Absolutely, Positively the most important thing.

[albert]

The most important thing about paintballing. Okay maybe the Third most important (behind the gun, and the actual balls), is a mask.


This Is your Eye
http://www.ridgenet.net/~thehalls/Paintball/Personal/egg1.jpg

This Is Your Eye After Playing w/o A Mask
http://www.ridgenet.net/~thehalls/Paintball/Personal/egg2.jpg

Any questions?



Safety First!
You Can buy a mask for about 20 bucks, or if you cant, I'll sell you my old JT mask for 15. It doesn't have to be all fancy or anything, but it DOES have to be a mask made for paintballing (Specially designed to withstand a shot of 300 fps).

[snipinhick]

this should be a sticky.

[albert]

With hundreds of paintballs traveling 200 miles per hour across the field, there is only one thing that will protect you eyes from severe injury--your goggles system. The statistics bear it out, more than 99% of all serious paintball injuries occur when players use the wrong type of goggles, or no goggles at all. Here' the most important thing you need to know. Never wear anything but goggle/mask systems made specifically for paintball.

Never wear shop goggles, ski goggles, military goggles, motocross goggles, or any other goggles that are not designed for paintball. They simply will not have the impact resistance or total eye coverage necessary to stop 13 balls per second coming at you.

--ripped off of www.paint-ball.org

[Magnus55]

I was thinking the exact same thing. Behold, a sticky thread. :)

[Merlin]

Albert i know that you were probubly just making a point but for all those conserned mom's

paintballs travel under 300 feet per second (fps);)

[albert]

come again?

[tewes]

Actually if you do the math. A paintball traveling at exactly 300fps is traveling at exactly 202 miles an hour. FYI

[magicsly1]

I just did the math and i got 204.54 miles per hour so its going relatively over 200 mph.

[albert]

325 fps = 221 mph = 356 kph
300 fps = 204 mph = 329 kph
285 fps = 194 mph = 313 kph
265 fps = 181 mph = 291 kph


fps = feet per second
mph = miles per hour
kph = kilometers per hour

Hope this helps!

--albert

[MuckRaker]

Cups are good too ... believe me, if your boys get hit by a paintball traveling at close to 200 mph, you'll know why it's important to wear one.

[TheSickness]

dont worry about a cup you rarely get shot in the nuts. it happend once out of the 4 years ive been playing. it hurts but you get over it

[kashik]

but if ya do.... might wanna go take a piss and make sure its not red......... shyte, laughed at my friend cause he ran into the bathroom to take a piss after gettin shot from 4 feet away straight on the balls.

[TheZephyr]

Yeah I caught a ball in the nuts, and I was pissing a stream of red for the rest of the day. Moral to this story, don't get hit.

[Thor the Mighty]

haha! i went to a paintball outing with my church and i frogot my cup and it was a two day event taht was like 50 miles from home, so whenever i advanced, i held my gun a nut height and did so. that is a pretty good alternitive

[DraXsuS]

Ewwww! nasty

[Thor the Mighty]

how is that nasty? have you seen a pic of that guy who got hit in the nuts? he had to get surgery and one of his best friends taken off. i think that getting close to your tank isnt as nasty as a bloated bleeding nut

[THE_Cobra58]

My friend that moved used to put 1 of his armoed gloves in his pants as a cup and the other on his trigger hand(right) so that's an alternative i suppose

[Thor the Mighty]

thats a pretty good idea. now that i think about it i could have made cardboard boxers out of pb boxes! dang!

[Frosty]

hahahahahahaha my parents have a animal fur cup. Im going to wear it over my pants when i go pballing next time hahahahaha i don't want that pissing red **** to happen. Who knows it might ruin my whole carreer....:D


(:eyes: = When got shot in the nuts)

[PMI_Guy]

any way.... back to the point, i spared no expence when it came the the goggle system :nod: :nod: :eyepop: :nod: :nod:

[BodyBagSlam]

Being a fairly new person to this myself, I can unequivocably state that making a pseudo-cup ballarmor plate out of cardboard is an amazing and really cheap way to protect the bro's downstairs. We usually make ours about 10 minutes before we leave out of whatever cardboard is handy. Best shape seems to be a rectangle (of the appropriate size) and then rounding off the corners. I wear boxer briefs, so I slide mine into the fold at the front and it doesn't move at all. I got hit on my second game out because I wasn't being careful, and I can see where it made a world of difference! Just a suggestion, but mano-e-mano I suggest it to any guy who plays and vaules his "values".

