Are you in the mood to play paintball with your friends and family but have no idea about paintballs and are confused about which one you should use? You have arrived at the right place because we have all the answers you are looking for!
Choosing the correct equipment is crucial in any sport, to begin with, i.e., baseball, volleyball, cricket, etc. It’s the same for paintball. Selecting the correct paintballs can vary depending on the requirements you are searching for.
It all depends on the priority you are setting. No worries, because we are here to help you according to all your needs. Here we will discuss the three types of paintballs in detail.
What Is The Game “Paintball”?
Paintball is a sport that is very famous all around the world for passing time and having a little fun with your family and friends. In the early 1980s, The origin of paintball in America happened. This game requires two teams whose players eliminate the members of the opposing team by hitting them with a paintball. People of all ages play this game (from 11 onward) with great enthusiasm and liveliness.
However, the fundamentally necessary types of equipment are the Paintball firearms, the paintball itself, and the protective armor, which is typically given to all players to minimize the sting from getting hit by said paintballs
What Are Paintballs?
Paintballs are small, rounded gelatin balls that contain a paint mixture of polyethylene glycol, and other non-toxic and water-soluble substances, along with dye. They are of different colors, and they are designed in a way to burst and stain the surface with the color of “paint” filled in them.
As stated above, they are non-toxic, meaning that they won’t harm you in any case of consumption. In other words, they won’t hurt you any more by giving you an acidic, bitter, and harsh aftertaste. They are also water-soluble. Fortunately for those who hate getting their clothes dirty, being water-soluble prevents the stain from being permanent and washing right off of your clothes.
They are one of the deciding factors in the game. Paintballs make it clear that the opposing member is indeed disqualified or crossed out of the game by tinting their gear.
Why Choosing The Correct Paintball Is Important
As said in the beginning, depending on the user’s personal needs, requirements, and type of match-making, their selection of items could be made easily. In the ambiguity and certainty of personal choice, users tend to go with suggestive intake or subconscious biases.
However, a better understanding could lead to better choices with the desired paintball. As different kinds of paintballs equate to different results.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF PAINTBALLS :
Now, moving on from the questions, there are various types of paintballs, each with its own focus factors and primary concerns
1) Professional Grade Paintballs.
2) Reclaimable-grade paintballs
3) Recreational-grade paintballs
They all center themselves on independent highlights of the equipment. Let’s discuss them in further detail:
PROFESSIONAL GRADE PAINTBALLS :
These high-quality paintballs are the most sought-after by players of all skill levels. They’re for advanced or professional players who own the world and compete every year. The reason for this is that the specific purpose of their manufacturing is to be used in World Cup and international tournament events.
The most unique factor about this paintball is its rigid yet lean shell, which breaks immediately on various sorts of external contact. Professional-grade paintballs are top-notch quality and are primarily known for their.68 caliber. Due to their endless qualities and traits, they are indeed on the pricy side of the shelf. Their benefits, along with their price, are high.
If you are a professional or tournament-level paintball player with a lot of money to spend, these professional or tournament paintballs are what you are looking for! They are the most expensive kind of paintballs, but trust me when I say that they will be worth every single penny you are going to spend on them.
RECLAIMABLE GRADE PAINTBALLS:
Reclaimable-grade paintballs are used in the fun or non-serious play of the game. We can say, they work by keeping all the “new to the game” players in mind. They are the most commonly used paintballs because they contain all the same essential factors as traditional paintballs, but are easier to access and handle. They are the most popular among beginner-level players in this game.
They’re reusable and popular. They feel less bad when they touch the skin as compared to professional-grade paintballs, they don’t hurt a lot as they are made of materials that don’t leave drastic damage, when in contact with the skin, so you need to be close in order for them to leave a noticeable impact. They were originally made for professional players to save money while practicing the sport so that they could bring some stability and toughness to their strengths.
Reclaimable grade paintballs act like normal paintballs, but they are made of recyclable items with no actual paint filling in them. Instead, they are made of rubber or foam and weigh a bit more than traditional paintballs. They are easily washable as they have the ability to float in water.
