Another Dark Blow to Paintball

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

Study finds more paintball injuries, including loss of vision

Associated Press
Published January 5, 2004

Injuries to adults and children playing paintball, including eye damage causing lasting vision loss, have tripled in recent years, a study found.

From 1997 to 2000, paintball-related injuries nationwide climbed from 926 to 2,780, with up to a third of them occurring in children younger than 15, according to the study, which analyzed injury data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In 1999, there were 519 eye injuries among 779 total paintball-related injuries to children under 15. Bleeding and retina detachment were among the most common eye injuries. Many injuries occur because players do not wear goggles or face masks, said researcher David Listman, a doctor at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York.

Among 187 adult and pediatric eye injury cases from paintball games that have been published in medical literature since 1985, lasting vision impairment was common, Listman said.

Doctors should be aware of the dangers and lobby for restrictions in paintball equipment sales to minors, he said.

His study appears in January's Pediatrics, published Monday.

Paintball is a battle game in which players shoot at each other using compressed-gas guns filled with marble-size capsules containing paint.

The capsules burst when they hit players and splatter paint on them.

Organized paintball centers usually provide and require face masks, Listman said. But children often play it without protective equipment in woods, back yards or basements, he said.


Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune


In my opinion, i think kids should stop being careless and stupid and playing paintball without masks on in their backyards and basements.

It's because of them that everyone is so afraid of playing paintball or is being held back by the parents. Just because of this story a few of my friend's parents won't let them play.

[Ov3rmind]

I can't say I disagree with the article.

[Rope a Dope]

Yeah and there is this place called Hunting for Bambi and they shoot naked women and stuff!!!

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

wasnt that a hoax?

[i_baked_cookies]

i hate it how kids go to their backyard and are stupid enough to play with no masks... why would you risk something as precious as your vision?

i bet 7/8 that 2000+ number of injuries comes from idiots who dont play with their masks on... others are probably people with crappy or no barrel plugs in the staging area.

crazy, i tell you, crazy

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

the stupidity these days. once they get hurt they will then realize how stupid they were.

[Tyger]

Originally posted by SuiciDal Sn Y p ER
wasnt that a hoax?

They said they were, only to get the heat off of them.

http://www.huntingforbambi.com/ The site is still up, they're still selling videos and "hunts". See, they said it was a hoax when thy had the media's eye on them. Ten it wasn't, then it was, then it wasn't... It depended on who was talking to them and what they were trying to get from them.

So I'm convinced that it was for real, then when they caught all the flak from everyone it was suddenly a "joke". Now they're back to doing it again. **sigh**

Anyhow, back to topic, The Trib article isn't all that bad. The writer may be misinformed, but it's not untruthful. We've got a LOT more idiots out there playing backyard ball, it's not surprising they're not wearing goggles. You can't make them wear goggles if they're not at a regulated field. (And even then, you can't make them wear goggles all the time...)

-Tyger

[MayAMonkeyBeYourPinata]

We still have less injuries than bowling and golf:p

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

lol now that's a good arguement for the parents

[Jerhew]

id like to see the stats on how many of these are unorganized woods games(outlawball)
verses actual insured fields where masks are mandatory...

the article isn't exactly bashing the paintball industry, it's actually more fair than i was expecting when i started to read it, but it'd have been better if they pointed out how greatly the danger is reduced if you wear a paintball mask

obviously paintballs, co2 and markers shouldn't be sold to minors and obviously parents should be a little more involved in what their kids are doing...make sure that if they are playing somewhere unsupervised that they atleast are wearing gogs...etc

and if you're over 18 and are dumb enough to play paintball in anything less that a paintball mask...
well you know

[pb z]

Yes there have been more injuries, but I think it more or less comes from the growth of the sport.

Although I bet most are from unorganized "outlaw ball"

[thump]

its more then just kids playing in their backyard that is a problem,while granted it is the biggest one the other problem is shady fields that dont care about safty.the ones in it to make a quick buck.you all know the ones in talking about,,the dont give good or sometimes any safty speaches to the players,no netting around the staging areas.places like that should not only be fined they should be shut down for qiving the sport a bad name.ive been lucky cause the field i go to is EXTEAMLY safty conscious.
what do you guys and girls think about thoes type of fields and what should be done to them?

[Jerhew]

the hunting for bambi site said they'll allow the women to wear "protective eyewear" now...that is...if the city of las vegas decides to allow them to start doing it again
and they did note that no one ever was injuried during the "hunts"

not that im supporting them in any way...btw

[Rope a Dope]

OMG that was a joke!!! Because when Hunting for Bambi came out there were 50 threads a day on the subject... just like this new news report!!!!

STOP!!! Theres like 20 threads on this already!!!!

I swear I'm gonna curb stomp the next person that makes a thread about this!!! Look 5 threads down, theres 20 of theses!!! Yes, kids, backyard, eyes, paintball, STOPPPP!!!!!!!