BBS

[LordChaos]

Last (and only) time I took one to the family jewels, it just pissed me off (and singled the end of game for the shooter... it's amazing how accurate you become in those situations).

:D

On the original subject, there is NOTHING more important then proper eye protection. As a former ref, I've kicked people off my field for the day for removing their mask in any fire zone, whether a game was going on or not.

[Skittle]

Ok, Realting to all that stuff about paintballs going 200-some miles and hour isint totally correct. 200mph, or 300fps is barrel velocity and a paintball slows down a WHOOOLLEEE lot before you get hit, well unless its point blank like being bunkered or something.

The moral= If you arent being hit point blank the paintball isint going 200+ miles an hour

[welt]

I've been playing for a year and I can't believe I never thought or worried about gettin hit there. It never entered my mind until it happened. Right on the tip from 15 yds away. Dropped me. All I could think about before it happened was keeping my new gun clean and unscratched, but when it hit I dropped the gun instantly. I didn't give a rats *** about the gun. If you got snow on the ground where you live go outside, put it in the snow for 5 min., then grab a branch off a tree and smack it. It hurts twice as bad as that. I throw a dam beach towel down there when I play now. Scarred me for life.:( If you ever had your ear flicked when it's frozen, you have a tenth of an idea what it's like.

[welt]

gives me the shakes thinking about it

[welt]

The picture of an egg isn't your eye, it's a shattered testicle.:(

[Frosty]

ahahhahaa

[Paint Splatter]

Anybody shoots me in the nuts, I am going to beat their MF ***** out in the parking lot, so you'd better run away while I'm doubled over in pain... the only way I could see that seriously hurting is if somebody did it at close range... and if somebody aims at my nuts at close range they are going to f**king die...

[Frosty]

Why would they run away? You would be in so much paint you probably couldn't even walk.

[Frosty]

pain i mean not paint lol :)

[Skittle]

Originally posted by welt
The picture of an egg isn't your eye, it's a shattered testicle.:(

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[welt]

I would never try to hit someone their. Not after going through that. My buddies laugh 'cause I put a towel or shirt down their for padding. Someday they'll learn.
You won't be chasing anybody, you won't care, you'll be holding your package and hoping to passout.

[welt]

I should have bought stock in athletic cups before I posted on here.

[green_kat]

"it only stings for a minute."

That was a quote from my friend.

when my Package was hit i was singing soprano.

Longest minute of my life, lasted about a week.
:mad:
Also if you accidently skewer your, thing on a rotisary you have a rough idea of the intense anguish

[welt]

I guess it depends on exactly where you were hit and how close they were

[Mototag]

okay fellas, you guys are talking about making cups out of cardboard eh? Next time your screwing around take a shot at a cardboard box and see what happens to the ball. Hmmmm....i it kinda goes through it. granted with your pants in the way its not gonna go through but still not what i want in front of my testees. I have played for four years now and have never been shot in the nuts. if you play like you should you should never be hit anywhere other than you head or the arm that your shooting with. anything other than that and you need to get some more practice or your gonna get smoked by people who know what theyre doing such as myself

[benkillin]

Just thingking about it hurts


...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Burzhui]

that's why i always wear a cup boys and girl, learned to do so when i started playing hockey :)

[LordChaos]

Originally posted by Mototag
if you play like you should you should never be hit anywhere other than you head or the arm that your shooting with. anything other than that and you need to get some more practice or your gonna get smoked by people who know what theyre doing such as myself

So that's why all those high end players I went up against walked off with my paint on their back, shoulders, chest, legs, etc?

Sorry, if you think that ANYONE is good enough to only get hit on the head or their shooting arm, you are going to be in for a rude awakening if you ever go up against some of the players I know. I don't care who you are or how good you think you are, you will get hit in other places now and then.

[Mototag]

yeah buddy, come play at the field i do. dont know what kinda "high end" guys your playin against but the guys i play against demand that kind of play or thats all your gonna do is walk off the field. Maybe you should play some real paintball?

[hockey guy]

what i do is i put my B.E. wear tube holders in front of my do dads so if i get shot it won't hurt!:)

[infil]

Familiar with dye sliders? Anyone who says a nutshot dont hurt has never been shot in the nuts w/o a bounce or 2. And to the guy who said playing like you should means you'll only get hit in the head arms etc, bro, try moving out of your bunker on occasion and you might actually hit someone :)

Infil

[welt]

I take it you get shot in the face alot then? More than your competition does probably.

