As a certified paintball junkie, I’ve played in all weather conditions from the cold months of winter to the heat and humidity of summer; I even once played during an ice storm. With a little planning you can play paintball in any weather situation. Now that we’re broiling in the heat, it’s time for some tips that will help you stay on the field when others are getting stretchered away.

Summer heat requires taking care of two areas – your equipment and yourself. First, humidity and direct sunlight can cause paintballs to swell if they’re not properly stored. If you’re buying from the local field or pro shop, chose a business that stocks fresh paint and stores it in a relatively cool, shaded location. Buying older, improperly stored paintballs leads to swollen balls (This is Splat after all - can’t get away from the thinly veiled sexual innuendo, even in the blogs.) that either break in the barrel or fail to break on your opponents.

Purchasing quality paint from a local field is the best bet if you can examine how they store it. Buying paint from a department store or online dealer may lead to trouble as you have no idea how they’ve handled their paint, or in the case of the department store, if they even know how to handle it. Unless you’ve had good experience buying online, I suggest supporting local ‘ball.

Also, once you have purchased your paint, do not leave it exposed to direct sunlight as this can cause the balls to clump together. Keep your paint in the shade (not your car’s trunk). My simple solution is to carry two coolers, one for my paint and one for my drinks.

If you’re using CO2 as your propellant, you should check your marker’s velocity on a regular basis - after each game or so. The cold liquid CO2 expands more rapidly when heated by the summer sun, leading to velocity spikes that could push your gun’s speed past safe limits or cause your paint to break in your barrel. Consider moving to high pressure air (HPA) as a more consistent, reliable propellant that does not fluctuate with temperature. Even if you’re using compressed air, you will still want to regularly check your velocity, although you shouldn’t find major variances.

Even properly stored paint can change sizes during the course of a day due to humidity, but the use of a barrel kit will allow you to continue to shoot the same paint with the same degree of accuracy. Basically, a barrel kit lets the user to select either an insert or an entire back piece that properly matches the paint. This increases gas efficiency, makes the velocity more consistent, and improves accuracy while giving the user the flexibility to shoot any size of paintball. Barrel kits, while more expensive than single barrels, are well worth the investment.

Taking care of yourself while playing is a matter of common sense. Keep hydrated before, during, and after playing paintball. Bring along a cooler of water or sports drinks, and take a few extra to share with your new friends at the field. Slather your exposed skin with sunscreen, and understand that your mask lens, unless it is reflective, will not keep your face from getting burned. Even if you own a high quality mask with a fog resistant lens, you may still experience problems due to sweat running down the interior. I wear a bandana rolled into a headband as both head protection and to catch perspiration, and I switch it out regularly for a dry one. Even with this precaution the foam around my lens becomes soaked, so I carry a spare mask to wear while the other one dries out. None of these tips takes much effort, but being prepared for hot weather will enable you to get in more games and have more fun, making paintball a year-round sport.

Here’s the first article in my new “Getting Started” series.  Most of you reading this blog, if someone were to squeeze you hard enough, you’d exude scenario paintball from your pores.  That’s the way to be, but for paintball to thrive, we have to bring new players into the fold.  You know, hook ‘em up with a few freebies until they’re addicted, then turn ‘em loose to run around the country playing scenario games.  This new series is designed with the newer player in mind.  I’ll cover things like paintball lingo (so those newbies will understand what the heck people are saying at the field), basic equipment, and essential techniques.  If you’re a regular, you know this stuff already, but if you know somebody who would like to try paintball but might find it a little intimidating, toss them a link to my Getting Started series, and that might take some of the edge off those first few times out.  This first one is a basic primer on the scenario scene.

Paintball comes in a variety of forms with scenario paintball standing out as one of the most fun and cost-effective ways to play the game. National scenario producers like Black Cat Paintball, MPP, or Viper travel the country bringing scenario gamers a weekend loaded with nonstop paintball action. These events begin with a storyline, which could be based on anything from science fiction to cartoons, from spy novels to horror movies. Players who register receive individual character sheets which detail the background, appearance, and secret information their character knows, but not every participant chooses to get into character. Those who only want to trade paint with other players have plenty of opportunity in the target-rich environment of the scenario game.

The fun starts on Friday night when the early arrivers set up camp. The majority of games offer free camping, and some producers also throw a complimentary dinner. Staying up late into the night swapping stories of past games is one of the allures of this type of paintball. Although the game is competitive, the losing team has just as much chance of taking home the prizes in the end, so players typically show up for the camaraderie and the fun of the sport, which makes for a friendly playing environment.

Saturday morning finds people filling out paperwork, topping off air tanks, purchasing paint for the event, and attending the players’ briefing, where the producer goes over all the game’s rules. When the scenario begins, both teams start their mad scramble to obtain props, complete missions, and advance the storyline. For instance, in a sci fi game, players might have to collect computer components to build an android or repair a mainframe that holds crucial data. In a spy game, missions might require commando teams to break into structures to capture enemy agents or collect valuable artifacts. More specialized missions could call for specific characters to interact with role-players on the field, and until you’ve done it, you can’t imagine the thrill of trying to negotiate a truce or barter for goods in the middle of a battle field!

Besides role-playing and missions, certain players will be designated as characters with abilities beyond the average player’s. Medics “heal” those who have been hit by paintballs, saving them from having to return to their starting stations to reinsert. Demolitions experts set explosives or defuse them, as the case may be. Of course these aren’t really explosive devices, but take a block of clay and stick a digital watch on it and you have a hunk of plastic explosive. When the timer on the watch goes off, the bomb eliminates all players within 40 feet, that is unless a demolitions expert manages to get to it first. What can be done in the game is only limited by the imaginations of the producer and players.

During Saturday night, both teams hit the field to play in the dark, a style of paintball that requires honor (you can’t really see if you’re hit) and promotes sneakiness. When stealthy players crawling the field bump into each other, the action heats up pretty quickly. Then Sunday’s portion of the game ends with a final battle that pulls every player into one massive shoot out. Finally, the sponsors for the game provide the prize package, which the producer gives away in a random drawing at game’s end. Sometimes these can top $10,000 worth of paintball gear – everything from markers and hoppers to airtanks and clothes.

If you’re interested in trying scenario style paintball but don’t want to commit to an entire weekend’s worth, some producers offer single day, 12 hour games. Another local option is to attend a theme day at Line-of-Fire (www.lofpb.com). These afternoon-long events, held on Saturdays, mimic the scenario format in an affordable, shorter version. When you give scenario ‘ball a try, in whatever form you choose, you’re in for 8-24 hours of pure paintball bliss.