Paintball Pistols in demand (1)

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Paintball Statistics Stabilize But Trend Is For
Tactical Training Neil Bent December 16,
2014 Paintballing as a leisure pursuit has
declined in popularity since its high in 2005-6
but participant numbers have stabilised making it
the third or fourth most popular game in North
America. Ryan Husch, an industry expert, examines
the current trends.
(Newswire.net -- December 16, 2014) -- Somewhat
surprisingly, between 2004 and 2006, nearly as
many people played paintball as played baseball
in America.
Tactical Paintball Pistols In Action
In fact, according to figures from the Sports and
Fitness Industry Association and American Sports
Data Inc, from 1998 to 2004, participation in the
game increased from around 5.9 million to 9.6
million, and on up to a high of around 12 million
players in 2006, making it one of the most
commonly played athletic disciplines just behind
baseball and basketball and ahead of more
traditional sports like football, soccer and
hockey. Growth was strong and looked set to
continue. Almost 2 million people took to a local
paintball field at least once a month, regularly
buying the latest accessories, and the US led the
way in global sales of paintballing equipment and
accessories a market worth more than half a
billion dollars. But then came the crash and,
like so many other sectors, the impact was
significant. Falling disposable incomes due to
the recession and competing sources of home
entertainment, from the internet to video games,
captured the attention of the industry's key
market players aged between 10 and 25 years
and suddenly growth turned into decline.
Operators went out of business as player numbers
fell to around 3.5 million people a
year. However, since 2011, that number has
remained relatively stable 2013 saw a 1.9
increase in paintball participation over the
previous year, making it the first year paintball
has seen positive growth in five years. So, there
is cause for optimism in the industry as Ryan
Husch, proprietor of totalpaintballgear.com, the
largest online retailer of its type,
explains. Weve been in the industry as a
retailer, serving the paintballing community in
North America and worldwide for over a decade and
weve seen the ups and downs first hand. Carrying
nearly all of the products offered by all of the
most popular brands has given us a unique insight
into the sector and we are confident that there
is a new, growing market, of dedicated
paintballers especially keen on tactical gaming
and the use of more realistic weapons such as the
range of paintball pistols we carry the kind
our military, police and SWAT teams train
with. The fundamentals havent really changed.
The vast majority of paintball participants are
still male and the average age of players is
still in the late teens, early twenties but we
have seen a rise in spending on tactical gear and
guns. Customers want to make their gaming as
realistic as possible, dressing up in battle
fatigues and carrying guns rather than
paintball markers. They often buy paintball
pistol starter kits because they want holsters
and ammo as well as the weapon itself. They want
to look and feel the part with some even
admitting they use sessions to get used to the
idea of handling and firing a gun, should the
need ever arise in real life. More and more
paintball venues have caught on to the tactical
trend too, providing obstacles and physical and
mental challenges to overcome. Participants go on
missions and whisper commands in military lingo
to their fellow combatants through tactical
throat microphones. Long gone are the days when
people just ran around free to splat whoever they
liked in a woodland setting or indoor
arena. Husch concludes For anyone starting
out or even returning to the game after an
absence, something like a Tippman Tipx deluxe
pistol kit makes an ideal purchase or, given the
time of year, gift for todays breed of
paintballer. The deluxe pistol kit has everything
you need in a tactical paintball sidearm whether
you are using it as a back-up or as a primary
weapon. Its realistic looking, lightweight,
includes accessories like a holster and magazines
and is definitely on-trend for the current
market."
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Paintball has come a long way since its
beginnings in the 1950s. Playing environments,
equipment and clothing have undergone a
transformation. Perhaps now that disposable
incomes are once again on the rise, and fuelled
by a never ending stream of action movies,
innovative technology and advances in online
gaming, paintball may be due for resurgence.
After all, despite having fewer players than in
its heyday, it is already a multi-million dollar
industry with professional competitors and
corporate sponsorships, so retailers and
customers alike should look forward to a more
exciting future. Interviews, further editorial
information and photography available from Ryan
Husch info_at_totalpaintballgear.com
1-888-855-9854. Notes Born, raised and still
living in Kelowna, British Columbia, Husch, now
in his late thirties, has been a dedicated
paintballer since his early teens. He built his
online business, Total Paintball Gear, in 2003
partly to satisfy his own frustration that he
couldnt get all the equipment and accessories he
needed from one store. Since then, the site has
gone from strength to strength to become one of
the largest retailers of speedball and
tactical/scenario paintball supplies in the
world. http//www.totalpaintballgear.com Source
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