Are you looking for somewhere in Penzance or the southwest area of Cornwall (UK) to play paintball?  If so, before you continue looking for a paintball site, have you considered the alternatives?

Paintball can be fun, but has numerous drawbacks which can frustrate players and make them not want to play again. The smartest paintball players in Penzance and other areas of southwest Cornwall are rapidly turning to outdoor Laser Combat (sometimes also known as laser skirmish, outdoor lasertag, woodland laser or electronic paintball) as a realistic and adrenaline-filled alternative.

Outdoor Laser Combat is a brand new extreme sport activity, offering all of the benefits of paintball, with none of the drawbacks. Laser Combat uses state-of-the-art guns which are a world-away from the systems many people will have experienced in indoor lasertag venues. No bulky vests need to be worn, as the high-tech guns contain all of the electronics which make this incredible activity possible.

Below, we have listed the most common drawbacks with paintball.  We then explain how outdoor Laser Combat overcomes each of these problems, before directing you towards a company based in the southwest (Penzance) area of Cornwall (UK), who specialise in outdoor Laser combat.

The problems with paintball:

Problem: Getting hit by a paintball hurts, and can cause injury!

When you get shot by a paintball from a paintball marker (gun), put simply, it usually hurts!  Some commercial sites provide players with the full compliment of paintball safety equipment including eye protection, ear protection, face and head protection, gloves, body armour, groin protector, padded trousers, etc. Unfortunately, many commercial sites only provide the bare minimum of safety equipment, i.e. eye/face and ear protection. This means that if you get hit on any part of your body other than the bits covered by your safety equipment, you are likely to experience pain! No wonder paintball is often known as paintball!

It is not at all uncommon for paintballs to cause minor injuries upon impact.  If you are unlikely enough to get hit on a boney-part of your body such as your knuckles, a paintball can easily split the skin open and cause a superficial laceration (cut).  Even if you are “fortunate” enough to get hit on a more “naturally-padded” area of your body, there is a strong likelihood of bruising (which is caused by blood loss under the skin, as a result of damage to capillaries) occurring.

The pain aspect of paintball can also mean that its difficult to get enough people together to play a game... how many times have booked a paintball session and had several players “drop out” at the last minute? Its a fact that the pain (or perceived pain) experienced in paintball makes it an unattractive pastime to a lot of people; not just women and children but also a lot of men.

Solution: Laser Combat doesn’t hurt or cause injury!

Laser Combat guns do not fire any projectiles but, rather, harmless beams of invisible infra-red.  This means that when you get shot by another player, you do not experience any pain or injury. Worried you’ll miss hearing “ouches” from players as you shoot them?  Don’t be! Most laser combat guns digitally simulate the “ouch” sounds through their in-built speakers!

If you are fed up with the pain and bruises associated with playing paintball, why not try outdoor Laser Combat instead? Click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company specialising in outdoor Laser Combat, based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK).

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Problem: With Paintball, the costs soon mount up!

At the vast majority of commercial Paintball sites, players are charged an up-front fee for their session, and this usually includes a set number of paintballs, for example “£18.00 per half day session, which includes your first 100 paintballs”. Thereafter, players are typically charged per additional batch of paintballs they use, for example “£6.00 per 100 paintballs”.

The problem with this pricing system is that a player can very quickly use up the quantity of paintballs included in their original game fee, and its easy to lose track of how big a bill you are building up using extra paintballs throughout the day (especially if you are a little “trigger happy”!).

Some paintball sites also seem geared-up towards getting you to use as many paintballs as possible, since they know that this provides them with additional revenue; if you’ve ever been to a paintball site where they insist you take some practice shots on a target shooting range prior to playing a game, you’ll know what we mean!

Under the circumstances, it’s not uncommon to hear paintball players stating that they ended up spending £60.00 or £70.00 for a day’s paintball session, after initially being enticed to play by the £18.00 starting price!

Solution: Laser Combat sessions are fixed-cost!

Outdoor Laser Combat game packages typically include all ammo in the basic price.  Because Laser Combat guns do not fire any form of physical projectile, there are no extra costs to be paid after the initial game fee. Ammo supplies are sometimes limited to make games more challenging, but it is almost unheard of for Laser Combat sites to charge players extra for additional ammo! With outdoor Laser Combat, players are typically charged for the length of time that they wish to play, for example £25.00 per half day. Many sites also include a meal at the end of longer sessions.  All of these things makes it easier to budget, and ensure that your day ends on a high-note rather than with a high bill!

