Homemade field.... inexpensive "ball stopping material"

[cdawg]

There are no paintball fields within in hour of my house, and our closest woods field is about 20 mins away, so I'm thinkin for those lonely weekday afternoons I'll have somewhere me and a few friends can practice snap shooting...

What is the best, cheapest material to stop paintballs? I was thinking chicken wire... It only needs to be about 6ft tall. Mounting the material isnt a problem. Any other ideas?

[Reo5th]

chicken wire doesn't seem thick enough...does it need to be see through? and how much space does it need to cover?

[cdawg]

All it has to do is break balls, not stop the paint from getting through. The whole thing will span about 100 feet.

[DogBoy]

here is a link to the field I built. people from all over my area play it now and it has grown paintball here over the last 2 years.

http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10213

[silenttype]

Go to the local electric company,they will give you all the spools you want for free.

[Vendetta]

Recycling used tires is also good for the environment:)


There are no paintball fields within in hour of my house, and our closest woods field is about 20 mins away

Does this mean a wooded field is not a paintball field? Time was when these were the only paintball fields.;)

[Mag Master 04]

i have a 75 x 75 woods ball field and i made v bunkers out of logs and i made 1 man tree bunkers out of wooden pallots use to ship things on...ill try to get pics up later, and i used spools for a flag post and some for cover also...pics wil be up tonight sometime

[shartley]

Yes there are a lot of inexpensive materials to use…

Old tires.
Old wooden fencing.
Pallets
Plastic culvert material
Wooden Spools
Scrap plywood
Junk cars
Stacked wood
Logs
Piles of dirt

And countless other things. Most of these things can be gotten either free or at very low cost at construction sites, factories, big stores, remodeled homes, etc. You have to keep your eyes open. When I get my truck, I will be seriously keeping my eye out for much of this stuff too. :D

[Vendetta]

I am very jealous of you guys that can build fields in your yard. My back yard is 20'X 40'.:mad:

[shartley]

Yes, it is nice. My field is actually quite large (there was a thread about it here on AO for those who want to look it up). It definitely helps reduce overall playing costs, which is great when you have to pay for several people playing.

[cdawg]

i appreciate all of the replies, but i really dont have any problem finding materials to build the field... the problem is finding something to SURROUND the field to stop paint from hitting my 4 year old neighbors...

[shartley]

Ahhh…. I use walls built of cleared materials that are from 5 feet in height to as much as about 10 in some areas, and my field is in a wooded area. That prevents any stray balls from going places that matter.

As for a Protected area for people to watch and talk, we use a sturdy screen house (the kind you can buy at Walmart, Target, etc.). We used an old one we had and I put it up and shot at it from various distances and angles. It held up to everything I shot at it. The balls just bounced right off.

You can also look into the screening/netting they use for construction sites. There are actual Paintball Netting out there, but that tends to be VERY expensive in comparison, and I really don’t think it is THAT much better. Like I said, standard screen house netting used for the “erect yourself” screen houses (like I mentioned above) stop the paintballs more than adequately.

Hope this helps.

[PzYcO]

I recently saw something online called "J-Bunkers" These were homade bunkers. The way i found out that you can make them easy is taking 2x4's and making a structure,

Then you can go to any store and buy some of those BLUE TARPS. AFter that you take them over the structure that you have produced and DOUBLE WRAP them on both sides so it is thick enough. I have been thinking about doing this my self, it seems like a very cheap and effective way of making bunkers..

[SHAZAM-AGD]

another good bunker material is sheets of tin roofing. you can purchase a 12 X 2 section for around 7.00 cut it in half and you make a 6 X 4 structure. the neat thing about tin is it makes a bucnh of noice when you shoot at it so the person hiding behind it can not hear his team mates.

another good portable bunkers are sleeping tents they are really cheap for what you get. once set up cut the screens out of the windows or poke holes in them this allows people to get in them like little forts.

one more good portable bunker is the holiday inflatables you can find at wal-mart or target or k-mart. they have a grinch for x-mas that is over six feet tall for like 40 dollars. I saw a teddy bear for valitines day and also a smow man plus many others. I think they have lights in them so you could play at night and they are much cheaper than the 150 plus for air ball bunkers.

[Pstan]

The best use of a politician?............his signs!!!!

Note: just ask for them after the election.....dont steal them!!!!!!!



There's a virtual countryside full of bunker material after every political season!! Take advantage of that. For the most part, every campaign will gladly let you have....... free of charge....... any signs that you will pick up. One hour riding around taking down signs will make a huge field and at a cost of nothing more than doing the community a service by helping clean up.

It's a win/win situation. You get a free field and the community get's cleaned up. And......it's a rather positive image for the sport. Just get permission first!!


P

[irbodden]

2x4s+carpet scrap+staple gun= quick, cheap and mobile fields

[FalconGuy016]

Doesnt he need something to surround the feild with? Not the bunkers

To "stop" the paintballs, he is probably trying to just fence off his field

[irbodden]

...good point. I should learn to read...

