How To Build Your Own Paintball Course: Step-By-Step Guide

Are you looking for some ideas and guidance on how to build a paintball course by yourself? Well, this article will cover the fundamental steps on how to build a paintball course.

To make your construction more cost-effective, I will make use of everyday yard materials wherever possible.

Building a field on your own will save a lot of money, which you can use for upgrading your paintball gear. Also, you can play with your friends and family whenever you want without traveling to any field and paying for a day pass.

Steps For How To Build A Paintball Course

how to build a paintball course

Find An Appropriate Area For Your Paintball Course

The first step is to find an appropriate place to build your course. It is always advisable to find large unused land. You may choose between an open field or forest land for this.

The field’s length and breadth depend entirely on what you’re looking for (and what you have). As per your choice, you may choose a small or vast area.

Make sure you do not use any public property or other property without permission, as this will lead to trouble further down the line.

Find Some Useful Spare Materials

You can use materials which can use for hiding while playing—things such as: 

  • Trash cans
  • Cardboard boxes
  • Barrels
  • Unused furniture
  • Building materials

If you do not have any such materials in your yard, visit a nearby hardware shop to purchase some plywood. You can choose any low-range plywood as its strength and quality do not affect your game.

Invite Your Paintball Loving Friends

Things, when done as a team, are more enjoyable, time-saving, and efficient. If you have any friends interested in paintball, seek their help and ideas for the course.

Your friends will do their best because, well, they’re also going to save some money, and have fun doing it.

Make A Plan For The Course

Now that you have a team and materials to start the work, make a plan for your course. You may visit some nearby fields, check with some senior players, etc., to get some ideas. Depending on what game you want to play most, design the course.

For example, if you want to play capture flag, getting players confused from getting your flag is very important. So, to do that, you need to make a maze of obstacles using tall plywood or cardboard.

Another example, if you want a typical team deathmatch type of paintball course, create small rooms and corners with “hallways,” aka, straight-shooting lines with no obstacles down the middle of the course.

If you have enough time and area to construct, build a paintball course and a small shooting range.

Start Building Your Paintball Course

how to build your own paintball field

First, clean the entire area and remove all trash and, if possible, trees and bushes, to get a clear picture of the land structure.

Hiding Places

If you have some rocks or big stones in your land, modify it for hiding. For example, place some cardboard between two rocks to create a hiding place.

Similarly, fill some big bed covers or shopping bags with sand so that you can pile them up to build another hiding place.

In the case of land with no natural rocks or obstacles, do not worry. I have another plan for such places. If the ground is relatively soft, dig trenches that are between 3 to 4 feet. You can make U-shaped, L-shaped, or C-shaped trenches.

You can use the soil or mud which you have dug out for the trench to make “sandbags” or piles around the trench.

Then, place some cardboard in a vertical position with the help of sticks. And voila, you have a World War I type paintball course.

Base Station

Make two base stations for two teams. Use some different colors for the base stations, so they’re easy to identify. Make use of some plastic covers, or tarp cover hung from the trees/supporting sticks to make it protected.

And, ideally, surround the base station with plywood to create the feel of a military base.

Barricade Construction

Use woods or plywood for constructing multiple barricades. Remember to build a maze of barricades to make the course challenging and interesting.

Planks Over Trenches

Make some long trenches and with a few planks over them as the only option to cross over. This will make the paintball course more exciting and difficult.

Test The Safety Of Your Course

Now that you have built a paintball course of your choice, the next important step is to test its safety. Playing paintball safely is crucial for every player.

Test every part you build so that you can avoid any chance of accidents. Perform a dummy game, jump on the plywood, shoot the bases to see no bullets come in, etc.

Purchase Paintball Gear

You have saved a lot of money by constructing the field by yourself with yard materials. To save even more money, you can use homemade paintball guns. I have an article published on how to make homemade paintball guns.

Still, you’ll need to purchase basic paintball gear such as masks, barrels, grenades, HPA tanks, etc.

Build Your Team

Everything is set; now create a team for a game. Games get more thrilling the more players you have in. So, invite more friends to your new course, and even look for players in local forums. Then, host your first game.

Conclusion

We hope this detailed article on how to build a paintball course is useful for you. If you find any improvements or more information you think should be added to this post, feel free to share it via the comment box.

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