Customer Reviews

The Complete Guide to Paintball

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read this book because I was a newbie needing some good info on hiding, offense, defense etc... After i finished absorbing the explicit deatail in this book I went to Splat Attack (my nearest paintball field) and won the game practically by myself. We played a 7 on 7 and i took out 5 guys. This book is easy to read, and the information is worth it. "The Complete Guide to Paintball" is great for about anything you can think of.

I've been playing paintball since '85. I've never seen a better book on paintball. This book takes you from the VERY beginning to modern day. They have done a great job. Congrats on a job well done. If you want to know more about paintball, or think you know a lot about paintball, this is the only book to get.

At first i thought that getting a book about paintballing wasn't a smart idea. I was already into the sport, was about to get a gun, and thought I knew most of the tricks to playing. I was wrong. If you are like me and aren't currently on a team or anything, you'll see that reading this book will turn you from a fan to a player. Most people ussualy are amazed when they go paintballing and see these people who know every gun inside and out. After reading this book, you become one of them. You know player tendencies, you will be able to judge the f.p.s. of the enemies weapon, you will hit players 80 ft. away while others are blindly shooting at what they think is the enemy. Because you will know where the enemy is, you will enjoy the sport a lot more than you did before. Simply put, this book is 300 pages of sweet joy. Get it, read it, go paintballing, and tell me you aren't better. You will play better garunteed.

I just started paintball and this book describes just about everything a newbie would want to know about the sport. A lot of really good pictures give you an idea of what type of clothing, camoflauge, marker accessories you might want to try. The more experienced player would probably use this book to get an idea of other types of games to play since quite a number of different games are described. A great book for beginner players and a very good book for the experienced players

Paintball is a great sport to get into, but it can seem intimidating at first to hear people talk about bunkering, angling, expansion chambers and venturi bolts. This book explains it all and gives even folks who have been playing awhile some great ideas for strategies and practices. If you're interested in paintball, this book is definately worth the money.

Short version: This book has a lot of good information, especially for beginners, and its attempt to portray paintball history is admirable (and rare). However, it is often extremely vague, possibly in an attempt to avoid offending manufacturers by actually endorsing particular products (or better yet, by pointing out the lemons). There was also clearly no attempt to update the older sections of the book: 90% of this is straight out of the 1999 edition, with the remainder split between reprinted 2nd edition material and actual new stuff. The new 3rd edition section is mostly a gloss on what is newly available in paintball gear. In the end, if you've read or you own the 1st or 2nd edition, save your money. If you don't, and you are new to the game, read this and enjoy: it is worth the cash, largely because there is so little competition. A truly outstanding overall guide to paintball has yet to be published.

Long Version: Don't get me wrong: I liked the 1999 edition, and I like this one too. It's just that compared to what they could have and should have done, this is frustratingly disappointing. This book is written for people with VERY short attention spans. Even within articles that only run 1 or 2 pages, there are sidebars, lots of LARGE headers in multiple bright colors, which break up those two pages into three or four ADHD-sized bites of text. The editing is good, with only the occasional embarrassing spelling error left in, and the writing is on the whole decent. Because the writers are often working with very tight word count limits though, and because most of them are not good at being economical with word choice, many articles are underdeveloped. Often, I get the sense that I know what the author means, but the words just aren't there on the page. Instead, there is a quick description that makes sense if you already know the subject, but which wouldn't work for the uninitiated. In most cases, just a bit more explanation would make it work.

This is a shame, since much of the older, dated material could have been cut or at least edited to be shorter, giving the newer authors room to expand. Of course, since 282 pages out of 342 (not counting appendices) are straight out of 1999, most of what is here was underdeveloped five years ago in the original edition. Speaking of appendices, both the glossary and list of suppliers/fields are useful, but woefully incomplete. The glossary is missing key terms like "pod," and is not cross-indexed. This, the entry for "suppressor" very helpfully tells you that this is the same as silencer, but there's no entry for "silencer." Sure, you can find it by browsing, if you know enough to look under suppressor, but this glossary is more for reading through end to end than for quick reference on an unfamiliar term: the function of a glossary. Likewise, the supplier/field index is woefully lacking. It seems to have been tacked on as an afterthought with very little basic research.

