Paintball

[desertT1]

Originally Posted by freedummy

Who shoots 2 boxes a day, every weekend, and doesn't have an HPA tank?!

I still don't doubt airsoft can be cheaper than paintball, but soccer/football is cheaper than hockey, too. They both have players moving around attempting to put a rounded object into the opposite end of the playing surface. Therefore, why would ANYONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND play hockey? Hockey requires more costly equipment, and it's like, cold and wet and stuff. Am I right, guise?

Because hockey is better

Same with paintball.

[-=ArchAngel=-]

Though overall, airsoft can be cheaper than paintball....It really depends on the style in which you play, the gear you use. and where you play.
All of us are aware of the different styles of paintball and their costs. It can be very cheap or very expensive. Just as much so in airsoft, things can get very expensive. There are guys who run with $1000+ guns, $300+ worth of mags, and wearing $1000+ gear. Quality BBs arent exactly cheap. While this high cost set up isnt exactly the norm, it isnt uncommon either.....just less common than the high cost set ups that we commonly see in paintball. It all really depends on what you want and how much you want to spend.

[Kearns]

Back when I played Division A NCPA paintball, we averaged, as a team, between 13-15 cases an xball match (20 min halfs). That was for a 5 players on the field shooting 12.5 bps almost constantly.

Now that I have to pay for paint, I play stock class and pump almost exclusively and am about 1/4 of a case down playing for 8 weeks...

The math in this is somewhat inaccurate, just saying.

[Keebler]

Let's also not pretend that air soft guns are not equally if not more expensive

[Axel]

I've never owned an A-5, but if it's as robust as a 98, you can beat it against a tree, bury it in the sand, dig it up the next week and go play. Okay, minor exaggeration,* but an hour of maintenance per day of play has been pointed out as ridiculous.

*No it isn't, according to Deuce.

Originally Posted by HurtCow

I save tons of money in paintball by just getting shot out early in nearly every round.

*Ba-dum schwing!*

Yeah, yeah, me too, that's my strategy, too. Money saving, that's why I do it! On purpose, yeah, that's the ticket!

Nickel, nickel, nickel, nickel...

Airsoft will never go mainstream because there's nothing for tourney players to wipe.

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by Axel

I've never owned an A-5, but if it's as robust as a 98, you can beat it against a tree, bury it in the sand, dig it up the next week and go play. Okay, minor exaggeration, but an hour of maintenance per day of play has been pointed out as ridiculous.



*Ba-dum schwing!*

Yeah, yeah, me too, that's my strategy, too. Money saving, that's why I do it! On purpose, yeah, that's the ticket!

Nickel, nickel, nickel, nickel...

Airsoft will never go mainstream because there's nothing for tourney players to wipe.

Funny you mention that, I've actually witnessed someone beat his A5 against an old oak tree and at a later date throw it like a javelin about 20 feet. Other than having to clean the core sample out of the barrel it still functions 100%. I doubt there's an airsoft gun out there that could do the same.

[crich775]

Lets do the math corrected for someone beginning tournaments or just playing speedball in general.
Startup gun package
Lets assume that while yes this will still be a middle of the range marker, but it will be a tournament dedicated gun, rather than an A5.
Average, if buying a package deal, about 500$, assuming a gun such as a Proto rail, Invert Mini, or a DP FX with everything to play.(so much variance here its hard to pin a number though but this is on the high side).
Maintenance
Harry, like most tournament players, after a day of play keeps his gun running well. This involves a thorough wipe down, swabbing the chamber area and barrel, and oiling or greasing various parts of the marker. Total time, about 10 minutes.
co2 fills, as the marker that Harry receives only uses HPA, lets assume the cost for all day air is 5$ on top of field fees.
Cost of ammo, although paint varies in price so much lets assume the original figure of 55$ per case is the price where Harry plays, as a budding tournament player, Harry shoots about a case of paint a day, and practices 2 times per month.

So lets see here that's totaled for 8 months
Gun Package - 500$
Cost of air fills - 80$
Cost of paintballs - 880$
Maintenance time - 2.6 Hours
Totaled at 1460$ for 8 months of tournament play, as compared to 892.56 for the airsoft figure.
I might debunk that airsoft costs that little later as well but i think i did a fairly good job making this point. Please forgive the grammar its early.

[pillage]

Paintball vs Airsoft, both hobbies,....... they are expensive to play no matter what one you prefer.

[Spider!]

Does airsoft have "field [green] fees"? I've always assumed it does. Paintball fee schedules seem to have an average, but there are some weird ones.

If airsoft were so cheap, it seems like the field owners would disappear since paintball doesn't look like it's that profitable in the first place.

[Keebler]

Many paintball fields offer air soft as well. The issue there is to my knowledge that most airsoft players play outlaw.