[shartley]

And so far, I am the only one to answer it. :D

[beam]

I've seen heavy-duty netting at sporting goods stores. My local field used to use something similar to it. But with 4 year olds at risk, better make it something that will stop the balls, not just chicken-wire.

Side-note: Hey Reo5th...know what else is better than a mag? A sig image that is within the guidelines! :D

[Vendetta]

There is a netting that is used in landscaping, very heavyduty. It comes in black and green. Not sure what it costs, but since its not marketed for paintball, it should be cheap. ;)

[E==Mag MAN]

OMG 20 minuets away.... I freaken wish I only had to drive 20 minuets to a field. THe closes field is 45 minuets away, so we bought scubas and built out own field for practice.

[DogBoy]

the field I built is only 8 minutes from the house is free and is covered under the city's insurance :) .

[bbecker666]

you could probably just use regular home window screen, all you would need to do is double layer it, it should hold up just fine and is no where near as expensive as PB screen.

[magnj]

I have the same delima, while young kids are not at risk, there are houses. Does anyone know where to get this house construction netting your talking about?

[Python14]

A few weeks ago, I got a bunch of tarps at northern. They were 4x8 and only cost like $3 apiece. They should work for you. Tie the top and bottom losely so they can absorb hits.

[magsRus]

Start charging people like 10 bucks everytime they play. Save the money then you can go and buy a Sup 'Air field or an Ulitmate Air field.

[magnj]

where did you buy the tarps?

[TheGreatPru]

park your cars along the side of the field that you want to prevent paint from getting past, and then cover then with a tarp. trucks with shells and SUV's work best, since they are taller and more boxy, but cars will still help. you could also stagger them (as opposed to bumper to bumper) when they are parked, to form more of a wall effect.
|___| |___| |___|
_| |___| |___|

it will also help to plan out your field layout to keep paint from going in that general direction. what i mean is put the snake on that side, or other small bunkers, not standups. players in standup bunkers shooting at the snake would be shooting down a little which will help keep the paint from going a long way.

also, a great thing to use for building a snake bunker is the silt fencing or silt netting that is used on the edges of most any construction site. (which might also be the same type of material that Vendetta is talking about. i have seen it in rolls that are two feet tall, and rolls that are 6+ feet, but i dont think its very transparent)

[xr 80s rule]

i have a field about 7min. away from me and they have 2 fields woods anf speedball. they also have a little store there and across the street is a store

[FalconGuy016]

Originally posted by bbecker666
you could probably just use regular home window screen, all you would need to do is double layer it, it should hold up just fine and is no where near as expensive as PB screen.

Im pretty sure you could shoot through home window screen very easily. You would have to layer it many times (if a pencil hits that screen wrong it would go through)

[shartley]

Originally posted by FalconGuy016


Im pretty sure you could shoot through home window screen very easily. You would have to layer it many times (if a pencil hits that screen wrong it would go through)
One thing you have to realize is that paintballs are not a pencil. It would take a lot of pressure to run a 2 inch round stick through your hand, but it you took a needle….. ahhhhh

Home window screening would not be my first choice, but double layered would most likely have no problems stopping a paintball…. Even more so one that hits it at an angle. But the price would probably not be very cost effective.

[cky shane]

I would advise heavily against any material that is solid. You want paint to bounce off the material more than break, so I'd got for netting of some sort. Look at Home Depot, they sell it by rolls... not sure on the pricing, though.

[cky shane]

Also, window screens don't stop paintballs... atleast, not the screens on my friend's neighbor's house...

[Rancid Milk]

Yeah, make sure you layer the window screening if you were to use it. My friend had a field and used ththe screen to make a staging area and the paint was going right through it. I'm sure that there is some more heavy-duty stuff that you could use though that would just let your paint bounce off.

[xLoHungWangx]

I used to play at a field behind the middle school near me. We used pallets, tires, garbage cans, old barrels, etc. Anything we could get our hands on. I think I'm going to rebuild that field...good days spent there. It was trashed by some dirt bikers.

[FalconGuy016]

Originally posted by shartley

One thing you have to realize is that paintballs are not a pencil. It would take a lot of pressure to run a 2 inch round stick through your hand, but it you took a needle….. ahhhhh

Home window screening would not be my first choice, but double layered would most likely have no problems stopping a paintball…. Even more so one that hits it at an angle. But the price would probably not be very cost effective.

A paintball going at 250 fps would go right through that stuff. Havent you ever accidentally put your hand through a screen before? Its almost effortless

[magnj]

ok found some tarps on ebay, What would you say is a safe height? Would 8 feet be too low if we were carefull.

[cky shane]

I would use 12 foot. 16 to err on the side of caution.

Ask yourself how many times you've shot while moving the wrong way and the barrel jumped up.