Paintball Protective Gear

I had a very interesting revelation last weekend while playing paintball for the first time in a few years. A close friend decided to celebrate his 40th birthday by organizing a scenario paintball event on a large paintball field with family and friends. Invitations were extended to couples and children over 8 years old. I've played paintball consistently for 25 years, until a few years ago when my life-long hobby succumb to other family priorities. Neither of my sons have ever played paintball but based on my countless "war" stories and pictures they were extremely excited to play for the first time at this birthday event. On the other hand, my wife was very apprehensive to participate but wanted to experience and understand what the excitement was all about. Interestingly as a parent, I now had major concerns and reservations about my sons and wife playing paintball due to the likely-hood of them being hurt by paintballs. I really wanted them to have a fun paintball experience, as I knew they would never agree to play again if they were hurt or felt too scared to play

Paintball Gear

Fortunately, a friend who is also a paintball referee suggested I purchase some protective clothing manufactured by Field Armor Paintball. After doing some research online about protective products for paintball, I found that Field Armor products offered the best paintball protection from welts and bruising. Apparently, there are also several expert reviews written about the effectiveness of their products, as well as many years of positive customer reviews. After some skepticism, I decided to purchase 3 Field Armor Paintball protective jumpsuits; 1 for my wife and 2 for my boys (13 and 18 years old). After receiving my order, I was happily surprised by the level of protection and comfort of these suits. They fit like regular clothes and lightweight with mesh on the sides for ventilation. I thought the overall design was very clever with multiple fasteners through-out the suit in order to make it fit properly. There were also pod-holders and pockets for personal items.

Paintball Fields

The birthday event turned out to be a lot of fun; especially for my wife and sons who did extremely well playing for their first time. I quickly noticed that only after a few games, my wife and sons were no longer afraid of getting hurt while huddled behind bunkers...and they begun to out-maneuver and knock-off other more experienced players. After several hours of playing and multiple welts, I decided to try-on and play in my older son's suit - oh boy, what a difference! I immediately noticed the change in my agility, especially when I had to dive on the ground or take a knee - the suit's thin padding considerably softens impact to elbows and knees. The paintball fields we played on each had a unique setting which made the game even more exciting. There were castles, Wild West town, trench ware fare and even tree house fields.

Paintball Vests

During my first game while wearing the suit I was shot 3 times at close range. The suit protected me from shots to the side of my neck, chest and crotch. I felt slight taps from paintballs breaking on the suit but felt absolutely no pain. This realization significantly increased my confidence level, which allowed me to become more aggressive while running for the flag and taking position on other players. I continued to play with my son's suit for a while and frankly did not want to give it back. Reluctantly returning the suit to my son, I realized that in my younger years I've played paintball in a much more defensive and less aggressive way than I did today, call it a case of subconscious or subtle fear. I noticed other players wearing a Field Armor Paintball armored vest. One of the paintball players was sitting out the next game and I asked if I could borrow one of his paintball vests for the next game. It was a one size fits all and had fasteners that helped keep it snug to my body. The paintball vest also could be transformed into a jacket with a pair of removable sleeves. I played with one armored sleeve on to protect my forward arm. The padded paintball vest stopped several hits to my neck and chest as I ran in for a bunker. I walked back to camp ready for the next game instead of sitting out with an ice pack nursing golf ball sized welts. Today, I played with less nervous anxiety and played to win which is a lot more fun!