And that sums up the 3rd edition on many levels. The 1st and 2nd edition text (320 pages out of 342, or 94%) was simply reprinted without even the slightest attempt to edit or shorten it. Thus, you have five year old news (like the 1999 announcement that manufacturers had agreed to limit ROF to 13bps: ha!ha!) being presented in huge, colored type as if it were new. That is lazy, sloppy, and completely unprofessional. It is explainable only by a desire to quickly and cheaply crank out a new edition and make a fast buck. It is forgivable only because most of the competition is so lame that even this rehash looks like a jewel next to them. Case in point: The "Ultimate Guide to Paintball" (also available on Amazon) is so poorly done that it isn't even worth borrowing from the library, yet it is the only serious competition in the "comprehensive guide" market.

So, in a nutshell, this is the best I've seen, but mostly outdated and unwilling to shoot straight and name which products are good (and why) and which are junk. If you are a new player, buy it, read it, and learn from it, keeping in mind that most of it is older stuff that is reprinted. (To be fair, the editors make this clear in their table of contents.) If you are an experienced player, borrow it from a friend or from the library: the stretching routine is well worth reading, and some of the writing is funny and worthwhile. If you've ever read a previous edition, don't bother: there simply isn't enough new here to merit spending your hard-earned cash. I'll keep looking for a really excellent overall guide to paintball.

I've been playing paintball for 4 years and in all my years, I've never seen such a useful product. "The Complete Guide to Paintball" covers drills, tactics, first day tips, gun guide, and history of the game. This is a great book to own and it is one I use for my team!

I bought this guide when I was just a newbie to paintball, and now I have been playing for about 6 months. The guide impacted my play so much, that I was one of the best players when all I had was a pump action gun. It taught me all about what to do in every situation possible, how to move, and what equipment to aquire. This guide was helpful then, and amazingly it is still helpful now! It helps me with gun malfunctions, ways to care for my gun, and what guns to buy. This is a great book and I highly reccomend it to all paintball players.

I have just read this book. The quality of the paper and priniting is outstanding. It must have cost a fortune to put it together. The pictures are intense! It covers every area of paintball from A to Z. It gives you the scoop from professional leaders in the paintball BIZ. This book is a must have for anyone in paintball. Buy it and you will be glad you did. I am in no way associated with the producers of this book just a fan of paintball and now impressed with the professionalism behind this book.

I'm relatively new to paintball and I wanted to get a book on it. I had the choice between the Ultimate Guide to Paintball and the Complete Guide to Paintball. I chose the Ultimate Guide because it was published later. That was a real mistake (you can read my review on the Ultimate Guide).

When you first pick up this book you realize that someone put alot of work into it. The Ultimate Guide was published by a magazine company. It became obvious right away that they said, "Hey lets put a bunch of magazine articles together for a book!!!".

The Complete Guide, however, did some leg work. They put some time into interviews which are all fascinating. Will these interviews help you to become a better player? Technically no. They just give you the background of where paintball came from and how it evolved to be todays game.

It is also interesting that most of those interviewed do not like the progression the game has made (smaller fields, faster shooting guns, and tons of paint being used). They all admit, however, these changes were necessary to make paintball profitable. The strange thing is Bud Orr felt the same way even though the Autococker is one of the fastest shooting guns out there. Enjoyment of the game vs. sound business I guess.

What if you are not interested in the history of the game and the interesting personalities involved? Well there are chapters on improving your game. There is also sound advice on upgrading and being a sniper. The book is honest, however, and admits that playing the game is the way to improve. You probably are not going to get full return on your money if you are only interested in improving your game. The first 3 parts are devoted to history, guns (which has alot of history from the gun makers), and gear. You can get most of the guns and gear info out of magazines and websites.

I should also mention the pictures. They are beautiful. In color, up close, and personal. They do become a little redundant (how many ways can you show someone shooting a gun) but its better than the black and white photos in the Ultimate Guide to Paintball.