Paintless Paintball

What exactly is 'paintless paintball'? This term refers to a couple different methods of playing paintball: through using paintballs that are solid and made of a material formulated to be as accurate as paintballs, and yet be re-used hundreds or thousands of times; and through using one-time-use paintballs that contain water rather than paint.

First, the reusable paintballs. The most famous maker/seller of these is a company called Lazerball (Lazerball.com). They create a specially formulated paintball, and closely guard its composition, that can be fired through any standard paintball gun. The Lazerball doesn't contain paint, however, it is a solid ball made of a material that is both soft and pliable enough to hit its target without causing the damage of a hard ball, yet solid enough to retain its shape, accuracy and integrity after hundreds or thousands of shots.

A few companies formulate paintless paintballs, but Lazerball guarantees the efficiency, accuracy, and lasting usability of their paintballs. Traditional paintball can be a pretty messy affair and many first-timers are turned off by the mess enough to not even want to give paintball a tryout. Hence the growing popularity of paintless paintball for its 'tidiness'. Some makers make glow-in-the-dark paintballs for night play. And you don't need to see the paint splatter to know you've hit the target: paintballers use score-keeping vests that use sensors to record hits on the material.

Second, the water-filled paintballs. Water-filled paintballs are a newer experiment on the market. They are currently being tried out occasionally by recreational paintball enthusiasts, but at present their primary use is by S.W.A.T. teams and other law enforcement, and the military. Water-filled paintballs fit any standard .68 caliber paintguns and shoot the same as traditional paintballs, but without all the mess to clean up, other than the usual enclosing gel cap the water comes in.

Actually, some people consider there to be a third type of 'paintless paintball' - laser tag. But there are many differences between paintball and laser tag so technically they are two separate sports that use different equipment.