Welcome to another entry of this fantastic blog. Today we are going to explain the pros and cons of three outdoor activities that involve physical movement and team experiences: Paintball, Airsoft, and Gel Blasting.
We will start with a brief explanation of each activity followed by the pros and cons of each one, in our humble opinion. Let's dive in!
Gel Blasting: a gel blaster, also known as a gel gun, gel shooter, gel marker, hydro marker, hydro blaster, water bead blaster or gelsoft, is a toy gun similar in design to airsoft guns, but the projectiles they shoot are 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) superabsorbent polymer water beads (most commonly sodium polyacrylate, colloquially called water beads, hydrogel balls, gel balls, water bullets or simply gels), which are often sold commercially as moisture retainers for gardening and pot/vase floriculture.
Gel blasters are often played in CQB-style shooting skirmishes similar to paintball by squads…
Pros:
Tons of fun
You can play different games and modes
Team and solo game options
You can see if a target was hit (leaves a watermark)
Various game lengths (10-30 min)
Light weighted markers
Ages 5 and older
No bulky protection equipment required only a face mask
Mess free
Non-toxic biodegradable gellets
Water based gellets, splat on contact and dissolve in the ground
Easy to use
Blasters are charged, eliminates the need for compressors
Pain factor: 3/10
Easy to play at home (Gel Blaster Party)
Cons:
Very addictive
Challenging to play in the rain (electric blasters)
Gellets must be hydrated at least 3 hours in advance
Non-toxic, biodegradable, eco-friendly gellets.
Paintball: a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy air weapons called paintball markers that are powered by compressed air or carbon dioxide and were originally designed for remotely marking trees and cattle
Pros:
Is a lot of fun
You can visually see if you hit your target
It leaves a paint mark on the target
You can play different games and modes
Team and solo game options
Cons:
Leaves a paint mess in the staging area (preparation area) and in the playing area
Pain factor: 9/10
Leaves bruises for several weeks (depending on person)
Players 8 and older
Short games
Requires extra protective equipment (most of the time)
Challenging to play in the heat with extra layers of protective equipment
Requires special compressor to fill the devices
Expensive (paintballs and devices)
Expensive apparel
Very hard to do it at home (Paintball Party)
Airsoft: is a team game in which participants eliminate opposing players by tagging them out of play with spherical plastic projectiles shot with mock air weapons called airsoft (...).
Although similar to paintball in concept and game play, airsoft pellets do not leave visible markings on their target and hits are not always apparent. Though the pellets leave bruises or welts on exposed skin (protective gear recommended), the game relies heavily on an honor system in which players who have been hit are expected to call themselves out by shouting "HIT"
Pros:
Usually played in teams
Solo games (duel) applicable
You can play different games and modes
Devices are replicas of real items
Light weight devices
Lots of fun
Cons:
Hard to see if target was hit
Easy to ‘cheat’ (frequent player disagreements)
Bb’s are generally not biodegradable, the biodegradable option is very expensive
Apparel is very expensive
Extra protection recommended
Leaves a mess in the staging area (preparation area) and in the playing area
Pain factor: 8/10
Leaves bruises for several weeks (depending on person)
Ages 8 and older
Can't play under the rain (electric devices)
Hard to play at home (Airsoft Party)
Remember this evaluation is based on our experience and expertise.
In order to make the comparison a little more visible, we would like to present the following table with information discussed above.
1=Low - 10=High
Factor | Gel Blaster | Paintball | Airsoft |
Pain | 3 | 9 | 8 |
Mess | 1 | 10 | 9 |
Party at Home | Yes | No | No |
Fun | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Apparel | No | Yes | Yes |
Protection | Mask | Extra | Extra |
Ages | 5+ | 8+ | 8+ |
Biodegradable | Yes | No | No |
Expensive | No | Yes | Yes |
We have also considered the impact this activity has on our environment. Technologies advance in the service of our world and for future generations too. We scored Gel Blasters with a 10 out of 10 because the gellets are 100% water based , non-toxic, and biodegradable. Totally eco-friendly, while the other activities compared here can not receive such a rating.
Feel free to leave a comment or contact us for more information. We'll be happy to respond to any other inquiry related to this topic.
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