| While urban paintball fields are growing in popularity, | | | | Running through the woods is notoriously treacherous. |
| many people still consider the real action to be out in | | | | On a dry day it seems like every stray branch, root, |
| the woods, outlaw style. When engaging in woodsball, | | | | and rock reaches up to try to trip you up. Add a little |
| getting hit with a paint pellet is the least of your worries | | | | water to the mix and the mud becomes almost |
| when it comes to injuries. The human body just isn't | | | | impossible to navigate quickly without taking a tumble, |
| built to withstand multiple high-impact collisions with | | | | or worse loosing your shoe completely. Wearing a |
| immovable objects. If your paintball play tends towards | | | | good pair of cleats will improve your footing |
| the extreme environment, investing in good protection | | | | tremendously. If you find yourself twisting and spraining |
| gear will keep you fit and ready for the next battlefield | | | | your ankles when engaging in woodsball, you may also |
| incursion. | | | | want to consider wearing ankle braces. The extra |
| Playing in a wooded environment offers much in the | | | | support provided is often enough to avoid a costly |
| way of ground cover and concealment. While moving | | | | medical visit afterward. |
| through that brier patch will provide the element of | | | | Crawling through all these vines, underbrush, and rocky |
| surprise, doing so without proper protection may cost | | | | terrain leads to another point. Protect your hands. |
| more than its worth. Elbow pads and knee pads will | | | | Wearing gloves is a good thing. Wearing gloves that |
| provide cushioning and protect some of the most | | | | include a more solid palm for protection and grip is |
| important joints of your body. When shopping for pads | | | | even better. No matter what type of glove you wear, |
| search for the type that won't hamper your | | | | make sure you can quickly remove your finger from |
| movement while still providing a decent amount of | | | | the trigger mechanism. Falling with your finger locked in |
| protection for your body. Neoprene pads generally | | | | place and the muzzle buried in the ground always ends |
| offer decent flexibility and protection and are a good | | | | with a resounding *snap* and a nasty trigger finger |
| choice to start with. Hard pads are generally not | | | | break. |
| preferable. | | | | Renegade paintball is exciting and fun while providing a |
| If you tend to dive and slide quite a bit, you may want | | | | tactical challenge. Playing within a natural setting, |
| to also invest in some good hip pads as well. Slider | | | | however, also pits you against the terrain. Take the |
| shorts are popular in baseball and have the hip padding | | | | time to plan ahead and secure the protection gear that |
| built in. Consider wearing a pair of these underneath | | | | you will need to keep yourself in one piece. In addition |
| your long pants. While it is possible to slide in a way | | | | to pads, gloves, and cleats, make sure you pack plenty |
| that you don't need hip padding, the terrain involved in | | | | of insect spray and use it often to keep away ticks |
| woodsball often prevents these ideal techniques from | | | | and other bugs that lurk in all the places you want to |
| occurring. | | | | use as cover. |