Paintball is a team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules that break upon impact. The game is played both indoors and outdoors on wooded or natural terrain with man-made obstacles, and may last from a few minutes to hours (or even days in scenario play). Players wear masks to protect the head and body, and are equipped with a gun called a marker that shoots the capsules.
Each player carries pods of paintballs, usually in a backpack-style harness or belt. Pod packs range in size from 10 paintballs allowing recreational players to easily carry a few extra rounds to 140-round pods typically used by tournament-style players. Most players also carry one or more markers in case they need to reload during the course of a game.
Markers are equipped with a loading chamber, hopper, and barrel. When a trigger is pulled, the marker’s expanding gas (usually carbon dioxide or high-pressure air) forces the paintball from the hopper into the barrel. When the gun is pointed at a target, a small burst of compressed gas pushes the paintball from the rear with much greater force than the air on the front side of the marker.
Although many movies show people getting shot at close range, this is not the norm in actual paintball. The rules of paintball prohibit shooting players closer than 20ft (6 metres), and our fully trained game marshals make sure that these are strictly enforced. Even if you do get hit, it won’t be as painful as in the movies – it will probably only sting a little and leave a mark on your clothing.