Hard Heads: The Paintball Helmet
In the sport of paintball, equipment is essential. Like most sports, tools of the trade are as necessary as the players themselves; without these items, the game would be nothing more than a few men and women on an empty field. In paintball, safety equipment is of the utmost importance; like football padding, paintball gear both protects the wearer and lets the wearer hit harder, faster and without fear.
Paintball equipment and clothing is closely monitored. Long sleeve shirt and long pants are usually required for protection, and camouflage or color-coded outfits are used both to simulate paramilitary warfare and to designate teams. Boots with ankle support are usually worn, and sometimes players will wear kneepads, protective cups and guards on their shins and forearms. The most important piece of paintball equipment, however, is the paintball helmet. In many ways, it is even more important than the gun; without a paintball helmet, no players would step on the field.
Style and Functionality
What is often referred to as a paintball helmet is really a type of mask with attached goggles. The goggles cover the eyes, but the mouth, ears and nostrils are also covered with material, and some masks even come with throat protection. The lenses are designed for paintballs traveling under 300 feet per second; any faster, and the lenses can crack. The goggles are designed for a variety of purposes; some are double-layered thermal lenses that prevent fogging while others have mirror-surfaces to confuse enemies. The lenses of paintball helmet goggles are usually made from polycarbonate, a material that provides excellence resistance against impact. An anti-scratch coating is added to the polycarbonate, but players still need to care for their lenses; even a small scratch or crack can result in absolutely no protection at all. Smaller masks are often more expensive; the smaller the paintball helmet, the more comfortable, the more customizable and, above all, the more undetectable the player remains.
Aside from masks, a paintball helmet can be a true helmet. However, these helmets are, more or less, for show. Replica World War II helmets, police training helmets, riot gear and BDU-styled tactical helmets can be used during paintball, but they do not offer adequate protection alone. Goggles will still need to be worn, along with some kind of protection for the face. While a helmet may be part of traditional uniform in the military, the sport of paintball is concerned with safety first, and a paintball mask provides more protection than any paintball helmet or borrowed prop. But with the growing popularity of scenario paintball games and paramilitary simulation, a more traditionally-designed paintball helmet is a must have for many players.