A reclaimable paintball can save you money in the long run. It’s said that a single reclaimable-grade paintball can be used over 20,000 times. You can do the math yourself and see how much money you can save.
RECREATIONAL GRADE PAINTBALLS:
These types of paintballs are an odd mixture of reclaimable-grade paintballs and professional-grade paintballs. They are designed for more than one purpose. They can act like both to an extent. For example, they don’t break right away like professional-grade paintballs, but they are breakable.
They can break when they come in contact with a hard surface that causes them to burst when pressure is applied while shooting. These are paintballs that are created using less frangible shells, so they can be hit with more force and therefore break more easily.
They are very unpredictable and also have quite an irregular shape and consistency. Due to this, they’re cheaper, so they usually fall toward the lower end of the spectrum. They’re best if you want a traditional paintball experience without spending a lot of money.
Moreover, they’re more popular if you’re just playing for fun and spending a good day with your friends or family. With that said, they are also the best choice if you are looking for a budget-friendly way to get your adrenaline pumping, release some stress, and ease your mind.
These were the different types of paintballs. Now the question that arises is: How do you decide which type of paintball is right for you?
Here are some aspects you should keep in mind while surfing through paintballs:
SAFETY :
No matter what we are doing, the feeling of being protected, safe, and sound is what matters most to us. Being in control of physical, psychological, or material protection brings us a state of peace and calm in exposed situations. Safety is always the first thing we are concerned about, and it’s something we take very seriously. It has been and will always be our top priority.
We never intentionally put ourselves or our loved ones in a position of risk, danger, or threat. Also, in general, we humans, are inheritably more attracted to less threatening and less physically compromising activities. For this purpose, different calibers of paintballs exist to match your preferred paint tolerance. Usually,.50 caliber is the most preferred one if you have a comparatively low pain tolerance.
WEIGHT :
The weight of paintballs can affect your performance and gameplay. The weight of the paintballs loaded in the paintball gun will make it hard to handle the gun and shoot. If you are familiar with a specific paintball size, then it is better if you stick to that unless you are practicing.
Weight affects speed indirectly. It mostly determines how fast an object can shift its speed while keeping the applied force in mind. This later plays a major factor in performance. I.e., heavy objects have more momentum, and so on.
The better the target is marked, the more advancing points the team gets. The WEIGHT of a paintball varies depending on the kind of paintball and the depth and imprinting impact are greater with the professional grade paintball as the paintball is made with a much more rigid shell compared to the other three stated types
CALIBER :
Caliber can be defined as the ”broadness of the punch evaluated from land to land “. It is very important to choose the right caliber for your paintballs. Paintball’s caliber varies from.43 caliber to.71 caliber (11 mm to 18 mm). The three most commonly used calibers in the paintball area are.68 caliber,.50 caliber, and first strike rounds.
1) 68 CALIBER :
The.68 caliber is mostly used for professional-grade paintballs. They are bigger in size and heavier as well, inevitably, they hurt more when they hit you, but they are the best to use if you are willing to get serious about paintball, as they are better in quality and are used by skilled players all around the world.
2) 50 CALIBER :
The.50 caliber is half the size of the.68 caliber, and they also hurt less than the.68 caliber paintballs. If you are a beginner, then having paintballs of 50 caliber is more useful because,in this way, you will have more paintballs and less influence or aftermath.
LEVEL OF THE PLAYER :
The commonly suggested paintball range varies according to the player’s capabilities. New players typically choose or are better off choosing reclaimable grade paintballs, as they are easier to use and give the player a feeling of quick adaptability.
An intermediate or even professional paintball player could be given professional-grade or recreational-grade paintballs. Secondly, and more importantly, if the choice could be made based just on preference, users could have a better ability to be a better force with their more used paintballs. As preference can fuel choice,
After knowing the classifications and what ingredients to look at while deciding the paintball type, you might wonder: Which kind or category of paintballs should you opt for? There are different types of paintballs that satisfy different needs and factors, but how will you come across the best ones? Don’t worry, because we have figured it all out just for you!
