The
paintball gun (marker) with an attached compressed air tank is the
most essential piece of equipment to the player. This gun can
electronically fire paint rounds up to 20 times per second in
semi-automatic mode. That means the person firing the gun must
pull the trigger one time for each paintball to fire. Each
time the player pulls the trigger, an electronic solenoid opens and
releases a small amount of compressed air from the tank to
accelerate the paintball down the barrel.
In
addition to the gun, you need a hopper to hold the paintballs
during the game. This hopper hold up to 200 paintballs.
It forces the paint into the marker with a motorized feed wheel
activated by an infrared laser. Standard gravity fed hoppers
will not sustain guns that are capable of shooting 20
balls per second.
The
last critical piece of equipment is the paintball itself.
Manufacturers
produce the standard .68 caliber size paintball with varying
colors and thicknesses. The recreational player wants a thicker more
reliable shell, while the tournament player wants a thinner shell to
ensure breakage on anything it contacts. The filling in
paintballs is 100% non-toxic made with various dyes and fish oils.
Manufacturers make tournament fills thicker thus easier to spot and
recreational fills thinner thus easier to clean.
I
labeled the above 3 pieces of equipment as essential because if you
went in your backyard to shoot at trees those are all you would
need. However, if you plan on playing against other people,
you must where a mask. Most fields enforce a maximum speed of
300 feet per second. That translates to around 200 miles per
hour. At that speed, a paintball could easily take out an eye.
Just like any other sport, paintball can be incredibly dangerous if
the proper safety precautions get overlooked.
The
paintball gun (marker) with an attached compressed air tank is the
most essential piece of equipment to the player. This gun can
electronically fire paint rounds up to 20 times per second in
semi-automatic mode. That means the person firing the gun must
pull the trigger one time for each paintball to fire. Each
time the player pulls the trigger, an electronic solenoid opens and
releases a small amount of compressed air from the tank to
accelerate the paintball down the barrel. 
In
addition to the gun, you need a hopper to hold the paintballs
during the game. This hopper hold up to 200 paintballs.
It forces the paint into the marker with a motorized feed wheel
activated by an infrared laser. Standard gravity fed hoppers
will not sustain guns that are capable of shooting 20
balls per second.
The
last critical piece of equipment is the paintball itself.
Manufacturers
produce the standard .68 caliber size paintball with varying
colors and thicknesses. The recreational player wants a thicker more
reliable shell, while the tournament player wants a thinner shell to
ensure breakage on anything it contacts. The filling in
paintballs is 100% non-toxic made with various dyes and fish oils.
Manufacturers make tournament fills thicker thus easier to spot and
recreational fills thinner thus easier to clean. 
I
labeled the above 3 pieces of equipment as essential because if you
went in your backyard to shoot at trees those are all you would
need. However, if you plan on playing against other people,
you must where a mask. Most fields enforce a maximum speed of
300 feet per second. That translates to around 200 miles per
hour. At that speed, a paintball could easily take out an eye.
Just like any other sport, paintball can be incredibly dangerous if
the proper safety precautions get overlooked.
