Paintball

[PJ]

I wear BDU/ACU pants and either a jersey, t-shirt, or Hawaiian shirt.

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by Frink

I've never seen the appeal of paintball specific gloves with the prices they charge. If you can pick up last years model for $10-15 great, but in general they're $30-40 a pair and offer no real advantage over some cheap mechanix gloves.

While I'd never pay more than $15 or $20 for paintball gloves the padding on the delicate parts of your hand does make a huge difference. I've played in Mechanix gloves and in paintball gloves and definitely felt the difference when shot in the hand or finger. Even the cheap walmart gloves with the plastic armor on them are much better than nothing at all or gloves with no padding or protection built in.

It's possible to break a finger or one of the delicate bones in your hand with a paintball so a little extra protection is cheap insurance.

[idkfa]

Originally Posted by P4p3Rc1iP

I kinda want something else, but I have yet to find anything better that's not too expensive. I've been thinking of just forking out the cash and get this. The padded knees and vented crotch area should be pretty nice. I have a friend who swears by normal Flecktarn pants, and these are basically an upgraded version of them, so these should be really nice as well.

Those guys have a great selection and awesome customer service. I sent them a brief physical description, and two days later (courier from the UK) perfectly fitted BDUs showed up. The KSK pants are a bit excessive, especially the price. I went with standard pants, and they have been working out fine. I also suggest buying used (they are in great condition, so no worries) as Flecktarn looks MUCH better when it is faded. Also, they are more comfy. I might get a pair of the airborne pants, but the regular service pants are perfect. I have a pair of pants, the combat shirt, the parka, and a hat. I look like I am straight out of the Bundeswehr when I actually wear all of it.

Originally Posted by Azzy

Why do you wear a foam cup? How do you wear one? as a tiny fez?


hehehe

Haha, not quite. I bought a pair of hockey jock shorts with a hard cup and tossed the cup. I had some foam left over from something or other, so I replace it with that. Gives me that little bit more protection that my paranoia warrants.

[P4p3Rc1iP]

Originally Posted by idkfa

Those guys have a great selection and awesome customer service. I sent them a brief physical description, and two days later (courier from the UK) perfectly fitted BDUs showed up. The KSK pants are a bit excessive, especially the price. I went with standard pants, and they have been working out fine. I also suggest buying used (they are in great condition, so no worries) as Flecktarn looks MUCH better when it is faded. Also, they are more comfy. I might get a pair of the airborne pants, but the regular service pants are perfect. I have a pair of pants, the combat shirt, the parka, and a hat. I look like I am straight out of the Bundeswehr when I actually wear all of it.

Hehe, yeah, Flecktarn is by far my favorite camo patern. I know a guy who has the stadard ones, and I really do like them. The KSK's are a bit expensive, so I might just get the cheaper ones and make some internal padding myself...

[Milky Spore]

I used to wear BDUs but after I was riven an old ratty *** set of Empire pants I never looked back.

My mom got me the Invert SS pants in digital camo for Christmas, they're great.

I'd say knee pads are a must though, most pants come with built in pads, but it only is there to supplement the knee pads that you'd wear seperately. The Redz pads I have right now work well.

Don't worry about a fancy jersey though, I prefer to play in my longsleeve shirts, and I usually throw a T-shirt over that. Right now I have a red T-shirt and I wear a T-shirt I got from my local skate shop years ago over the red shirt. In the summer I'll just wear a T-shirt, it gets too hot.

As for footwear I wear football cleats. Easy to run in and offer support for your ankle.

[Jordan]

I've yet to try a pair of paintball-specific pants, but I have to argue the point on the Mechanix gloves.

Get a padded set, like the Impact series - I use the pair intended for carpentry, and they work great. Enought padding for those hand shots (at least for me), and I can still fit my fingers inside the trigger guard.

Jordan

[nhmercracer]

I have an old pair of Empire pants. The real advantage to paintball specific pants is ventilation. Really helps cool you on those steamy summer mornings.

Sean

[drg]

I am of the opinion that paintball-specific gear -- the right kinds, and the right way -- is one of the best investments you can make in the sport.

Paintball specific pants are at the front of my list. A good pair has many features over BDU or hunting-type pants, including lightweight materials (nylon), breathable mesh, stretch panels, paintball-specific pockets (e.g. swab pockets), and integral padding. The pants help you stay cooler and move more freely, which is key and is not as much of a priority with, say, hunting pants, where very fast movement/running is simply not part of the design consideration. Good pairs are also very durable and can take sliding, abrasion, etc. for years. A controversial aspect of pants is the oversize design and integral padding, which leads to bounces, but that does keep you in games. Some pants even have padded zipper areas

Jerseys are a tossup, but I like them with the right features. First is breathable sport materials and/or mesh, for keeping cool (I play in the tropics). I like jerseys with integral forearm/elbow padding for crawling. You can find some nice camo jerseys these days since camo is trendy, plus some scenario companies are stepping up.

Paintball specific gloves are a decent investment as well. The materials you find in them are not common in other applications -- thin palms for shooting and marker handling, lightweight/breathable/sport-type materials on the backs for flexibility, speed and padding. If you can find these features in other gloves then those would be fine too.

Paintball specific pads are a fairly good investment, though these are probably an area where many other sports' equipment can be adapted. That said, paintball pads tend to have purposeful design, such as "enough but not too much" protection, i.e. no hard shells, minimal bulk, all of which can make a difference at the edges in certain situations. I personally like the dense gel-type kneepads that makers like Dye put out; I don't think this type is common in other sports.

Now when I say the 'right way' I basically mean, look for secondhand stuff. Because of the fashion show nature of the game (and kids' short attention spans), new or almost new clothing comes up secondhand all the time. Check especially on PBN. You can get last year's model of tourney pants in good condition for like 30-40 bucks. There is no excuse for not having decent gear at those prices.

[austinvuichard]

I also normally wear jeans and a t shirt. I played again today w/ a long sleeve shirt and a t shirt underneath along with jeans. However if I can find some BDU's in fat person size I will buy some.

[heinous]

Originally Posted by Nonsense Man

Well I'm pretty new to the sport of paintball I've been playing for a few months now and have been wearing a short/long sleeve shirt (depending on the heat) and a pair of blue jeans. Now my jeans are starting to rip in the knees from crawling and sliding. So I've been looking in to getting some paintball specific pants and was wondering if their were any cheaper pairs all I need is pockets, belt loops, knee padding, and maybe crotch padding. Are their any cheaper pants that provide that? I don't need all that I really just want comfortable, durable, and belt loops.

I just wear my camo cargo pants from target with kneepads from Home Depot and a cup from Sports Authority.

And an olive t shirt.

The only paintball article I have are Diablo gloves.