In the 1980s when paintball competitions first began being en vogue the most sophisticated equipment used by paintball players was their markers. What they wore did not really matter. A pair of goggles some elbow and knee guards and a few camouflage suits and the player was ready to go. But over the years paintball apparel has become more refined over the years as the game has grown more complicated. From suits where paintballs literally bounce off without recording a hit to suits that render you invisible to an opponent by blending in with the terrain, to paintball cleats that allow you to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. The following is a paintball apparel guide that will help you select clothing and accessories you need and avoid all the stuff that you don’t.

Paintball Apparel Begins with the Suit

For paintball competitions many players try to gain advantage through the paintball apparel they drape on themselves. For woodsball especially, the paintball suit can provide a much needed benefit in a competition where the players’ skills and markers are pretty much equal. Woodsball is the type of paintball that is played on natural terrain. Many woodsball competitions simulate military and tactical field training and so they borrow much of their apparel from those genres. In woodsball players play in natural terrain that features everything from grass, to trees, to leaves, mud and dirt. Because of this environment many players opt for a camouflage suit. It is important to get the right suit to match the natural terrain. Many suits come in the normal green, black and brown camouflage seen in wars like Vietnam but they also have the desert camouflage worn by soldiers in Iraq. Choose your camouflage based upon the terrain.

The BT Professional Paintball pants are a good addition to this category. The camouflage pants feature built-in knee guards for those rolling around on hills, ditches and around trees, a padded cup to prevent a bass from turning into soprano and quick release large pockets so players can stuff all manner of necessary accessories within close range and just as easily retrieve them. For speedball competitions, where the terrain is more artificial you need less stealth and more quickness this is where lightweight jerseys are used. The Dye C10 Paintball Jersey, is a good one to pick up as it is lightweight with open mesh technology that keeps the player cool, a must have for speedball where the pace of the competition can generate a lot of heat.