What gear do I need for speedball?

Uneedskills · 04-12-2011, 12:31 AM

hey nation, im new to speedball, got my gun tank and hopper, now im getting all the pads/gear what pads and gear do i need??? please help

Japy · 04-12-2011, 12:55 AM

Whatever pads fit and feel comfortable. Whatever mask feels comfortable. Whatever pod pack fits you comfortably and allows you to carry the amount of paint you shoot. Whatever gun/tank combination is comfortable and allows you to go a few games without needing an air fill (important for tourneys)..

It all comes down to personal preference. The only things you really NEED are a mask, tank, hopper, pod pack, long sleeve shirt, pants, shoes. (this is for tourney ball, as most tourneys don't let you go shirtless or with tshirts)

Whether you rock paintball stuff, or what brand for clothing/gear is all up to personal preference.

Personally I recommend getting knee and elbow pads. Even if you're a back player elbow pads get bounces if you get sloppy. Knee pads I consider a must. I really like planet eclipse pads. I wear PE gloves, knee, elbow pads.

I like the look of dye outerwear so I rock a dye jersey and pants. I wear football cleats. JT Flex mask, HaloB (soon to be rotor), 05 sft, 68/4500 tank and a redz 5+4+1 pack.

Personally unless you're going tourney ball, I'd say just wear a t-shirt or longsleeve shirt and skip buying a jersey. I would however buy paintball pants as sliding will rip jeans apart pretty fast.

I'd also recommend getting a cheap sandana, I like the dye sandana's. The reason I say get one is because they help keep the sweat out of your eyes, and can absorb enough sweat to keep your mask foam from being sopping wet.

Sorry my answer isn't all that helpful, but it really is all personal preference. Go out to your local pro shop and try a bunch of stuff on and see what you like. Borrow other peoples gear at the field to try it out and see if you like it. One great thing about this sport is how most people are willing to let other people try their stuff out so they can make more informed buying decisions.

Uneedskills · 04-12-2011, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japy

Whatever pads fit and feel comfortable. Whatever mask feels comfortable. Whatever pod pack fits you comfortably and allows you to carry the amount of paint you shoot. Whatever gun/tank combination is comfortable and allows you to go a few games without needing an air fill (important for tourneys)..

It all comes down to personal preference. The only things you really NEED are a mask, tank, hopper, pod pack, long sleeve shirt, pants, shoes. (this is for tourney ball, as most tourneys don't let you go shirtless or with tshirts)

Whether you rock paintball stuff, or what brand for clothing/gear is all up to personal preference.

Personally I recommend getting knee and elbow pads. Even if you're a back player elbow pads get bounces if you get sloppy. Knee pads I consider a must. I really like planet eclipse pads. I wear PE gloves, knee, elbow pads.

I like the look of dye outerwear so I rock a dye jersey and pants. I wear football cleats. JT Flex mask, HaloB (soon to be rotor), 05 sft, 68/4500 tank and a redz 5+4+1 pack.

Personally unless you're going tourney ball, I'd say just wear a t-shirt or longsleeve shirt and skip buying a jersey. I would however buy paintball pants as sliding will rip jeans apart pretty fast.

I'd also recommend getting a cheap sandana, I like the dye sandana's. The reason I say get one is because they help keep the sweat out of your eyes, and can absorb enough sweat to keep your mask foam from being sopping wet.

Sorry my answer isn't all that helpful, but it really is all personal preference. Go out to your local pro shop and try a bunch of stuff on and see what you like. Borrow other peoples gear at the field to try it out and see if you like it. One great thing about this sport is how most people are willing to let other people try their stuff out so they can make more informed buying decisions.

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH, yea im hopfully getting in to torunys asap,,, and i was just wondering what like pads u need, gonna buy PE elbow/knee pads and gloves and dye or empire pants jersey and pod pack, i have a 70/45 stubby and a invert mini, and soon a rotor(paying for it tomorrow) and soon a empire pod pack

Japy · 04-12-2011, 01:04 AM

before you buy the pads you probably wanna try them on just to make sure they are comfortable.

The only pads most major tourneys allow are knee/shin, elbow, gloves, neck, headbands with slight padding. Clothing is usually limited to 2 layers that aren't ultra oversized or with padding. (Except for jerseys with built in padding, and pants with built in knee padding)

Masks also usually aren't allowed to be modified (except for coloring, mask wraps for looks, that kinda thing). Tank covers are allowed, but hopper covers aren't.

That should give you an idea of what you can/cannot have for tourneys. So don't buy anything too crazy

Uneedskills · 04-12-2011, 01:09 AM

Thanks you sooooooo much man! help me a ton!

manwee · 04-12-2011, 05:37 AM

Need? Goggles,a good pair of pants and knee pads
Would be good to have; arm pads, jersey, pod harness

GrimReafer · 04-12-2011, 09:14 AM

Before you order pads, get a MASK! Drop the 100ish bucks and buy a mask, or go into the BST Mask area and buy a used one. I use Grillz. I've had a profit, I4s, profilers, and I3s. No one can hear you out of the profit. Screaming at the top of my voice and my team mate two doritos ahead of me could barely here me. I4s were small on my face and the I3s just got worn out. The grillz I love. Comfortable, can hear and speak very well, easy lens replacement/cleaning.

lxmott · 04-12-2011, 10:05 AM

Get some eclipse elbow pads try are great I have dye knee pads and they tore after maybe five uses so be careful of those

manwee · 04-12-2011, 03:25 PM

what were you doing to your knee pads?

