Most people already participate in a sport that is less “safe” than paintball, like football, basketball or even fishing. Industry safety standards like paintball masks, barrel plugs, and limits on paintball gun velocities help prevent injuries. The fact is that less than 1 person out of every 4,000 who play paintball will end up having to go to the doctor for a paintball-related injury. This includes things like ankle sprains or scratches from falling in the woods, not just injuries directly related to paintball pellets. On the other hand, 1 in 33 people who play football will end up visiting the hospital each year.
Of course, getting hit by a paintball tends to and leave a welt, but it is usually no worse than the bumps, bruises, and scratches that people get doing other things.
Paintball is safe even for fairly young preteens. Commercial fields have liability insurance covering players as young as 10 or 12 (depending on the field). If young players had too many claims, insurance companies would not cover them.
According to statistics, playing on a commercial field is safer than playing at home. Commercial fields have rules, and the referees to enforce them. Some of the most important basic safety rules are:
- Players must wear paintball masks (also known as goggles) to protect their eyes
- Markers (aka paintball guns) are chronographed to make sure they are firing below a certain speed (no higher than 300 feet per second, but some fields have lower maximum speeds)
- Barrels must be plugged or covered when not in play to prevent someone from accidentally firing their marker.
On the other hand, when people play paintball in unestablished fields (for instance in their backyard, or in the forest), it is up to players to make sure they follow common sense procedures. Unfortunately, they often don’t. The majority of paintball-related eye injuries occur in unestablished fields, because players don’t follow safety rules.
Bottom line? If you follow the rules, paintball is not only safe, but fun.
Does paintball hurt?
Honestly, sometimes. It depends on how fast the ball is traveling, where it hits, whether it breaks or not (balls that just bounce off tend to be more painful), and what kind of clothing the paintball player are wearing. Sometimes people don’t even feel a hit. But even when it does hurt, it is usually just a quick sting – the kind of thing that makes a person say “Ow!” and then forget about a few seconds later. Some hits come back to haunt paintball players hours, or even a day, later – as bruises. These bruises might feel a little sore or tender to the touch.
Fear of pain is probably one of the biggest factors stopping people from trying out paintball, when it shouldn’t be. Yes, occasionally more serious injuries occur, but they are rarer in paintball than in most other sports. If someone bruises more heavily than other people, wearing layers or using a vest can make a big difference.
Estela Kennen - Estela is a doctoral student in Public Administration and a freelance writer and editor.
