Benny’s Common-sense, No BS, Multi-Day Paintball Trip Packing List

Author's Note: I am not advocating a life-policy of 'don't be prepared,' but a weekend of paintball with a few hundred friends is different from soloing Everest or crossing the Antarctic or invading a country. Those guys need to be prepared. You are a hobbyist/athlete/enthusiast going to an event. Keep calm and pack light.


A simple, 1-page checklist is available in Google Docs format from HERE. Feel free to print and save it for future use. 

Benny’s Common-sense, No BS, Multi-Day Paintball Trip Packing List

There are a lot of things that can be forgotten or that can go wrong during a paintball weekend... It is important to be prepared. But also keep in mind that most of these things can be overcome with a little creativity or endured with a little testicular fortitude. I’ve borrowed guns, rented gear, bought things, man-cuddled on the freezing floor of a concrete WWII-era bunker in France in lieu of a sleeping bag (It's cool, I was the big spoon), and when necessary mooched, begged and borrowed my way through numerous event mishaps. 

Accidents happen. People forget stuff. Things get lost and misplaced and broken. But PB is a community that generally takes care of each other and there is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ‘that guy’ who is super over-prepared. So if you forget something, go find him. He’ll have like 6 extra markers for you to borrow and probably won’t leave the parking lot anyway.  He will come in different shapes and sizes, but he'll always be there if you know where to look.

That said, even I am guilty of the occasional over-preparing. Bringing just way too much stuff to the game. Envisioning every possible scenario, creative need, or terrible disaster, and packing accordingly... for all of them. 99% of the time I have NEVER needed that extra stuff and when I did need it, there were always other solutions available.  So what did I learn? Overpacking is just as bad as underpacking. More stuff to carry around, more weight (= fewer mpg), less room in the car and all for nothing. . 


So if you don’t want to feel like an idiot and you want to be well-prepared BUT you want to avoid being OVER-prepared, over-packed etc, here is a useful, fairly minimalist packing list that should get you through any 2-4 day event. It is not exhaustive. It is not supposed to be! This is a quick, 2 page list of important items that you WILL need. Not stuff you might/could need. As such, some things are omitted. Like Food. You’re a big girl/boy. You can figure out how to eat. 


But for those of you paralyzed by the packing process, or consistently absent-minded, here! A quick list. In descending order of importance.  (That means the most important stuff is at the top!)  This is a "Bare Necessities" list, the minimum you need to have a decently comfortable time at a paintball event. So if you are in a hurry (you have 30 minutes or less to pack), you are short on space (flight or crowded carpool) or you want to always have a 'Go-bag' packed for paintball (just in case!), this list will suit you fine.   It can be consider a Core Item list, stuff you should always have at the ready to ensure you're prepared. 


You SHOULD be able to fit this all in  1 x 70L bag. At most, 1 large duffel/sports bag (50-70l) and one backpack. This will keep things reasonable if you are taking a car or train and also keep you within the limit of most airlines (one checked bag, one carry-on).  I can get all this stuff in that volume. You can too. 

Critical Items: 

(Forget these and you’re done before you started. You’re a moron and you deserve to stay home and think about what you did wrong.)

• Identification: Drivers License/ Passport/PARENTAL RELEASE.  (These let you move around and do stuff. Don’t forget them.)
• Cash (Money is the root of all evil... but it can solve just about any other problem/thing you may forget. Also, CASH saves you a trip to an ATM... which maybe 20 miles away from the field... if you’re lucky)
• Phone & emergency contacts/insurance card (Communicate, deal with emergencies etc)
• Any and ALL necessary medications, heart-pills, anti-allergy shots, stuff you need for Life. (Oh you forgot your epi and got killed by a bee... that sucks)
• A PLAN to get to the field. This could be Google map directions, plane/train tickets, a road map etc. In the age of smart phones, a lot of this is easily portable, but at the very least you should KNOW cardinal directions, nearby towns, important highway exits and transportation hubs in the area along the route to the field. You may get lost, you may not have service. Have a backup for your smartphone or get lost and drive around for hours. See if I care. 

SUPER F-ING Important Items: 

(Forget these and your life will suck/be quite expensive, and you won’t forget them again.)

• MASK!
• Registration* (Not always necessary, but when it is, it REALLY is)
• Marker/Hopper
• Air Tank
• MASK!
• PB Pants
• PB Shirt/Jersey
• PB Socks
• PB Shoes/Boots
• Sleeping bag or blanket
• Hoody or Jacket/Hat
• Water & source (Camelback/Water bottle and several liters/day)
• Batteries (If you need them. Use a pump/mech/grav feed and save $$$)
• Packed your Mask yet? DO IT!
• Extra car keys kept somewhere secure but outside your vehicle
• Jumper cables (usually someone will have these... but if they don’t....)

Important Items: 

(Forget these and life will be smelly and uncomfortable, but you can (and WILL) man-up and survive, like a BOSS!)

• Extra shirts x 2 (DO NOT BRING MORE. Yea, they get smelly. Just Alternate!)
• Extra underwear (1 per day)
• Extra socks (1 per every other day, ALTERNATE)
• Pants for around camp/the car (Jeans, 1 pair!)
• Warm stuff to sleep in (1 set!)
• Shoes/Sneakers for camp (1 pair!)
• Other gear for PB (Gloves, micro fiber, squeegee, vest, pods, arm guards, cameras, radios, remote lines, repair kit, zip ties, tape, etc etc etc)
• Rain Gear (ie. a jacket. You're not crab fishing in the North Atlantic.)
• Toothbrush/paste (Feeling fresh and clean is healthy... and boosts morale)
• Flashlight (with working batteries... that you checked BEFORE you packed it)

Recommended Items:

(Forget these and you will just be inconvenienced.  If you are short on space, sacrifice this stuff. You don't need it.)

• 1 super clean Tshirt for the ride home (luxury, but nice to have, esp for you car-mates)
• 1 super clean pair of socks for the ride home
• 1 super clean pair of underwear for the ride home
• Deodorant for the ride home
• Shampoo & microfiber towel (luxury. Lot of places do not have running water. You can bird-bath in a sink at truck stop. You'll know you got the right towel if it is SUPER tiny)
• Cot/Air Mattress (optional. Soft ground also works)
• Tent (sleep in your car. √ or under your car. √)
• Flip flops (feel great after a game, not necessary)
• Multi-tool & wrenches (someone else will usually have these if you forget.)
• Chargers for electrical stuff (turn your stuff off when you aren’t using it)

COMPLETELY OPTIONAL ITEMS

(Clearly you are beginning to border on overpacking... check yourself)

• Backup marker (and backup 4 backup, and marker 4 friend, and backup 4 friend etc)
• Pillow (you can improvise this with a lot of the earlier stuff)
• Food (you can survive 3 weeks without this)
• Other random stuff you can think of. 

NOW.... obviously you can take this list and make it super long and think up every possible thing you MIGHT MAYBE need... but you shouldn’t do that. You’ll end up carting around a lot of extra stuff you never use, taking up car-space, screwing your carpool (you are carpooling, aren’t you?) out of their fair share of packing space, and in general wasting a lot of time and energy that could be better channeled into the game. 


If your list continues beyond this point you are in to the land of 'Excessive packing.' It's a great place. I've been there. We need people like you to cover for those who forget things. But you probably are not carpooling at this point. You might even be towing a trailer. Thank you, in advance, and if there is a flood, a zombie apocalypse, an earthquake, a 7 year famine, every single gun for my team stops working, my air tanks explode and my mask melts off... I'll come to you and throw myself at your mercy for some loaner gear. Until that day, my friend....