Equipment needed for new paintball area

Seloth

My father is seriously considering opening up a paint ball place on an area of his land.

But I'd like to get a few suggestions and a few items we need.

Such as what would be a good type of Paint ball gun and what type of paint balls.

At the moment I'm looking up http://www.shop.justpaintball.co.uk for things to buy but if there is some where in Ireland that would be helpful.

o1s1n

As well as paintball, would he be interested in Airsoft? It's popularity is growing rapidly in Ireland in the last year since the declassification of airsoft markers.

As of now, there's only one place to play in Ireland which is in Dublin. More venues are always welcomed!

Seloth

I have no idea what AirSoft is but if I get some info I'll ask.

He said he'd be willing to spend up to 10k.

So far I found a place where I can buy a grouping of equipment such as masks,The Guns and ammo holder thingy's and so on.

((Yes I'm a noob to paint balling but bah.))

kdouglas

if your interested in opening a site for either paintball or airsoft (or both), then i'd say go along to a couple of different paintball sites as a paying customer, and see how they run things, make a mental note also of what paintball markers and such they use (or see if this information is available on their website)

also, drop by hrta in swords, it's the airsoft site in dublin that o1s1n mentioned, personally i'm an airsoft player, and would love to see more sites opening, there's tonnes of paintball sites already open around the country, so you'll need to offer players something new/different/better to get their attention

having airsoft on your site would be a good way to do this, it means your going to get more interest from people, as was said, airsoft is growing rapidly in ireland since the change in the law last year.

for more info on airsoft, check out:
http://www.irishairsoftassociation.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft
http://www.airsoftireland.com/
http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/

there's plenty of other websites i could point you at, but they'll give you the basics of what it's about etc...
basically it's paintball, only better

ED E

Airsoft and paintball could be accomodated for.

For paintball guns you might get them wholesale but i really dont know anything about it. You generally get stuff cheaper in large bulk orders from wholesale.

Oisin, whats the legal situation with markers? do they need to be registered as a firearm?

Seloth

They do have to be registered as Fire arms.

And is there a website to purchases Paint ball equipment for the place in Dublin.

o1s1n

Lethal_Bullet wrote:

Oisin, whats the legal situation with markers? do they need to be registered as a firearm?

Originally I was under the impression they all needed to be licensed similarly to firearms. I don't think it's the case any more though. They do need to be somehow registered. I'll have to inform myself of the details actually. We need our resident paintball mod to pop in

OP, the great thing about airsoft is the equipment doesn't require any form of licensing as long as it's under 1 joule of power. So no hassle with registering equipment with the local Gardaí or anything like that. You can just buy it and use it.

There's absolutely loads of information about the sport on this forum. From a thread full of pictures to all the legal and mechanical details. Would be worth a read. The most relevant and important ones are stickied at the top so they're easy enough to find.

ED E

Example bulk buy: Here

Q: can Markers use Compressed air? In france i played and they just had a compressor to charge guns therefore much cheaper to run.

Does the site have power available?

Seloth

Yeah I was look through those already,Could some one suggest which would be to buy.

Also just to say it would be situated a few miles outside the town of Glanmire in Cork,The farm is just there,we live a few miles outside Cobh town.

whupass

seloth, can you send me a pm and i'll call you or something?

try looking at irish-paintball.net and look for eoin99 he has a shop (small and he doesn't sell the guns (markers))



guys like i've said before, you are all a bunch of vultures!!!!!!!!!!!! and really you should be ashamed! come on like this guy comes here asking about paintball and straight away you mention airsoft, thank you lethal bullet for being the only one not to do it!! goodness sake lads it's a paintball and airsoft forum!!!

o1s1n

o1s1n wrote:

As well as paintball, would he be interested in Airsoft?

Liamo, I did no such thing

A site can host both. There are plenty of paintball sites in Ireland. One which would also hold airsoft skirmishes isnt asking too much now is it?

No one is asking it to be exclusive to either.

kdouglas

whupass wrote:

seloth, can you send me a pm and i'll call you or something?

try looking at irish-paintball.net and look for eoin99 he has a shop (small and he doesn't sell the guns (markers))



guys like i've said before, you are all a bunch of vultures!!!!!!!!!!!! and really you should be ashamed! come on like this guy comes here asking about paintball and straight away you mention airsoft, thank you lethal bullet for being the only one not to do it!! goodness sake lads it's a paintball and airsoft forum!!!

if he wants the extra business, then why not be open to airsoft too?

as i said already, there are alot of paintball sites in the country, allowing airsoft too is a good idea because it adds something different to the site to attract more players and hence, more business, you never know, might even convince a few paintball players to come over to our side

Seloth

I took a look at the Air soft wiki and it doesn't seem that much appealing considering Paint ball.

