STANDARD SAFETY BRIEF

Splat Action takes your safety VERY seriously.

• Safety Devices must be used at all times, including trigger safeties, barrel covers, and your own common sense. Barrels must be covered and markers disengaged at all times while in the staging area and inside safety zones on the field. Do not ever point your marker at a person outside of a game. Treat your marker as though it is loaded and ready to fire at all times.

• Boundaries on the field must never be crossed or fired over. The fence line on the north side of the property is always a boundary. If you disturb or harm any of the wildlife you see on the other side of this fence, you will be removed from the field. Whatever boundaries are set by the referee for each game must be respected at all times. Players caught firing over or moving across the set on-field boundaries will be immediately called out. Do not ever shoot over the netting near the staging area, inside safety zones, or inside the staging area.

• Masks must be worn at all times during play. If you are on the field you should keep your mask on until you are told by a referee that it is safe to remove. If you are inside a designated safety zone you can take your mask off, but you must cover your barrel and disengage your marker before entering the netted area or removing your mask. If you remove your mask during play you will be given a single warning before being removed from the game.

• No profanity on the field or insulting other players in any fashion, regardless of what side they are on. Any bullying of players will result in the removal of the offender from the game. This is a family friendly field and all interactions should be kept civil and sporting at all times. Referees and staff members will intervene in any situation they deem inappropriate and remove any player that they believe needs to be taken off the field.

• Dead men tell no tales, so if you are taken out from a game do not talk or signal to any of your teammates as you exit the field. If a referee observes a player cheating in this manner they will be removed from the game. If a player ambushes you and quietly calls for you to surrender or die, do not shout your surrender to alert other players or make a disturbance as you exit the game.

• Referees and Field Staff ­are in charge of all games that they oversee and their discretion is final. If you are called out by a ref or asked to leave the field, do not argue, just go. Do not deliberately fire at refs or you will be removed from the field.

• All markers must chrono below 290 FPS and players must check their setting before using them on the field. Referees will oversee at least one chrono check for each group. Guns using CO2 must be checked regularly throughout the day by players and will be checked by referees more often to ensure that the FPS on the marker has not spiked, particularly on hot days.

• This is a field paint only site and anyone using outside paint will be removed from the field. Only paint purchased at the field can be used here. We do not allow first strike rounds to be used and will treat them exactly the same as any other outside paint.

• Field freezes can be called by the referees or field staff at any time. They will shout freeze, wave their hands, and run around like crazy. All you have to do is put your marker down, take a knee, and shout freeze along with them until everyone is down and the game has stopped. A field freeze will be called anytime there is an injured or distressed player and anytime the ref needs to intervene in a situation without risk of fire. Do not disrupt a field freeze by shouting, firing your marker, or moving around the field. Wait where you are until the referees or field staff either recommence the game or call a halt to the round. Markers must stay on the ground or kept on a sling during a field freeze. If a game is continued after a field freeze, the ref will give a count of ten, then all players are free to grab their markers and continue playing.

• Scenario Rules will vary according to the game format and all scenario rules will be discussed by a referee before play begins. You are responsible for remembering the rules for each game and a referee is free to call any player out for violating them during a round. If you are unclear on any rule, ask the referee or a field staff member. A menu of game formats is available for groups to choose from. The referee will generally allow a group to play on whatever areas and in whatever format they prefer, but not all fields may be available at all times and if a group cannot come to a consensus on what game format they want then the ref will make the final call. Referees are also free to decide that a particular format or field is not suited for a group or is unfeasible under the current field conditions.

• If a paintball breaks anywhere on your body, clothing, or the equipment you are wearing during a game you are out. If a paintball breaks on you, raise your marker above your head, shout I’m out, and walk off the field or to the area designated by the referee. If a ball bounces off of you and does not break, you are still in the game. Likewise, spray from shots that break near you do not count as a hit. Hits against your marker, hopper, and tank do not count and you are not out if a paintball breaks on them. If you are carrying anything else in your hands besides your marker or a scenario game flag and that item is hit, you are out (unless allowed by a specific game rule). Certain games allow for the use of a shield to protect the holder and hits against these shields do not count.

