Is Paintball Expensive?
- Thread starter BZSammi
- Start date
I think to start off with it can be. Whilst you get in to the sport more and later on and get paint sponsorship (or a shop sponsorship to supply paint) this can help. But if you wanted to play the full Mills series, one event of the Mills or even the NXL it can be very, very pricey.
I only play scenario weekends. It's about 70 quid ticket, 4 cases of paint then cheap accommodation. Sometimes camping for free. Food all in, no change from 200 pounds. Get a full 6 hours each day on field. So i reckon for return per £ it might be one of the better ways of doing it.
Definitely agree with that. In the last 18 months I've spent over £6000 and I've not bought any rifles. Some lads are doing 100 rounds every weekend with the big calibres which is costing them £130+ Aswell as fees for comps and such
I only play walkons at mayhem ,£50 entry for the day , inc a box of paint , but always upgrade costing an extra 5 pounds , free refreshments all day , that's not expensive in my book
I think the reason why paintball is seen as expensive is because of startup costs and any non walkon/tournament events.
To get an entire setup, you're looking at spending at least £300 on gear, which is a pretty large sum of money! However, people don't see that this will most likely carry you through the next few years of playing, unless of course you decide to replace some items. Rental days also make people think that it's expensive. Your regular rental day will see you paying £8 per 100 balls ( or somewhere in that region ) and a case of paint could set you back three figures depending upon where you are. If you're at a walk on like Diamond wars or you head down to CPPS to play, you can pick up a case for £25, albeit one case might not do you, it's cheaper in comparison to rental days. Whilst it's seen as expensive, it really isn't once you get past the rental stage of paintball.
To get an entire setup, you're looking at spending at least £300 on gear, which is a pretty large sum of money! However, people don't see that this will most likely carry you through the next few years of playing, unless of course you decide to replace some items. Rental days also make people think that it's expensive. Your regular rental day will see you paying £8 per 100 balls ( or somewhere in that region ) and a case of paint could set you back three figures depending upon where you are. If you're at a walk on like Diamond wars or you head down to CPPS to play, you can pick up a case for £25, albeit one case might not do you, it's cheaper in comparison to rental days. Whilst it's seen as expensive, it really isn't once you get past the rental stage of paintball.
I think selecting a hobby based on the cost is pretty dumb. Either you can afford it or you can't.
I think it's more important to have a realistic view of the running costs and your own hobby budget. One of the most common mistakes is to consider the setup costs only -- that's where we get the players with gear in a closet and never any money to actually play...
Starting from scratch the setup cost is the first hurdle to pass but in the long run it's running costs that really matter. You don't need a new marker every year but you need to pay for paint and field fees every time you go out to play.
I've found that a full season of local tournaments with training costs 2000-3000e in running costs. May sound high if, but with some planning if you can set aside 200e per month, even during off-season, you should be set.
P.S. I used to own a 20-year old Porsche. After that I've found all other hobbies pretty cheap
I think it's more important to have a realistic view of the running costs and your own hobby budget. One of the most common mistakes is to consider the setup costs only -- that's where we get the players with gear in a closet and never any money to actually play...
Starting from scratch the setup cost is the first hurdle to pass but in the long run it's running costs that really matter. You don't need a new marker every year but you need to pay for paint and field fees every time you go out to play.
I've found that a full season of local tournaments with training costs 2000-3000e in running costs. May sound high if, but with some planning if you can set aside 200e per month, even during off-season, you should be set.
P.S. I used to own a 20-year old Porsche. After that I've found all other hobbies pretty cheap
Honestly, I don't feel it is compared to other sports. Take for example mountain biking or skiing. They have massive entry costs. But in paintball, if you just choose the right marker, it is relatively inexpensive. It doesn't have to cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Rather you can opt to shoot for slightly lower quality you still not take too big of a gameplay hit.