Paintball welts

[Igotu]

Im just wondering why paintball welts don't bruise in the midle why they just make a ring. Isn't it the unbruised part that gets hit first.

[Target Practice]

Here is my theory...

Bruises are cause by broken blood vessels. When a paintball hits you, it compresses the area of contact. All of the blood in the vessels at that spot is instantaneously pushed out of the way. The vessels cannot expand fast enough of wide enough in order to accomodate the sudden inflow of blood. So, they burst in a ring around the area of contact, where the vessels have only been compressed.

This sound 'bout right?

[athomas]

The center of the ball compresses into the ball. At a certain amount of exerted force applied to the surface of the ball due to impact, the ball breaks. Since the center impact area of the ball breaks into the ball, it impacts evenly over the contact area of the ball. This is fairly easy on the surface of the skin. The outer edge of the ball becomes a cutting edge once the center of the ball gives way. The remaining impact force of the ball falls on this cutting edge. Therefore, the total remainining energy contained in the ball all pushes on the tiny edge. Since the edge is thin, this means that the lbs/in^2 of force is very high, much higher than the initial impact force of the center of the ball.

Basically, the high force on the round cutting edge creates the ring welt we all know and love/hate in paintball.

[Thordic]

The above explanation sounds good in theory, but it doesn't hold up. I think the first one is the most likely.

Why do I say this?

I've been playing lacrosse for years, and getting hit with a lacrosse ball at high speeds leaves a "donut", a nice bruise-ring with an unbruised center, much like a paintball.

I don't know if the first explanation is entirely true, but in my experience it would make more sense than the second. A lacrosse ball doesnt have a cutting edge, and still leaves the same marks.

[Dayspring]

https://www.automags.org/forums/showt...highlight=welt

[Sir_Brass]

I think the welts that bleed slightly DID have that 2nd theory applied, but the bruise that comes is probably due to the first theory.

I KNOW the cutting ring theory works, b/c sometimes when I get hit on bare skin, I'm pulling tiny little bits of paintball shrapnel out of my skin and they are NEVER stuck in the middle of the impact area, but always in a ring around it where the nasty red ring appears.

SO a paintball welt is sometimes the combination of the welt (caused by compression, I think) and a ring CUT (cutting theory).

That's my idea anyway.