• Physical contact during a game is strictly prohibited, as is the use of any handheld weapon or item to simulate an attack. You are not allowed to touch other players during the game in any kind of aggressive or unwanted manner. This includes using rubber weapons, sticks, PVC or padded replicas, karate chops, judo throws, Vulcan death grips, towel snaps, butt-slapping, and any other behavior deemed inappropriate by a ref or field staff member.

• Blind fire is strictly prohibited. Blind fire is defined as any instance of firing a marker without looking where it is shooting. This includes firing around corners or over the tops of bunkers without coming out of cover, sticking your barrel through a hole in a wall, or firing into the air. If you are too afraid of getting hit to look at your target then you have chosen the wrong sport. Some towers and second story areas in the field have wide gaps in their floorboards and these cannot be fired through. If you see a person above or below you in these areas, tap on the ceiling or floor and call that player out. If you are in one of these areas and a player taps you out, don’t argue with them, just take yourself out of the game and thank them for not shooting you in the groin or the top of the head at pointblank range.

• Pointblank fire must be kept to a minimum. If you are within ten feet of a player and they do not see you, tell them to surrender or die. If they raise their hands, say ok, I’m out, whatever, do not fire at them. Just let them walk off the field. If they turn and try to engage you, you are free to fire, but keep it to as few shots as possible. The same rule applies to the player who was ambushed. Do not turn on the person who caught you and unload on them, keep your close range fire to a minimum.

• Overshooting is strictly prohibited. Overshooting is defined by the field as any instance of continuous fire for more than three seconds. Keep your fire to short bursts and listen for the other player to call themselves out. Do not ever deliberately fire at players who have called themselves out and raised their markers, or you will be removed from the field. If you have a fully automatic marker, be especially mindful of your volume of fire and maintain a sense of sportsmanship when engaging beginner players. Referees are free to call any player out from a game for overshooting and will do so at their own discretion.

• Paint Grenades are allowed on the field and are sold here at the booth. Do not throw grenades directly at players. They are similar to a water balloon but much thicker and heavier. They do not break upon impact the way a water balloon does. They should be thrown in a high arc to ensure that they open and spray properly. If a grenade lands and opens anywhere within fifteen feet of you, you are out, regardless of whether the paint lands on you, unless you are completely behind cover. If you see one land near you, you should assume you are out rather than pulling out your measuring tape. Referees will call out all players near a grenade impact that they witness. Players making a grenade attack are strongly encouraged to signal a referee if possible and yell grenade as loud as they can just before throwing. This will help the ref ensure that targets are called out properly much more than it will benefit the opposing players.

• Smoke Grenades are also allowed on the field and sold at the booth. Only the types sold here are allowed. If you bring your own you must check with the booth before using them. Do not place smoke grenades inside buildings, against bunkers or trees, or next to a player.

• If you are unable to see during a game due to fogging in your mask or paint splatter, shout blind man as loud as you can so a referee can escort you off of the field safely. Do not remove your mask for any reason. If you hear a player shouting blind man, try to help them get to a ref, if you are able. Do not ever shoot at blind players or anyone you see going to help them. Referees do not have any way to clean masks during a game, so all anyone can do for you is help you leave the game. It is the player’s discretion on whether or not they can see well enough to continue playing or not.

• All players are required to have fun at all times while at Splat Action. No exceptions. Report to a referee or field staff immediately if you are not satisfied with your paintball experience and we will do our best to remedy your situation.

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SAFETY INFORMATION

The most important thing about paintball that most people don’t know is that it is safer than most of the co-ed sports played in schools and during the summer. Statistically, it is three times more likely that someone will be injured to the point where they are taken to the hospital while playing basketball or soccer then if they were playing paintball.

Paintball has evolved over the years to the point of being extremely safe. With limitations on how fast the paintball can travel when it leaves the barrel, how strong an impact from a paintball a mask has to withstand, rules regarding when HPA and CO2 tanks are too old and can no longer be refilled, to basic, universal safety procedures followed by every field worldwide. “it’s estimated that over 10 million people play paintball in the United States each year, which means that if you play paintball, you have less than a one in 16,000 people who play paintball will end up in the ED and fewer than one in 135,000 will be admitted to a hospital. The odds of a serious injury, then, are astronomically low.” (David Muhlestein, Paintball Injuries)

For statistics on sports injuries in general: Click Here

For statistics on Paintball sports injuries: Click Here