[jero000]

yo guys lets try to stear back to the mask thing...

masks are ur number one piece of eq... i would rather not have a gun and play on a field then not have a mask and play with a marker on the field...


:rolleyes: :eek: :rolleyes:

[hockey guy]

I agree!:)

[jero000]

:D not a joke... it really is the number one piece of eq...
:cool:
so u noobs... i deeply recommand u buy a mask before a marker...

[mlharnett]

Hey, if you are playing ANY game where stuff is flying all around at high rates of speed, protect everything you can think of.
Looking like a scaredy cat is better than losing an eye or a nut.
It only makes good sense to wear goggles.
Wood chips from a circular saw can blind you and the wood shop teacher wouldnt let you cut without goggles, right?
How about the suggestion on the goggle box to replace the lenses every year and each time you get hit from 10 feet or less.......even the goggle company doesnt want you to lose an eye.....nobody does.
Just put the ding dang goggles on and play.

[mlharnett]

what's up with all the crap at the end of everyone's messages?
We dont need to know what your fav song is and your fav movie quote and what you had for dinner and every single nut and bolt on your gun. GEEEZE.
But hey, whatever blows your skirt up.
:crazy:

Oh yea, to stay with the thread:
WHERE YOUR GOGGLES
WEAR YOUR GOOGGLES
WERE YOUR GOGGLES
goggles, wear em
goggle

[PiranhaPunk342]

Id rather loose an eye than a nut, but I wont lose any because I put a mask on right when I go to the field and put a cup on. If a cup is too uncomfortable, put a beach towel down there. If you buy a big cup, your stuff wont get that squished up. But the major draw back to cups are, rashes. Ewwww. Whenever I see a cup I scream. Scary looking things. They look like deformed bananas.

[stangman]

the pictures dont work...i wanted to see those pictures too =(

[Fenudin]

LOL I just got a sick idea. Put a 104 pod in your pants, not only will it protect you but it will be quite flattering too. :) ;)

[ihatespyders]

You would rather loose a nut then an eye. A nut would hurt like hell. You probably wouldn't be able to talk for a few weeks. But look at Tom Green everything is still normal except he has 1 nut. But then on the other hand you get to wear an eye patch that would suck. I would choose nut. Unless it was both. They would both suck really bad. I wish I was a girl who didn't have nuts.

[Aglar]

I once got shot two inches from my cup. The guy was 6 feet away, and I got a nasty bleeder. If that had been two inches over and I wasn't wearing a cup.. well, you can imagine. Just wear a cup. It's a bit uncomfortable, but a lot LESS uncomfortable than getting shot in the nuts without one.

[Jiggaman8604]

cripes you guys!!! protect your little soldiers!!! go to freakin walmart or somthing and pick up an athletic cup, its like 10 bux. you already bout a 150 gun at the least, i think you could pitch in another ten to insure the numbers of the human race!:eyes: nutshot!

[Fenudin]

And those who don't bother to protect it are just ignorant. Natural selection at work. :D

[SpyderHunter]

When I used to play nobody I knew had a mask so we all just used snowmobile helmets, didn't matter all we had were talons.

[L337Clorox]

Yea I think the mask is very important. First time I played I got shot in the lower mask. Shook the whole mask, putting it crooked on my head, and scared the **** outta me. I called myself out in fear, and im glad masks are manditory. Now to the genitalia subject. If getting shot in the balls is anything like zippin up your 'thiny' then I dont wanna get shot. I 'zipped' myself last week and that was the worst thing ive ever experinced. =) I dunno about wearing a cup though, that would slow me down from lack of comfort. I doubt getting shot there occurs often, when I play most of the people I play with are friends, and no one really aims that low, thats just harsh. If you shoot someone with the intent of hitting them in the 'schwanker' then you have no nuts yourself.

[L337Clorox]

Originally posted by ihatespyders
I wish I was a girl who didn't have nuts.

Hmmm..wouldnt it hurt to be hit in the v a g i n a though? I mean that is a pretty sensitive area :P I think it would be nuts if a girl got hit in the genitalia and the ball didnt break, but rather got stuck...if you know what I mean ;) :laugh: :laugh:

[faniffyperson]

Franks and Beens!!! Franks and Beens!!! LOL (from There's Something about Mary)

But seriously masks are the only protection that refs use... You need one to be on the field durring play... it's numero uno.
But a cup is a small investment with, for some players, a HUGE return. I have gotten hit there once but my pants were spread enough to bounce it off (I was sliding and it didn't even get to the cup). But I wouldn't even think of playing without one. The first time I went I had one... and that was almost 5 years ago. Hey... all it takes is one shot. Say buh-bye to your future kids (or alteast half of them... but in Tom Green's case, all of them!).
And they do make chest protection for the female players out there. I heard that that hurts a bit to get hit there.

