When making a purchase for your own mask, there are a few criteria that should be met before you buy. First, the mask has to be fog resistant. This means that your eye covers do not get misted or fogged over. This can be the most difficult criteria to meet, as it is so important to game play. You cannot play properly if you cannot see your targets.

Your paintball mask should also protect other sensitive areas of your head, such as the tender parts of your neck, ears and face. While doing this, your head gear should always be comfortable, as you will have to wear it for hours on end.

The last consideration you should make before choosing your paintball mask should be appearance. If you are a stalker, you don't want neon pink headgear. If you are a charger, color and style are not as vital.

If you keep these things in mind, you should be well equipped with your mask to be able to play a good game of paintball safely.

In this first category of game play, there are 18 rules.

Among these rules are rules for the referee, the player, and how to handle specific situations. In each game of Paintball, there must always be one referee per game.

The referee's job is to do Paint Checks, which is when someone is unsure they have been marked. They also whistle for the start, stops, continuations and finally end of game. Decisions made by the referee's are final, and should not be questioned until after the game.

For each player, there are several basic paintball rules that must be stick to.

For example, If you are marked by a paintball that explodes, you must call yourself as "OUT" or "DEADMAN". When you do this, you are required to hold your gun over your head and leave the playing field as quickly and safely as possible. If you are hit with a paintball and the ball does not explode, you may remain in play.

If you are hit with splatter, and are uncertain if it hit you directly, call yourself as "OUT" so you are not considered a cheater. If you are positive that it is splatter, you may remain in play.

If you are playing a capture the flag game, only one player is permitted to guard the flag at any given time. These basic paintball rules are in place to prevent an entire team from going on the defensive and beating their opponent by the sheer number of players on the defense.

There are many other rules, but these are the very basic ones for game play. For safety, there are 8 basic paintball rules that should be enforced at all times.

First, you must wear long sleeved shirts and full length pants.

This is for your own protection and there is no room for compromise. Also, during a game, goggles must be worn at all times on the playing field. Do not take these off until you are well out of the way of the playing field.

There is also to be no physical interactions between players at anytime.

It is forbidden to shoot from a distance of under five meters. The paintball leaves the barrel at an astonishing speed, and your opponent may be injured if you do not adhere to this rule.

If you hold your gun over your head, no one is allowed to shoot at you. Do NOT do this unless you are a "DEADMAN" or in case of an emergency.

A "DEADMAN" is not to shoot, or be shot at while leaving the field.

Under no circumstances whatsoever, you are not to hit a referee. With fist, or paintball

Finally, there is to be no consumption of alcohol before, after or during the game.

The next set of basic paintball rules are basic precautions. These rules are common sense, and regard the care and handling of your gun.

For a few examples, you are to keep a plug in your paintball gun's barrel at all times unless in game play, as well as cleaning your equipment after play. If you do not know how to care for your gun properly, ask a teammate or referee. They will help you after the game if you ask them politely.

In conclusion, though while this set of basic paintball rules are incomplete, you should be able to obtain a basic idea for the rules of paintball.

If this is your first time buying a paintball marker, I would suggest not spending more than 300 dollars. If it is over 300 dollars, it's probably not a gun for you.

The reason for this is that the higher level tournament paintball markers require extra care, cleaning and maintenance that you most likely lack the knowledge in.

Once you have reached the point where you are knowledgeable about paintball markers and their care, you can start looking at the higher-level tournament guns. These guns can cost from $300 and up.

If you are just starting out, I recommend a Tippmann Custom 98 Marker. This is a great gun to start out with, but if this marker doesn't meet your needs, there are many brand name makers of paintball guns. Among them are Smart Parts, PMI, Kingman, Raven and Tippman just to name a few.

There are various designs to let you do various things

There are paintball guns specifically made for woods play and extreme play. These guns have different features, where a woods player would have a miserable time with a more extreme automatic gun. The same applies for the extreme player, who would not enjoy the action of the "woods" gun.

A final consideration to make when choosing one of the various paintball guns available is what style of game you play.

If you play in the woods, extreme style guns, even if you tend to be an extreme style player, will only tend to get you hit and out of the game before the game has truly begun. Buy the gun that fits the most common game you play. That will assure you get the most of your paintball gun.

Second rule is to know exactly what you need before you go out shopping. This means do your research.

* Does your gun need to be replaced?

* Do you own a gun?

* Have you played Paintball before?

* What condition is your jersey in, if you own
one?

* Do you have a suitable paintball mask?

All of these things must be answered before you go shopping, or you may find yourself spending far more than you'd like.

"There are some things you can't escape"

Third rule is to know exactly how much you want to spend on your Paintball equipment. Having an excellent mask is one of those things. Don't skimp on the mask! The paintball mask will save you a lot of pain and grief later. Going blind because you didn't want to spend the extra fifty dollars is just plain STUPID.

If you are a beginning player, do not spend more than you neeed to on your first gun. You won't know how to clean and care for the higher end guns, and learning on a cheaper gun is important.

If you keep these things in mind, you should be able to get a good set of Paintball equipment without spending as much as others - both in time and in money.

In this first category of game play, there are 18 rules.

Among these rules are rules for the referee, the player, and how to handle specific situations. In each game of paintball, there must always be one referee per game.

The referee's job is to do Paint Checks, which is when someone is unsure they have been marked. They also whistle for the start, stops, continuations and finally end of game. Decisions made by the referee's are final, and should not be questioned until after the game.

For each player, there are several basic paintball rules that must be stick to.

For example, If you are marked by a paintball that explodes, you must call yourself as "OUT" or "DEADMAN". When you do this, you are required to hold your gun over your head and leave the playing field as quickly and safely as possible. If you are hit with a paintball and the ball does not explode, you may remain in play.

If you are hit with splatter, and are uncertain if it hit you directly, call yourself as "OUT" so you are not considered a cheater. If you are positive that it is splatter, you may remain in play.

If you are playing a capture the flag game, only one player is permitted to guard the flag at any given time. These basic paintball rules are in place to prevent an entire team from going on the defensive and beating their opponent by the sheer number of players on the defense.

There are many other rules, but these are the very basic ones for game play. For safety, there are 8 basic paintball rules that should be enforced at all times.

First, you must wear long sleeved shirts and full length pants.

This is for your own protection and there is no room for compromise. Also, during a game, goggles must be worn at all times on the playing field. Do not take these off until you are well out of the way of the playing field.

There is also to be no physical interactions between players at anytime.

It is forbidden to shoot from a distance of under five meters. The paintball leaves the barrel at an astonishing speed, and your opponent may be injured if you do not adhere to this rule.

If you hold your gun over your head, no one is allowed to shoot at you. Do NOT do this unless you are a "DEADMAN" or in case of an emergency.

A "DEADMAN" is not to shoot, or be shot at while leaving the field.

Under no circumstances whatsoever, you are not to hit a referee. With fist, or paintball

Finally, there is to be no consumption of alcohol before, after or during the game.

The next set of basic paintball rules are basic precautions. These rules are common sense, and regard the care and handling of your gun.

For a few examples, you are to keep a plug in your paintball gun's barrel at all times unless in game play, as well as cleaning your equipment after play. If you do not know how to care for your gun properly, ask a teammate or referee. They will help you after the game if you ask them politely.

In conclusion, though while this set of basic paintball rules are incomplete, you should be able to obtain a basic idea for the rules of paintball.