Indoor paintball is not just for the addicts that need to play all year round. In cold winter months, some players might actually prefer to play indoor paintball.
They created paintball as an outdoor sport, and not every park has indoor paintball because the game played outside is more popular. But let’s compare outdoor vs indoor paintball and give the pros and cons for both, so you can decide for yourself.
Basic Differences Between Outdoor and Indoor Paintball Fields
Both games have advantages and disadvantages against each other. Outside, the field of play is only restricted by the designer’s imagination. Inside there has to be limited available space, so the games will be no way near as expansive or probably seem to be as exciting, at first glance.
Indoor paintball is a great way to simulate CQB (Close Quarter Battle) paintball combat situations. If you’re unfamiliar with CQB combat, you need to have extreme preparation, crisp planning, and rapid execution. So even though indoor paintball may not quite seem to match up to outdoors, it can be far more mentally stimulating in some ways.
Outdoor paintball has a variety of games you can choose from. For example, Woodsball/Recreational Paintball, Speedball, Stock Class Paintball, Scenario Paintball and Tournament Paintball.
Pros And Cons Of Outdoor Vs Indoor Paintball
At this point we should mention if you’re new to paintball then if possible, you should really try both. Reading other people’s opinions will only get you so far. The first-hand experience in both indoor and outdoor paintball is the only way you’ll know which you prefer.
1. Indoor paintball is a 365-day a year game. Except for when the park is closed for holidays or whatever. Doesn’t matter what the weather brings, rain, sleet, or snow doesn’t make a difference. Playing outside in some of these conditions can be really miserable.
Indoors you can have air-conditioning in the hot, sweaty summer months and heating in the depths of a freezing winter. Those two facts can make playing indoors more comfortable for some players.
Outdoor paintball is more popular through spring to fall. But if you’re really up for it and can never get enough then you’ll play in whatever the climate throws at you.
Severe cold, you can probably overcome by running around the same when it’s snowing. But the torrential rain is a real buzz kill. Who wants to get half-drowned? A pro for indoor paintball when the weather’s like this, then.
2. Outdoor paintball has a huge amount of variety. Look back in the article and note the different type of games. Also within those, there are many game scenarios which are played.
Naturally, being outside, the fields are so much larger. In fact, some can be huge. Without doubt, indoor paintball fields cannot compete on size, obstacles, gameplay or game types.
Remember, the idea for outdoor paintball is to make the game as realistic as possible. You must put up with insects, mud, tree branches, rocks and boulders of all sizes, etc. All of this means you will have to deal with less than optimum playing conditions.
Indoor paintball may seem a little artificial, at first. I mean, the obstacles and playing surface will all be artificial. The obstacles are usually inflatable and the floor covering often is artificial turf.
Having said this when you’re playing the game, all the natural obstacles will be missing, making the playing field easier to navigate and with less risk of any injuries.
3. How about when you’re playing each game? The first thing is you will play the games for different periods of time. Tournament speedball games are usually the same length of time, but outdoor games are generally longer than indoor games.
Because of the enormous amounts of space in outdoor fields, the players are not so bunched together as they would be indoors. The more players are spread out in the field, it takes longer to determine the winners.
So you’re going to play fewer games and spend more time on the playing field. Normally, players spend the best part of a day outdoors.
They play indoor paintball at a more frenetic pace. The playing fields are more confined, players are closer to each other. Sometimes the entire game is over in a matter of minutes.
Because games can be over so quickly, it gives players the opportunity to play many more games in each visit to the park. And rather than it is an all-day time commitment, it’s maybe only a three to four-hour visit.
4. Outdoor paintball fields are cleaner. Yes, seems a strange thing to say, but it’s true. In a popular paintball park, players can shoot hundreds of thousands of paintballs. They may be high-quality and bio-degradable, but that’s still a huge amount of paintballs.
Outside, the rain will help to wash away a lot of the paint. And the sun will also help break down any paint residue the rain hasn’t got rid of. An inside field has no natural way of removing paint. Cleaning is a manual and laborious job.
Shooting thousands of paintballs inside is going to make the playing area extremely slippery and traction almost impossible. While some parks allow players to wear cleats, it’s questionable if you really want to play in them.
You’ll also expend more paintballs inside than outside. The opposing players are easily more visible, which will encourage you to fire at them more often. So from a cost perspective inside, even though shorter games will cost you more ammo.
5. Indoor you can play under the lights. If you can only play in the evenings, then playing under lights indoors is an enormous advantage. You can play as late as the park wants to stay open.
Conclusion
There are advantages to both outdoor and indoor paintball places. It’s always going to come down to personal choice. Having said that, many players choose to play both games.
Play both and decide which suits you best. Either way, millions of people around the world love paintball.
