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The Complete Handbook of Paintball Clothing
The practical reference for players, field operators, and retailers who need to specify, buy, and maintain paintball clothing that performs.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Paintball Clothing
Paintball clothing is not a uniform, and it is not a costume. It is a functional system of garments designed to address three specific problems that every player faces on the field: being hit by a paintball, being exposed to the environment, and being seen by the opposition. Understanding how clothing solves these problems is the difference between buying gear that works and buying gear that just looks the part. In this opening chapter, we will strip the category down to its fundamentals, look at the physics and the context that drive the design, and establish a working vocabulary for the rest of this handbook.
What Paintball Clothing Actually Is
At its core, paintball clothing is protective equipment worn during the sport of paintball. It encompasses jerseys, pants, gloves, headwear, and sometimes full suits or overalls. The primary job of these garments is to absorb and dissipate the kinetic energy of a paintball impact. A paintball typically leaves the barrel of a marker traveling between 280 and 300 feet per second. At that speed, the impact carries enough energy to break the skin on bare flesh and to leave a significant bruise on a person wearing only a t-shirt. The clothing acts as a sacrificial layer, distributing that impact over a larger area and reducing the force transmitted to the body.
However, the protective function is only the beginning. The paintball field is a demanding environment. Outdoor fields are often wooded or feature natural terrain,