Hot Weather Paintball Tips!

Just like playing in colder climates requires tips and tricks to be successful, playing paintball in hot weather has its own specific challenges to both players and equipment! In addition to how hot, humid weather challenges paintball equipment, hot weather can put paintball players in jeopardy of injury if the proper precautions aren’t taken! Don’t let the hot, humid weather ruin your day of paintball, or worse, put your health at risk! With the proper precautions and a few tips and tricks, you and your gear can enjoy hot weather paintball and win!

Paintballs and the Heat

Hot, humid weather challenges paintballs. Having fun and winning games means shooting straight, breaking and chopping as few paintballs as possible and gear that generally works as it should. However, once the temperature climbs to and through the eighties and towards triple digits, especially with high humidity, paintballs can begin to swell, causing feed jams in hoppers, wild velocity fluctuations in paintball guns and eventually chops and breaks. As temperatures continue to rise, paintballs can even stick together or melt together in hoppers and pods, becoming completely unusable, not to mention that the paintballs a player might manage to get downrange will bounce off opponents at almost any range, making it that much harder to win!

Several precautions can be taken to ensure paintballs function well even as temperatures and humidity rises. Many serious players and paintball teams will keep a car running, air conditioning blowing, with paintballs for the day stored inside and only taken out as needed. At major events, where paintballs are bought and distributed from refrigerated trucks or a climate-controlled storage room, players should only take the paintballs they need, rather than grabbing several cases and leaving many to sit in the heat for hours before being used. Keep paintballs out of direct sunlight as much as possible, as this additional heat source will adversely affect quality.

Paintball players often make the mistake, during play on hot days, of filling a hopper and pods then standing around in the sun for long periods of time before taking the field. Paintballs in hoppers and pods left in direct sunlight for long periods will swell and become large and bouncy, feeding poorly and rarely breaking. Keep full pods and pod packs in the shade at the very least, only gearing up and heading into the sun as soon before game time as possible. Serious paintball players, most of whom use speed feeds, leave a hopper of paint at a time open to humid air, and should only fill or top off their hopper at the very last moment before game time. Many teams choose to keep paintballs and pods in coolers, open only when needed, to ensure paintballs remain as brittle and usable as possible. Protecting paintballs from the heat, humidity and direct sunlight is absolutely critical to a great day of play in hot weather, and failing to do so will set any player up for a frustrating day.

Paintball Gear & Heat

Hot weather doesn’t just negatively affect paintballs. Paintball in the hot weather means compressed air is more important than ever as a propellant, as CO2 is extremely susceptible to pressure changes in hot weather, often leading to increases in pressure, velocity spikes, broken and chopped paintballs and even blown burst disks! Players should never store a CO2 tank in direct sunlight or the trunk of a car, and this is even more important in hot climates or hot weather. Players should be sure that their paintball gun is properly lubricated with oil or grease, but not OVER-lubricated, in hot climates. O-rings and seals can swell in hot temperatures and this can lead to drag, increased wear and tear, velocity fluctuations and in extreme examples, some electronic paintball guns may even overheat and shut down!

Keep paintball guns in the shade as much as possible, only heading out into the sun to hit the field when necessary, and chronograph OFTEN, ready to adjust velocity down for safety reasons and to ensure paintballs aren’t blown apart by overheated paintball guns. Players who haven’t already should seriously consider the hot weather as an ideal time to upgrade to some type of paintball barrel kit, as paintballs that are .684 in the morning won’t stay that way very long as the heat and humidity rise through a summer day at the field. As paintballs swell, velocity, accuracy and overall performance is certain to change, so the ability to adjust bore size to accommodate each paintball as it increases in size is critical for consistent performance, safety and to avoid chronograph penalties or being thrown off a field for shooting too hot!

Paintball Players & the Heat

Playing paintball is a strenuous athletic activity. The heat and humidity of the summertime only makes that activity more strenuous. Hydration is critical for paintball players in the summer, no matter what kind of shape a player is in. Playing paintball means dragging on piles of gear, including goggles and masks, long pants, pads and all sorts of things that generally make it tougher for the body to shed heat. Teams should consider team jerseys built from mesh to allow heat to escape, consider ventilated paintball pants versus those thick joggers, and players wearing those wool beanies really should try a mesh headwrap or headband to allow more heat to escape from the top of the head. Keep a fresh set of goggle face foam around because trust us, yours is going to get filled with sweat and it’s no fun having sweat in the eyes. Bring a cooler to the field with plenty of water and snacks to keep healthy and safe – players who don’t eat or drink at the field during a hot day are asking for trouble. Players and field staff should keep an eye on one-another for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, and ensure each and every player heads home safe and healthy at the end of the day!