Hivemind187

Seloth wrote:

I took a look at the Air soft wiki and it doesn't seem that much appealing considering Paint ball.

The airsoft wiki is a little on the light side right now. Its only been up a couple of weeks.

I recommend chatting with some of the folks here, Paintball and Airsoft are not mutually exclusive on a site and in fact, Airsoft is cheaper to run.

Seloth

Yeah but you'd make more money out of Paint ball,as well as the fact that it's more known.

Only down side is I'm afraid we#ll get a pour in of scobes and pure knackers from the City.

o1s1n

Seloth wrote:

I took a look at the Air soft wiki and it doesn't seem that much appealing considering Paint ball.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QGomOFvyLAw

This'll give you a better idea than the wiki.

liamo333

o1s1n wrote:

Liamo, I did no such thing

A site can host both. There are plenty of paintball sites in Ireland. One which would also hold airsoft skirmishes isnt asking too much now is it?

No one is asking it to be exclusive to either.

WTF are you on about o1s1n?

ED E

Ahh, you may make more from paintballs but...People play paintball as a day out/coperate events as airsoft, we're fanatics! Every weekend/2nd weekend! Long term Airsoft is probably more profitable! Chek out predator cmbat games in belfast. They always have players playing and usually like 25+ people. Thats a lot of BB's and rentals!

o1s1n

Disregard my quote.

"I did no such thing" was in relation to me jumping at him with airsoft and undermining paintball. All I did was say it was another option. I did not mean it as a replacement.


I guessed (and was right) that he'd never heard of airsoft before. I thought it would be another good route for him if he's seeking to go into the area of skirmishing.

Not to mention the fact that we need more places to play.

I don't see why people seem to think it's either one or the other. Both sports have biodegradable ammunition. Both can inhabit the same play area.

ED E

Have to agree with osin!

Seloth

Right,so we know where to go for nearly all the equipment,We have asite and so on.

Now Insurance,How much would it cost and who to go to?

p.s Can you get that mesh thing at a CO-OP?

P.P.s Do you need to get any sort of Planing permission as well?

ditpaintball

Rite , I am hear.

Before I start, enough of airsoft talk. Seloth has clearly stated a few time that he is interested in paintball only. So guys, give it a rest on trying to get the whole world to play airsoft, ok.

First of all. Before you even think about setting up a paintball business, insurance is your first issue. There is no site in Ireland paying less thatn €10,000 a year for insurance. Just bear that in mind. The average is about €20,000 I think

Secondly, currently paintball markers, not guns, are classed as firearms. So you will need a fire arms dealers license to hold that amount of markers, you will need a secure storage facility etc.

After that, its is only a matter of money.

If you want to power your markers on C02, you will need a tank for each marker €30RRP. You will also need an account with air products Ireland ltd to supply you with C02. This costs changes a lot, but each big tank is €150 to rent for the year and €50 to refil. You should get 80ish small tanks fills from it.

If you are going the compressed air route, you will need a 3000psi 3 stage compressor, €4,000 is an average figure. You will also need HPA (high pressure air) tanks for the markers which start off at €70rrp for the cheapes ones.

Then you need the markers themselves. Tippmann 98' customs should be the maker of choice. €120rrp each mark say.

Then you need paint. A pallet of paint (120 boxes) 240,000balls, would cost at least €3,000 for your first order.

Then you need the land, and permission to use it.

Then you need paintball safety netting, not the green builders crap, paintballs can go throught the holes.

Then you need marshals


You starting to get the idea?

Seloth

Ok the insurance is more than expected.

How much do paint ball sites make annually so?

ditpaintball

That is the business of the paintball sites. It it an expensive business to start up, and if you do not have a good quality service and location, then it will not last.

From my own research and ideas, €100,000 would be a starting capital that i would aim for. Plus land on top of that. the 100k would get all equipment, build safe zones, develop games etc. Unless you were in the situation where you had the best forest ever and you didnt need any buildings to improve game play.

o1s1n

ditpaintball wrote:

Rite , I am hear.

