pbReview.com / Ring Homestead Camp Paintball Field / Ring Homestead Camp Paintball Field / Ring Homestead Camp Paintball Field / Ring Homestead Camp Paintball Field
MSG paintball. I like ring homestead a little better.
Directions to the Field:
Check the website.
Review:
First I have to say the thing they care about most is your safety! They tell you so many times to always keep your mask on while in the field. They even made a video that you have to watch every time about paintball safety. The prices are good with free air all day even with out rentals! Some of the refs actually make sure you don't cheat, but some couldn't care less. They have pretty cool fields (spools,urban warfare,western, castle,pipes,bull-run, and Vietnam village). The air ball field is never open which is a big disappointment.
at 20 bucks for a whole day of use and air if you have your own gear, its not to bad. they changed their paint from nelson hotspots to X.O. spectrums, which i think are great. its like 65 for 2000 and msg charges 80 for the same paint. the fields are great, refs aren't dicks but they dont exactly call a fair game sometimes. its cool tho.
I will Not go back to this field after my last time playing here. I have never been to a more Unorginized facility . First of all they convinced me to by a Broken Gun For $100 and refused to a Refund . There Ref's are Completely Lazy and Unproffesional. I asked to borrow some anti-Fog from a Woman in the pro shop and they were Compaining that i Should have asked the ref for some, However the ref had told me to go to the woman to get it. They Charge 65 $ which at a paintball shop should buy you Meduim to high Quality paint, But insted they sold me Poor Grade Nelson Hotspots which had Stained my Expensive Jerseys.
SAFETY 1st- They are every safe here.As all place are, The refs are strict about masks, the netting is good and NO BARREL PLUGS ALLOWED ONLY BARREL SLEEVES/CONDOMS!!!!
PRICING- $20 Entry(own equipment) Includes all day play and CO2/HP fills all day. WARNING: FIELD PAINT ONLY!!!!! One case(2000) is $65 which is not as bad as other places...
RENTALS- Rentals are $30. It includes Goggles(most important), Tippmann 98c paintball gun, and entry with all day refills of HP(they give you a an nitro tank if you rent).
FIELDS- they are great Fields!!! They have one speed ball Field and a whole bunch of cool woods ball feilds. One has some trailers and a bus. Another is like a small fort thingy.
STAFF- They are nice and help full.(except for the fact they yelled at us for bringing a few cases of our own paint)
REFS- They are fair and nice. My teams ref was a Marine so he gave us some tips which was cool.
FOOD- They have some vendors
PRO SHOP- Small, have your basic things and some other stuff.
EXTRAS- Not much to say thats it.
CONCLUSION- This is a great place don't get me wrong! The problem is that its not BYOP and my little friend had his B-Day here with the entrance fees and the paint and all the other little extras they spent almost a thousand dollars!! I Would prefer to go to a byop place.
Ring Homestead is a great place for beginners and woodsballers. The pipes field is ok but is very small. The air- ball fields(they have 2) are hardly ever filled up and never have more than one field up at one time. The woodsball fields are very fun and challenging at the same time. Theres always birthday parties but its impossible for Ring Homestead to be over crowded because of how many fields they have. Some refs are very good, most refs play paintball and help alot, but of course there are the couple that dont know how to play and barely know the rules. Paint is 65.00 and is usually Nelson Hot Spot.(my opinion its actually pretty good) They say all day CO2 fills but if you bring a CO2 tank they will just give you a compressed air tank to use for the day. The shop has lots of accesories and jerseys, but only a handfull of JT markers to buy. They rent 98 customs which look like they went through a war but through playing with some they shoot very good. If you get hungry its hard because all they have is chips and no real food.
Im giving Ring Homestead a 7 because the field is incredible, minus air ball, some refs, and they have no food except chips.
The first thing is the feilds, they have everything, and its all within short walking distance. they have hyper pipe, sup air, western village, a caslte, a village, big ball, and urban warefare. all are great feilds and tons of fun to play.
They rent out 98 customs that look damaged but still run great.
Paint, I have never had a problem with the paint, of course it breaks but only in bad conditions or because of my mistake. They charge 60 a case, which is a little high, but when is paint not high?
Reffs, not all of the reffs are big on paintball, but they are friendly and if you need help with your marker or equipment, they direct you to the right reff to talk to.
The Store. Has everything a new player can buy and some things a pro could need in there as well.
all in all i give it a 10, this feild may not have pros reffing or anything, but still is a great place to play.
I stumbled across the Ring Homestead Camp a few years ago while trying to locate a field close to my cousin's house in Monroe. The two of us traveled up there on a beautiful Saturday morning (I live in NYC so the drive took a little longer for me), and had a great paintball experience.
Since then, I've gone countless times with large private groups and small public groups; veterans and rookies. Everyone always loves it. The staff is usually friendly as is Eric, the owner (whenever he's around).
The last time I went, however (8/12/06), things changed:
The staff
The staff was inattentive and spent more time horsing around with each other than reffing the games. On several occasions, we were stuck waiting up to 20 minutes to start a game because our ref was MIA and no others were available to watch us. We ended up just playing on our own until the ref was kind enough to join us.
At one point during the day, I found myself yelling "PAINT CHECK" to our refs who were busy having their own shoot out at the other end of the field. Not cool.
