My first time paintballing yesterday turned out to be be nothing short of exciting. 5 hours were spent trying to shoot each other (with breaks in between), ending in a generous helping of bruises - mostly on my back - and some very muddy shoes. For a sport that involves being hit with little balls of paint, it was painful. Deciding to throw caution to the wind this time, I made the effort to go over the top many times. Too bad the bullets curve so much when they leave the barrel, otherwise the whole taking cover approach would work better. The last game involved protecting the "President" in this case Martin. The objective: get him safely across to the other side of the field. 
This started out brilliantly at first, 5 guys surrounding him as a bodyguard as we ran forward, braving enemy fire. Things went downhill afterwards, a shortage of ammo and some poorly understood tactics and we ended with a "dead" Martin, though it was quite funny seeing him get wasted with paintballs (stop whining Martin). Some things I'll want to do if we go again:
- Armour/padding: those black overalls give as much protection as paper, some kind of padding is needed. I'm thinking of a quick search in a sports store for cricket or hockey gear. Possibly invest in a padded vest on eBay.
- Waterproof shoes: my old trainers were clearly not up to the task of keeping my feet dry.
- Better overalls: the standard issue overalls were too big and it got very toasty inside. Perhaps something more close fitting.
- Contact lenses: I had a great time trying to fit my mask over my glasses, it was either that or run around with blurred vision. Therefore contacts will be a good investment.
- Binoculars: didn't think of this when I went.
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