Paintball Protective Gear to Help You Be Safer and Have More Fun

You know that welt on your skin that bruised like crazy because your friend shot you with a paintball unexpectedly? You can fix that! You know the intense amount of pain you were in after the battle instead of thinking about how much fun it was? You can fix that! You know the scar you have on your hand from the paintball? That may not be able to be fixed… but the next one can be! You know how scared you are that someones going to shoot you and it’s going to hurt more than ever? That can be fixed too so you can enjoy your time paint balling instead of having to think about how painful it is. Safety always has to come first when it comes to these types of guns. The more advanced technology gets,  the harder the guns get to defend. Everything in todays’s world needs to be faster and stronger and better than the model before. This type of mindset can be dangerous when it comes to paintball and airsoft because these guns are being aimed at each other for fun, not for target practice or towards an animal. Because the guns are becoming more and more powerful, we need to make sure you are very safe and sound in your gear before you get started.

The paintball protective gear that will be shown at the bottom is suggested to be worn every time you play and compete to allow you to have fun and be safe every time you go out to play. Being safe of course will allow you to have more fun because you will know for a fact that everyone out there is safe and out of harms way. You won’t be worried about getting welts in places that shouldn’t be getting welts and you won’t worry about your headset breaking and little things like that that may have been going through your head before all this protective and very much needed gear.

Head

We are going to start at the head and make our way down all the way to which shoes to wear in battle. You absolutely need a helmet and goggles, and if you do not have a helmet or goggles than we strongly suggest that you do not fight against someone for the risk factor of the paintball hitting your head or your eyes, which could result in very serious injuries. Getting hit in the head is no little injury. It could result in a concussion and have very nasty side effects, and it is a risk of death. DO NOT mess around when it comes to head protection out of anything you decide to do. WE STRONGLY ADVISE YOU TO WEAR A HELMET. It is not hard to pick up a helmet and stick it on your head before picking up the gun. You need to do this, not just because we suggest it, but doctors suggest it and enforce it as well because they know the effects and the damage it causes due to first hand experience taking care of such injuries.

 

 

The safety of this game is not only in the gear, it is in the nature of the gun and knowing how to use it without harming yourself or anyone else in the making. You should do research on the gun and play around with the gun before ever using it on the battle field. Having the knowledge to play is one of the most important things to being involved heavily in paintball.

Neck

Next we have the neck to take care of. Your neck is a vital part of your body and not many people think about protecting it. It is often forgotten about, which is never a good thing. You can either be super careful of your exposure, wear a thick scarf, or get a neck guard which can be connected to your helmet or goggles of your chosing. Worried about looking like a dweeb because you are wearing so much protective gear? You are only just protecting your beautiful body and allowing yourself to have more fun than anyone else who is not protected!

Some helmets have built in neck gear or a thick padding around the neck, which is always going to be a bit more expensive, but it is very much worth it. Some of the neck protection products look like a black soft neck brace that can be tied around your neck to ensure safety, and some are just hard plastic sheets that attach to your helmet. Below you can find the types of neck protections that you can chose from and the pros and cons of each kind.

This type of helmet is the cheaper helmet you can have because it is mainly mass produced at any sporting goods store and online. There is a spot to put your goggles to ensure eye safety and it covers ears, mouth, nose, eyes, and most importantly NECK. This may not cover all of the neck, such as in the back, but it is much better than nothing, that is for sure!

 

This neck gear is not the greatest because as you can see, it is rather thin and vulnerable. You can always add another set of neck protection. This helmet is a top seller because of the looks and the package deal of head and “neck” protection.

 

When it comes to the neck, you never want to mess around. A major seller to this piece of neck protection is the true safety of it. The hard cover will stop any kind of harm from coming to the way of the neck. You may have to get a specific helmet to attach it to as seen in the picture. This is definitely a piece to invest in as you go about your paint balling hobby.

These neck braces/neck guards are cheap but very effective. They range anywhere form 7-20 dollars and can be found almost anywhere that sells sporting goods supplies. Online at Dicks Sporting Goods, they are only $7.99. These do not need a certain helmet to attach to, they just simply strap onto your neck.

Chest

What is in your chest that is important? Well… everything… but what keeps you breathing? Yes thats right, your heart as well as your lungs. Two vital organs that need to be protected under every circumstance when it comes to paintball. You absolutely need to keep those two things as well as your rib cage protected. Protective paintball gear can be found at places such as sports authority, dicks, kellys, and other online sporting goods stores. Search around for different prices and find the best deal as you are researching the quality of the product at hand.

This is one of the more basic chest protectors to buy and this one is specifically made for paintball. Some people use baseball or softball catchers gear to protect themselves and use as clothing in the game. You are going to want a little more of a hard shell to put on your back going up against these rough guns.

This is one of the more popular forms of paintball protection. Because of the fact that this is not bulky or heavy or hard to put on, many boys and men tend to lean towards this to buy. It covers all the major areas, and although it will still hurt to get hit, it will take away some of the blow and take away most of the risk for bruising. These range anywhere from 15-50 dollars in sporting goods stores.

As you can see in the picture, this chest protector is high tech and much more effective than the other two shown above because it is much harder and much more able to take a shot to the chest. The stamina in this specific thing is great and the price is worth the safety.

Legs

Paintball protection gear for your legs is completely optional. No one said you HAD to protect your legs because anyone can take a blow to the legs. Sure, it might feel like straight hell, but it will not kill you or even come close to killing you. The danger in the leg shots is no where near the danger in head or chest shots. The only thing that is going to make you use those hard pants or leg padding is completely your choice.

These of course are the whole package in one pair of pants instead of having to buy all the pads individually. Just pull these up over your jeans, basketball shorts, or your leggings. Anything that is acting as an additional barrier between skin and the paintball will help tremendously, sometimes more than you think.

 

This pair of leg guards will surely protect you to the best of their ability but the only downside is that they are a little hard to run in. They are not as mobile and easy to walk in as you think because of how big and bulky they are. A con to this set of gear is by far the mobility of it but they can serve you very well when it comes to trying to be the best on the field. Defensively you can hide all you want but you can’t be the best unless you are running around shooting people.