Do you paintball?

[DrewKaree]

Yeah, contacts are a no-go for me.  Something about eye-size and me being in the x% of people who can't comfortably wear them.  I tried 'em out about 10 years ago and they aren't for me.

I've got a V Force Shield mask headed my way - thanks for the recommendation.  The cost on the prescription stuff is gonna be silly-expensive, I know it without even calling 'em - although if this mask doesn't work, I'll investigate just HOW silly they're talking. 

It looks like the airholes on the front go higher than I'd like, but I can deal with that if the damn thing doesn't fog up.

I've got a line on a Tippman 98 from someone I know who MAY be buying a new marker, so if HE decides to get a new gun, I'll be getting a new gun, and he's only had the thing a year.  I don't know what exactly he all has on it, but I know he's got some funky hopper (dunno if it's automatic) and a barrel swap he's gonna leave on there for ~ $125.

[brophog]

It's likely a standard battery operated hopper to help balls feed better. That, and a Tippmann for 125 isn't a bad deal, especially if you know it was taken care of well.

[SithMaster]

has anyone added a scope to there paintball gun?  ive read an article about it and it seemed like a good idea though in the context of the article it was a larger game.

when i went paintballing we used rented guns and they were like shooting a bolt action rifle and when i tried my friends autoloader it was like a well automatic but was an improvement.

i dont wear glasses and my mask still fogged up and when i asked for anti fog stuff the guy at the counter looked at me as if i was crazy.  for the holes you could try covering them up and drill others where they would be better for you.

if you can get somewhere isolated then you dont need to worry about paying for field time.  just use barrels, trees, even some stuff people are throwing away as cover.  i wanted to do this since i could save some money to buy more ammo but in my area there isnt really a place to do such a thing.  but the field would most likely be better then one you have to pay for thought it depends on the place.

[brophog]

On the scope:

No, not terrible useful, due to the short ranges. A paintball is going to travel straight for about 50-60 feet. That means most shots have quite a bit of an arc on them. I do play with some guys that use very short range scopes to rather good effect, with them sighted in at about 100 feet.

What mask are you using that is fogging?

[tep0583]

I playted for ~10-12 years, but quit about 5 years ago due to time constraints and a general lack of interest by my friends.

At the time I played, JT had some of the best masks out there, some of which were designed specifically for people who wear glasses (the sprectras, I believe)

No matter what mask you get, don't go cheep on the lenses. Get the dual-pane "thermal" lenses. Anything lss foggs like a mofo, for me. Also JT makes a fan that attaches to the top of their goggles and moves air through the goggles. Airflow is very important to keeping your goggles clear. Evenwith thermal lenses, I could fog my goggles on hot, humid days, if I stayed still for a period of time. Usually they would clear up very quickly when I started to move again.

Guns:

It's really hard to go wrong with Tippmans. They're built like tanks and stand up to a real beating. A field I used to ref on used a lot of Tippman Pro/lites and they were rock solid. We put very little maintence into them. As with ny Tippman, though, you'll want to replace the barrel. Somethng like the flatline or a DYE Boomstick will make a huge difference. (people seem to be split 50/50 about the flatlint, where most people who own DYEs seem to love them. Personally, I 've shot a Mod98 with a flatline and I was very impressed.)

You might also consider a Smart Parts Ion, if you're going to play regular. I've been thinking about getting back into playing and the Ion is a top contender on my list. It'll cost you more than most Tippmans, but they come with an impresive feature set for the price point. (They can be had for just under $300). Of course, the Ion would benefit from going low-pressure, so you can get into a couple hundred in accessories fairly easily. (Nitro tank and electronic hopper, mostly)

Rate of fire sems to be one of the important features in speedball and the Ion is capable of rate of fire in the 17 balls per second range.

http://www.smartparts.com/Products/Ion.aspx

I'm going to be really torn between the Ion and an A-5, if I decide to get a new gun.

[DrewKaree]

I think the upgrade guns we paid for were A5's, I'll have to check again.

I saw the thing about adding fans, and I've used fans for other stuff (some safety masks we use for work) so I checked that out right away, but all the masks looked just about identical.

