Paintball in Las Vegas

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Kevin, my little brother, what he wanted to do next time we hang out. I can always come with some entertainment for myself or my friends, but that's pretty easy. Las Vegas is Disneyland for adults, but closer to a library for kids. Everything is 24 hour, and if you can imagine it, you can do it here - well, if you're 21 that is. So when I challenged Kevin, 15, to come up with something he wants to do, I expected to get options like going to the arcade, a show, some batting cages, movies, or maybe even some go-karts. I was completely off, he chose paintball!

I've never really been paintballing, but I liked the idea. The fact that I could run around and splatter my friends - not for long - with a gun full of paint was all the convincing I needed. I began searching the web, and after speaking with a few facilities, I decided we would go to Las Vegas Premier Paintball.

I chose LVPP for a couple of reasons, but mostly because of the way I was treated on the phone. When I called, I explained the situation: two rookies were looking to have fun, while not getting killed by a bunch of seasoned vets. I told the guy that neither Kevin nor I had played (an assumption I would later regret), and I was pretty illiterate about he game in general. Long story short, we could rent all the equipment - 2 guns and masks - pay the entry fee, buy 2,000 paintballs, and play all day long for less than $100, which was cheaper than the other places, plus I wasn't humiliated on the phone because I didn't know anything about paintball.

From the website, I knew LVPP was located in Summerlin at Rampart and Vegas Drive, but didn't really grasp how far that is from my house in the Anthem / Seven Hills area. On a slow Mother's day, it took us about 30 minutes to reach the field.

Upon arrival, being the role model that I am, I decided to throw some fightin' words at Kevin while walking inside. This is where I learned that I, in fact, was the only rookie to paintball. Apparently he had played paintball everyday during a summer camp, a little piece of information he neglected to tell me earlier! So I quickly shut my mouth and followed his lead.

The fields are basically what you see on TV, just in the desert. There are two open fields with the giant Rockstar Energy Drinks inflatables, and one house field replicating an urban environment. The three fields combine for 75,000 sq ft of fun.

Their site claims that LVPP is designed for players by players, which was clearly evident to me as I walked in. As a business guy, I routinely find myself curious about what it costs to run the place I'm at, what their margins are, how they choose and market their products, and so on. The owners are a couple of young guys, clearly ambitious, and clearly proud of their new paintball field.

They have been open for roughly eight weeks, and had already hosted a successful tournament. The passion for paintball and business is obvious, the owners basically do everything their cronies do. I saw them doing tasks such as filling tanks with air, handling new customers, cleaning up the field, being an official, as well as give tips and tricks to some of the new people. In fact, you would never know who the owners were unless you asked, which is something I like from small business owners.

While ethical and friendly owners are what attract - and brings me to return - me to businesses, I imagine in paintball it's the fields and prices people are after. While I don't have any experience in either one, I can say that as a beginner, the prices seemed very fair, and the fields were a lot of fun.

All three fields are completely dirt, but seemed especially clean. In the desert, there are generally large rocks in any open field I've seen, but LVPP either filtered those out, or they simply aren't present in Summerlin. Running around and sliding in the dirt was fairly painless, and it makes you feel like you're 8 years old again.

The competition that day was all over the place. There was a private party of about 8-10 Teach for America teachers, a group of pretty hardcore players, about the same size, and a spattering of 6-7 individuals just roaming and jumping into games. We were there from about 10-1, and when we left a group of about 12 more people showed up.

The fields were competitive and fairly set-up. Watching the group of extremists - complete with tricked out guns, fatigues, loads of ammo, and really good - I started to understand how intensely fun paintball can be. I had a lot of fun just running around and shooting at people, but I lacked strategy and skill. These guys were insane! Constantly yelling, strategizing, and showing no mercy in each match was an eye opener for what this sport is.

Kevin seemed well at home, running and ducking, eventually shooting me right in the face, which he seemed pleased with. I had heard horror stories about how bad paintball hurts, but wasn't too concerned. My theory was that, after being hit with as many hockey pucks as I have from coaching and playing, a little plastic ball of paint is nothing to be scared of. That was until I played a couple matches with the extremists. I came to find out that their guns shoot much harder, much more accurately, and many more balls of paint than our rentals! Earlier, Kevin bounced about 6 right off my shoulder, none of them breaking. Those stung. Then I got shot within 5 seconds of a match starting by one of the big guns, that was right in my head, that hurt.

One of the kids working there gave Kevin and me some techniques on leaning, shooting, running, and sliding. After our brief lesson, our games turned from recreational to competitive.

In the end, I learned that the paintballs really don't hurt, not even from the bigger guns. But getting shot in the face by your little brother, that will bruise your ego a bit! All in all, we had a lot of fun, and now I want to go back. The game sucks you in, and everyone, good or bad, has a lot of fun out there and is open to showing you tips to get better.

Visit LVPP's website here, or email the owners for any more information.

Comments

[stasha]

We are soooo paintballing when you get here... be prepared for Ultimate Mutilation!!!
SK