[Odder]

Well, we have Walmart to thank for that, see what happens when you walk into a Walmart and ask about paintball gun, bet you the sales person wouldn't mention anything about a mask.

[logamus]

last time i was in walmart all the guns came packaged with a mask. i dont know if this was always the case, but at least around here it is now.

[Odder]

Cool, I am glad they are taking positive step :)

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

This is the first thread of its current story. the other thread is from a website in the UK.

and the other threads were made after this one copying it or they just didnt know this thread was made.

[Tyger]

Originally posted by logamus
last time i was in walmart all the guns came packaged with a mask. i dont know if this was always the case, but at least around here it is now.

Not always. I can go into my local wal-mart and buy a gun, no mask. I can go into more than a few outdoor stores and get blisterpacked guns, no mask.

Oh, and for Jerhew : Dont' asssume with age comes wisdom. Unless you're told you need something, odds are that you won't figure it outuntil you learn a lesson. Keep in mind that 15 years ago, we didn't "Need" goggles lke we have today. I mean, why not sunglasses? Back "in the day" it was OK to wear sunglasses like Gargoyles or the like. We wore chemical goggles, or shooting glasses, or motorcycle or ski goggles... We didn't know better. We were stupid, sure, but we did't know better. Until we learned.

Teach, don't preach. You get a wider audience.

-Tyger

[lyer]

It's not just stupid people though: i played at a field called Commando Games this summer where the ref led us (20 people not wearing masks) right past an unnetted field with a game in progress. I even commented to the ref but he didn't do anything. It was left to myself and a couple of other experienced players to ensure none of our friends lost an eye. Later that same day in the dead box (netted safe area to take off your goggles) he was asked to swab some girls rental barrel- so he yanked out the barrel plug and started shooting it over our unmasked heads to clean the barrel out.
We complained to the owner, who briefly pretended to care, before telling me that "he just works here cause i'm screwing his mother".
It's easy to blame kids and their parents, but irresponsible field owners who know better endanger the safety of players too. If that had been my first time playing, i might not have started playing paintball at all

[lyer]

Originally posted by Tyger


Teach, don't preach. You get a wider audience.

-Tyger

So true.

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

lyler...the field you just described to us sounds very disturbing. Only the same thing sorta happend to the field i was at...only the refs realized their mistake and quickly told us to put our masks on.

[Automaggin2]

I think AO needs to learn something, there are idiots in the world, and there is nothing you can do about it.

[845]

The kids in my school probably account for half of that because they think it makes you hard/gangsta to play without a mask.

[Trina]

Originally posted by lyer
We complained to the owner, who briefly pretended to care, before telling me that "he just works here cause i'm screwing his mother". It's easy to blame kids and their parents, but irresponsible field owners who know better endanger the safety of players too. If that had been my first time playing, i might not have started playing paintball at all
YIKES!!! I can't believe that guy actually SAID that!!! :eek: Not to mention, that he could care less about his field's reputation or the safety of his players!

When I first started playing, I'll admit I was a little nervous, but the field owner of AAA Paintball Park in Constantina, NY, Charlie Menear, was awesome!! He valued his reputation and the safety of everyone at his field. He even took extra measures to make sure us new players were having a good time and feeling comfortable.

That's really sad...cuz I don't know if I would've ever played paintball again, if I had gone to the field you're talking about!! :(

[Wes Janson]

Idiocy always equals injury, no matter what activity.

[lyer]

Originally posted by SuiciDal Sn Y p ER
lyler...the field you just described to us sounds very disturbing. Only the same thing sorta happend to the field i was at...only the refs realized their mistake and quickly told us to put our masks on.

I didn't even tell you guys the whole story: he sold us old dimpled out of round paint repackaged in Blaze boxes. I heard him ripping off a group playing the same day - they were from Japan, so he charged them double what he charged us because they didn't know any better. That same day i watched him light up a kid (who was willing) at point blank with a full hopper and an IR3 in exchange for a case of paint. The kid was pretty ballsy i admit, but this field doesn't even have insurance for christ sake. Actual quote "did you guys bring any booze?".

[Hexis]

A common mistake people make when trying to design something foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

- Douglas Adams

[Trina]

Originally posted by lyer
I didn't even tell you guys the whole story: he sold us old dimpled out of round paint repackaged in Blaze boxes. I heard him ripping off a group playing the same day - they were from Japan, so he charged them double what he charged us because they didn't know any better. That same day i watched him light up a kid (who was willing) at point blank with a full hopper and an IR3 in exchange for a case of paint. The kid was pretty ballsy i admit, but this field doesn't even have insurance for christ sake. Actual quote "did you guys bring any booze?".
Okay, to all the great AO minds out there--In a situation like this, who would you report this field to?

besides the police...

[Wc Keep]

there are 15000 eye injuries in racquetball every year.

just some food for thought.