Uneedskills · 04-12-2011, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manwee

Need? Goggles,a good pair of pants and knee pads
Would be good to have; arm pads, jersey, pod harness

Do u think ansgear.com is a good place to buy from (price doesn't madder)

Japy · 04-12-2011, 06:47 PM

Honestly.. I'm not a fan of ANS gear. If you're going to buy online get from someone in the BST of PBN or just buy the pads from your local store. If price really doesn't matter then always go local. Support the local fields so they can stay open.

I was going to buy PE 2011 gloves from ANS at one time... then I discovered they wanted like 10$ shipping for ****ing gloves... basic shipping.. At that point if they were even cheaper then my local store it was only by like 3 dollars.

DriverJ · 04-12-2011, 06:57 PM

There are better places than ANSGear, I would suggest calling DSSP8NTBALL IMO the best store around.

lxmott · 04-12-2011, 09:14 PM

I'm not sure the side tore out on one of them

Uneedskills · 04-13-2011, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japy

Honestly.. I'm not a fan of ANS gear. If you're going to buy online get from someone in the BST of PBN or just buy the pads from your local store. If price really doesn't matter then always go local. Support the local fields so they can stay open.

I was going to buy PE 2011 gloves from ANS at one time... then I discovered they wanted like 10$ shipping for ****ing gloves... basic shipping.. At that point if they were even cheaper then my local store it was only by like 3 dollars.

the nearest local store is a 2 hours drive.....and im buying atleast 200$ of stuff so its free shipping....

Japy · 04-13-2011, 01:13 AM

Well I guess you have a legit reason to buy online... Lol.

Uneedskills · 04-13-2011, 02:16 AM

Haha yep it sucks

AaronGPB · 04-14-2011, 09:09 AM

Criticalpaintball.com
ANSgear.com
are both good

Zephyr paintball <--- BAADDDDD

Coenen · 04-14-2011, 10:13 AM

I've always had good dealings with Zephyr...their CS can be a bit snippy though if memory serves. They have taken care of me though, and that's something.

Compulsivepaintball.com is a class group, PBGear.com (Action Village) isn't bad either.

Clearly you need a good mask, you can't hit what you can't see. Then pants, poke around E-bay or BST here and see if you can't find some 2010 or '09 pants on the cheap rather than paying full price for new gear. Pads you'll pretty well want to buy new. For me, gloves are a must as well, something to protect your knuckles and palms from getting shot, or torn up while diving. Packs have been mentioned. You probably want some sort of head protection, a baseball cap turned backwards, or beanie or even just a couple head bands or sandanas.

Shoes...hit a local store that actually knows something about sports (not a big box) and ask them to recommend you a good set of cleats. Describe what you do in paintball, the surfaces you play on, what sort of ankle/foot support you're looking for, etc. and they should get you setup.

Other random necessities; if you don't already have some sort of spare parts or tool kit for your gear, start looking into it. Batteries, obvious where I'm going there. Saran wrap, seal up that gun in case of rain. Microfiber cloths to quickly clean mask lenses. Regular cloths or rags to wipe down everything else. Also some sort of device to carry all the stuff you just accumulated.

Stuff I'm currently wearing/using:
Long Sleeve T-shirt
Eclipse Gauntlets
Empire Pads
Empire ZN Hinge pack, 3+6
Empire '05 Grind pants, Chronic '06 Pants, Hybrid '06 pants
V-force Grillz or Profilers
Mizuno baseball cleats

Japy · 04-14-2011, 11:18 AM

Yeah a microfiber or two is great for masks, you can just carry it in your pocket. Also pick up a good squeege, I really like the redz ones I picked up recently. Even though I never experience barrel breaks anymore with my paint bore matched up, I get a **** ton of bunker rub goo inside my barrel porting so I squeege before and after every game just to make sure I'm good to go. Nothing pisses me off more then trying to lay down a sick lane and seeing all my paint curving all over the field due to not having a clean barrel.

mezz8984 · 06-12-2011, 02:38 PM

Trust me the most important thing to buy first is a mask. When I started I probably spent over $150 on **** masks from Dicks. $100 will get you a good quality mask that you'll be able to use for a long time. Then I would focus on the essential hoppers and packs and the rest of the gear.

Remember to also buy cleats if you slip wearing regular shoes you could possibly break your gear or even hurt yourself which in the long run will cost more money then a cheap $40-$50 pair of cleats.

unspeakable · 06-12-2011, 05:45 PM

I've ordered a bunch of stuff on separate occasions from ANSgear.com. I usually order on Friday (payday!) and get my stuff on the following WED-THURS (I Live in Missouri).

ANSgear has a ton of gear in stock, they get a lot of exclusive stuff since they are a huge retailer, and I've yet to have an order be wrong. Also a lot of their stuff qualifies for free shipping without purchasing $100+.