Transporting Kit When Playing Abroad

[onasilverbike]

You'd be hard pushed to find a single paint ball marker in Germany that shoots under 214 fps in semi only, F stamped or not! The whole thing is a grey area, the DPL runs EPBF rules, 10 bps ramping and <300 fps as do the major scenario games. Other, of course than those bought brand new, even if you were to buy a mew marker in Bitburg you would then have to break the seal (Loctite) on the regulator and unseal or retrofit a suitable board, or compete at a significant disadvantage.

There have of course been examples of non-Germans having their equipment seized, I believe Bullets had theirs confiscated whilst driving through Germany from Hungary a few years ago and a certain US pro player had a bag full of Dark Angels seized and was facing importation of firearms charges and jail time but eventually successfully contested the charges and had his record cleared.

I have only repeated in my previous post what I was personally told by one prominent German paintball dealer, adding the caveat that some local German police may not be as conversant with the laws as others and may seize any non f stamped marker. However, every year, countless non-Germans have managed to temporarily import paintball equipment for events, Mahlwinkel and Bitburg included. I have heard more reports of cylinders being randomly seized but the TSA from luggage in the US than equipment being confiscated in Germany in recent years.

 

[alexunder]

I looked into the subject as I travelled through Germany with markers and a sword on one occasion so wanted to be well informed.

You do not need an F stamp to transport a marker in Germany but it is bloody helpful to have one as Police will have less to think about if they stop you for some reason and you will have less to worry about. To get an F stamp you need to visit one of the licensed paintball shops and they will take it for a test and mark it for you but - you have to travel with it in Germany first to take it to the shop.
You can get your marker stamped in one of the places from the list below:
http://www.ptb.de/cms/fileadmin/internet/fachabteilungen/abteilung_1/1.3_kinematik/1.33/Marken.pdf
Stamping a marker yourself is illegal and can get you into trouble.

If your paintball markers carry the marking F in pentagon you don't need any additional permit. For other markers with muzzle energy of more than 0.5 Joule you need a permit issued by a German weapons authority. If the energy exceeds 7.5 J you need a permit like for a live firearm.
You could avoid those requirements if you do not carry the markers along and send it via postal shipment instead.

You may need to get a special permit to transport a gun (they consider paintball markers to be guns) - they call it Mitnahmeerlaubnis and you can get it from the police/authorities of the land where you enter Germany. You have to pay them a fee of €25.56 and you can transport your marker legally.

In Germany the weapons authorities of the Laender issue such permits. Usually you choose the one that is competent for the place where you stay in Germany or where you enter Germany. The contact information can be found here:
http://www.zoll.de/SharedDocs/Boxen/DE/Fragen/0049_waffenrechtlich_zustaendige_verwaltungsbehoerden.html?nn=166794

I also heard that you need to transport your marker in a gun case even if it has an F stamp. Not sure how true it is though as it was not the info I got from an office.

Having said that I did not bother to get any permits or stamps as it would cost too much time and money and just travelled with markers in the boot or in a bag strapped to the motorbike but at least I knew what the risk is

 

[Spikerz]

Anyone fly with easyjet? I know AerLingus is cool with gear, (reg off tank of course), RyanAir needs the grip frame off, or else they think it's a firearm and freak out.

What about easyjet? Declare it as sporting equipment? Keep quiet?

 

[Razordave]

Anyone fly with easyjet? I know AerLingus is cool with gear, (reg off tank of course), RyanAir needs the grip frame off, or else they think it's a firearm and freak out.

What about easyjet? Declare it as sporting equipment? Keep quiet?

I use easyjet and norwegian every 6 weeks or so with my kit. I dont declare it just take regs off. A couple of months ago with easyjet at copenhagen i got called out in the departure lounge and two airport security were waiting for me at the desk. They took me outside to a van with my bag in it and showed me an xray of it and asked me to open it. They could see my bottle on the xray but couldnt tell if the reg was off which it was, i had two markers in there but they had no interest in them, once they saw the reg was off that was it. No problem there

 

[Spikerz]

Perfect! Thank you so much!

 

[Hannibal]

Thanks, very helpful

 

[Bolter]

Thanks, very helpful

@Hannibal rather than spamming, make a thread to introduce yourself, tell me about your past paintballing adventures, if its clear you aren't a scammer, I'll forward you to 20 posts. I understand why you are doing this, I'm not telling you off, but there is another way forward

 

[Hannibal]

Apologies,
Was trying to get my post count up.
Not played in 10 years and trying to get a new kit set up to play again and hopefully join a team.
Not out to scam anyone, finding the whole community very friendly and helpful and have received some brilliant advise so far.
Want to get my kit all sorted over the next few months and start properly in the new year and attend events.
Will have more time to play from December when I relocate from north wales to Shropshire.
Sorry for being impatient and spamming.... won’t happen again!
Thanks for lifting the restrictions so I can now post.

@Hannibal rather than spamming, make a thread to introduce yourself, tell me about your past paintballing adventures, if its clear you aren't a scammer, I'll forward you to 20 posts. I understand why you are doing this, I'm not telling you off, but there is another way forward

 

[Greg k]

If you go and play in Germany do you still have to have your marker F stamped?
if so where do you get them done?
Thanks

 

[Tom]

If you go and play in Germany do you still have to have your marker F stamped?
if so where do you get them done?
Thanks

A legitimate F stamp is provided by the manufacturer —— if it is compliant