new and confused

[nick "the shadow cat"]

Hi all. I've played a few games as part of larger groups ( stag dos, birthdays and a works do etc) and would like to make a bit of a hobby out of it. I really don't want to look like a complete nut bar when I first go. Is there any advice you can give me to stop me from looking like a complete muppet. I'm pretty clued up on the safety and rules side of things. Any imput would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Caffeine]

If you're all good with the safety and rules then you can deal with most questions and answers as they come to you. Check with your field to see if they hold Walk-On days or something similar when a lot of experienced players will be playing. It may be a bit daunting or intimidating at first but there are a lot of benefits to playing with others who are more experienced.
If you're playing with experienced players they should be happy to help you out. Ask questions and learn from what they tell you. Don't be afraid, paintball is often used for team building for a reason People will be happy to talk to you and give advice.
Along with that, be co-operative. Before a game, take advice on tactics from those who know what they're doing and give advice and tactics to others with even less experience. Continue to communicate throughout the game and learn new tactics, strategies and ways to play through observation.
Have you looked into getting a set of your own gear? If not then you should look into your first mask before anything else. This way you can play without fogging up and in more comfort. You'll also be more identifiable to other players. There are a few threads on this forum on choosing masks or you can start your own if you have your own question.
Finally, it's going to be a lot more fun for you to bring a friend or two along with you when you play. Maybe you could even convince a friend to trying getting into the hobby too!
Hopefully this was helpful for you, remember to post up more questions if you have them

 

[Tom]

Don't feel obliged to buy the gear straight away
Find your local site that runs walkons, call them to confirm you can come and rent the gear.
That way you benefit from walkon prices, get to meet the guys and check out other gear. People will be happy to show off their gear and give advice

Where are you based, what do you fancy about paintball - anything specific like woodsball, scenario, urban, tournament / speedball / airball - or do you just like paintball?

Checkout the paintball calendar for events of all kinds around the country
http://www.paintballcalendar.co.uk

... And if you're not aware of it, check out 'what paintball costs' for the general price range of different styles - no matter what it's cheaper to play then at standard punter games (depending on how much you end up travelling and how much you shoot)

http://p8ntballer-forums.com/threads/what-paintball-costs.153010/

 

[vDubLeics]

i went out and bought my A5 straight the way and i was lucky that get on with it. when i look back i should have tried other markers. but i would say in my opinion if you have tried other markers and you know what marker you want then look either 2nd hand or for packages. my A5 was with a starter pack and the mask wasn't the one i wanted, but it was a good mask with a thermo lens that got me started.

BUT... always speak to people about their kit, like everyone else has said we are all happy to talk about our kit, and in my case i don't mind letting people take a few shots in the range if they are looking into markers

 

[nick "the shadow cat"]

Hi guys thanks for answering. My nearest field is in Birchington. Kent. I think they do walk ons. I'm leaning more towards woodsball but I'd like to give situational paintball a go. I've tried speed ball but im not all that speedy and ended up as more of a target. As for kit I'd be looking for a package deal as I'm on a budget. Do you think it would acceptable to turn up in camouflage and combat vest even though I'm a noob? And cheers for the input

 

[nick "the shadow cat"]

Oh sorry tommikka what is airball?

 

[Caffeine]

Hi guys thanks for answering. My nearest field is in Birchington. Kent. I think they do walk ons. I'm leaning more towards woodsball but I'd like to give situational paintball a go. I've tried speed ball but im not all that speedy and ended up as more of a target. As for kit I'd be looking for a package deal as I'm on a budget. Do you think it would acceptable to turn up in camouflage and combat vest even though I'm a noob? And cheers for the input

