Blood Red Paintballs (Thread from Pbnation News)

[drg]

It's worth noting that the ASTM standard for manufacturing paintballs includes a line about avoiding fill that mimics blood.

[Beemer]

It's worth noting that the ASTM standard for manufacturing paintballs includes a line about avoiding fill that mimics blood.

ASTM says one shot one pull also. It dont matter they dont follow that one either. It will all change when the Govment steps in cause we cant do it ourselves.

[warbeak2099]

His Reply:
"

I love how he writes off his marketing methods as a joke or something. Images of a murdered woman are not funny or comical. If that's his idea of a joke, he's a pretty sick person, I don't care how long he's been married or how many children he has.

[raehl]

Agreed. I'm sick of this political correct BS. Paintball was fun when red paintballs filled the air, and it will be fun again. The reason everyone does not like red paint is because it is hard to wipe off once your hit (that's why tourney players and woodsballers alike don't like it, because it eliminates cheaters). Red is far more easy to recognize at greater distances than yellow, blue or even pink. I'm going to buy this stuff just to expose the pathetic cheaters at my local field (mostly tourney players in woodsball games). As more not being able to see a injury, that's BS to begin with. If someone is hurt, you'll know right away. Real blood is less of a ketchup appearance. It's good to know some extra masculinity has been reintroduced into paintball.

That's just abject stupidity.

People don't like red fill because the marketing characteristics SUCK.

Bright orange: EASY to see.
Dark red: HARD to see.

If you think cheaters are a problem you want thick, BRIGHT fill. Blood-red fill is probably second only to black in terms of ineffective paint color.

- Chris

[Steelrat]

ASTM says one shot one pull also. It dont matter they dont follow that one either. It will all change when the Govment steps in cause we cant do it ourselves.

It'll change when the first big lawsuits come down the pike. The industry has been lucky so far, with the last big incident being the fatality in California. Somebody gets an eye blown out because of a ramping board, there's gonna be some problems, in large part because the ASTM was ignored. Too bad, really. I remember Tom talking about the ASTM standards, and what they covered, from shots per pull to the size of the trigger guard. Seems almost everything went right out the window at most companies.

[raehl]

Of all the injuries related to paintball you have noted how many have had anything to do with traumatic bleeding? I have seen more than a few and none of them involved traumatic bleeding myself.

I have seen several. Mostly large cuts from sliding on things that shouldn't be slid on.


But, I agree that the big issue here is not red paint on a paintball field masking an injury on a paintball field. The issues are as follows:

- The more red paint is out there, the more likely some schmuck shooting things/people he ain't supposed to be shooting is shooting red paint (and if they are the kind of people who would do that, even SEEKS OUT red paint for the purpose) and shoots someone who is NOT playing paintball and that someone thinks they have been shot for real.

- People with casual familiarity with the game will make, and more importantly relate to others, damaging impressions about the sport. Parents who see paintball and see people getting shot by red paint will not let their kids play. Kids who go to play who come home covered in red paint will not get to play again. Parents talk to each other, and the conversation will be "Oh, I don't want my son going to that paintball birthday party, my friend said her son went to one and he came home looking like he'd been in a gun battle."

And, to counter, that, red paint provides NO VALUE. It doesn't mark better than other colors, doesn't fly straighter, doesn't break better, the ONLY thing red paint accomplishes is letting people pretend they're causing real harm to other people. And if we're allowing that kind of product to be sold, what does that say about the 'sport'? It's not a sport anymore, it's violence reenactment. Hell, even civil war reenactors are not running around replicating wounds, because the violence isn't the point.


So:

No benefit.
Significant drawbacks.

Any rational person should be able to see that this is a bad idea. The ONLY people who benefit from this is the manufacturer making a quick buck.



- Chris

[MoeMag]

I gotta say after working in a paintball shop for a few years in high school... there are more than enough redneck rec ballers, that if they heard "put down the marker", would get mad and say "what marker, I wasnt sniffin anything"...who would be all over blood fill paint.


\$0.02

[GoatBoy]

- The more red paint is out there, the more likely some schmuck shooting things/people he ain't supposed to be shooting is shooting red paint (and if they are the kind of people who would do that, even SEEKS OUT red paint for the purpose) and shoots someone who is NOT playing paintball and that someone thinks they have been shot for real.

What are you basing this on? I think you are drawing an unsubstantiated conclusion and stating it as fact. If this is a fact, then I'd like to see some data backing this up. Maybe you have actually have some, and if so, I'm sure it would be very beneficial to discussion.


