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The Importance of the Pre-Game: Equipment |
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Sunday, 02 September 2007 |
The next section of the Pre-Game is the gear. A person can not play paintball without the proper equipment. Gear comes in many forms depending on the teams style of play down to how many days they will be camping at the field. This article will focus on personal playing equipment, team playing equipment, personal camping equipment, and team camping equipment.
Every paintball player has their particular equipment that they use. This would be such things as their marker, hopper, mask, batteries, personal pods, harness/vest, knee pads, hat/bandana, playing attire, boots, radio, barrel cleaning equipment, and such. Be sure to use camouflage clothing that will match what area the playing field is in. There is no point in wearing woodland camouflage in the desert or desert in the woods. There are a million little things that each player needs to have to be able to play the game of paintball. For this each player needs to make a checklist with four boxes next to it. They check one box when they lay there gear out before they pack it. This should be done at least a day before leaving. Packing the morning of or even the night before is a good way to forget something that a player will need. So the player will check one box when they first lay out their gear at least a day ahead of time. They check the second box as they double check their laid out gear. They then check the third box as they physically pack each piece of equipment. All of this equipment should be packed into a Rubbermaid style container that can be found at any local Target or Wal-Mart. This gives each person the ability to back the same amount of playing gear into a water proof container that can be easily stacked into a trailer, van, or truck. The list should then be put in a Ziploc bag and duct taped to the container. The fourth box will be checked when the player repacks their equipment back into the container for the ride home. Now that each player has their personal playing gear at the field it is time to look at the team playing gear.
Team playing gear can really very from team to team. This category can include such things as pods to tanks. There is some equipment that a team should really get. These include a chronograph, a lot of pods, and possible invest in a rocket launcher for a team member to use. By investing in a chronograph the team can chronograph themselves before they even go to the official chronograph station. This will save the team valuable time before a scenario. Pods, pods, pods…. By having the team as a group invest and purchase pods in bulk will save the team as a whole a ton of money and time. Now each player can pre fill all of their pods ahead of time and can exchange the empty pods on them for the full ones waiting. Also by purchasing pods in bulk it will cost a lot less per pod than if a player were to buy their own separately. Buying a team rocket launcher is also a good idea. This gives the team a heavy weapon that has the ability to take out a tank or a heavily fortified bunker. They are an expensive item that is not used very often. This is why it is a better idea to have the team purchase it, than for an individual player to buy it. Again it is also a great idea to use the same size containers that individuals are using to carry personal equipment so they will stack easier. So now the entire team can play a game of paintball and do well at it. But what happens after the first day is over and now the team needs to spend the night at the field. This is where camping gear comes into effect.
Personal camping gear is just that. The personal things that individual players will need to spend the night at the field for a scenario game. Personal gear should included such items as a sleeping bag; changes of socks and underwear; extra clothes to lounge around in; a jacket; toiletries such as soap, a washcloths, toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, shaving cream and such; and any other personal items that a player would need to spend the night somewhere. The best idea would be to get team duffle bags for each player with their names on them. This way everyone’s bag is the same size and they will pack easier. Next up is team camping gear.
Team camping gear is the gear that the team needs to spend the night that is not personal. Things such as tents, stoves, food, cooking utensils, easy-ups, and other items that will be used by more than one single person are considered team camping gear. These items should be kept in the same size containers that the personal and team playing gear is kept in. This is once again to make things easier to pack into whatever vehicle the team takes to and from the event.
A great idea, because most of the items mentioned are being kept in the same size containers is to get different colored containers for personal playing gear, team playing gear, and team camping gear. This way each can be stacked into separate piles when unloading the vehicle to make easier to find out what is in what. A good rule to remember is that the time you put into organizing packing will save you twice the time in finding out where everything is. Some teams even number each container and then make a list with numbers saying what equipment is in what numbered box. This way everyone knows exactly where everything is.
This is a Special By:
Josh Goedl
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Last Updated ( Friday, 16 November 2007 )
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