1. Paintball Gun
Copyright 2008 David Muhlestein, Licensed to About.com
Basic paintball guns such as introductory Spyders and Tippmanns are great for beginners, but eventually many players want something a little nicer. You don’t need to spend a thousand dollars to get a good gun, and instead you can look towards more advanced paintball guns such as the GOG eNVy, the Tippmann A-5 or the Dangerous Power Fusion. The difference between the most basic guns and these updated ones include a higher rate of fire, more consistent firing and, for many of the nicer guns, an electronic trigger with multiple firing modes. Guns in the $200-$300 price range are generally very accurate, reliable and fun to play with. While they aren’t quite as nice as the high-end guns, they do provide much of the quality and cost hundreds of dollars less.
2. Mask
Image Courtesy of PriceGrabber
Beginner masks are extremely functional. They protect your face, ears and eyes from paintballs. Other than that, though, they are pretty unfortunate pieces of plastic. They are not very comfortable, they have a limited field of vision, they don’t sit snugly on your head and, most importantly, they have a tendency to fog up and become almost impossible to see through. Upgrading masks starts with getting a thermal lens. While normal lenses just have one piece of clear plastic to see through, thermal lenses have two pieces of plastic with a thin air pocket between them which helps prevent fogging. With higher quality lenses you can also increase your field of vision, improve comfort and insure a snug fit on your head.
3. Hopper
4. Price of Upgrading
The old adage that “you get what you pay for” in paintball is very true. To get a complete setup of mid-range equipment, expect to spend $200-$300 $50-$100 on an HPA tank, $40-$60 on a mask and another $40-$80 on a hopper. Upgrading is not inexpensive but, depending on what you are trying to do with paintball, it can be worth the price.5. Tank
Most beginner players start playing paintball with CO2. Carbon dioxide is cheap, easy to find and the tanks are cheap to use. The major issue with CO2, though, is that it isn’t very consistent and can severely damage electropneumatic paintball guns. The answer for consistency is to upgrade to a high pressure air (HPA) tank. These paintball tanks can hold several thousand pounds per square inch (PSI) of pressure and are basically miniature scuba tanks that you screw onto your gun. While they do cost more to purchase and there are fewer places to fill the tanks, HPA tanks provide a better paintball experience.