When it comes to package deals, watch out. They often come with low quality masks to bring down the price, this is bad because your mask is the most important piece of equipment to get and you want it to be right for you. Also, make sure that any package deal you look at has a High Pressure Air (HPA) tank rather than a Co2 tank. Nearly all fields use HPA and they have fill stations for HPA, a Co2 tank will do you no good.
Turning up in camouflage and a combat vest? Completely acceptable, if anything it's preferred. Wearing your own stuff means it'll fit you better and you'll be more comfortable, as a worker at a field, it means one less coverall for me to deal with at the end of the day
The combat vest may not do you so much good unless you're carrying pods of paint or anything on you but it'll be handy at a later time when you do have that stuff, so don't worry about it until after you have that kind of stuff.
Packages that I would recommend:
BZ Paintball has a custom package builder. You don't save a lot of money, only a bit. But you can choose everything if you know what you want and at least save something. http://www.bzpaintball.co.uk/custom-package-builder
RAP4 is advertising a used complete set: You have to phone someone for a price but for around £300-£400 (or less) that's a great set of kit: http://www.rap4uk.com/Used-Empire-Invert-Mini-Red-Silver-Accesso-p/custid14846.htm
What kind of budget have you got? Have you got an idea of what kind of marker you would like to get in a package?

 

[kaihros]

Caffeine's on a roll at the moment! Don't hesitate to ask, it's one of the best ways to learn. Shop around, second hand items can be just as good as brand new

 

[nick "the shadow cat"]

Ok thanks. My budget is about£200 give or take. I'm glad you said about the mask. I was thinking of getting a full coverage mask because the last time I went I got shot inthe top of the head and after that I had to sit it out for a while. I've seen a marker starter kit for £115 from ************* I dont mind buying a mask separately for better money because the head shot was probably one of the worst pains I've ever felt. The marker is a jt tactical r.t.p. it seems to have pretty good reveiws , and alsooi will cheack out bz paintnall

 

[Caffeine]

I'm guessing that you're talking about this package:

The marker is basically a clone of the Tippmann 98 so you can expect simple performance and solid reliability.
It comes with a one time use Co2 tank so you'll need to buy a HPA tank. They're about £40:
A simple 200 shot hopper, very simple, you can upgrade to an electric loader at a later time. You may need to shake the hopper occasionally but it'll work just fine.
Squeegee: Good to have. Used for cleaning the barrel.
Barrel Plug: A lot of fields prefer if you have a barrel sock. Barrel plugs can often only work if you shoot once by accident because they come off. You'll want to get a proper barrel sock, about £5 minimum:
Tool kit and spare parts: Just a few allen keys and a manual for taking the marker apart. All you really need.
JT Raptor Mask: Like I said, low quality mask. According to reviews the foam is quite stiff, the plastic is a bit low quality and changing lens doesn't seem relatively easy. It is JT so it's related to the JT Proflex in the way that it's very easy to breathe through so that's something. Not great all-round though. So yeah, you'll want to get something of higher quality.

So to round up:
The package is £115
A simple 48 cubic inch, 300 psi HPA Tank is about £40
A barrel sock is about £5
So you're spending about £160 on all that leaving about £40 for a new mask.

I usually say that you should spend a minimum of £50 on a brand new mask. The cheapest mask I can find that I would describe as good would be the JT Proflex at £57. However you seem concerned with coverage. Getting shot on bare skin on the head is pretty painful. The Proflexes aren't too great for that since the ear pieces are pretty much just fabric. There are full coverage masks but take my word for it; they're not very good. I would say try looking into getting a nice, thick beanie hat of some kind, a lot of masks fit really nicely over a Trapper Hat (you can look it up, I wear one in the winter) which is great for protection and getting paintballs to bounce off your head.
So yeah, looks like you may want to raise your budget so you can spend maybe around £60 on a mask. You have a lot of options in that price range and even more if you go up to £70. For choosing masks there are a few threads on this forum about it.
Short version of my advice is: Go to your field to play on a walkon (Wear your JT Raptor mask, just as good if not better than rental masks), ask around players with their own masks if you can try on their masks for fit and comfort, make a list of ones that you like, go home and look into prices and such.

There ya go Hope this helped