Face Masks or not?

[sneakyhacker420]

yes, its the reason why i still wear my 2 1/2 year old JT flex 7, instead of thoes tiny proteus or invisions that they have now that your chin sticks out of

[judster]

if it were up to me i would only wear the goggles...i started playing when we had the 2 peace mask that the shop goggles would fit over....i only play scenario now so i think just wearing the goggles would help out alot when you are on the field for 8 hours at a time. however if i was to play speedball...fulll face protection all the way. one of the reasone i like airsoft was becasue you only had to wear goggles and not the full mask, but thats a different story.

[rabidchihauhau]

I want to use a word not allowed on this site to characterize ALL of you who have said no, I would never play without a face mask.

However, I'll stay away from emotional responses for the nonce.

How many of you responding in the negative ever played with goggles only? I'll bet hardly any of you.

The fact is, I played for years with shop goggles only, I never got a hit on the face I couldn't handle (yes, down the throat, up the nose, in the ear, on the cheek); none of them was any worse than a hit anywhere else on the body.

I played two seasons of semi-ball with goggles only also (that's for the HRF argument).

I'm not suggesting that you are all wimps (despite my opening paragraph); I am suggesting that most of you have no basis for evaluating this argument.

I am also not suggesting that we force people to play without their preferred level of protection. What I am suggesting is that we allow everyone to seek their own level of comfort - including those to whom a nasty face welt at work on Monday poses no obstacles or concern.

[rabidchihauhau]

Forgot one more thing (fireblade was standing over me while I wrote the previous and made comments which I am responding to):

"Insurance coverage will dictate...for safety and cost and claim reasons, etc., etc., etc"

Go dig through the pudding, the proof is in there.

In 2000 I purchased event/field coverage for paintball, coverage that was far in excess of what most paintball companies currently provide, which was cheaper. That provider did not care what people wore so long as eyes were properly protected, since, according to their own actuarial research, eye protection was the only thing needed.

The whole facemask thing has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with 'image'; we don't want paintball to appear to be a violent sport, so we'll prevent visible welts from occurring.

[Bulldog]

About 10 years ago it was "the thing" to wear goggles only when you played paintball.

I thought it was closer to 15, I dunno.

REGARDLESS of all other factors (insurance, for example), would you prefer to play paintball without a face mask, or with?

Not only no, but hell no. With todays rof and bunkering, no way, I like having teeth.

[paullus99]

The issue you are going to run into is not "comfort," but what insurance companies will insist upon, protection-wise, from the field owners. Its expensive enough as it is for basic fields to get insurance against injury.

Also, with goggle's only, you are exposing your eyes to a great chance of injury - say it a shot hits you right on the seam between the google & your face....there is a chance that some parts & pieces of the ball could get up underneath and get into the eye surface.

Anything that makes the eyes more exposed (without the rest of the mask acting as a shield against hits below the bridge of the nose), is going to be a big no-no with field owners. Now on outlaw fields, anything goes - but I for one am not willing to risk my eyesight - regardless of any benefits either way.

Especially if I know that I might have 10 - 20 paintballs heading towards my face in any given burst from an Angel, Cocker, etc.

[�?�� �m���]

i would perfer a full face mask but even that dosent stop all the incoming balls like getting hit in the back of the skull or under the ear or when your looking up one pops under you and clips your chin or throat, like hockey it was a nasty sport when teh puck nailed one of the players faces

[Hexis]

It was about 10 years ago. Mid to early 90s. I purchased a full mask as my first paintball purchase. I was happy with it then, and they have only improved. I hated the shop gogs, didn't have to get his on the face to know it was a bad thing.

[Evil Bob]

The odds are in your favor of getting hit in the face more often today then they were 15 years ago, the equipment we play with today is superior in every aspect:

1) Paintballs have become more round, fills are more consistant, the end result is that balls of today fly a little straighter then the ones we had 15 years ago.
2) Markers have become more consistant in shot to shot velocity making them more accurate.
3) Marker rates of fire have greatly improved since then.

15 years ago, the record for fast shooting was 7 bps, we now have markers that easily exceed 20 bps... that's alot of paint to be in the air heading toward you at any one time.

Everyone think back to the little demo that Tom did with Mancow's sidekick where he oblitereated the guys T-shirt with multiple hits to the same location. I guarrantee that when you put your unprotected facial skin into the stream of multiple balls and take several hits on the same location that you're going to be hurting, realistically you'll be taking a trip to see the dr or dentist or a cosmetic surgeon...

