DIY Paintballing

[the_sheff]

Hi,

 

I am very interested in doing paintaballing, and have read about some good info however I have a few questions I hope to get responses to:

 

Does anyone know of any land where paintballing is allowed?

 

Does anyone know anyone who has some land, e.g. a farmer that would allow us to paintball on his land for a small fee? Where could we contact he or she?

 

What happens if I go paintballing in some random woodland and i get caught, what is the penalty?

 

Me and some friends are interested in buying some paintball guns, could someone tell me the basics about maintaining them, whether I would need to learn to repair them, how I fill the air or co2 up and where, also about any extra hidden costs that may appear, and any other basics that a newbie would need to know. Thanks

 

Thanx

 

The Sheff - because I like to keep things cooking

[tinsel_ninja]

I know nothing about DIY paintballing, but Paintballing DIY sounds like fun. Why not advertise your services in B&Q - you get to shoot each other, someone gets their room decorated. Sounds like a great plan.

 

(By the way, I think there's a paintballing place near Malin Bridge - opposite the Rivelin Valley road - they might be able to give you some (sensible) advice).

[Till Man]

OK - things to consider here.

1. Any farmer who lets you paintball on his land may be liable for any injuries you may sustain. You would need to draw up some form of disclaimer.

2. You would have to be aware of any livestock that may be disturbed or injured by your actions, and be prepared to make reparations.

3. You would have to be aware of any crop damage you may cause and be prepared to make reparations.

 

Your idea of just picking some random piece of public woodland is irresposible and dangerous. If it is public woodland then there will be members of the public there who will not have the benefit of protective goggles etc. Accidents happen and all that...........

 

My advice - go to somewhere it is properly organised and have a really good time!!

[tinsel_ninja]

Actually, I just remembered somethign else - there are lots of serious players who take their own gear to organised paintball arenas.

 

That way, you can get into all the kit and get good value from taking you own ammo, but all the costs for insurance etc are sorted out, plus you should get interesting combat areas.

 

I guess it's not something you could do anytime you liked, unless you came to some agreement with the owners.

[lalaland]

Hi,

 

I am very interested in doing paintaballing, and have read about some good info however I have a few questions I hope to get responses to:

 

Does anyone know of any land where paintballing is allowed?

Yep, organised areas such as Dangerzone and the Yorkshire Paintball Centre etc.

 

Does anyone know anyone who has some land, e.g. a farmer that would allow us to paintball on his land for a small fee? Where could we contact he or she?

This gets asked a lot, the setup cost would be quite large so no one ever bothers normally. If someone can genuinely orangise a large group it's worth looking in to, but there have to be serious rules set in place for safety's sake.

 

What happens if I go paintballing in some random woodland and i get caught, what is the penalty?

It's been known in the past for the armed Police to turn out to paintballers in public. I advise strongly against it, if you were caught you'd be looking at a magistrate's appearance and a very serious bollocking and that's if you didn't injure someone. If you did then I'd expect to pay compensation for a good many years to come. It's not worth it, don't do it.

 

Me and some friends are interested in buying some paintball guns, could someone tell me the basics about maintaining them, whether I would need to learn to repair them, how I fill the air or co2 up and where, also about any extra hidden costs that may appear, and any other basics that a newbie would need to know. Thanks

Buying kit, there are loads of options. Dangerzone have lots of markers (guns) from £50 upwards. Go to their shop near Hillsbrough and take a look, Chris in there is very friendly and will sort you out.

There's also http://www.fatbobspaintball.co.uk which has some cheap guns and expensive guns. They also do a starter kit for £100 which gets you everything you need to start playing.

If you can afford it get a Tippmann, they aren't massively expensive but are very reliable and customisable later on if you wish. Fatbob's do the US5 manual and electric which is a cheaper copy of the Tippmann A5, also well worth looking at, they'll last you a long time and are very good fun.

 

Maintaining them is easy, make sure you use paintball lube every now and then, clean them after each day and just generally look after them. If there's a problem they are often fixable (I can strip my own marker / gun and I'm no technical wiz) very easily or you can take them to the shop to have them serviced.

 

To start off with I suspect you'll be using CO2, it's cheaper to get kitted out with that as you only need a CO2 bottle. Get a 20 ounce bottle if possible, they last longer (most starter kits include these).

 

I get my CO2 filled up at Dangerzone for free if I need to test my gun / marker after modifying it or cleaning it in the garden. While playing on site they'll also fill it for free.

 

Paintballs themselves are pricey in some places and cheap in others. If you are playing with mates then buy your balls together and you'll save a lot of cash. We currently pay about £27 for 2,000 which is pretty good.

 

Other costs are up to you. You will need a mask (from £10), a marker / gun (from £50), a gas bottle and a squeegie (about £2-5). That's about all you need, but you can buy more if you wish.

 

People normally buy cammo clothing from army surplus stores, again it's cheap. I also bought a 'battle pack' that allows me to carry another 800 paintballs and a gas tank on me when playing, this comes in handy when you need to reload and it's also a good place to stash your pyros (smoke, flashbang or paint grandes) if you are using them.

 

Paintballing can be as cheap or expensive as you want. If you have between £50 to £100 spare then you can normally kit yourself out with a basic setup. From there on it's up to you how much you spend. Most site will lend whatever kit you don't have while you save up for it if you do it in stages.

 

Playing with your own kit on 'walk on days' is much better than the usual paintball days. You'll play in decent teams that actually work together and are friendly, you'll learn a lot and you'll find the games are a lot more fun than your average daily type game.

 

If you really want to get in to it and want some advice then either ask on here or PM me. I'm not expert but I've been playing a couple of years and know what it's like to be starting out without a clue.

 

2 bits of advice though, 1) DON'T ever play in public 2) Definately take up paintball, it's too much fun for words and not as expensive as people think.