[Bluto]

Close Call-

Came home last Sunday after a day of rec paintball. That night my wife pointed out that i had a paintball bruise about four inches in diameter on my inner thigh just inches from the Dynamic Duo...
I had worn a cup or nut rag the for the first couple weeks I played; then I guess I got a false sense of security. I forgot my LIFE RULE #9 - Nothing DECEIVES like Success.


Something else to wory about-

last week I took a Karate hit to the neck- NOW I'm all paranoid about taking a bad paintball hit in the throat and maybe the Jugular; but especially the throat.
Some guy loaned me his "throat protector" - a wide rubber band with velcro.
I've tried to adapt the throat protector from my Fencing Mask and ****ed around with catcher's mask throat protector and football neck protectors. Nothing useful there.
Anyone find anything useful?

[faniffyperson]

They do make neck protectors for paintball. I think the 32* one is the cheepest. They work nice too. I have heard a lot of good things about them. My uncle gets hit in the neck about twice a year... he's gonna try to get one from Santa this year;)

[PiranhaPunk342]

just wear a cup, mask, gloves, a throat protector, and layers of clothing and ull be fine.

Remember... Losing a ball will make you half a man.

[ihatespyders]

I think throat protectors are pointless. I got shot in neck 3 times. once on side of adams apple and 2 just on the sides. They look like hickey's so you can look cool. But one was from like 10 feet away and it hurt.
Gloves are good getting shot in hands suck.
Cup I risk it. Never shot there thank god. But it just makes sure your in bunker if you don't wear one.
Mask make sure you wear it i can't believe how manytimes ive seen someone get shot by accident like 5 feet away with out mask. Wasn't in head but still. Loose an eye and you won't have any depth perseption.(try it close eye and try and catch something)
Don't wear like 3 sweatshirts. YOu won't know if you got shot. I wear short sleeve and long sleeve. Just short sleeve if it is hot out.

[PiranhaPunk342]

The throat protectors hockey players use would be perfect for paintball. They are padded. But again they are more expensive

[quejerpwacky]

Masks are important. If you try to play paintball without a mask, then you suck, and I hope I'm not the one who has to see your blood empty eye socket spurting blood all over the place. You owe it to yourself to wear a mask, and you owe it to the rest of us and the sport itself. We can't afford any news stories about paintballers being blinded.

And about cups. I've been shot down there. It didn't kill me. It was from about 20 feet away, and was part of a 3 shot burst. I was more pissed about npt seeing the guys coming (there were two of them) than hurt. A pair of jeans is all the armor I had on, and it did the job just fine.

I've been shot in the head, too. I've been knocked down by a head shot. (Same day, by the way). It hurt more than the ball shot did.

I guess my point is, if you're paranoid, and have the cash, go ahead and get a cup. And, if you don't have the money, then save up, and get a mask. Get a good mask. I don't care if it's $5000. It may be a lot of money, but it's less, ( a lot less) than the value of your eyes.

[welt]

When did they go from skanky to cool?

[ihatespyders]

last week it was in the paper.

No i was being sarcastic but im against the smiley' they are always smiling no one can be that happy!

[welt]

hahaha, I liked that one.

[N00bPaintBaller]

Neck Protectors are a joke. It doesn't hurt that bad. During an indoor game I was at the fifty, and got shot in the adams apple. Later that day, while walking off the field I got shot 3 times in the back of the neck. It just pissed me off. (nothing like getting shot after being out eh)

A cup, umm, would you play lacrosse without a cup? I think not. But since a pair of nice sweats will pad well, I just use a rag, fold it 'hotdog' style and put it down my pants, then, if my gun breaks down and I need to clean it, I just rip it out and wipe down.

[happymarkerguy]

If your a newbi and want to know what is the best gun to get here is your answer IT DOSENT MATTER GET A MASK FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Iv been playing for a while and always carry 2 masks so no one is with out one even if they are just watching

oh yea... Just remember 2 is a party 3 is a crowd... geting hit in the head is not fun :finger:

[Team Death Capt]

Originally posted by TheSickness
dont worry about a cup you rarely get shot in the nuts. it happend once out of the 4 years ive been playing. it hurts but you get over it

erm..........id much rather fold up a t-shirt and stick it down there than takin a chance, trust me...