The Frills Of Paintball by steven shillingford

Ever heard of the extreme sport of paintballing, it's an adrenaline buzzing experience of war combat without putting anyone in danger of any kind. The sport has become so popular and has grown in popularity since it first was invented back in 1976.

Paintball is probably the safest extreme sport around today, and with any sport it has a set of rules to follow, along with safety gear that must be worn. With so many paintball centres around the world, it's really easy to set up your own paintball wars games and you only need a group of people. Paintball is not just a bunch of people who get together and have a shoot out. Paintball events are set up as tournaments, with rules that have to be kept in place, so the game doesn't descend into chaos.

Basic Paintball Gear

One of the reason's why paintball is so safe is due to the extent of the safety equipment that needs to worn at these events. The most important piece of equipment is eye goggles and the face protection system. It's been designed to protect the face from a paintball that can travel at speeds off 90 miles per hour giving you adequate protection. You'll even find that ear coverings have to sometime to worn also.

The paintball guns are designed with safety in mind and like real guns have a safety device which stops the gun firing when not in use. Newer versions of the paintballs guns should come with the same safety device also.

Paintball War Games

There are several types of paintball games. You have the most common game which is capture the flag, xball, protect the VIP, speedball and elimination.

Elimination is the simplest of all the games of paintball. Team one has to eliminate the members of team two before they get eliminated themselves. It's really is that simple and all the other games are based around this concept.

Capture the flag, is as it says on the box, it's about catching the flag. The basic element is for two teams to try and place the flag and then put it in the designated place. The beauty about this game is that the location of the flag can change and really depends of the rules of the game.

Speedball is another popular paintball game and is played in a very small flat field that has loads of obstacles and bunkers. This game is limited to 10 players because of the size of the playing area.

Wakeboard gear: helmets, bindings, ropes by RIP

Wakeboard Gear

Choosing the right wakeboard gear can be a very important aspect to how much you enjoy your wakeboarding experience out on the lake. There are many different options to choose from and with all the new technology and improvements made in wakeboard equipment in recent years it has made the sport of wakeboarding that much more enjoyable. It seems as though every aspect of riding, from wakeboard bindings, helmets, ropes, wakeboard boats, and the actual boards themselves have seen some really drastic changes over the past 10 years or so.

The most important part when it comes time to decide the best wakeboard bindings for you is to decide what skill level you are at. A more advanced wakeboarder will probably be looking for a high end, high performing binding which may end up costing a little more money but ultimately will be better fitted for doing more advanced wakeboard tricks like different inverts and bigger spins. Even the cheap wakeboard bindings these days can be very beneficial for a beginner. Someone looking for wakeboard bindings for a beginner will obviously be looking for something a little different than someone who has been wakeboarding for a long time. Oddly enough the bindings that are cheap by today's standards were considered top of the line only a few short years ago. This is yet another testament to just how far along wakeboarding equipment has come all around. The most important thing about the binding that you choose is that the bindings are tight and secure. You do not want much movement at all inside the bindings. Any kind of heel lift or ability to move your ankle around too much inside the wakeboard binding will highly increase your likelihood of sustaining a wakeboard injury. Getting hurt is not fun and is especially bad at the beginning of the season. You will be forced to sit there in the boat and watch all your friends having fun all Summer long. There are a few different way to break in your wakeboard bindings. Some brands, such as Ronix, even have a heat molding system where you can have the exact contour of your foot perfectly fitted for your own binding. CWB wakeboard bindings come equipped with hinge technology that pops loose so that the binding is easy to get on and off. When the hinge is open you can easily slide your foot into the bindings, and once you flip the hinge it clamps down, locking your foot securely into place. Hyperlite has long been a big advocate of using laces and velcro binding straps to provide support in their wakeboard bindings. All of these methods work and are effective and it is simply a matter of personal preference.