I'm a bit on the fence on this subject. I know a lot of you have already waived off the 'injury' aspect, but here's my take. I want to make sure everybody out there is safe and enjoying themselves... and I'm just another walkon player, not a ref. Seeing blood red fill would cause me to do a double-take every time to make sure the kid wasn't actually bleeding vs. it just being paint. Those of you who have no concern for your fellow players will have no idea what I'm talking about, naturally. If I were a ref or a field owner, I'm sure I would put up with like a few games worth of double-takes before coming to the conclusion, "Guys, this is kind of ridiculous. No more red paint."

Again, those of you with no concern for your fellow players will have no idea what I'm talking about.

In the broadest sense, I don't have much problem with people pretending to play shoot-em-up. If we're not simulating shooting each other with guns, then what exactly are we doing? Are we simulating football? Tennis? Or simulating fishing? (This excludes those of you who actually use guns to fish, of course.) Maybe we're simulating home decoration? No, we really are simulating shooting each other... with guns. This is just a natural extension of the milsim extreme, of which I am also not a fan (but not because of the political correctness aspect, I just think all that extra milsim garbage makes for poor players in a game where gun hits, maneuverability, and playing tight count for something). But I let them play pretend all they want. Just like I let the "tournament" players pretend they're big stuff on the field all they want.

Is this bad for the "sport"? Yes, it's definitely bad for the "sport". It's about as bad as changing the game's name from "Paintball" to "Murderball". What's in a name? Well, apparently a lot. Personally, I wouldn't stop playing it, but then again, I can't play Murderball, er, Paintball, by myself, can I? I have to have other people to shoot at, or the fun is reduced significantly. If it turns people off from the "sport", then it's bad for the "sport".

The ultimate question under this line of thought, though, is: does the "sport" really need the protection? Paintball sold its soul to become a "sport" -- to be as politically correct as possible for the Holy Grail of "getting on TV" and becoming big. And what did all that repression buy us in the end? What happens whenever you try to repress a human desire?

You get a backlash. The response to "tournament" is "milsim". By pushing so hard to be politically correct, going so far as shunning markers that look like "real guns", you wound up creating your own monster. And the monster is definitely thriving.








Why can't someone fill these things with pudding or nacho cheese? That way your opponent can enjoy a snack while they walk off the field. Mmm... Puddingball...

[DevilMan]

Why can't someone fill these things with pudding or nacho cheese? That way your opponent can enjoy a snack while they walk off the field. Mmm... Puddingball...

SERIOUSLY!!!!! Why can't they at least be well flavored!!!! Take a pod of chips out with ya in case you get shot you can use the chips with the cheese.

DM

BTW, good rest of the post. And another thing to point out now that there is enough wood on the fire.

Anyone else notice how the pro-red folks are all about "It don't look like blood and if you can't tell the difference in real blood and fake blood" blah blah blah. So if you can tell the difference then you know it's not real so why do ya need it? Would it not be just as easy to pretend that we bleed orange or yellow blood???

[punkncat]

Perhaps I am missing something, but from what I read these aren't even available in the US.

We currently have distributors in Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, Switzerland, and Poland.

I don't see anything about being even ABLE to get them.

IMO the bigger concern is the "slightly heavier weight" as that may pose a real safety concern. "Blood" red fill does not even cause me to bat an eyelid. I have used and enjoyed using red fills back when they were easier to find at the local shop. Nelson red was cool to shoot your opponents with.

[Beemer]

IMO the bigger concern is the "slightly heavier weight" as that may pose a real safety concern.

How heavy are they?? More hype???

[ThePixelGuru]

As has been mentioned, it's not just "red paint," it's simulated blood. As for fake blood, dead chicks, drug use and thug references, do we need any of that in paintball? No. Could it hurt the sport? You bet.

Risk/benefit ratio, people. It's just not worth it. Every person who buys this paint is putting paintball one step further from being accepted as a legitimate sport and one step closer to government regulation.

[MoeMag]

oh wow... I didnt see the needle and pills the first time... yeah thats not cool.

[cyberave68]

IMO the bigger concern is the "slightly heavier weight" as that may pose a real safety concern.

I think it was proball that made a heavier fill before. the stuff was like "WAX" You couldnt wipe it off if you wanted to. Being hit by it wasnt much different, it was just a PITA to get off after the game. We ended up wipeing mud on it to cover it up before the next round. Its not really the weight of the paint you need to worry about, more of "How hard the shell is?"


Cy

Deff an add i dont like the way they set it up, but also notice the countries they sell it in...????

"We currently have distributors in Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, Switzerland, and Poland"

[snoopay700]

As a ref i've had blood drawn from a paintball hitting the back of my neck. If it was red fill paint i wouldn't have known to wipe it off immediately. It can cause problems, but i always thought the main concern was so that people don't get shot by a real gun by some horrible turn of events and everyone just tells them to get off the field because at first they think it's paint, or some other major injury, which would pose a problem. In speedball it's less of a problem, but it's still there.