Playing on a budget
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As though you don’t already know, paintball is not a cheap sport. Even if you get past the initial investment of items such as mask, marker, pack, pods, and tank the perishables of paintball, namely paint and air, are not always cheap either. Whether you are a teenager with a summer job or an old timer (like myself) with the responsibilities of family and a mortgage the price of playing out sport can sometimes reduce the number of times we enjoy it per year.
All is not lost, however. There are ways to manage your paintball experience so that you can enjoy the sport more often without spending too much money. I’m sure that all the things I’m about to mention have been covered in various areas before, but I decided to place them all in on place to make them easier to find.
You mention that to a new player and the first thing they think of is “Ain’t no way I can afford THAT!” However, not all markers are that expensive and, more importantly, most players don’t need a $1,500 marker for recreational play.
If you’re on a budget, there are a number of ways to go about buying your first marker and some things to consider. First, you do not want to just go out and purchase the cheapest marker you can find. It is true that you get what you pay for and rare is the good performing marker that is under $100 new. (I think the Spyder Victor series is about the only marker that I’d put into that category.)
If you can, see what kind of package deals your local shop may have. Many places allow you to buy your marker, mask, tank, and sometimes other necessities all at once and at a discounted price than if you were to buy them separately. Also, by purchasing a popular marker at your local shop, you have access to spare parts and expertise if you need help with your new marker.
But suppose you’ve been playing for a while and decide you want a better marker? Well, first ask yourself if you really need to buy a WHOLE new marker. Are there some key hop ups that you could add to your current marker that would improve its performance substantially but at a far less cost than a new marker? If so, you may want to try that route instead. I know it’s not the same as buying that shinny new marker…but remember, we’re on a budget here.
We are not talking about anything here other than cost. There are performance pros and cons to both but I’m not going to get into that here. (If you want to find out more about the performance differences between the two, do a search…) What we are talking about is purely cost.
Here are the things that we are going to assume:
- You have a marker that can operate on either CO2 or HPA/Nitro. Remember, some markers are designed to run on one or the other and thus will limit your decision. So here, we're going to say that the marker will work on either just as well.
- You have access to both CO2 and HPA/Nitro. Not all stores will fill HPA so this is something that could potentially limit your choice too. Again, we'll assume you can get either filled locally.
Okay, so which is cheaper? Well, if you go by just how much the bottles cost, you’ll first believe that CO2 is the way to go. You can get a 20 oz CO2 bottle for $20.00. HPA/Nitro tanks run about $75 and up.
However, there is more to it than that. See, an HPA tank (please note that I’m tired of writing HPA/Nitro and that when I say HPA, I mean both HPA and Nitro) comes with some form of regulator already installed. CO2 tanks do not. Considering CO2 regulators run anywhere from $40-$80, the price of the tanks can be pretty similar IF you are deciding to go with a regulated air source. Also, if you are planning on using your CO2 in a bottom line, you’ll need to get an anti-siphon equipped CO2 tank to keep liquid CO2 out of your marker (after all, if that gets in your marker you’ll be replacing O-rings far more often and thus upping your maintenance costs). With the anti-siphon, expect to pay $10-$15 more for the CO2 tank. HPA does not require this because it is stored as a compressed gas, not a liquid.
But now you just have the tank, not the fill. Remember we mentioned that when you play paintball one of the two things you will constantly be buying is air, either CO2 or HPA. Those fills don’t come free…well…not always. See, many fields and stores will fill your HPA tank full of compressed air (not Nitro) for free. CO2, on the other hand, ranges anywhere from $2.00 up to $10.00 per fill depending on the size of the tank. Generally speaking, a 20 oz CO2 tank will get about 1100 shots from the tank while it would take a 68ci 4500 psi HPA tank to achieve the same number of shots (a little more actually). Here is the problem, most fields and stores can’t fill up to 4500 psi…they only do up to 3000. This means you will be filling up the HPA more often than the CO2 to get the same number of shots.
So find out which is cheaper for you in the long run, HPA or CO2, and that will help keep your repetitive air costs down.
Usually, if you want to play at a nice, professionally run field, you are going to have to pay. But, there are ways to cut down on this expense too.
Some fields offer a “play for free” program. The way the program works is that you come out and Referee a certain number of times per month. If you meet the minimum, then you get to play for the next month for free. So long as you continue your refereeing, you continue to play for free. A local field here states that if you referee for four complete days (not in a row…) during a month then you can play for free.
(THANKS TO VLAR AND WARHAMSTER OVER ON ARIAKON FOR THIS ADDITION) Many fields offer membership programs that allow you to get in for a reduced rate. One field used to cost $25 for admission, but members got in free. A membership was only $100 for a year or $150 for a lifetime. That means a year is paid off in 4 trips and a lifetime in 6? By playing at least once a month the lifetime membership can pay for itself in like 5 or 6 months.
Another option is the spectator/photographer option. Granted, this is not nearly as fun as actually playing, but by going out one day and watching or taking pictures of the game while on the field will help you learn the particulars of that field better. Heck, you may even pick up some pointers if you decided to go and watch the advanced games. It’s a good way to see what you should and shouldn’t do without having the distraction of being shot at.
I bet you never thought you could save money by cleaning your marker, but you can. See, here’s the thing. We all know that we should take apart our markers after each day of play and oil all the o-rings before we put our marker away but how often do we actually CLEAN it? Go, right now, go get your marker out of your closet….YES I’m talking to you…now then…look at it. See that glob of pink paint there in the cocking lever…or the fine layer of dirt that’s covering the receiver…or how about that missing screw… Where? Right there…you didn’t even know that was gone did you?
