First time player..questions?

Hi all,

43 year old athletic guy playing woodsball/paintball at a local field first time on Sunday. Since I have never played before and would like some feedback on what to expect.

Guys that I work with play paintball and they tell me me I will like it a lot. I wanted to play once before I started playing with them. I did some research and it does seem like a good time.

Do places have many guys that show up alone or will I feel like an odd man out? The place has walk on's allowed over the weekend.

I have a camouflage outfit and Timberland's that I will play in.  I do not have gloves or any other apparel. Anything else that you guys can recommend? I have field utilities that are semi heavy weight.

Some of the guys recommend bug spray others don't, same with wearing a vest. One of my buddies had a nasty bruise from getting hit on the neck. It looked like a hickey.

I do not have my own marker, however if I enjoy playing I plan on buying a Tippmann Project Salvo with an E trigger. I wear glasses, so I want to buy a mask with a fan or one that doesn't fog up.

They play capture the flag type scenarios.
I live in Ocean county NJ if anyone wants to get together or recommend places to play.

I look forward to any feedback.

Thanks a lot for the information. 

I have played four times since posting this.

I really got good value in purchasing my project Salvo.

I like the gun a lot. It fires well and has a great feel to it. I upgrade to the Tippmann 98 Custom Flatline barrel.

You are correct about bruises. My left arm has three bruises my beg has a few as does my chest and abdomen.

All in all I enjoy the experience a lot.

Next Sunday I plan on playing at a field I have not yet played at.

I plan on purchasing a vest and a pod holder in the not too distant future.

As far as my mask goes, I wear contacts when I play until I can get sports glasses. I cannot play with my current glasses.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

tallen702 wrote: Contacts are waaaaay better than dealing with glasses in a mask, they're simply more comfortable and you don't have to worry about fogging. If I have to give my eyes a rest from my contacts, I don't play, I just can't stand glasses in a mask.

This

I have contacts that I only wear for paintball or snowblowing.

Aftermarket barrels make a big difference in accuracy over the stock barrel on almost any marker. What makes and even bigger difference than the finish of the interior of the barrel however, is paint-to-bore matching. The more exact fit, the more accurate the shot. That's why the most expensive barrels out there are kits that either have different sized backs, or sleeves the fit inside the barrel giving you the ability to match the paintball size to the bore of the barrel. Paint quality also matters. The el-cheapo sports authority or walmart paint usually sits for a while without being properly rotated, so the paintballs will form dimples, flat spots, or go out-of-round in general which messes with the flight dynamics. I tend to go for stuff from actual paintball pro-shops. It can usually be had for ~$40/2000 rounds which breaks down to $10/500 which isn't much more expensive than what you find at wal-mart etc.

For aftermarket barrels, on the basic end of things (single bore size) I like the J&J 14" Ceramic barrel. The ceramic lining reduces friction and allows you to "shoot your barrel clean" meaning that if you have a ball break in the barrel, the next 3-4 shots may go spinning off, but after that, you'll have cleared most, if not all, of the paint out of the barrel which will bring you back to 95% accuracy without having to use a squeegee or barrel mop. The most popular interchangeable insert system is the "Freak Kit" from Smart Parts. It's vastly more expensive, but you can usually find used ones in decent condition for a lot less than new.

tallen702 wrote: Aftermarket barrels make a big difference in accuracy over the stock barrel on almost any marker. What makes and even bigger difference than the finish of the interior of the barrel however, is paint-to-bore matching. The more exact fit, the more accurate the shot. That's why the most expensive barrels out there are kits that either have different sized backs, or sleeves the fit inside the barrel giving you the ability to match the paintball size to the bore of the barrel. Paint quality also matters. The el-cheapo sports authority or walmart paint usually sits for a while without being properly rotated, so the paintballs will form dimples, flat spots, or go out-of-round in general which messes with the flight dynamics. I tend to go for stuff from actual paintball pro-shops. It can usually be had for ~$40/2000 rounds which breaks down to $10/500 which isn't much more expensive than what you find at wal-mart etc. For aftermarket barrels, on the basic end of things (single bore size) I like the J&J 14" Ceramic barrel. The ceramic lining reduces friction and allows you to "shoot your barrel clean" meaning that if you have a ball break in the barrel, the next 3-4 shots may go spinning off, but after that, you'll have cleared most, if not all, of the paint out of the barrel which will bring you back to 95% accuracy without having to use a squeegee or barrel mop. The most popular interchangeable insert system is the "Freak Kit" from Smart Parts. It's vastly more expensive, but you can usually find used ones in decent condition for a lot less than new.

After I did some research on the J & J 14" ceramic barrel I probably will  get this barrel before I get  the Tippmann Flatline.

Thanks for the heads  up.

Galen Adams wrote: You might take a look at the Lapco Barrels too.  I've been playing for about 14 years and the Lapco BigShot paintball barrels are hard to beat.  They can be a bit louder than some others like the J&J ceramic paintball barrels but the quality and consistency of the Lapco's are top notch.  I don't have any charts or graphs to show you, just an opinion of a long time player.

I suggested the J&J over LAPCO for both price, and due to the fact that paint has been shrinking over the years. The bigshot was fantastic with older ZAP! and RPS paint, but ever since procaps empire, and JT took over the manufacturing of paintballs, the caliber has shrunk significantly meaning that the fit isn't as good with a standard bigshot as it is with a "tighter" J&J Ceramic. Now, if LAPCO still made the autospirit.....

Galen Adams wrote: You might take a look at the Lapco Barrels too.  I've been playing for about 14 years and the Lapco BigShot paintball barrels are hard to beat.  They can be a bit louder than some others like the J&J ceramic paintball barrels but the quality and consistency of the Lapco's are top notch.  I don't have any charts or graphs to show you, just an opinion of a long time player.

I looked these up, however they are out of my price range right now.

As I progress I certainly will consider one of these barrels, they look bad-ass.
Thanks for the heads up.

Shop at a store that has its own field. You can always ask to test out the barrel for a session. 

To be honest, I have never run into a store that lets you test items either. Heck I can't even get the store that Ifrequient to let me air up a marker and fire it , let alone run paint through it.

Edited by oldpbnoob - 01 September 2011 at 11:45am