Paintball is one of the most intense recreational activities around. To this day it may be one of the few sports that doesn't involve wheels that is still played in the natural environment. That is, unless one is paintballing in an artificial natural environment.

But what of a player's gear? Paintball gear is made up of a mask, goggles, a compressed or CO2 air tank, a paintball gun, and, of course, a player will need paintball bullets. What most individuals underestimate is the pain that even a small paintball can deliver. The legal limit for the speed of a paintball is 300 feet per second. Oftentimes a paintball player will be seen with large padded clothing. Obviously, this is because he doesn't want to get hurt too badly. It is possible to bleed from getting hit with a paintball bullet. However, most of the time, the gun in question won't be this strong.

A player needs an air tank, or several readily available. The air tanks serve as clips for the guns used in play. Most newcomers to the game will be told that there are two sorts of air tanks. There are compressed air tanks and then there are CO2 air tanks. CO2 chambers are more economical. Also, CO2 is more likely to combust; not in a flame sense, but in a compact explosion sense. A player will be more likely to have a quicker, more effective shot when playing with a CO2 chamber, than with a compressed oxygen tank.

The paintball guns will be effective when the shooter is experienced and when the chamber and other various parts are taken care of well. Obviously, if someone were to join a game, and that person has never shot a gun before, then there may be an issue as far as the player is concerned. The other more experienced players may just get a good laugh at the new guy, so to speak. But in most cases, this won't be a bad thing. Everyone must begin somewhere.

Keeping paintball gear clean is just as important as having it. If a player uses a steel-framed paintball gun, then he knows that his parts may just begin to rust every so often. So he will, or at least it is assumed that he might, keep his parts well maintained. A dirty gun barrel is almost like having no gun at all, since it malfunctions. So, it's important to keep all gear and related accessories clean, and mend them when need be.