Why are paintball fields Field Paint Only or FPO?
Why FPO - Field Paint Only?
- Assures easy breaking paintballs for less sting
- Guarantees fill color for non-staining play
- Protection of paintball field bunkers
- Standardizes paintball size for maximum gun performance
- Assures roundness for accurate flight
- Some field insurance companies offer discounts for FPO
- Profitability for the paintball field
What if it’s the same kind of paint as the field paint?
Ok… But Why FPO?
Several reasons really. FPO Field Paint Only Paintballs allowed at GatSplat Facilities One is insurance and liability. It is one of the questions on our insurance application, and they prefer field paint only as it reduces the chances of altered paint that might not break as easy and could cause injury. Another reason is clean up. We face a whole different set of clean up problems with an indoor field using artificial turf. Some paints don’t clean up as well and can stain bunkers, walls, turf, and also make it harder for our customers to clean their equipment, jerseys, etc.
A third reason is safety and enjoyment. You might have noticed that some paintballs hurt a lot more than others when you get hit. This is not only a function of how fast the gun is shooting (and we chrono everyone’s gun to 260 fps), but also on the shell type and fill.
The less expensive paints use a recycled gelatin shell which does not break as easily – and they hurt a lot more! It turns out if the paintball breaks on contact, it distributes the energy which makes for more fun, and less discomfort than getting hit with other paintballs.
Take for example, an egg. If someone throws an egg at you, it will hurt a lot less if the egg breaks. If it was hard boiled, the egg still weighs the same, but now when it hits, it would hurt a lot more.
To make sure our customers have fun, without the pain that can be associated with other fields that allow anyone to bring in any paint they want, we insist that all players on our fields shoot field paint only; a high quality, easy breaking, non-staining paint. With a lot of experimentation, we have chosen the field paint formulas that will work best for our unique situation.
What if I do sneak in my own paint?
You will be asked to leave the facility for the rest of the day, and there are no refunds – so please do not put yourself, or us in that situation.
What if it’s field paint that I got from you before?
If you have paint left over after a day of play, there is no problem bringing it back in. Our paint is unique to our field, it is not sold anywhere else in the US. Now you must take care of the field paint. Paintballs are very susceptible to heat, cold and humidity, so you want to leave them in a sealed bag in the house.
Do not freeze them (they will break) and do not leave them in a hot car (they will melt) and they should be fine. GatSplat will have the final say on whether any paintballs are allowed to be used, so if in doubt, just show them to us and ask!
And lastly, let’s be honest. Money. The initial expense and operating costs of an indoor facility are huge compared to an outdoor field. Nice having AC though eh?? And most other fields across the country charge about the same as us, even more for indoor facilities. In fact, some are near the $200 mark per case.
Keep in mind that you can’t really compare our price of paint to a retail store. They just hand you the box, and they are done. In our facility, every paintball you shoot has to be cleaned up. We have to pick them up, squeegie the floors, power wash, and steam clean each week to remove the paint residue from each paintball that gets shot at our field. If it makes you feel better, think of it as we are selling you a case for $50 and charging you $40 to clean it up after you shoot it!
We want to be fair to our customers, but we must make a few dollars to keep the doors open. Our specially formulated paint is a top grade premium paint that shoots great, breaks easy, and cleans up nicely. You can buy in quantities from 100 – 2000 paintballs and all the prices are on our Paintball Prices Page.
We’ve had people ask about “Paint Fees”. Can I bring my own paint if I pay a Paint Fee… If you stop and think about it, they do not allow you to bring your own steak into the restaurant and charge a Meat Fee, or your own popcorn into the movie theater, or your own beer to a bar. To assure a quality product, and a safe environment for all, we must maintain our Field Paint Only – FPO policy.