Paintball and Airsoft are both competitive shooting sports, where opponents chase after each other and attempt to shoot their opponents. Paintball has been around a lot longer than Airsoft, but Airsoft has become much more popular in the past years. So, which is better? This question isn’t easy to answer, as each sport has its strengths and weakness.

In Paintball, the players use paintball guns to shoot larger pellets which are filled with paint. When the pellets hit the opponents, they splatter. Paintball games are often team sports where each team attempts to capture their opponent’s flag and bring it back to their base. It’s a very fast-paced game, designed mostly to just have fun and try to take out your opponents.

However, Airsoft is more of a military simulation type game. The guns are much more realistic looking than the Paintball guns, and they shoot plastic BBs. Airsoft pellets don’t leave marks of paint like the Paintball guns. Often these are shot from longer ranges, too.

To be honest, the two sports are designed for different markets. Paintball is more geared toward people who play extreme sports. The fast action, the chase, the hard-hitting pellets best serve the adrenaline junkies. Larger pellets are used in this game. However, Airsoft is more geared toward the strategic crowd, toward those folks who prefer tactical strategies and teamwork over the fast paced action. The ammo is more of a BB sized pellet.

Although the two sports might be geared toward different audiences, both sports can be painful. Although Airsoft uses smaller ammunition than Paintball, it still can hurt just as bad. One misconception is that Airsoft doesn’t hurt as much as Paintball, and thus is for the “weaker” players. However, both sports can cause bruising.

Additionally, both sports require quite a bit of physical activity. Although Paintball is much more fast-paced, Airsoft also requires the same level physical activity. Most Airsoft matches are longer than paintball matches, so although they do not require the same fast-paced sprinting and dashing, they do require stamina.

One major difference between the two sports is that in Airsoft, you can’t always tell if you shot a person. In Paintball, the paint splatters shows that you’ve been hit. But in Airsoft, you can’t always, tell. However, most players are honest enough to call themselves out when they’ve been hit.

One thing to think about when trying to decide between playing Airsoft or paintball is that a starter package for either of these games is almost the same in terms of cost. However, the big difference in price comes in when you are dealing with ammo and upkeep of your equipment. Airsoft guns are less expensive because of the ammo that is used making the guns less prone to “jamming.” Plus, Airsoft pellets are a lot cheaper to manufacture than paintballs are. The most expensive piece of equipment are the guns for either sport.

The two games have some similarities but they also have some major differences. If you are interested in either game, try it out. Or try both. You might find you enjoy both styles of play.

Author Bio: Layne regularly writes for ProlificPaintball.com, they carry such paintball equipment as Paintball Marker and the Tippmann A-5, as well as many other items from a variety of manufacturers.

Category: Sports
Keywords: Paintball Marker, Tippmann A-5