I'm guessing I get my mask on Monday or Tuesday so we'll see how those work.  I just can't believe the friggen rental masks would NOT handle glasses, since it doesn't hurt any of you non-glasses-wearing folks, especially since it's a friggen rental anyway   I didn't expect a fan or some brazilian dollar mask, but the mask I bought wasn't that dang much comparing it to regular masks anyway, or - and here's an idea a place that's got pay-to-upgrade guns how about paying to upgrade the friggen MASK?  I'd suspect they don't need to have more than a dozen or so of the "better" masks, or just have them for folks like me.

It just pissed me off that I could pay for a better gun, but I've got to buy/bring my own mask JUST because I wear glasses an they could care less.  There were 3 of us glasses folk in my group when I went.  One could get away with not wearing her glasses, since she was far-sighted, and the other 2 of us had almost identical problems.

Since we KNEW about it before we went, why doesn't the friggen PARK, who SHOULD know this and PLAN for this?

We'll see how this mask works out when I get it, and I'll be telling them they're gonna upgrade my gun for free since I'm bringing my own damn mask

[tep0583]

I hear ya, man.

Most every time I use field masks, they fog. (dur to cheep single-pane lenses)

Just from that standpoint alone, a mask is a god investment.

[Bones]

Masks - what or where can I find out what will work well for someone with glasses?

Forgive my input, but I am just about ready for bed and didn't read the rest of this thread so apologies if this stuff has been mentioned.

I have seen masks with fans on them, I don't know if they suck or blow but either way circulating air should reduce the fogging.

I experience the same thing with bike helmets and sunnies. In winter I used to wear a thin silk balaclava thingy. it is just a hood with two eyeholes, looks like something you would rob a bank wearing. You breath directly through the silk.

This really seemed to reduce the foggy visor significantly, enough that it was business as usual again.

The only drawback is it ain't pleasant if you sneeze while wearing them, so don't sneeze.

[WaRpEd]

Hey Drew
on the contact question I had trouble wearing hard lenses and switched to soft I still play occasionally. The new pair I got were a lot more comfortable than the ones I had even 2 years ago. You might want ot try contacts again. I never played well in glasses.
Just my two cents.

[M3talhead]

Hey Drew
on the contact question I had trouble wearing hard lenses and switched to soft I still play occasionally. The new pair I got were a lot more comfortable than the ones I had even 2 years ago. You might want ot try contacts again. I never played well in glasses.
Just my two cents.

Ditto on that. I played about 3 hours of speedball last Thursday and am so glad I brought my contacts. There's no way I'd have been able to slide and dive with glasses on.

[KenToad]

You really should checkout Airsoft.  I've played both and the cost of paintballs, not to mention the relative inaccuracy of the guns vs. airsoft guns, makes airsoft way more fun in my opinion.  Also, most people who airsoft seem to wear shooting glasses only, not those bulky full facial foggy deals.  In my experience, paintballs seem more dangerous, because of the greater mass of the ammo. 

I guess you'll have to play whatever everybody else plays.  Bigger games = more fun in either sport.  Personally, I have two Spring loaded Beretta 92fs pistols that I got at   :-XMal-Wart for $25 each.  They use clips rather than hoppers and shoot amazingly accurately.

Here's a pretty good article about Airsoft on Wikipedia: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft

Cheers,
KenToad

[Tailgunner]

I used to, haven't played in years. I started playing way back when paintball guns used 12 gram co2 cartridges, I still have a PGP with a serial number under 500. I gave it up shortly after autos became the norm, the game had evolved from what first got me interested in it so I sold all my gear (excepting my first PGP) and started buying and shooting real guns instead. 

As to the JT fan/goggle set, I had one and can say it works. It was annoyingly loud though, I ended up only running it when I absolutely couldn't see anything.

[tep0583]

I used to, haven't played in years. I started playing way back when paintball guns used 12 gram co2 cartridges, I still have a PGP with a serial number under 500. I gave it up shortly after autos became the norm, the game had evolved from what first got me interested in it so I sold all my gear (excepting my first PGP) and started buying and shooting real guns instead. 

As to the JT fan/goggle set, I had one and can say it works. It was annoyingly loud though, I ended up only running it when I absolutely couldn't see anything.

Man, that brings back memories.

I still have my original Nelspot 007 around here somewhere, along with various parts from my "upgraded" Nelspot. (Line SI quickchange, ect.)

[nullb0y]

i [played paintball once with a stock 98 custom and there were a bunch of those guys with the moded guns and ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.... uhh im 6'6 and out of 20 rounds got shot 2 times........ so yah aparently flinging all ur aumo out in half a second doenst do much good idk.... a little aim never hurt