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Buying masks

Your Guide to Paintball.

You can play paintball without a gun (make a run for that flag!), you can play without balls (fire away; the sound might fool your opponent), but you CANNOT play without a mask (aka googles). Here are some things to keep in mind before you buy this most important of paintball equipment.

Paintball. Period.
If you are going to play paintball, you need to use a paintball mask. Not sunglasses, ski goggles, safety goggles, shooting glasses, or anything else. Paintball masks are made for the sport and must meet strict industry standards. Nothing else is specifically made to withstand the impact of a paintball going at over 270 mph.

Peripheral Vision
Paintball lenses are larger, and thus offer much more peripheral vision than most other goggles. Try on your mask and make sure you can see out of the corner of your eye. In a game, this could save you from a sniper attack. Also, make sure you can comfortably look through your gun sights with the mask on.

For Four-Eyes
If you wear glasses, make sure your mask fits comfortably over them. You shouldn’t have a problem finding a mask that works for you. There's a good chance either your lens or glasses will fog, though, so be sure to buy thermal and maybe even invest in a mask fan.

Buy Thermal
Few things can make a person breath as hard as paintball. The last thing you want is your lens fogging during a game. Thermal lenses (which are actually two lens panes with a tiny pocket of air between them) prevent that from happening. Some masks say anti-fog, but are actually just single lenses with an anti-fog coating on them. This is better than nothing, but the anti-fog film will eventually wash away.

Ear Protection
A paintball in the ear is almost as scary as one to the eye. Make sure the mask you buy covers your ear completely and comfortably. But you shouldn’t have to give up sound quality for safety. With the mask on, rub your thumb and index finger together next to the ear flap. If you can’t hear anything, keep on looking!

Face Shield
A good face shield is critical. You want a mask with a large, flexible face shield that protects your nose, mouth, and chin while allowing you to breath and talk clearly. (Note: Just because your mask comes down to your chin doesn’t mean you can’t get a mouth full of paint. Relax! It tastes awful, but it’s completely safe.)

Visors
A good visor will keep the sun out of your eyes, rain out of your face, and paint from dripping inside your mask. Make sure the visor is somewhat flexible. You might also want to wear a bandana or backwards baseball cap under your mask.

Good Fit
You’re going to be running, crawling, jumping and sliding - not to mention shooting - with this thing on. You want to make sure the mask is comfortable and secure. Look for lots of padding around the lens and a wide adjustable strap. If you plan on wearing a baseball cap or anything else on your head, make sure it fits under your mask.

http://paintball.about.com/cs/masks/bb/bybmask.htm

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