Paintball Safety
By John Doe, Thu Dec 8th

The fact that is now the 4th most popular ExtremeSport is not solely do to the fact that it is one of the mostfun sports around it is also because of the fact it is also safeto play. How can a sport where people go around shooting eachother with paintballs going 280 fps (feet per second) be safeyou ask?, well in this section I will explain how that ispossible.

The first and foremost reason that is safe is becausethere are rules and regulations in place to insure that theplayers are safe during game-play. These rules are set by thePaintball Insurance Companies that insure the RecreationalFields. I will list a couple of the many companies that insurefields and the rules that most of these companies enforce. Twoof the most popular companies that provide insurance to fieldsare listed below along with their website links;

American League

National Association

I will now explain in detail the most important of these rulesand regulations used at all insured fields;

Goggles/Masks

The 1st and most important rule is that all players must wearPaintball approved Goggles/Masks at all times during game-playand if they are on the play field at all whether in play or not.The goal of these systems is to protect the face and eyes of theplayers from injury. The approved systems do a wonderful job ofprotecting the player as I can attest to having been hit squarea few times. I know that the fields are very strict about thisrule cause if they are not they will lose their insurance or befined. I will add a few more recommended suggestions in regardsto Goggles/Masks that are not a rule or regulation but areimportant none the less. Each and every time before you play forthe day inspect your goggles to make sure they are in tip topshape and pay special attention to the lenses for cracks. If yousee any cracks in the lenses DO NOT use those goggles they WILLNOT be safe until you get NEW lenses installed. If you have evertaken a direct hit in the lenses it is recommended that you DoNot Use those goggles until New lenses are installed due to thefact that they may have been weakened and not give properprotection.

Barrel Plugs/Socks

The 2nd most important rule is that all players must affix theirBarrel plug or Sock on when not on the field or when they havebeen eliminated and are walking off the field. A barrelplug/sock is a piece of equipment that can come in many stylesand types that all have the goal of preventing a frombeing shot from the marker. The use of a barrel plug/sock isimportant because they prevent accidental injury due to closerange shots while not on the field. Below are some images of thedifferent barrel plugs available (the industry seems to beleaning towards the Barrel Socks because they provide betterprotection than Plugs);

Velocity of Paintballs

The rule of safety is really just as important as Barrel Plugsbut has a little more variety in actual implementation. Velocityof the is the speed the is traveling in"feet

per second" (FPS). There is not one set velocitythroughout the world but there is a range that allfields fall in as far as enforcement. The velocity range isabout 275 fps to 290 fps depending on field. Each player mustget their marker checked for velocity by a referee who tags themarker if is is at or below the fields speed rule. Each playeris also subject to random test while in game-play at thediscretion of the referees. I would recommend all players tocheck their velocity at least every other game they play becausethe last thing you want to do is get removed from the game orthe field do to shooting faster than the fields legal limit.Getting your velocity checked is a quick and painless procedureso in my opinion there should be no reason to ever shoot what iscalled hot!

Referee Administered Games

Games at the insured fields are usually if not always refereedby a minimum of 2 referees. These referees are trained to watchfor safety related issues and if they see any they have theauthority to due whatever they feel is appropriate to repressthe issue, anything from removing the offending player(s) orstopping the game-play.

Dead Zone (Staging Area)

All fields have an area that is apart from the play fields forthe purpose of preparing yourself to play. This area is usuallycalled the "Dead Zone", Safe Zone" or "Staging Area" it is whereall players meet before playing to be divided into teams, hearthe rules and regulation for the field, return to wheneliminated and to get equipment ready for play. In this area itis against the rules to fire your marker at all regardless ofwhether it is loaded, because in this area players do not haveto have their goggles on.

Equipment Fail safes

Above I listed the safety rules & regulations at the field levelwhich in themselves prevent a lot of injuries while playingPaintball. There are other safety measure in place also that alot of people are unaware of because it does not directly effectthem as far as person actions. These safety measures are at theequipment level and are implemented by the manufacturers of theequipment. Below I will explain some of them in detail;

Air Tank Expiration Dates - All tanks High Pressure Air, CO2 andNO2 have a date listed on them that after the date you have toget the tank tested and approved for safety before it can befilled again.

Air Pressure Release Valve - All Air tanks also have a valve upon the fill valve that has what they call a burst disk which isa thin piece of metal that will burst if the pressure in thetank gets above acceptable limits allowing the tank to releasethe air preventing the tank from bursting.

Safety Switches on Markers - All markers are equipped with asafety on the trigger frame which when in the safe positionprevents the trigger from being pulled.

Powerfeed turn off - Some markers have a powerfeed which is atype of feed for the paintballs to enter the marker. Thesepowerfeeds have a plastic plug on the bottom that you can turn180 degrees which will prevent balls from entering the markerthus if the marker is shot no will be projected.

For more info go to www.redcellpaintball.com

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