Paintball Journal

Evan and I just went paintballing on Sunday, and believe it or not, we got a little bit dirty at some point in the proceedings. Maybe it was my trip and fall ass-slide on the wet turf, or maybe it was a little paint getting shot at me, but somewhere along the way, every single piece of paintball equipment I own, save my gloves which I forgot at home, got dirty.

Now, I like to be rather fastidious in my care of all my gear, so I cleaned everything right after getting home. However, some days I just take a shower and fall into bed, only cleaning one piece of equipment: my lenses on my goggles. If you cannot muster the energy to clean anything else, clean your goggles. Paint left on the lenses can wear off anti-fog coatings and possibly even permanently dye the lens.

Clean your lens with warm water only, and a soft dishrag, nothing abrasive. Might as well clean the rest of your mask while your at it.

So tomorrow comes, and you manage to roll out of bed at a somewhat reasonable time, and you are all ready to clean the rest of your gear.

Let’s start with your gun. I haven’t the foggiest as to how to clean your individual gun, but it’s always a good bet to squeegee the innards and wipe the eyes. Clean the rest accordingly, but I can’t possibly give you exact instructions unless you really want them and leave a comment here for me.

Next, how about putting all your clothes, gloves, headbands, and harnesses into the washing machine. Unless something is like signed by somebody or something, everything should be machine wash safe.

Your hopper you should wipe down both inside and out, probably with a moist rag. I do this to prevent it from smelling like a rotting corpse, and to satisfy my paranoia of oily paintballs.

Same goes for all my pods. The reek of death shall not enter here.

I do believe I’ve covered nearly all my gear, except shoes. Honestly, I don’t wear the shoes I wear paintballing for anything except paintballing. So… I don’t clean those.

Just remember to take care of your gear, and your gear will take care of you.