The paint
The paint cost $65/case. Reasonable, right? Not when it's no-name WalMart paint that's sold in bags that look like the leftovers from past games (HotSpot). The balls were covered in pock marks, seems, and bulges. When I complained about it at the front desk, they told me I always had the option of buying the more expensive Evils for $85/case. How convenient.
Ring's paint policy is that you can only use field paint that was purchased at Ring within one year of purchase. "Thank God," I thought. I brought two bags of premium paint that I purchased from them only two months prior. After buying a case of the garbage paint, I thought I would first use up my old paint, then crack open the case if I needed more. No sooner did I fire the first few shots (my fill was blue while everyone else's was white), did the ref stop the game to check everyone's hoppers for illegal paint. We got into a tiff on the field and he eventually let us continue playing.
At the end of the day, I tried to return the SEALED case of garbage paint that I didn't need, and they gave me a hard time about returns. They said I could leave the case there and use it next time I come. Ha! I told him if I'm going to be muscled into using crap, it might as well be new. I didn't leave until they reluctantly refunded my money.
A message to the owner
I spent A LOT of money on my milsim A-5; more money than I care to admit. I enjoy paintball very much and I expect the field I play at be professional with their attitudes and their prices. Eric, if you read this, get a tighter grip on your people and stop skimping on the paint. When I started coming to your place, I was able to get a case of yellow Evils for $45. I realize prices will always go up, but let's be reasonable.
Conclusion
I'll be visiting Ring Homestead Camp again this Sunday (8/27/06). If things have improved, I'll make the necessary amendments to this review. Otherwise, I'll take the 40+ people that I usually play with, and we'll find another field to call home.
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EDIT made 8/30/06
The Return to Ring 8/27/06
Our next trip back to Ring Homestead Camp was a productive one. The rain was falling in sheets but we braved it and headed out to the fields, regardless. To my surprise, Eric read my original review and had the staff call him when I got there so he could discuss the issues I raised (he was at work and unable to make it in person). We spoke at length; the following is a summary of what was said:
The staff
He admitted that my gripe with the conduct of the staff was justified and would see to it that it never happened again. I believe him since we've never had less than 100% service during our prior visits.
The paint
He assured me that he never had any complaints about the paint, but judging from the comment left by sinter, I'm inclined to believe that it's more of a case of no one speaking up about it. Seeing as how it was raining so hard I considered buying windshield wipers for my goggles, we bought the HotSpot paint again. Water/humidity will ruin any paintball so there was no point wasting the money on premium paint. I'll wait until the weather is nicer before puting this stuff to the test again.
At the end of the day we marked the case we didn't finish (although we did open it), and gave it to the staff so they could store it for us for next time.
Conclusion
The service this time around was definitely better and I was glad to see that my comments weren't written in vain. The staff was attentive and we had a good time, notwithstanding the rain. We will certainly come back to Ring but might try a few other fields first to see how they stack up against Ring's high standards.
I changed my Field Rating from a 6 to an 8.
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EDIT made 4/22/08
Current Progress
It's been quite a while since my last update but I'm happy to report that Ring Homestead Camp is probably the the nicest and most accomodating woodsball field that I've played at in a long time. Since my team (Brooklyn Raiders) started playing there, we couldn't be happier.
The staff
The staff is attentive and creative; contantly working with us to develop new and innovative ideas for scenarios and team exercises. We have intuitive conversations during the breaks and they are always willing to help when a marker needs repair.
The paint
The paint is now reasonably priced and always top-notch. During the past two years, none of us has had any complaints at all.
Conclusion
Excellent work, Eric. Thanks for providing an exciting and safe environment for us to enjoy our great sport
I changed my Field Rating from an 8 to a 10.
Last edited on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 4:28 pm PST
paintball depot (horrible)
Ruckus(good but not as varied; a BYOP field)
high velocity outdoors (excellent field; more varied than Ring Homestead; more expensive)
Review:
This is one of the best fields that I've ever played on, the refs are the most friendly and helpful of any field I've ever played on. This field is a 45 minute drive from my house and even though there are fields much closer I find myself always returning to this field because of the great experiences that I have. Every time my sons and I have gone, the refs have gone out of their way to get us integrated into games with other groups. The players that we've been teamed up with range from newbies to more experienced. The refs always asked the group after asking us which group we would prefer to play in. The fields are varied, including a hyper tube field, an urban assault field, a small village, a castle on a hill, an air ball field, and woods. The facilities are well cared for with the exception of the latrine (enter at your own risk as this was the foulest smelling thing I've ever encountered) however there's a conventional bathroom down by the parking lot. The cost is reasonable with admission being $20 with your own equipment or 30 if you need a rental set up. Paint is $75 a case for x--ball bronze. Admission includes all day air or CO2. If you play a lot, you get a season pass for $99 which includes one air or CO2 fill per day. Playing at Ring Homestead will be a great experience for you and I give it a 10 out of 10
I just found this field in Middletown, Ny. It was great. They have lots of woods to play in, an "urban assault" field with a bus and camper, a semi hyperball field, and a 7man and 5 man airball fields. They're also building a paintball town. The staff was great with their knowledge of the game and the know-how about fixing equipment. This place also has a huge ropes course, swimming pool, go-kart track, and they are going to soon have batting cages and mini-golf. This place is great. I found a new home field.
