Shock, pain and a little blood.
That’s what Stefan Goetz, a 19-year-old Goodrich resident, said of being shot during a game of paintball.
Paintball is a growing sport in which war-like conditions are mimicked by players whose goal is to shoot opposing players with dye-filled capsules.
With summer vacation on its heels, the peak of paintball season is approaching. Soon, backyard woods and professional fields will be crawling with psuedo-soldiers carrying hundreds of dollars worth of equipment.
‘It can be pretty expensive,? said Tom Foreman, salesman at Brown’s Do It Center, 7281 S. State Road in Goodrich. ‘You need guns, paintballs, belts, CO2 tanks. There are so many accessories these days.?
The accessories don’t come cheap.
‘My gun total was probably around $600,? said Andrew Fauth, 19, of Goodrich. ‘I buy paintballs for about $40 every time I play, CO2 tanks cost $5 to fill up, and I probably spent more than $50 for my safety gear.?
Safety gear is not something to forget, Foreman said as he recalls stories of injured faces and eyes due to the lack of protective masks.
‘If you get hurt, it’s because you aren’t prepared,? said Foreman.
No matter how easily injuries are sustained, they are not something that avid paintballers put a lot of thought into.
‘The shock will hurt for like a second,? said Goetz. ‘Somtimes you bleed a little if you get too close. You get over it.?
Fauth has trouble getting over the 4-year-old scar on his chest. He recalled jumping out from behind a tree and being shot from 2 feet away.
‘The normal velocity setting of a gun is about 290 feet per second, but I was shot at like 400 feet per second,? Fauth said.
Velocity settings are an important factor in the possibility of injury.
Gari Murray, salesman at RJ’s Performance Paintball, 1444 N. Irish Road, Davison, said that shooting a person at a velocity setting of 300 feet per second is the same as hitting someone at 200 miles per hour.
‘That’s why people wear baggy clothes: so the balls bounce off their shirts and not their chests,? Murray said.
No matter how much repetitive play costs or how dangerous it is, paintball continues to thrive. Like riding a dirt bike or jumping out of a plane, it is the rush that keeps players loyal to the game.
‘It’s a good thrill,? said Goetz.