
Scenario Paintball vs. Tournament Paintball

What is Paintball? - Full Line of Paintball (http://www.airsplat.com/ScenarioPaintball.htm) Paintball is a sport in which players compete as individuals or as a team by marking their opponents with paintballs markers or paintball guns. Paintball marker equipment utilizes gelatin capsules filled with non-toxic paint. ![]() Paintball guns or markers were first used in the 1970’s for marking cattle and trees. The first paintball game was played in June 1981 by Bob Gurnsey, Hayes Noel, Charles Gaines and nine others. From there, the sport grew quickly. The first recreational field opened in 1982 and the in 1983 the first tournament was held with a grand prize of $14,000. In the late 80’s fields began to open up in England and Canada. By 1991, fields were opening up in Europe. In 1992, the National Professional Paintball League was formed. This league hosted highly publicized events with hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes. Paintball today is played by over 10 million players worldwide according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association International, making it the number 3 extreme sport in the world behind inline skating and skateboarding. Paintball Equipment: Which type of paintball equipment used is dependant on what style of paintball you are playing: tournament paintball, speedball, woodsball, scenario paintball, MilSim, etc. Depending on which paintball playing style you have, will determine the necesary equipment. Equipment can be "class" much like airsoft gear. But there is a basic list of different paintball equipment below. Paintball Markers: Paintball guns are generally either electronic or mechanical. ![]() Pump guns or single shot pump paintball guns are more common during woodsball or scenario paintball. These shots are single shot, one shot per pump. The more technologically advanced paintball guns are used for tournament ball or recreational paintball. Tournament ball players usually have very high ROF (Rate of Fire), at times shooting 40 rounds in less than 5 seconds. This type of paintball play is where "eye" and other electronic triggers and components come into play. Paintball Masks: ![]() Air Tanks: CO2 or compressed air is the most common choices to power paintball guns or markers. In the beginning, paintball guns or markers were solely powered by 12 gram CO2 cartridges. As the sport grew, players shot more paint so the demand for larger CO2 cartridges grew. 7, 10 and 20oz CO2 tanks became the standard. On average a 12 gram CO2 cartridge powered 7 to 10 shots, where as a 20oz tank would power approximately 600 shots. Most CO2 tanks are aluminum. As the demand to shoot more paint grew, so did the demand for air systems to keep up. Compressed air systems entered the paintball industry in the early 90’s. Compressed air or “HPA” (high pressure air), unlike CO2 which changes from liquid to gas states, stays in a gaseous state. This gave the paintball gun or marker a more consistent velocity which allowed the player to fine tune his/her paintball gun or marker. Though HPA tanks come in many sizes and air capacities, a player can expect to get anywhere from 700 to 1400 shots per tank. Most HPA tanks are fiber wrapped for greater strength at higher pressures. All HPA tanks need to be re-“Hydro Tested” after 3 to 5 years depending on the tank. This is to test the metal strength of the tank. But all tanks have some sort of expiration date where they either need to be retested or disgarded. Barrel Safety Devices: Another required piece of equipment is sort of barrel safety device. They are commonly known as plugs, baggies, condoms, covers or socks. These devices are mandatory at all paintball fields to ensure safety. All of these devices either plug or cover the end of the paintball guns or markers’ barrel so in the event of a marker accidentally firing the paintball is stopped. This is important on and off the field, but is especially jsut off the field where bystanders could be in the vicinity and not have any face masks or safety apparrel on. Scenario Paintball: Scenario paintball usually requires a basic “Theme” or “Story Line.” This typically consists of a reenactment of past battles or a story line behind the battle for more realistic and life-like situations and objectives. You normally forget about the fa ![]() Woodsball Paintball: MilSim Information Both woodsball and scenario paintball take place in natural settings and primarily wear some sort of camouflage. However woodsball unlike scenario is more competitive in nature. Woodsball is more more ![]() Tournament Paintball / Speedball Tournament paintball unlike scenario and woodsball paintball is played in spectator friendly venues or arenas. Tournaments draw teams consisting of usually ![]() A typical tournament is based on points accumulated from each game played. Points are awarded for opponents eliminated and hanging the opponent’s flag. Players are required to “Chrono” their paintball guns or markers when coming off the field. Each player has their paintball guns or marker speed checked on a chronograph which measures the muzzle velocity in FPS (feet per second). If a player shoots “Hot”, additional points are deducted from his team. Most tournaments are in netted arenas with air filled bunkers of different shapes and sizes. These bunkers are carefully placed to ensure both sides of the field are mirrored. Surfaces in these arenas range from dirt and sand to astro turf or real grass. Full Line of Paintball at AirSplat |