Do you know how to store paintballs properly? If yes, bravo! But if you don’t, ensure you don’t skip this post.
However, even if you already know how to store paintball, you’ll still pick up some important tips from this post, so keep reading.
Storing your paintball properly will make them last longer. Not only that, proper storage will ensure your paintballs remain in good shape and do what they’re designed to do (explode on touching the target).
So, whether old or new, it’s important you keep your paintball properly. Follow the tips in this post to get your paintball storage right.
How To Store Paintball To Improve Shelf-life and Ensure Durability
Paintballs are water-soluble and biodegradable. They’re made from gelatin, as you may already know. Keep in mind also that paintballs are sensitive to temperature.
1: Store in a cool and dry place:
Keep the paintballs dry and store them in a cool place. Furthermore, ensure the environment isn’t too cold or moist. Otherwise, it will affect your paintball’s quality.
When you store paintballs in a cool place and they get cold, you might find it difficult to use them. The balls can’t pass through the barrels with ease.
A Handy Tip: You can keep your paintballs in an empty room or closet.
2: Don’t store paintball in a hot environment:
Paintballs can easily lose their quality if you don’t store them properly. You have to get the temperature right. Otherwise, your paintballs will lose their usefulness.
Keep paintballs protected from the elements of weather. You can store at room temperature, but higher temperature won’t be acceptable.
What does high temperature do to paintballs? It makes them soft and unsuitable for the game. In other words, when these soft paintballs land on target, they just bounce off instead of exploding.
Paintballs can also develop dimples when they get hotter. Another possible issue is that the balls may stick together.
So, avoid storing paintballs in high temperatures if you want them to last long. Store your balls away from sunlight.
A Handy Tip: The proper temperature to store paintballs is 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
3: Leave paintballs in sealed bags:
You don’t have to take your paintballs in the bags you bought them in. Leave them in the bag and keep them in a safe, cool, and dry place.
It’s not advisable to expose paintballs when storing them, as they may lose their usefulness because of that.
When stored in a humid environment, paintballs shells might absorb moisture and ruin the paint solution. So, don’t store your paintball in a humid environment.
Also, leave the balls in the bag until the last ball. You don’t need to take them out for any reason.
4: Read the manufacturer’s instructions:
It’s always advisable to read manufacturer’s instructions before using a product. You may know a thing or two about the product, but you can only get the best output when you stick to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Interestingly, some manufacturers provide instructions on the acceptable way to store paintballs. You can read the instructions on the paintball package and adhere to them. However, if there are no instructions, follow the tips mentioned here.
Do’s and Don’ts When Storing Paintballs
It would make sense to highlight the dos and don’ts of paintball storage to ensure paintballers don’t make avoidable mistakes.
So, if you play paintball and want to know how to store your balls properly, here are the things you must and mustn’t do.
- Don’t let your paintballs lie on one position for too long. Flip them now and then to ensure they maintain their round shape. Note that when you leave paintballs in one position for too long, they’ll become twisted and create problems for you during games. You’ll have challenges firing accurate shots.
- Don’t leave paintballs in your care, whether it’s the passenger side or the trunk of your car. Cars can hit up quickly, and the heat may render your paintballs unusable. High temperature can make paintballs soft and lose their abilities to break on impact.
- UV rays from sunlight can break down paintball constituents. So avoid placing paintballs in direct sunlight.
- You can leave your paintballs in the bags they came with. But if you don’t fancy this, use a Zip-lock bag. Zip-lock bags are great for storing paintballs, as they make the balls moisture-free. Furthermore, whether you’re storing paintballs in a zip-lock bag or leaving them in the package they came in, always remember to rotate them. Don’t leave paintballs in one position for a long period.
- Don’t keep in a humid environment. Storing paintballs in such an environment will make them unusable.
- Discard old paintballs or turn them into a piece of art or décor. It’s not advisable to use old balls, as they may not give you the desired results.
- Consider your pets and kids when storing your paintballs. Remember that kids can be mischievous, so store your paintballs in a place they don’t have access to. You know what can happen if kids or your pets lay their hands on your paintball.
- Avoid freezing your paintballs. You won’t get anything out of this. Freezing paintballs will make them unusable. They’ll become misshapen, dimpled, less accurate and even more brittle. So, don’t ever put your paintballs in the freezer, as they won’t work.
- Don’t drop your paintballs on the ground forcefully, as they might break. Drop them gently and inform others who’re using the paintballs with you to do the same thing.
- If you discover that your paintballs are dirty, desist from using them. Instead, discard them or use them for something creative.
- Use paintballs for the intended purpose and don’t consume them. They may be biodegradable and environmentally-friendly, but are not edible.
How To Know If Your Stored Paintballs Are Still In Good Shape
After storing your paintballs for a while, it’s important to observe them before loading them into your paintball marker. Check if the balls are in good shape, so you won’t have issues firing accurate shots.
Loading bad paintballs into your paintball gun isn’t a wise thing to do. So, how should you check if your paintballs are still intact after storing them for a while?
Use the tips below to observe and judge your paintballs’ quality.
Shape:
Here is the most important thing to consider when assessing your stored paintballs. Are they still in good shape?
Paintballs are generally round (spherical). So, if yours have a different shape, then they’re unusable. Your paintball marker will shoot more accurately if the balls are round (and you know how to aim a paintball gun accurately).
However, you can’t take accurate shots if the paintballs are oblong or pear-shaped. Discard or repurpose your paintballs if you find them in this shape.
Are the paintballs stuck together?
If you find your paintballs stuck together, forget about using them. High temperature causes paintballs to stick together, making them unusable.
So, observe your paintballs. Are they stuck together? If yes, then they’re unusable. You can’t take accurate shots with such balls.
Another thing you need to observe is the paintballs’ quality. Are the balls looking clean? If they’re not, then they’re unusable. You can only take accurate shots when your paintballs are clean and well-shaped.
Brittleness:
If your paintballs are brittle, they’re in good shape and usable. Paintballs are generally brittle and are harsh too.
You need paintballs that you can fire and they’ll travel and hit the target, not break inside the barrel. Additionally, when your paintballs hit the target, they should be brittle enough to break.
If your paintballs are too intense, they won’t even break when they hit the target. On the other hand, if the balls are too brittle, they won’t make it out of the paintball marker. In other words, they might break before they even get a chance to make it out of the paintball marker.
Final Thought
Now that we have discussed how to store paintballs properly, we hope you’ll adhere to the tips shared here.
How you store your paintballs will determine their lifespan and durability. Of course, every paintballer wants their balls to be in good shape all the time. But it won’t happen unless you store your paintballs properly.
Just ensure you keep your paintballs in a cool and dry place. And keep them away from sunlight. Note that the UV rays from the sun can damage your paintballs.
High temperature can make paintballs soft and cause them to bounce off targets instead of exploding. So, if you want your paintballs to retain their shapes and quality, store them properly.