1) PROFESSIONAL GRADE PAINTBALL OPTIONS :
As they are commonly used by intermediate or professional players, they are made with a dynamic surface and a vibrant dispersible rate. The paintball comes with a rigid outer shell yet a lean paint mixture inside, which lets it pop quickly with an external force. Here are some examples:
RPS EMPIRE MARBALIZER :
These types of paintballs are most evidently used at a professional level, especially during tournaments. They are favored because of their influential capabilities, like withstanding hazardous and severe environmental settings like humidity, fogginess, moisture, etc.
VALKEN GRAFFITI:
They are the best and highest-quality paintballs all around the world. They have a.68 caliber and are said to be perfect and more precise. It lands and erupts very smoothly when it comes in contact with any physical surface, and at the same time, it manages to hold its shape well enough to not explode inside a paintball marker, make a mess, or harm your paintball gun.
2) RECLAIMABLE GRADE PAINTBALL OPTIONS:
Following is a medium-consistency paintball that is used for much more friendly, non-combative matches. Said ball has a simple spherical outside and an equal spread. With a variety of colors.
As the name suggests, these paintballs don’t have a very accurate fire range as they are generally lighter in size, so to make up for that, there is a large amount in each magazine. Let’s look at the examples:
REBALL :
Reball is an independent brand, and then there are some other companies that are in collaboration, selling them on their platforms as well. Reball is the most famous and renowned in the reusable-grade paintball category.
They are created with the best quality objects and have made a pretty big name for themselves as the biggest producer and manufacturer of reclaimable-grade paintballs.
GXG RUBBER :
As the name implies, they are made out of rubber and can float in water, meaning that they are easily cleanable, much more affordable, and pretty light on the pocket. A downside is that they are a bit smaller in size.
3) RECREATIONAL GRADE PAINTBALL OPTIONS:
The third type is not so different from the second or the first. Expect the difference to be the dense material givwhich gives a heavier feel and spread range of paint inside them. This is what we found after surfing the examples:
VALKEN INFINITY:
As you might have figured out now, Valken is quite famous for its paintball equipment. They cater to every kind of paintball consumer, including those in the recreational field. Just like the Valken graffiti discussed above, you can also think of these paintballs as very precise, with hard shells making it difficult for them to burst in a paintball marker.
They are very affordable, making them perfect for people who don’t want to spend a lot of money but want high-quality paintballs.
VESKA :
A very competent replacement to the Valken Infinity is the Veska paintballs, which are more expensive in comparison, but given the additional money, you get the choice between different and desirable colors. It works exactly, if not better, than Valken Infinity. It might be the perfect paintball for you!
All in all, surf through the options while keeping all this knowledge in mind, and you should always know what you are looking for so you can buy exactly what you need and are looking for. What works for others might not work for you; we are all different from one another in all aspects of life. Whether it be life choices or sports, we all think differently, have independent opinions, and use different techniques.
Paintball can be used for competition or for fun, but to be good at the game, you need to know the right kind of paintball. Using knowledge about paintball as a technique to impress your team is also a good way to gain their respect.
Therefore, it can eventually be the reason for your improved performance or skills. In short, knowing the correct paintballs will help you in one way or another.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ( FAQs )
How Many Paintballs Are Used In a Day?
It depends on the type of paintballs you choose. If you are going for reusable-grade paintballs, 20 or 50 paintballs will be more than enough per person, as they can be used more than once.
If you are choosing recreational or professional-grade paintballs, it might take you up to 100 to 150 paintballs per person.
How Long Do Paintballs Last?
The traditional paintballs will last you only 10–15 minutes into a game. You are always on the lookout in the game,nd to go with intuition, players never miss a chance to fire a paintball.
Are Paint Stains Washable?
Yes, there is no need to worry if somehow the paintball escapes your paintball gear, and manages to make its way onto your clothes because, as mentioned above, all paintballs are made with water-soluble substances, so they are unable to leave a permanent stain on your clothes.
Does Getting Hit By a Paintball Hurt?
It all comes down to your pain tolerance. To some, they don’t hurt more than a finger flick or light pinch, but to others, they hurt a bit more than that. They do have harmful aftermaths or effects on your body. They are even edible, so they are not harmful even if consumed. Paintballs don’t hurt you internally or externally.