Most new players only really have experience of paintball on sites that focus on woodsball, and could expect to pay the following £60-80 per person shooting around 1000-1500 paintballs. Normally a player would have 8-10 games per day, and depending on how much you shot will affect the total cost
STAGE 1: Entry Level Experience - Recreational (Punter) Paintball- This is how the majority of people begin, you turn up and play.
- 99% is supplied - overalls, goggles, markers etc. Most sites provide free lunch with a full day booking
- You need good footwear, comfortable light clothes and fingerless gloves are a good idea
- Ignore the ticket sellers in the street telling you it is £9.99 for a full day, you then have to pay the site
- Even better - go direct to the site and book in, bring a group and start getting discounts or a free player
- Entry starts at around £10, always opt for a package
- A good amount is 1000 paintballs for a day, packages are around £55 entry & paint
- If you are not intending to shoot a lot or are on a budget then look for packages around £35 for entry & 500 paintballs
- For a half day packages tend to be around 400 - 500 paintballs £30 entry & paint, but no lunch included
- Extra paint on the day is always on variable price scales starting with 100 for about £7, 500 around £30, 1000 around £55
- Do your research for local sites and their packages, also phone them up!
Once you are hooked, playing more regularly shifts the costs towards cheaper paint costs as you no longer use the paintball site's equipment, but you have bought your own gear
STAGE 2: Walkon Paintball - site normally hold them once a month- This is the next stage, you want more of a challenge, want to take advantage of cheaper prices, have your own gear - or are startign to acquire your own gear
- You meet a friendly bunch of people and get to see much more about paintball.
- Walkon games are similar to punter games, howeve the players usually get the option to adjust rules, play the game zones in different ways
- Expect a mix of woods play, and a form of speedball play possibly with inflatables (the competitive style)
- Walkons are cheaper because the sites may reduce the ratio of marshalls to player then required for the unknown entity of punters, and walkon players are more likely to be repeat customers
- If you have not got your own gear yet, or only some then you can still play at walkons, but expect a charge such as £5 for the rental items, sometimes free
- In general we recommend not rushing out and buying your own gear, look around check out other players gear etc
- Walkon price structures vary. Usually a larger entry fee but vastly cheaper paint prices. You may also be able to bring your own paint. However unless you have a good discount somewhere then you will not get decent paint for less then walkon prices
- Entry alone around £25
- Entry with a box of 2000 paintballs around £50
- Additional paint at around £25 - £30 per case of 2000
You might shoot more or less paint. Often in the transition from punter to walkon, the budget remains the same, but you just shoot more (share a box of paint with your team-mate or friend)
STAGE 3: TournamentPaintball - training and then an event once per month- Competitive format, and more paint is generally used as you shoot streams of paint
- £50 for per player training
- £70 to £100 per player for a tournament
- Generally people call so called 'woodland' markers/guns tougher then 'tournament' markers/guns
- But a tournament player is more likely to be running and diving thus potentialy bashing their equipment so it needs to be tough to function
- They will probably be putting out paint quickly, but in relatively short games
- Other equipment can be used quickly, such as pods being broken or disappearing after being dumped in game (you would expect to pick up your pods after the game, not distract yourself putting them away in game)
How is this relevant to Essex ACES?- Most of the Team were previously at Stage 2
- The formation of the Team was triggered when a group decided they wanted to try competitive (tournie) paintball
- Therefore for majority of the Team, they understand the challenges moving into a new format, and can support that transition
If you need anymore information, just use the PM function on the site!
Alex D
Essex ACES