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How much space do you need?

CameronS

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2013
675
56
63
Kent
I wouldn't even bother......nog to a proper site for multiple reasons.....

1.insurance, you won't be insured, if you hit someone say a member do the public you could be in deep sh*t, you would have to provide netting (which is very expensive) no farmer/ land owner will let you have a shoot up, as it's their land and reputation they are putting at risk.
2. The amount of time you will waste looking for everything you could of played paintball half a dozen times.
3. Just go to a walk on some let you BYO (Bring Your Own paint) making it more cost effective.

Honestly just go to a site.....
 

Shepherd:03

London Legion
Apr 23, 2014
284
106
63
Bexleyheath
www.facebook.com
Pretty much what Cameron said...

If your trying to save money, getting hold of a fill rig / dive tank isn't cheap, probably not worth it for a one-off game.

If you just want to play as a separate group for the day, a lot of sites are happy for you to do so if you have sufficient numbers, usually around 20+ players. You'll have the benefit of site insurance as well as supervision by marshals.

Adding to Cameron's insurance point, if you hit a member of the public, or even if they just feel threatened, potentially you can have firearms legislation being used against you. There are also rules about how close you can be public roads and rights of way.
 

SamRutherford

New Member
Dec 7, 2014
7
0
1
52
I get all of that, but assume I have friends with farms (so it can be done a long way from anyone else, how much should I be telling him we need for the occasional weekends (perhaps 5/year). Thanks, Sam.

PS also have a couple of friends with hunting shoots, so I guess they're okay for paintball!?
 

Tom

Tom
Nov 27, 2006
4,082
1,211
198
Salisbury
www.TaskForceDelta.co.uk
Note: farms are not private land, they are a business premises

Though you can place controls on access there is liability to the farmer, their business insurers, probably bank ownership etc, and it's the place of work for milk lorry drivers etc

If it's an out of the way part of a farm then there will be people using that area without permission (dog walkers etc and teen drinkers)

You and the landowner/farmer become liable

I have even run events on paintball sites where we had to put in measures to 'guarantee' locals won't walk through a game - particularly because the locals 'knew better', but they failed to understand that we were conducting an event at a less busy time than normal rentals and using areas of the sites not normally used. We did have a dog walker appear through multiple additional boundary lines, warning signs and after the site had leafleted and spoken to locals

They had an interesting conversation with our Marshall stood looking out for trespassers in that area, had it not been due to the diligence of the site owners to know what happened in the wider areas and preparing they would have walked straight into an ambush
 

SamRutherford

New Member
Dec 7, 2014
7
0
1
52
Okay, thanks. Will ask the guys with the shoots anyway - a shotgun remains considerably more dangerous than a marker...
 

Gee Tee

1/2 man - 1/2 pogo stick
Mar 21, 2007
3,172
786
148
Dartford, UK
How would you feel if one of your friends or family was blinded or seriously injured, as a result of unsafe equipment or procedures on site? If the game isn't marshalled properly people could remove thier goggles in the middle of a game. The markers should also be chronographed to a safe velocity limit. If you are using compressed air or CO2 then someone qualified should be refilling the tanks.

Just book your group onto a site rental day. There are plenty of good and affordable places to play.
 
Last edited:

Shepherd:03

London Legion
Apr 23, 2014
284
106
63
Bexleyheath
www.facebook.com
With farms you would need to check whether there are any public paths going across the land, as there is a minimum distance you have to keep from them with paintball markes, or any air weapons I believe.

If you are able to fully secure and marshal a game area so that participants, landowners and the general public (including unexpected passers by) are safe, then the amount of space really depends on numbers and the terrain. Speedball tournaments are played on something like 20,000 square feet, with teams starting in range and sight of each other. On the other end of the scale you have big games like North v South played across 700 acres with hundreds/thousands of players on each side.

I hope you don't feel like we're ganging up on you, but I will reiterate that you should be very careful playing outside an actual paintball venue - firstly as it is so easy for something to go wrong and for someone to get hurt, secondly if the media get hold of it then it would badly affect the reputation of the sport at a time when the UKPSF are trying to grow it! How often in recent times has media attention led to hamfisted, over the top legislation? I really wouldn't want this to be the spark that strangles paintball in the UK.