One major expense that you can avoid with proper maintenance is repairs to damaged parts on your marker. See, dirt on your marker is bad for a number of reasons. One, it loves to find its way into any moving part and when you mix dirt with moving parts you get…sandpaper. The dirt will start to wear away at those parts and, if left unchecked for long enough, can cause failure and damage to your marker. Also, it is harder to see if something is damaged, loose or broken on a dirty marker than a clean marker. Not only that, but you paid good money for that triple anodized marker that goes from blue to purple to red…why not let the world see it?
This is also the time to check for loose or missing screws. You’ll find that if you get into this habit regularly, it becomes more of a check for loose rather than missing screws. Every screw on your marker is there for a reason…and missing one is a very bad thing. At the very least, there is one more hole in your marker for dirt to enter into the vitals of your marker and start causing havoc. If you find a screw is coming loose every time you play AND it is screwing into metal, get some thread lock and use it to keep the screw in place. There are different types of thread lock so be sure to use the NON-PERMANENT type so that you can remove the screw later. Also, be sure to clean out the hole and the screw very well before hand. If you leave dirt or oil in the threads the thread lock may not work as it should. It is important to check even thread locked screws when you do you maintenance, however. Never assume that just because you thread locked it that it will stay that way.
Another benefit to a clean marker is that it becomes a more reliable marker. This means that you get most out of your day of play rather than spending $20 to sit at a bench at the field trying to figure out why your marker isn’t shooting the way it should. It also means that you will not be wasting paint and air during the time you are trying to find out why your marker isn't shooting properly!
Last but not least, paint. Perhaps the single largest recurring expense in paintball. At up to $100 for a case of 2000, and current marker technology that gives you the ability to burn through that case in all of about a minute and a half, the cost of paint can really add up.
Let's take a moment and break this down a bit, shall we? 2000 rounds. 20 Balls Per Second (BPS). That’s 200 rounds every ten seconds and 1200 rounds every minute. Machine guns in World War II didn’t fire that fast! Take a ten-minute game and factor in 10 seconds to reload after ever 200 rounds…that’s about 6000 rounds, or three cases of paint per game! Now you say you play 10 games a day??? Take three cases of paint per game at $50 per case, that’s $150 per game. Times ten games…that’s $1,500 per DAY!
Now, I don’t know ANYONE that goes though that much paint in a day (and for good reason!) but I do hear of people regularly shooting through half a case per game. Five cases a day (again, 1 case for every 2 games at an average of 10 games per day) adds up anywhere from $150 to $500 depending on the cost of the paint. I don't know about you but for $500 I can paint my whole house!!!
So, how do you limit this? There are a number of ways. There are some aspects of this you may or may not be able to control. Many fields are “Field Paint Only” and thus you are not going to be able to shop around for a cheap price on paint if this is the only kind of field you have nearby. Obviously, if you have access to a field that DOES allow you to bring your own paint then, by all means, find something that works well with your marker but doesn’t cost a fortune to buy. Some even advocate that you may even think about driving the extra distance to find a field that is bring your own paint. After all, if you are spending $60 for a $40 case of paint the cost of gas for driving that extra distance may be far less than the $20 per case difference.
The one thing that is under our control is how much paint we shoot. There are a couple different ways to save money here. One is to change the type of marker you shoot. Now, obviously buying a new marker isn’t exactly cheap but, as I said, there are a number of ways to reduce your paint cost and this is but one. If you change to a stock class pump marker, you will go through much less paint (and air) during the course of the day. Most stock class players never buy paint by the case because it will go bad before they use it all. A stock class player will go through maybe 400 rounds in a day. Not only that, but by playing stock class your playing skills will improve tremendously as you only have one shot to take out your opponent. You learn to make your shots count.
If buying a new marker isn’t in your budget, then you can always limit your paint expenditures in other ways.
You can start by changing how you play. When you are trying to pin someone down, limit your “spray” to only three rounds or only fire long enough to make sure the person you are covering for has gotten to where they were going. You don’t need to fire at 20 BPS to keep someone behind a bunker. A nice, steady, 2-3 BPS will keep them down. You can also do what I like to call "Bust Cover". You fire 2-3 rounds at their bunker to get them to duck behind it. Then you stop until you see them start to come out again and repeat the process. Usually, people are so use to the belts of paint slapping against their bunker that they'll stay down for a longer period of time anyway.
Try to play forward more as well. Front guys don’t use that much paint during the game as they are more focused on snap shooting and moving up.
You can also limit the amount of paint you take on the field with you. I recently played a game where I had fifty rounds in my hopper for not one, but two games! I had no pods and didn’t borrow paint from anyone. I still walked away with a number of eliminations. Again, this helps improve your game because you start shooting with single shots rather than spraying.
An added bonus to some of these tips is that you will also improve your skills as well. Hey, who doesn't like a 2-for-1 deal, right? I mean what's good for Pizza HAS to be good for paintball. By consciously limiting the amount of paint you shoot you will become more conscientious of making every shot count thus improving your shooting skills.
Lastly, you can turn to other forms of “paintball” to limit your paint expenditure. Games like Civil War where each side is only allowed to shoot one ball per turn is a great way to limit paint. The guys I play with even have what they call “Slingshot games”. Everyone goes out to the field with nothing on them but a slingshot. The only paint they are allowed to use is what is sitting on the ground. Talk about cheap! But it is a lot of fun too and helps teach you how to move in order to get into a better firing position.
No one ever said paintball would be cheap. However, it doesn’t have to break the bank either. With some planning, foresight, and a little imagination, you can still go out and play paintball regularly even if you are not loaded with cash or a sponsored player. Hope this helps.
Good luck and remember, it is all about having fun!
- Robotech
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