Paintball Clothing

Paintball is a very active sport, involving a lot of running, diving, crawling and sliding. Accordingly, the clothing worn for paintball must be extremely hard wearing and durable. For woodsball, camouflage is also extremely useful, so it is not uncommon to see players wearing army surplus military fatigues or BDU (Battle Dress Uniform), particularly DPM styles. For speedball, however, the small field and artificial obstacles make camouflage ineffective. Speedball players therefore wear clothing which forms a uniform amongst the players, usually in threatening colors or styles (flames, for instance, are particularly popular). For scenario games, players will tend to dress themselves in a style appropriate to the character or force they are representing.

Clothing worn for tournament paintballing is also constrained by the tournament rules, which expressly prohibit thick padded materials which are likely to adversely affect the chance of paint breaking on the target. Combined with the need to allow adequate padding to protect the elbows and knees during slides on hard ground, tournament paintball gear can take on a rather unusual appearance. Often, in an attempt at gamesmanship, players will wear the baggiest clothing they can reasonably get away with, as this also makes paint more likely to 'bounce'.

Footwear varies enormously between Speedball and Woodsball/scenario games. In woodsball, the rough terrain and uneven, often muddy ground makes footwear with good grip and plenty of ankle support a necessity. This lends itself to boots, either military style or walking/hiking boots. In speedball, however, the added weight of thick boots is a distinct disadvantage, as is the reduction in mobility. Speedball players therefore tend to wear sneakers or cleats.

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