example is those teens in California who shot a few people with a marker and caused them injury. These people make me angry. There are already too many people who think that paintball is a dangerous and violent game, and now these people (who I really doubt have ever gone to a game, played the game, or read anything on the game) will have a new reason to try to ban or limit the sport. There are many sports that have sporting equipment that is used illegally, and have no ban or regulations on them what-so-ever. Most of the players I play with and the players on the teams that I have played with (with some exceptions) have been great, no arguments, no fights, no egos either. Virtually all Paintball players are very careful with their equipment and DO NOT use it in an reckless manner. The people who do use it in a restricted way are almost always shunned by all other players. No I do admit there are people in the paintball community who are just bad apples, and they are spread out evenly throughout the community from, professional cheaters who refuse to take hits unit they are escorted off the field by a ref, to newbie game wreckers who wipe off their hits and forget to acknowledge the rules of engagement, to recreational evil-doers who shoot their guns way hot for no good reason. If you should happen to meet one of these players the first time you go (and they usually travel in packs) don't let it get you down. most of us are very honorable, very safe, and very respectful to the other players. What I am trying to say is paintball is a great sport that is very safe and if you have not tried it you should. I strongly recommend it for teamwork, fun, strategy, and exercise all in one sport.

If you are interest in this sport, I recommend that you visit Warpig's Paintball Page here, or explore a bunch of paintball links here. If you own a Spyder or are looking for information on it, check out The Spyder Owners Group. this place is the greatest thing you will ever do for your marker.


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