Paintball Masks

by William Doran

When you play paintball, you would like to protect your face. And by wearing a paintball mask, you can do exactly just that.

A mask is an important protective gear worn when playing paintball. It protects your face from getting hit by a paintball marker that travels up to 300 feet per second. It would cost less than $ 20 to $ 100. It may also come with accessories like headbands and visors to shield you from the sun's glare.

A paintball mask basically protects your face from paintball markers. It also prevents paint from getting in your eyes, nose, ears or mouth. Paint in a paintball marker is toxic and must not be ingested. It also prevents paintball markers from hitting any sensitive part of your face like your nose or your eyes or any part that can be irritated by the paint.

A good mask also helps prevent head injuries when you fall or trip during the game. A paintball mask must have adequate padding that fits the head snugly into the mask. The padding must contour your face and your head when you wear it but return to its original shape when you take it off. It must also be firmly glues onto the plastic of the mask. You must be able to tighten or loosen the straps of the mask without stretching it too much. Your mouth guard must not hit your chest when you look down.

A good paintball mask should also have a thermal or anti-fog lens. This is composed of two lenses with a small air pocket in between that stabilizes the heat on from your face and outside of the mask, preventing fogging on the lens. You could also opt to install fans on your mask, though not all masks readily allow fans to be installed into them. These fans go on top of the lens and help moisture from your face evaporate.

These fans are pretty expensive and would require some batteries for it to operate. It also makes considerable noise and is not very durable.

Keeping your mask clean is a must. First, you can run a rag over the mask to take out most of the paint on your mask. You can spray water on the paint to loosen it a little. Do not use any chemical or lens cleaner on your paintball mask. This may be harmful to your lens and could ruin it.

Make sure that you clean the creases and little holes in your paintball mask. It stops the paint from building up in that space and trickling down on your face or your lens later on. The lens on your mask is detachable. Remove it and clean the edges of your lens. Wipe the lens with a microfiber cloth to absorb all the excess oil on the lens of your paintball mask. This will give you clear vision when you use it next time.

Before you purchase any paintball accessories, check out what Justin writes about the best paintball mask fan and paintball sniper mask equipment.