Gear for Paintball

[ColeTrainFinch]

Howdy everyone, I was wondering if anyone has ever made a custom mask and gear that can withstand the shots from a paintball gun? If so what would be some starter steps to making this idea come to life?
Thank you,
ColeTrainFinch

 

[Redtail]

I wanted to make a set of ODST gear that would withstand field use, but unfortunately, this kind of stuff gets into a safety issue that makes it against forum policy to discuss here openly. I would *not* recommend using a homemade mask for paintball, either way, given the amount of kinetic energy a paintball has.

 

[ColeTrainFinch]

Even just a mask? I understand the safety concerns but it should be ok if keep the same type of goggles?

 

[Redtail]

*Especially* the mask. The mask is the most important part of the gear and the only part that's actually governed by ANSI standards and insurance policies that fields carry. Unless you plan to make a couple hundred units of your finished product and submit them to ANSI for Z87.1 testing for approval, there's no way to actually fulfill that absolutely critical point.

 

[ColeTrainFinch]

Ok, cool beans, I may just work on something themed around Halo Besides the mask, such as a chest section. I got the sly mask and the head ref at my field in Tx.

 

[BiGHARYSCOTSMiN]

Unfortunately, yes... we can't talk about this kind of stuff.

Although I've done it before... cough

Understand that the admins don't want us to get hurt, and more importantly to them, get sued after your eye gets shot out.
You can work on it outside the forums, but... please do not get hurt.

 

[Redtail]

PM me if you want, I have some information that can't be publically shared relating to safety. I still can't recommend using a homemade helmet or facepiece as a means to defend against incoming projectiles, but I have some other info relating to legitimate safety that I can share.

And again... It's nothing personal. Even hypothetically speaking if you were fully capable of making a legitimate protective device, anyone looking through these forums (PARTICULARLY those who skim without reading details, which is more and more common anymore) might get the idea that the standard build is sufficient for protection against paintballs and BBs. And that would be tragic.

 

[Spartan 420]

First off: Home-made helmets are a no-no. You won't be allowed to use it at any paintball/airsoft venue unless, as mentioned before, you mass produce them and pay to have them tested in order to get them licensed for PB use. So don't even bother, cause the venue staff will literally not allow you to wear it. (My brother used to work at a PB venue.) You have to understand that if the visor isn't mounted properly, it can smash upon impact (same applies for fibreglass), and you do NOT want shards of visor/glass going into your face, and neither do the venue staff, as they can get sued. This is why they won't allow it.

Secondly: Standard paintball rules tend to be: One hit and your out.
If you get hit on the armour, it still counts as a hit, and you'll still be out. So besides protecting you from a bit of pain, it doesn't actually have any benefits. It will just slow you down AND make you a bigger/easier target. I don't know if you've tried wearing a full body suit before but some movements are quite restricted. You'll have trouble running, jumping, diving or performing any quick movements. If paintballs hurt you that much, buy paintball armour, it's lightweight, flexible, goes under your clothes and protects you quite well. One last thing, have you ever tried aiming down the sights of a weapon with a full-face helmet? It's hard.

Armour for paintball
Pros: You'll look cool,
Cons: You'll be slow, heavy, restricted, overheating, exhausted, and unsafe.

You do the math. Is it really worth it?

-S420

 

[Largo Usagi]

So if you really want to you could look up the vforce profiler, before I put padding In my helmet I could squeeze that mask inside and wear it, It was kinda odd but you could mount a helmet to that one, but from some one who has been playing pb for over a decade, dont build a custom mask, not worth the safety risk.

 

[Redtail]

SPARTAN-420:
I'm an avid airsoft player, myself, and... Well, you're not *entirely* correct about the armor. Most of us use armor in some fashion. My gear is mainly to protect my core when I maneuver through dangerous terrain. Though most of our protection is in the form of either moulded Kydex plates with foam fill, or woven Kevlar with a backing of COrdura or ballistic Nylon.
Most of this armor is designed in such a way as to conveniently carry and protect your ammunition, sidearm, tertiary weapons and explosives, specialized equipment, hydration and communication gear for convenient use during combat, as well.

And properly designed and fitted armor doesn't impede movement much more than simply its weight.

THAT BEING SAID.
There's a difference between a 6094 platecarrier in Kevlar and Cordura and knee pads, and a homemade sci-fi armor suit.

 

[Spartan 420]

SPARTAN-420:
I'm an avid airsoft player, myself, and... Well, you're not *entirely* correct about the armor. Most of us use armor in some fashion. My gear is mainly to protect my core when I maneuver through dangerous terrain. Though most of our protection is in the form of either moulded Kydex plates with foam fill, or woven Kevlar with a backing of COrdura or ballistic Nylon.
Most of this armor is designed in such a way as to conveniently carry and protect your ammunition, sidearm, tertiary weapons and explosives, specialized equipment, hydration and communication gear for convenient use during combat, as well.

And properly designed and fitted armor doesn't impede movement much more than simply its weight.

THAT BEING SAID.
There's a difference between a 6094 platecarrier in Kevlar and Cordura and knee pads, and a homemade sci-fi armor suit.

If paintballs hurt you that much, buy paintball armour, it's lightweight, flexible, goes under your clothes and protects you quite well.

While I didn't go into specifics, I did mention that you can purchase vests specifically for paintball & airsoft, which sometimes aren't far off actual military vests, in terms of design. You don't need to spoon-feed me the capabilities of body armour, I'm quite informed. My post is clearly referring to home-made armour using techniques from this website. This site is for the creation of props and costumes. The methods posted here are for creating a suit for cosmetic purposes, not defensive. All I'm saying is that we want nothing to do with the creation of protective clothing, as someone mentioned before:

anyone looking through these forums might get the idea that the standard build is sufficient for protection against paintballs and BBs. And that would be tragic.

If someone received a serious PB related injury due to a method they used from this site (Like shattered visor to the face, or fibreglass splinters), because its defensive properties were made unclear, we would get the blame. This is why we instantly put down any topics and posts regarding this subject. You're on the wrong website if you're looking to make something protective.

So yes, you're right, there's a big difference between the two.
-S420