You know the basics that are needed for playing paintball. You need a marker of course, goggles, gloves, a jersey for body protection and layers of clothing under that doesn't hurt either. You also need boots and a good paintball mask. After you have the basic equipment down you will want to move on to other items that make your game a whole lot more fun.

Ready, Steady, Don't Move
Land mines are a blast -literally to have in your paintball game. They work by being placed on the ground with just a dusting of dirt or leaves across them. Don't put them deeply into the ground of the mine won't react to the weight of someone stepping on it by sending a blast of paint at the stepper. If you're playing a capture the flag type of game, put a mine outside the immediate perimeter of your flag. Your opponent will be expecting mines closer to the flag - you can take out a number of opponents with this technique. If you use audio communications equipment, develop a one word term for a land mine that is imminent in case one of your own players is about to experience friendly fire from forgetting one of your own mines is placed.

Paint Out!
Grenades are another fun piece of equipment that can make a bunker game even more interesting. When you throw a grenade, yell "Paint out" to your team members that are in the vicinity which is a take off on the actual term when a real grenade is thrown the term is "Frag out". If a grenade lands near you, yell "Grenade" and move or you'll most likely experience a good deal of paint coverage.

If you're interested in setting up your own paintball field it's easier than you think. With a little planning, owning your own paintball field can be lucrative indeed.

First of all do your research for your own particular area. Find out what permits and insurance will be required. This will be your biggest hurdle in getting your business opened. Then, visit a number of professional paintball facilities and find what you like and don't like about them. Make notes about what is feasible financially for your own paintball field. Next, find a suitable place such as a huge old warehouse or open field area that can be fenced off and is not near anyplace where pedestrians or motorists will be. Put outside fine netting around your fenced area to catch any renegade paintballs and keep them as near into the playing field as possible. It's the same type of netting the driving ranges use to catch wayward golf balls and keep them from injuring people or causing damage.

You will need to be able to rent equipment. A great marker that is fantastic
for the rental market is the WSF Field Paintball Gun. This gun is lightweight and has few moving parts so you should be able to get a long life out this item.

Talk to an attorney and have some forms drawn up for anyone to sign that plays paintball at your field sign and attest to the fast that they will adhere to the safety rules and you are to be held harmless in the event of an accident. This is for your own protection. Above all, promote player safety. You can set up a bunker type field for people to use and as time goes by, learn the set ups for the tournament games and you can soon be hosting paintball tournament games at your facility.

If you're ready to have financial freedom and promote a sport you love, consider opening your own paintball field.

If you've gotten into the sport of paintball, you know how hard it can be to find good quality equipment if you don't live in a large metropolis and for some cities, not even then. The Internet opened up a huge array of choices for paintballs everywhere. No matter if you live in Los Angeles, California or Cut-n-Shoot, Texas; you can have the same myriad of choices in your paintball equipment.

You'll find after you play paintball for a while, most paintball markers with the same types of features are about the same from different manufacturers. How you play with each type of gun will be different. It's worth it to rent a Spyder if you've always used a Tippman before you buy, otherwise once you find a brand you like - stick with it.

Also shopping online may open up your game playing in ways you never considered before. Have you used land mines or grenades in your paintball games? Adding a few land mines to a game of capture of the flag may make the action a whole lot more challenging for everyone. You not only do you have to watch out where for opponent's land mines - you have to remember exactly where your own are. You may be limited in the amount of paintballs you can purchase locally - online you can purchase them by the thousands.

Shopping online through Total Paintball Gear is safe and secure. Your private information stays private and your information is not sold to any third parties. Check out the huge selection of paintball markers, apparel and accessories to make your next paintball game even more fun and enjoy the convenience and ease of shopping for your paintball gear online.

If you're looking for some other games to play with your team besides woodsball and bunkerball and you feel like capture the flag has gotten old; there are some other fun paintball games you can play with your team.

Virus Tag is a fun game that can be played with any number of paintball players. This is a paintball game where every player becomes their own team and it is a case of everyone versus everyone else. As you mark other players they are "absorbed and infected with your personal virus" and must work for you now. The winner is the person that gets the largest number of infected people on their team.

Turkey Shoot is another fun game that doesn't require actual teams. Choose one to three players to go out into the woods and give them a five minute head start. Then everyone else goes forth and tries to find the three turkeys and mark them. This is a good game to use a duct tape "X" on the back and front of your jersey so only hits on the "X" count. Some games will require that the turkey be marked on the front and the back on both duct tape markings.

Flag in the Center is a variation on the capture the flag games. In this game one flag is placed in the center of the field and the objective of both teams is to capture that one flag and bring it back to their own home base.

And those are just a few variations to jump start your next paintball game!

It's okay to admit it, you want to get into the sport of paintball but you don't have a lot of money to spend on a gun. That's okay there are some great but cheap paintball guns that will do a great job for you out on the field. Spyder makes a great line of paintball guns that are all in the range of $125 or less. The Spyder Imagine Paintball Gun is a great starter gun that comes with a lot of bells and whistles to get your paintball game off to a good start.

The Spyder Imagine Paintball Gun has some great features that a lot of models of paintball guns on the lower end of the price scale don't feature. This fun marker has a push button indicator system to choose which firing mode you'd like whether it is semi-auto, three-burst, and full-automatic firing. You also have the ability to adjust the rate that your paintballs are fired either high speed or low speed. The trigger response is great too, you can get up to 13 shots per second. There is a battery indicator so you're never caught off guard with a dead battery and the external battery recharger will allow you to keep your marker ready to go.

The manual vertical feed works great, you might want an electric feeder for your paintball gun but while you're learning the game, stick to letting gravity feed your paintballs into your gun, batteries die and gravity won't fail you -ever. This gun operates on CO2 and the barrel on this marker is 9 1/2-inches long and if you want a more accurate shot you can get a longer barrel.