Additionally, we have learned to present very little of ourselves in the way of a target to opposing players to trade balls, the few items that you present to be shoot at:

1) Your marker
2) Your head
3) Your hands

Unless you're getting bunkered or being gunned down as you're on the move, you're going to get hit in one of those three locations if you're hunkered down and trading balls with someone. When being bunkered you're usually going to take the round on the torso, typically the back or side since your center of mass offers a larger target then your head.

To answer your question, would I go without a facemask? No.

-Evil Bob

[GT]

you guys wear eye protection?

[brianlojeck]

My first game was played in Sears shop goggles, and even THEN I fashioned a mouth-chin-nose guard out of a 1 pound coffee can and some cloth. (it looked like a dancer's veil, but went "ding" when it got shot)

I don't even like "bounce" masks, hard-shell only please.

I'm amazed when I find people who play without cups.

guess I'm a puss or something...

[Jeffy-CanCon]

I started with just shop goggles, but had a facemask within a couple of months. I would not go back to goggles only, even in stock-play. Too many head-hunters in my crowd!

I remember the NPPL guys wearing goggles only, back in the mid-90's. Supposedly improved communication, and was more likely to bounce, some claimed.

I am inclined to say "let people wear what they want", but I think we have a lot of players who aren't mature enough to understand the possible consequences of "looking cool". If the Pros went back to it, the wanna-be kids would be doing it, too. And we'd have a lot of P-O'd parents on our hands when little Billy comes home with welts or real damage to his face.

[Beemer]

ok

"The whole facemask thing has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with 'image'; we don't want paintball to appear to be a violent sport, so we'll prevent visible welts from occurring."

Ya I.A.D.S.P.B.P

"Go dig through the pudding, the proof is in there."

That pudding is like quicksand, throw me a rope.

Now the question is would you wear full head protection with head and chin safety straps.

[rabidchihauhau]

Beemer,

no head helmet, no chin strap.

As far as chin straps go - I think they are far more dangerous in the woods than no chin strap would be. (Raise hands, how many here have had goggles snatched off of their heads by an errant tree branch...?)

Three years ago I designed a head retention system for goggles that would keep goggles on heads regardless of impact AND which would eliminate the risk of 'facemasking' injuries; the design was aftermarket, so ANY system could have it installed. Do you see it out there today? NO. Why?

Evil Bob - sorry, won't wash. the paint back then was much heavier than it is today and was still fired at the magical 300 fps; higher rates of fire rarely, if ever, result in multiple impacts in exactly the same location for each hit. I've been lit by the best of them (How about having three of the Tour de Force guys decide to dump 200 rounds each on ya at the end of a game 'just for fun'?) and, despite all the hi-tech stuff out there, I've yet to be 'gogged' by more than two balls out of whatever length string.

I'd venture to guess that your incidence of injury from a face shot was higher back then than it is now.

Besides - I already answered the insurance question: if I can get that kind of coverage (as in, the insurance provider is only interested in those issues that can cause a real liability), then anyone can get that kind of coverage.

Running around the pool while carrying scissors is dangerous - playing with PEC approved goggles only is not. Its my face - if I can handle the hits and don't have to worry about marring my movie-star quality good looks, why the heck should anyone else care how much of my face is covered?

[tasker89]

I've gotta leap in on this one...

If I could play without a facemask I would. Why? Because I did...for years. I played three full seasons of 'pro' ball in the NPPL without a mask. The only time I wore a facemask was when I jumped into open games after or before practice. I never wore a cup. I never wore anything more than knee-pads...and I played hard. Hard enough to hyper-extend knees, sprain ankles and break noses (yes my nose...crashing into a tree face-first at a dead sprint will do that)

Wearing a facemask is hot, loud and wet....and though that may be ok for bedroom activity...I'm not a big fan of it in a paintball goggle.

The old argument used by players was simple. If you were in a tournament and it came down to two guys, one in a mask, one with just goggles, and the guy wearing the goggles only took a bounce off his cheek while he broke a ball on the other guys mask...who do you think is gonna be wearing the mask the next time around?

Pull the goggle strap down over your ears and buck up Sally!!

If a hockey player can take a puck in the chin...I don't think a widdle paintball is gonna hurt you.

I also used to walk uphill to school in the snow...both ways.