Paintball has been around for many years now. While it started out as a niche pastime amongst mainly enthusiasts of war games, its popularity soon spread and the hobby now draws fans and participants from many varied backgrounds. Businesses even began sponsoring “retreats,” promoting the game as a team-building exercise. Eventually, leagues were developed, fields built, and an entire industry sprang-up around it. These days, specialty equipment is designed specifically for the sport, including paintball guns, goggles and protective gear, and clothing.
Equipment
While many players prefer to create their own equipment and clothing, official league play often requires professional-grade gear which must be purchased from retail outlets. Luckily, most of this can be found online, though many large sporting goods outlets carry at least a small assortment of paintball gear and accessories, and some areas even have stores dedicated to the sport. These professionally manufactured accessories are developed by top designers and play tested in the field for maximum results.
Take paintball pants, for example:
While any ordinary pair of heavy pants would suffice for most players, the pants which are manufactured for official, competitive league play, are created by major designers and rigorously tested by professional athletes before being released to the general market. Many include kneepads, extra protective measures, carefully designed camouflage patterns, fabrics to facilitate airflow, and other features hobbyists would almost certainly overlook, or never even think to include. While these features arguably make the wearer more effective, more to the point is that the cost – when compared to the price of regular clothing, added to the time and resources spent developing them for use in the sport – is reasonable. Why spend time and money developing homemade gear which may or may not be acceptable in competition when official equipment, maximized for play and guaranteed to be allowed in the game, can be purchased for an equivalent, or lesser, price?
Official Gear
Obviously, participants have to buy official, professionally manufactured paintballs and paintball guns in order to play, but many prefer to create their own clothing and protective gear. While this was fine in the earlier days of the sport, even necessary in some cases, those days are long gone. Professional-grade paintball gear, equipment and accessories are now widely available at competitive prices, both online and off-. Paintballing is far more a sport than hobby now, and accessories from companies such as Draxxus, Stingray, Tippman, and others are sure to outperform homemade gear, cobbled together by amateurs. Even better, the time and resources saved allow for more time to focus on the really important things, like practicing.
Author is a freelance writer. For more information on Paintball gear, please visit http://www.paintball-discounters.com/.
Xtreme Paintball
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Extreme Rage Neoprene Paintball CO2 12oz Tank Cover skin BLUE 14oz 9oz NEW! $2.99 |
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Extreme Rage Paintball Harness 3 Pod – 300 Round – Camo $8.99 |
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Extreme Rage Multi Caliber 100 Round Paintball Hopper $9.95 |
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Extreme Rage Hopper Camouflage Neoprene Cover Paintball $11.95 |
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PAINTBALL NEW EXTREME RAGE 90 SWIVEL ELBOWS CHROME $4.25 |
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PAINTBALL NEW EXTREME RAGE 90 SWIVEL ELBOWS BLUE $4.25 |
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PAINTBALL NEW EXTREME RAGE 90 SWIVEL ELBOWS RED $4.25 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Dot Paintball Marker Gun Combo W/ 6+1 $174.95 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Dot Paintball Marker Gun Combo Bag Case $184.95 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Laser Paintball Marker Gun W/ 18″ Barrel $184.00 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Laser Paintball Gun Combo W/ 6+1 Pods $219.00 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Laser Paintball Gun Combo Bag Case $229.00 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Laser Paintball Gun Combo Remote Coil $239.00 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Dot Laser Paintball Marker Gun $174.00 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Dot Laser Paintball Gun Combo W/ 6+1 Pod $209.00 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Dot Laser Paintball Gun Combo Case Bag $219.00 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Red Dot Laser Paintball Gun Combo Remote $229.00 |
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EXTREME RAGE 5 DISC PAINTBALL SQUEEGEE $4.95 |
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2-EXTREME RAGE 5 DISC PAINTBALL SQUEEGEE $6.95 |
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3-EXTREME RAGE 5 DISC PAINTBALL SQUEEGEE $8.95 |
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4-EXTREME RAGE 5 DISC PAINTBALL SQUEEGEE $9.95 |
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EXTREME RAGE PAINTBALL OIL $4.95 |
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EXTREME RAGE PAINTBALL OIL AND SQUEEGEE $6.95 |
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EXTREME RAGE BARREL SWAB FOR PAINTBALL GUN BARRELS $4.95 |
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lot paintball stickers decals airsoft Evil Extreme Rage huge spyder lot new $0.99 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Paintball Gun EGRIP $179.99 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme EGRIP Paintball Set $199.99 |
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Extreme Rage Paint Ball Helmet with eye protection $35.00 |
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Extreme Rage Maxx55 Compact .50 caliber Mechanical Paintball Gun 50 cal pistol $6.00 |
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US Army Carver One Extreme Sniper Paintball Combo Gun Apex 2 14 Model 1 Tippmann $219.99 |
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Paintball PT Extreme Delta 68 pistol spare magazine $9.95 |
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Extreme Rage(pure energy) 20 oz. Co2 Paintball tank $30.00 |
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Gotcha! Extreme Paintball PC NEW $4.99 |
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Extreme Rage paintball belt harness pod pods black nylon NEW $10.59 |
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5 pc EXTREME RAGE Paintball Bunker Inflatable Air Field Battle Obstacles $149.99 |
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GOTCHA! Extreme Paintball (Viva Media- PC CD-ROM, RATED EVERYONE 10+)BRAND NEW!! $1.99 |
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Extreme Rage Paintball Overdrive dB Hopper Loader – Smoke – 745 $46.99 |
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BEVIL HANDPAINTED 3191D Extreme Sports Paintball “THE ONES YOU KEEP” $20.00 |
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Extreme Rage 100 Round Multi Caliber Loader – paintball $10.95 |
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12 Extreme Rage Paintball 90 Swivel 1/8″ NPT CO2 N2 HPA Elbow BLACK new BULK LOT $18.00 |
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12 Extreme Rage Paintball 90 Swivel 1/8″ NPT CO2 N2 HPA Elbow new SILVER LOT $12.00 |
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Tippmann US Army Carver One Extreme Paintball Gun Sniper PACK W/ Neck Protector $164.99 |
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Extreme PaintBrawl 2 (Pc Game) windows NEW paintball $1.97 |
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PMI Extreme Rage XRAY X-RAY Goggles Paintball Mask $21.95 |
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Smart Parts Ion Paintball Marker *USED* with Extreme Rage Hopper and accessories $100.00 |
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Empire Extreme Rage ER3 Paintball Gun – Black $73.95 |
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Empire Extreme Rage ER3 Field Paintball Gun – Black $73.95 |
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Extreme Rage CO2 Bottle for Paintball 12oz $0.99 |
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Extreme Rage CO2 Bottle for Paintball 12oz $0.99 |
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EXTREME RAGE PAINTBALL STICKER SHEET #1-38 STICKERS $7.50 |
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EXTREME RAGE PAINTBALL STICKER SHEET #1-38 STICKERS $7.50 |
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GOTCHA! EXTREME PAINTBALL! (CD-ROM) $12.99 |