This article is authored by Niko Brain--free-lance writer and Paintball devotee’.
Check out his web site: www.your-paintball.com
About The Author
Niko Brain is a freelance writer and offers sound advice on the sport of Paintball. He runs his own personal paintball site and enjoys writing reviews on Paintball Markers & Paintball Equipment. He also likes to write about Tippmann Paintball Guns and Spyder Paintball Guns. He's your "average joe" paintball player and is an up and coming industry resource that loves to help newcomers to the sport.
Paintball Safety – What all parents should know!
To concerned safety-conscious parents, the idea of having their children run around in the brush firing hard, paint-filled capsules towards each other at high velocities can be more than a little disconcerting. The laundry list of potential danger includes sprained muscles and broken bones, head injuries, cuts, scrapes, splinters, and worst of all, eye injuries. With this kind of perception towards the dangers of the sport, it's no surprise that little Tommy isn't going to be getting that brand new paintball marker he wanted for Christmas.
Thankfully for little Tommy, all that fear is unfounded, since paintball boasts one of the most safety-centered approaches of any extreme sport. The rules governing both woodsball and tournament paintball are extremely safety-focused and are rigorously enforced. Let's go over some of the general concerns regarding paintball safety, and how the rules address these problem points.
"Ow, My Eye!"
We'll kick this off by addressing the most serious threat in paintball. When the idea of a sport involving small, high velocity projectiles is mentioned, I'm sure the first phrase that pops into most people's heads is the ubiquitous "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye," accompanied by images of themselves or someone they know being blinded in a hail of paintballs. Feel free to banish those thoughts from your mind. The "Goggle Rule" is the most heavily enforced rule in paintball, bar none. Goggles or facemasks must be worn by players at all times when they are playing or near other people who are playing. Paintball masks are designed specifically to mitigate direct hits from paintballs traveling much faster than the regulation standard of 300 feet per second. Utilizing heavy duty plastic or thermal lenses, paintball masks and goggles are designed to ensure that players' eyes are protected from stray projectiles. In addition to this, most masks have ear-protecting flaps worked into the design to prevent trauma to the eardrum and the general discomfort that accompanies having an ear canal filled with paint. In short, paintball masks have got you covered.
Black and Blue All Over
OK, so paintball players don't have to worry about losing an eye any time soon, but aren't those paintballs whizzing around pretty fast? People are soft, and aren't exactly made for withstanding projectile impacts. The last thing you want is to go out for a game of paintball and come back with internal injuries. Luckily, the good folks in charge of paintball regulations kept this in mind when they were doing their policy-making. As mentioned earlier, the regulated speed limit for paintballs is 300 feet per second. This rule is strictly enforced. Players with markers that break the speed limit either have to give their guns a velocity adjustment to get it back down to par, or rent one of the field's own markers. Paintball speeds are measured using a device called a chronograph, and every field is required to have these devices on hand. Indoor fields will often cap the speed 50-80 feet per second lower than outdoor fields due to the closer proximity of players in an enclosed environment. Players engaging in free-form games outside of a regulated field are strongly encouraged to purchase a chronograph of their own to ensure that they are not posing a danger to their teammates or to the opposing force. At these regulation-reduced speeds, you're still going to be going home with bruises, but you can rest assured that there won't be anything more serious than that.
Strike One, You're Out!
The elimination system in paintball is set up to take care of some of the concerns that arise when you get a bunch of people running around with their adrenaline pumping and put simulated projectile weapons into their hands. Rambo Syndrome (the desire to pump the opposing force full of lead, or paintballs as it were) is alleviated by most fields considering a single paint-break as an elimination, with additional shots being penalized. Often, overshooting or “bonusballing” will lead to the removal of both the offending player and one of his teammates, which is definitely not the best way to make friends on either side of the field.
Unrealistic Military Movie Disorder, defined as the need to blindly fire from cover in the hope of scoring a lucky hit or dissuading the other team from taking time to aim effectively. This is generally prohibited due to the possibility of hitting players and referees repeatedly without even noticing. With the one shot elimination system, players are discouraged from rapid fire antics, and thus the safety status quo is maintained.
Put Your Fear Aside
As you can see, the rules that govern paintball safety are well thought out, and are designed to be preventative rather than reactive. Paintball has been statistically shown to be one of the safest sports to participate in, with a 0.2 percent rate of injury among players. Statistics have also shown that baseball, racquetball, basketball and hockey are responsible for the majority of sports-related eye injuries, which is a testament to the effectiveness of paintball masks. Realistically, the sport is as safe as it possibly can be, and is actually much safer than many other sports. So please, give little Tommy a chance. He'll be safe, we promise.
Niko Brain
9/26/08
www.your-paintball.com
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