Many riders nowadays are often asking themselves when to wear a wakeboard helmet. Quite honestly, with concussions being one of the biggest and most prevalent wakeboarding injuries out there it is always a good idea to wear a helmet. Companies are finally start to manufacture good wakeboard helmets that not only protect but also look good as well. Companies like ProTec, Bern, and Capix are a few of the ones who have really been instrumental in helping to get quality wakeboard helmets to a market where they were desperately needed. When hitting wakeboard sliders you should always wear a helmet. Any kind of wakeboard rail is made out of hard material and one mistake could mean slamming your head into it if you were to take a fall. Hitting sliders is dangerous enough as it is (I know I've had some bad falls on some of them) so make sure to always wear a helmet - there are plenty of other risks we take when riding a wakeboard and getting knocked unconscious from smacking your head on a slider without a helmet is one risk you just do not want to take. There is absolutely no question that anyone who is hitting a slider for the first time on a wakeboard should definitely be wearing a wakeboard helmet. When you first learn how to hit a slider you have to do it a few times to get used to how fast your wakeboard will slide across depending on the surface of the material the slider is made out of.

When it comes to wakeboard ropes you definitely will be looking for something that is non stretch. The best wakeboard ropes are the ones that do not stretch at all and are made of spectra. Some companies try to market ski ropes as being 'wakeboard ropes' but really they are just glorified ski ropes that have a wakeboard label attached to it. Some wakeboarding ropes have a plastic casing around them to help prolong the life of the rope and also to keep the friction from burning one's hands when being pulled through. I non stretch wakeboard rope will help you to get more air and really maximize your pop off the wake when doing jumps. Line tension is a huge factor in wakeboarding progression and even if you own a really expensive wakeboard boat with all the bells and whistles if you are using a stretch rope it will really hold you back. For raley based wakeboard tricks it is essential to use a non stretch rope because executing these tricks are almost 100% dependent on maintaining line tension throughout the trick. Another good reason is that wakeboard handles often are wider which helps control yourself in the air and can help to have more handle to use for handle passes when doing wakeboard spins.

These are just a few wakeboard tips regarding what gear to use and why to use it. As said previously, the technology and innovation in the sport of wakeboarding has come a long way in recent years so take advantage of what used to not be there. Now that you're armed with more information about wakeboard gear grab yourself some product and get out there on the water.

3 Reasons Why You Should Wear a Wetsuit

You have no idea what sorts of hazards there are in a long, dark street, or in the choppy, murky sea. A lightweight and skintight wetsuit that most water sports professionals wear will not only protect you from cold, but also help you swim better.

So what are the main three reasons why should you wear a wetsuit? I will list them here and then we will take a look at each one of them in more depth. 1. Wetsuit will keep you warm. 2. Wetsuit will give you extra protection. 3. Wetsuit will improve your buoyancy.

1) Hypothermia. You might not think this is a serious problem, especially to those who only surf in the summer. However, you will find that the risk of contracting hypothermia is still there even when you are swimming in warm waters at noon. It's due to the fact that water is 25 times more heat-conducting than air, making you lose your body heat. So, the longer you stay in the water, the more body heat you will lose.

Wearing a wetsuit can prevent that. Made of lightweight closed-cell neoprene, it allows a film of water to exist between your body and the suit. And since water is heat conducting, the water draws away the heat from your body but is not released to the surroundings, due to being trapped by the suit. This layer acts as an insulator, providing you warmth derived from your own body. Add that to the nitrogen gas bubbles that exist in the lining of the suit which further prevents heat loss and you will stay warm in cold waters!

2) Protection. Wearing a wetsuit protects your body. Although not indestructible, the neoprene material is able to dampen any blows your body might receive. And between pieces of coral tearing your suit open, instead of your skin, it is perhaps wise to wear a wetsuit.

3) And finally there is buoyancy. I already mentioned that neoprene is full of air filled bubbles, so wearing a wetsuit will help you float better. Here I would like to warm you that before you take on any water sports you need to know how to swim - swim good! Wetsuit is not a life vest.

These are the main reasons why most of us today could not imagine our world without a wetsuit. by Clement C