Before I start, enough of airsoft talk. Seloth has clearly stated a few time that he is interested in paintball only. So guys, give it a rest on trying to get the whole world to play airsoft, ok.

Easy there. You cant blame people for jumping on an opportunity. There are only two airsoft sites in Ireland. One being up the north. If someone comes on here suggesting land be used for skirmish games then of course people are going to get excited. Iit doesnt hurt to suggest the idea. There's no written law that the two sports can't coexist on the same site.

He seemed interested when I spoke to him on MSN about it..

Anyway.. *takes his airsoft somewhere it'll be appreciated*

Seloth

Well My Dad has a glen with a mile stretch of woodland + ruined village,They would make interesting paint ball areas with a few crates or sand bags stood up.They'd be diffrent sites though.

As well as that,the place would be close to Cork city so we'd get a good number.Also if we did a membership thing we could get people to come very frequent.

Edit-As I said on MSN,We wil lsee how the paint balling works out first.And we could still try and hold a tournament with AirSoft there.

Edit Edit- Which insurance company actually covers paintball

ditpaintball

o1s1n wrote:

......... If someone comes on here suggesting land be used for skirmish games then of course people are going to get excited. .......

He didn't mention a skirmish, he said paintball.

Seloth wrote:

My father is seriously considering opening up a paint ball place on an area of his land.

But I'd like to get a few suggestions and a few items we need.......

Do you mean to set up a paintball club or a paintball business, open 7 days a week?

Seloth

A 7 days one.

And they are about an hour and a half from the west side of the city so we would probably get more business with advertising.

Also by the looks of it,we would give more hours and would be cheaper.

CrazyRabbit

If paintball is gonna cost €100,000 or more, and you only have about €10,000 to play with, then perhaps Airsoft might be a cheaper option. Though currently, there would not be much profit in it.

If you could make a profit from the Airsoft, then eventually you might raise enough capital from it to offer Paintball as well.

Just my 2 cents.

Seloth

It would only cost 100k if you didn't have the land.

And he's willing to pay over 10k.

ditpaintball

You may be better off starting off a club if €10k all all you are starting off with.

For example, a venue would want at least 50 sets of gear to make it worth while and for back ups.

50 markers €120 each say = €6,000

50 HPA tanks €100 = €,5000

Compressor = €4,000

50 masks €30 = €1,500

Paint pallet to start = €3,000 (120 boxes of 2000 paintballs)

Pots, belts and other stuff €1,000

Just all your gear along would cost the guts of €20,000

They are rough prices. Then you add on insurance, land, wages on top of that.

I dont want to sound as if im knocking your idea or anything, but there is a lot more work and money involved as your dad thinks.
But the positive thing. That pallet of paint could earn you at least €20,000.

Seloth

http://www.shop.justpaintball.co.uk/acatalog/Site_Set_Up_Equipment__10_Players_.html

We were planing to start of with just getting two of these bulk sets but will probably get 4 of them.

Thing now is more of the containers,The hoppers,Marshal vests,Terrain and mesh and the CO2 tank.

Oh and insurance.

Just looking there,Are tippmann 98 markers considered out of date and ****?

whupass

no they work, but if you got something better like an a5 or (a great site marker) an Ion, then you would COMPLETELY blow your budget

ED E

Question? Does HPA not make it cheaper for players as in the long run the compressor will pay for itself?

Also, maybe contact local minibus hire, see if you can team up with them for groups?

And see if there are any pro players in the area for help/marshalling. I'm taking a guess that you'll need a good few of them for insurace

PS: Post some pics of the site!

Seloth

Lethal_Bullet wrote:

Also, maybe contact local minibus hire, see if you can team up with them for groups?

And see if there are any pro players in the area for help/marshalling. I'm taking a guess that you'll need a good few of them for insurace

PS: Post some pics of the site!

I was actually thinking about the mini bus thing before.

At the moment it would be myself and a friend of mine who's in th RDF((FCA))

And I have pics from Google earth,They don't do it much justice but they better than noting.

There are some houses seen going into the land which aren't apart of the land.

Also the land near the glen is at a very slight slop but gets a bit slopperyer nearer to the glen.

The pics will be up soon enough.

Edit-Seems to be something wrong with Imagine shack so not any time soon.