- Funding- come up with a budget for everything you'd need to make this happen. Include: paintballs, markers, food, masks, CO2, miscellaneous equipment, any costs associated with the land, gas, etc.. The group of guys you hang out with may have a different number, but I wanted to get everything under $40 per person to make it a fun weekend that most guys could afford. When I finished my budget the per person cost was closer to $60. So I presented the church with our numbers and what it would take to get the cost down to $40 per person. They ended up giving me more than I asked for and it knocked the price down to $30 if you didn't have your own equipment and $10 if you did. This was probably the biggest factor in getting the weekend off the ground. Thanks again to my church leadership for this.
- Land- In Texas we have a lot of land. People just own property- like out in the middle of nowhere property. This was new to me when I moved down here in college, but we were able to use a portion of property out towards West Texas that has rolling hills, mesquite trees, rattle snakes, and plenty of open sky. We played on an unused portion of a cow pasture measuring .1 by .2 miles approximately with a substantial ridge running through the area. It was a great piece of land and it worked out great for 20 guys.
- Pool of interested guys- a lot of the guys I invited came. You'll have some that won't be interested, some that have conflicts or other reasons not to go, but if you present a well thought out paintball game to a group of guys no matter what the age, you'll turn some heads.
- Buy everything- Once you know how many are coming (I highly suggest an organized registration process including waivers, emergency contact info, and up front payment) buy everything you need. Search online for deals when you buy in bulk (like at Zephyr Paintball). Generally this saves you from paying sales tax and with a large order, shipping is free. We had everything we ordered within a week but give yourself at least two weeks for shipping if you plan to buy online. We had good luck with the Raptor pump paintball guns. You get what you pay for, but it lessens the amount of paint you need for the day by using pump guns. The guns we accurate and the rounds moved at a good speed out of the barrel. The only problem was the O-rings that gun uses started falling out and getting lost toward the end of the eight hour game. The gun takes two of the 12g CO2 cartridges at one time.
- Come up with a detailed game plan. My mission plans varied slightly from my original ideas in the first post. I'll update the original post to reflect what we actually did in more detail.
- Execute.
*For more ideas on getting getting guys together check out our article on guy's night.
**One thing we didn't do (and I apologize) was take pictures. I initially wanted to add some to show you how much fun we had so you'd have no choice but to do it too, but you'll just have to use your imagination.
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