Paintball Protection

That seems safe and simple enough but more and more people are getting seriously injured playing this sport.  Injuries to adults and children playing paintball have tripled in recent years, including eye damage causing lasting vision loss.

Many players are getting hurt because they are neither following the sport's basic safety rules nor gearing up correctly.  Here are the ways to prevent injury.

To start in this sport - as in any other sport - you need to gear up for both performance and safety.

Always wear proper paintball safety gear including paintball goggles, mask and pads which cover at least your eyes, ears, throat and head. It you don't wear the right gear; you risk injury which may include blindness and deafness. Goggles are a no brainer when it comes to paintball safety equipment. You can't play without them.

A paintball barrel plug is another must have piece of paintball safety equipment. It covers the end of the barrel, deterring the ball, from being expelled by accident. It doesn't matter how confident you are with your gun- USE IT!
And you need a safety catch which keeps your gun from firing when it is not in use during a game. It's either a physical or electronic device.  The physical one is something that doesn't allow the trigger to be pulled and the electronic is used in all of the electronic markers.  In any sport, the proper gear is both a performance and safety requirement.

Of course, in any sport, following the safety rules is also a must. Do not point your gun at something you do not intend on shooting. For example, don't try scaring people with your paintball gun.  Never shoot anyone at close range.  Due to the high speed of the projectiles used in paintballing (300 feet per second), even with good padding someone can be seriously injured if someone shoots them at close range.  Never shoot your paintball gun at others outside of an organized (and sanctioned) paintball playing field.  Everyone playing must be wearing protective gear.  You can badly injure or even kill someone with a paintball gun due to the high speed of the projectile if the target is not wearing safety equipment.  Never shoot at fragile objects like windows or glass.  You do not know who is on the other side of the glass and the glass can become deadly projectiles due to being shattered by the paint bullet you fired.

Oh! This one may seem a bit obvious and stupid.  You absolutely should not ever look into the paintball gun barrel.  While you must always remove all unused paintballs from your gun as well as the carbon dioxide canister that shoots the paintballs, you should treat any gun as if it were loaded just to be safe.

Of course, like in all potentially dangerous activities, do not engage in the activity when under the influence of alcohol or drugs.  That should be an obvious precaution but those under the influence think they can do anything.  If you see anyone who seems impaired playing in the paintball game, tell a referee immediately so this person can be removed from the game for his safety as well as the safety of others.

And, finally, as in all advanced sports, children under age 15 should not be playing paintball without adult supervision and proper safety gear and guidance.  This is not a game children should be playing in the woods.