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

but the media just needed something more interesting. Very few people would be interested in raquetball

[Jerhew]

Originally posted by Hexis
A common mistake people make when trying to design something foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

- Douglas Adams

lofl
Douglass Adams was the man

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others,
are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." - Douglas Adams

[Evil1]

This one shop I used to go to before it shut down would not sell you a gun without a mask no matter what, but I think that was one of the reasons he shut down b/c he used it to get more money not for safety. But that should be in effect for every gun I think even if it is some crappy mask it is still better than nothing. Also every single gun should come w/ a bag or plug, some do I know but some also don't. They should aal come w/ them whether it is a blade or an XMag.

[Scircal]

I actually went in to Wal-Mart about a week ago and picked up 200 rounds of weak paint. When the clerk scanned it, the register gave some message about checking ID for being over 18. I was kind of surprised, and the clerk actually asked if I was over 18. However, she didn't demand my DL (I think my 3 day old scruff and gray hairs tipped her off). So, they do have a system in place; whether it's uniformly used is another question.

Really, this is not a bad article at all. I don't condone lazy reporting, but it's better than I'd normally expect. No, it doesn't point out injury statistics from other sports, but this is only an 8-10 incher I'd say, which doesn't give enough room for fine detail. It's also been processed by the AP which often chop articles down. Still, it's possible this was as much that ran in the Trib. Been in the newsroom for a few years and I can guess what happened here. Fax/E-mail press release from David Listman, a doctor at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York, touting his new study made it's way to City/Features/Night/Weekend editor's desk. Said editor had heard about this "paintball" in the Chicago area and decided to give it to a reporter for a short. Said editor walked around the newsroom until he found a reporter with no daily story, or the reporter working on the fewest daily stories and said "Gimme no more than 12 inches." Reporter, who probably has little interest in paintball, probably copied much of the press release and reworked, made a couple calls, possibly to a certain paintball company who he's heard about before (and hopefully the president of that company wasn't too busy reading/posting on a certain Web site to return out-of-luck reporter's call. Nothing more evil than a source who doesn't return calls ;) ). Anyway, reporter comes back with story after trying to be as fair as possible as far as he understands. Files story and shoots it to City/Features/Night/Weekend editor who makes some edits, including sexing up the description of paintball as a "battle" game. Article goes to print.

It would be nice if papers could spend more time fleshing out these kind of stories, but a lot of times it isn't possible. That's the advantage magazines have on your daily rag.

[rudy]

i didnt read all the post but did any one check how many people were playing in 1997 and 2000. this report has ironicly, almost exactly a 300% increase in injuries over that time period.

i mean the sport grew tremendously especailly at that time. I will bet there was a much larger growth in gun sales, and players then injuries wich would actually lead to a decrease in percentage of injuries.

and some times people are just going to get injured i have been at feilds that do stuff pretty much right but some people will just take thier mask off no matter what and if they arent lucky they catch one in the eye.

[11_Mile_TMaster]

I swear, At the main field I go to, If I ever lose an Eye, it will be in the staging area. Bastards without barrel socks on, Dry firing and everything. It's a shame, in 2002 they were absolutely GREAT about Dry-firing. If you dry fired, sock on or off EVERYONE would scream at you like you pulled your mask off in the middle of the field.

This last year, Nope, nada. Rather a shame, Because it's an accident waiting to happen, and one that is so easily preventable.

And for reference, I have to actually SHOW ID to the clerk at K-Mart for 12 gram cartridges. :)

[Xyxyll]

Wow, a lot of comments to read back on.

But what the article doesn't point out is that the number of people playing paintball has also at least tripled. So sure, these kids are REALLY stupid, and I almost agree with the "No sale to minors." However, I still think this article was written with only one side in perspective. Take a look at the # of people playing now compared to 1999.

[Wes Janson]

I didn't even tell you guys the whole story: he sold us old dimpled out of round paint repackaged in Blaze boxes. I heard him ripping off a group playing the same day - they were from Japan, so he charged them double what he charged us because they didn't know any better. That same day i watched him light up a kid (who was willing) at point blank with a full hopper and an IR3 in exchange for a case of paint. The kid was pretty ballsy i admit, but this field doesn't even have insurance for christ sake. Actual quote "did you guys bring any booze?".

Somehow I'm pretty sure a full hopper on automatic at point blank would at the very very least, cause massive bleeding to the chest, and unless the kid was wearing some plastic or some some serious padding. In any case, if the story was true, I'd say the police, the Better Business Bureau, the insurance company, and probably some internet forums, should have all been notified.

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

Originally posted by AGDFlash
This one shop I used to go to before it shut down would not sell you a gun without a mask no matter what, but I think that was one of the reasons he shut down b/c he used it to get more money not for safety. But that should be in effect for every gun I think even if it is some crappy mask it is still better than nothing. Also every single gun should come w/ a bag or plug, some do I know but some also don't. They should aal come w/ them whether it is a blade or an XMag.

Or you can go to the shop with the current mask you have. cause that would mean you would have to buy a mask for every gun you get. and for people that buy a lot of guns, that's not a really good thing.