With air I'm going to disagree
New prices are approx £30 for 3000psi aluminium/steel or £150 for 4500psi fibre
Unless you are flush save the money for other gear (goggles are most important) and playing
There are benefits with fibre cylinders though:
More air in bigger cylinders even at 3000psi
More air when 4500psi fills are available
They are lighter - but not really as much ligher as people say. Balance is more important, and that means not buying the biggest but the one that ergonomically fits you
They are viable for retesting and using over 15 years
Steel/aluminium cylinders are not usualy viable to retest as they are so cheap, but can be disposed and replaced. You can buy about 7 steel cylinders with the lifetime costs of one fibre cylinder over 15 years. That's 35 years of air, or multiple cylinders at once
Fills depend on where you play, the majority of sites don't have 4500psi fills and the majority of games don't last long enough to empty a cylinder unless you constantly shoot
We have not identified what kind of paintball you play or your style to see whether you need the slight weight saving to be slightly faster, whether you are relatively weak to notice the weight difference
If you are running and diving a lot then also consider bashing you cylinder - knock a steel cylinder and it will take it, chip the fibre wrap and it should be retested - an extra £25 test to the two required for it life
