Certainly want to spend £40 minimum. Goggles are the single most important piece of kit you will ever own. I personally recommend the V-Force Grillz or Profiler. Although I am not a fan of the JT goggles they are still worth looking into. Best thing to do though is try them on first find out which sit most comfortably on your face. Don't worry too much about buying an aftermarket fan because you can make one quite easily with an small PC fan and a 9v battery, which is a lot cheaper and smaller than a dedicated unit.
Firstly, thanks very much for your detailed response and it's been the best one I've had on all the forums I've visited. All advice I've been given on this forum has been greatly appreciated, but thanks for answering all the sections in one go
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Ok, Goggles. The advice I was given on the Grillz is that breathing through them is more difficult (I believe the expression was 'like breathing through cardboard). The Profilers sounded good, but due to reasons stated earlier think I'm going to go with the JT ProFlexs I think.
Since this will be your first marker don't aim too high but also don't go too low. People have quite rightly suggested Tippmanns for woodsball due to their ruggedness (They're like the AK's of the paintball world, indestructable), but for the same money you can find an Autococker Trilogy. These don't shoot any faster than a Tippmann but they are smaller, lighter, better suited to a 14" barrel, can run on CO2 and HPA and when you upgrade to another marker it makes an excellent backup to keep in your bag.
HPA is deffinatly the better option to CO2 as HPA is more consistent and cleaner meaning it won't foul up your marker. And yes HPA is allowed for rec use.
Many people have recommended Tippmans. I guess the main thing for me is the 14" Barrel to increase accuracy, ability to upgrade and reliable. Recball / 'Punter Hunting' / Walk-ons are the things I'm going to be doing mostly. If the Tippmans range can do the things above,
Furthermore, I've been given clearance to use HPA by my local site, and they said they'll fill it up for free for me, so I'm ruling CO2 out of the question.
Red dot's aren't really needed as you will tend to aim with the paint (fire a few shots, adjust your aim, eliminate player), although on some markers they do look good
The Red Dot Sight is mainly for a bit of style/fun/increased accuracy, so if Tippman's can have them that's a plus.
A barrel sock is mandatory at every site you go to. I recommend getting a couple if you can incase you lose one when you're on the field. Do not buy a barrel bung. A lot of places won't let you use it as it is so inferior to a sock.
I'll definitely be picking one of these up then.
As for loaders, if you go for a Tippmann A5/X7 it won't matter because they have the loaders built into them. For other markers I recommend the Reloader B. I've had mine for about 2 years now and it hasn't let me down once.
Looks likely that this is what I'll be going for. What about the Tippmann .98 ? Does that have a loader built in ? Also, what's your opinion on Halo Loaders ?
Clothing is all a matter of what you feel comfortable playing in. I don't recommend a hoody because you will soon start sweating and regretting the choice. A camo jersey like the Tippmann/Spec-Ops one that Warped paintball sell is a good choice.
I regularly wear a hoody and haven't had a problem yet, plus I like the extra back of the head protection. But I'll keep all this in mind when buying
If you go for gloves I wouldn't recommend the armoured ones with the plastic on the back, personally I find them irritating. Proto, Dye, JT gloves are all good choices to make. There are many more I just can't think of them.
Funny you should mention those gloves as they're going to be the ones I was going to get for £6.50 from my local site. Guess it's down to personal preference - I use normal gloves, my mate is using the ones mentioned above and he likes 'em so I'm going to trial them.
Knee pads I'd say are a must, I know my knees would be knackered if it wasn't for my pads. Elbow pads are a good thing to have but not overly essential unless you plan on diving and/or crawling through bushes.
I do a lot of diving, sprinting and crawling in my game, so I'll probably pick up some cheap Knee + Elbow pads from a local cycle shop or something.
Shoes designed specifically for paintball aren't nessecery, football boots/hiking boots work for me. There are also the football boot types with the soft blades which some people swear by.
Currently wear soft astro-turfs for comfort and the fact I have a spare pair. I'm a footballer, so the boots shouldn't be a problem if I decide to go with them. Not really a fan of big walking boots anyway, so I'll probably give them a miss.
The best advice I can give you is get down to your local site and see what others are wearing. Ask them about their kit, what they like/dislike and try to weigh up the pros and cons and make a decision from there.
Cheers, going for my 4th Paintballing experience a week today, so will be talking more in-depth about gear with the Marshalls I know and any others that are there.
