What Do I Wear To Play Paintball?
By Andrea Wilson, Fri Dec 9th

Paintball clothing is as varied as the players themselves, butsome recommendations and rules apply at most commercial fields.After that, no two players will dress alike. You'll see theweekend recball players in long sleeved t-shirts, jeans andbaseball caps, sporting rented markers. Then you'll see the prosand die-hards in full camouflage gear, sporting the fanciestsniper rifles on the market.

1. Ghillie Suits and Sniper Suits

Ghillie suits and sniper suits are similar. They are bothcamouflage suits that consist of headgear, jacket (or poncho)and pants covered with simulated vegetation made from jute orother similar material. Basically, you look like a walking heapof forest growth.

Ghillie-type headgear is especially useful in that it breaks upthe outline of the human head. The shape of the human head isnot found anywhere else in nature so it is easily recognized byan opposing player... or by a wary deer, for thatmatter.

Since ghillie suits are used by hunters, as well as paintballplayers, you might try your local sporting goods store. Snipersuits can often be found in military supply stores.

There are several online stores that sell ghillie suits. Theonly problem with buying online is that you can't try on thesuit to see how it fits or to see how you like one particularstyle versus another. So, make sure any online store has a goodreturn policy. You can get a lot of tactical gear, includingghillie pants, jacket and poncho, here:http://www.ablewebs.com/rap4.htm.

2. Headgear

Headgear other than goggles and masks consists of ghillie hoods,veils, headwraps, baseball caps and knit caps. Ghillie hoods andveils are used for camouflage to disguise the shape of the humanhead. Baseball caps, knit caps and head wraps are used to keepthe paint out of the player's hair. Baseball caps worn backwardsare also useful to cover the back of the neck.

3. Regular Clothing

Paintball requires a lot of physical energy so players tend toget quite warm when playing. Although sufficient layers ofclothing are needed to prevent paintballs from leaving welts,too much clothing can cause overheating of the body. Therefore,a heavy winter jacket should not be worn.

As well, most fields won't allow a heavy jacket because itprevents the player from feeling the impact of the paintballwhen they are hit.

The rule for clothing is to wear loose-fitting long pants (notfitted jeans) and a long-sleeved shirt or jersey over a t-shirt,with an added light jacket in cool weather. Although some fieldsallow t- shirts and short pants to be worn during play, thisleaves the skin exposed... and since you WILL get hit... ouch!Not recommended!

Wear clothing that is earth-toned or olive green in color. Donot wear white unless playing in the snow. Avoid the colorsreferees and judges wear (usually red or orange) and avoidbright colors that you wouldn't find in nature, like brightyellow, lime green, shocking pink, etc.

4. Footwear

There are a lot of recommendations about various kinds offootwear for paintball. Most players wear running shoes, sturdywork shoes, hiking boots or combat-style boots. Cleatedpaintball shoes are available in some stores.

5. Gloves

Gloves come in various styles: full finger,

half finger, andfingerless. Full fingered gloves give the best protectionagainst impact. Fingerless gloves obviously provide the mostcontrol for rapid fire techniques like walking the trigger, etc.Try on several pair before buying as a good fit is veryimportant. Ill- fitting gloves will certainly interfere withyour ability to fire rapidly and accurately.

6. Goggle Systems

Goggle systems are getting more and more sophisticated everyday. Some goggle systems have built in fans to prevent fogging.Some even have built in communication systems! These areespecially useful for recball and scenario games.

The most important thing to remember when buying goggles is thatthey must meet or exceed ASTM standards. This is for your safetyand should never be compromised. If you have to spend a few moredollars to get ASTM certified goggles, it will be money wellspent!

Another important thing to remember when buying goggles is to besure they fit well and feel comfortable. Your goggles have tobecome part of you because you CANNOT take them off or even liftthem even for a second during a game. You have to WANT to wearyour goggles.

Never make any modifications to the factory specifications ofyour goggle system. The mask and goggles must be made to worktogether. Do not try to combine parts from different systems!

7. Vests

Vests are generally only used for scenario games wherethey're used to carry a pistol, grenades, tubes (to carry extrapaintballs), etc. They come in many colors and patterns, and areoften theme-based in style, including police, CIA, military,offbeat, etc. You can even get one custom made! You can findsome here: http://www.ablewebs.com/rap4.htm,http://www.cops911.com/category.asp?id=114.

8. Patches

Police and S.W.A.T. patches are popular with players.These are patches you iron on to your combat or police-stylejacket or vest. You can find some here:http://www.ablewebs.com/rap4.htm

9. Tattoos

While not technically considered clothing, tattoos amongpaintball players are quite popular. The rule is: If you see atattoo you like, wait 12 months before you get it. If you stilllike it and still like the idea of getting a tattoo after theyear is up, then go for it... always assuming your family issupportive, of course!

Most players don't have tattoos specific to paintball,but some do, of course.You can do a search in Google or Yahoofor "paintball tatoos" to see if you can find some examples ofpaintball tattos you might like. Or, get an artist friend ofyours to design one for you.

By the way, as we mentioned in the article on safety,paintball sometimes hurts. And so does getting tattooed. Neitherare for the faint of heart!

Develop Your Own Style... Within the Rules of Paintball

What you wear to play doesn't matter once you'vefollowed the basic rules and recommendations. Just develop yourown style over time as you observe others and shop around to addto your wardrobe. Don't forget to shop online, too.There are enough supply stores online to keep you busyfor quite awhile. You can start here:http://www.ablewebs.com/rap4.htm.

About the author:Andrea Wilson is a writer and the mother of a teenage paintballfanatic. To learn more about paintball, she recommends you takea look at http://www.PaintballHeroes.com andhttp://www.PaintballPicks.com.