The Lincoln Log

Sherwood Forest Paintball

Hard, paint-filled balls fly through the air as players leap around, hiding and shooting. The air is warm, and sweat trickles down everyone’s faces, when suddenly one player runs over and takes aim at another player. Bright yellow paint splatters all over the victim’s leg. It may not sound very appealing, but the popularity and interest of this sport is widely growing everyday.

The game of paintball simulates a fighting ground in which teams go against one another in a multihued battlefield of paints. The object of the game is to go out and capture the opposing team’s flag while protecting your own, eliminating other players by shooting them while on your quest to get the flag. Paintball is kind of a cross between tag, hide and seek, capture the flag, and flag football.

The paintball in general is a round, thin-skinned gelatin capsule with colored liquid inside of it. Though soft, these paintballs will undoubtedly hurt you when you’ve been hit. The paint gun is pretty self explanatory – a gun-shaped object made to shoot paintballs. Also called a “marker,” paint guns come in many different varieties, and the majority of them are powered by carbon dioxide, compressed air, or nitrogen. A dangerous plaything, all paint guns have been restricted by the international safety limit. The speed at which a paint gun shoots a paintball is limited to only 300 feet per second.

Bay Area Paintball, a popular and well-known indoor paintball facility in Burlingame, requires a signed waiver form for those who are 18-years-old and under to play the sport. There are dangers to paintball, such as throat trauma, ear injuries, loss of sight, and death, but those injuries are slightly exaggerated to say the least, as safety precautions are a must in practically all paintball facilities. The usual cost runs quite high for rookies and first timers; expect your price range to go from $90 and up at Bay Area Paintball. What the price includes is a rented paint gun, a certain amount of paintballs, CO2 for your paint gun, goggles, a facemask, and a disposable uniform.

As a frequent player of this sport, senior Chris Wan says, “I like playing this sport because it’s not like the rest of the sports out there. I kind of gain some life skills from paintball, as this sport encourages a lot of quick thinking and strategy. Paintball actually forces you to take a stronger notice of your surroundings and [it becomes] a habit [since] you would never know when a paintball would fly towards you.”

Try out paintball for yourself today, and be ready to have a good time!