If you are fed up of coming back from playing paintball, feeling like your wallet has suddenly lost a lot of weight, why not try outdoor Laser Combat instead?  Click here to to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK), who specialise in outdoor Laser Combat.

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Problem: In Paintball, its usually “one shot and you’re out”!

When you get shot in Paintball, it usually means you are required to sit out of the rest of that game. If you are unlucky enough to get shot early on in each game, you could spend most of your day sat around watching other people having fun, rather than having the fun yourself!

Solution: Laser Combat allows variable “health”!

In outdoor Laser Combat, the guns keep track of how much “health” the player has.  Guns can be individually set to have different amounts of health for different missions, and in most games players are give sufficient health to ensure that they can be shot several times before “dying”.  With good quality systems, there is also the option for players to take on the role of “medic” and give people extra health when they get shot (providing they haven’t been killed outright), further enhancing the realism. This ultimately means that you spend more time in the game zone having fun.

If you are fed up with spending most of your paintball sessions “dead” in the safe zone, why not try outdoor Laser Combat instead?  Click here to to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company specialising in Laser Combat, based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK).

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Problem: On Paintball markers (guns), shooting range and accuracy are poor!

Paintball guns have a relatively poor shooting range.  This means that unlike with real firearms, in paintball you can often see your opponents but can’t shoot them because the paintballs won’t travel far enough!

What’s more, its not uncommon to fire two or three shots from a paintball marker, only to watch each one fly-off and hit wildly different targets.  This effect is particularly noticeably as range increases.  This inaccuracy can be caused by a combination of paintball marker inaccuracy, wind strength, loss of velocity due to air resistance, etc, however the outcome is the same whatever the cause... frustration!

Solution: Laser Combat guns have massive ranges and accuracy!

In outdoor Laser Combat, the range of the guns is immense - typically anything up to 130m (426.5ft). Such huge ranges are achieved by focusing the infrared signals which the guns fire through a high-powered optical lens.  To improve accuracy further, Laser  Combat guns are typically fitted with “red dot” or optical scopes, which are carefully zeroed-in on a regular basis to ensure that players can shoot with deadly accuracy!.

Because infra-red signals are not affected by wind, etc, players can be sure that if they hold their gun still and fire several shots in a row, every shot will hit the same target.

If you are fed up with the inaccuracy and poor range of paintball markers (guns), why not try outdoor Laser Combat instead? Click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK), who specialise in outdoor Laser Combat.

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Problem: Paintball is less than ideal for encouraging team work!

Paintball is often touted as a good activity for team building, and is promoted to corporate customers and other groups on that basis. The reality is that paintball is less than ideal as a team building activity.

The reason for this is that the object of team building is, by definition, to get people working better together as a team.  Because it hurts when you get shot by a paintball, players typically end up playing as individuals, since human nature says that the majority will ultimately choose to save themselves from the pain of being shot, in preference to carrying out a task which might get them shot but which will ultimately lead their team to victory!

Solution: Laser Combat really does encourage team work!

In outdoor Laser Combat, because no pain is felt when players are shot, there is a greatly reduced likelihood of players playing for personal gain rather than overall team success.

Depending upon the specifics of the mission being played,  to encourage players to be even more team-focused, site operators can even join players back into a game, sending them in from the rear as “reinforcements”. The guns will keep track of how many times each player has been brought back to life, and this can be taken into account when later calculating how successful the team were in achieving their objectives.

If you are a corporate customer looking for team building activities, or any other kind of group, team or organisation who would benefit from team building activities, you would be highly advised to give outdoor Laser Combat a go!  Click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company specialising in Laser Combat, based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK).

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Problem: In paintball, people can cheat!

Unfair gameplay (or “cheating”, as most of us prefer to call it!) is rife in paintball.  Wiping off paint to hide the fact that you’ve been shot, shooting other people when you’re supposed to be “dead” and out of the game... there are numerous ways that players try to keep on playing when they shouldn’t be!

Solution: In Laser Combat, cheating is impossible!

In outdoor Laser Combat, small sensors detect when you have been shot. Some players try to cover these sensors thinking it will stop their guns from registering “hits”... it doesn’t!  The infrared signals fired by Laser Combat guns are clever things, and will penetrate most non-solid materials and still find their way to the sensors.  Covering sensors with insulation tape, material, hands, etc simply has no effect!

Furthermore, in outdoor Laser Combat, when you’re dead, your gun is automatically disabled by the on-board circuitry!  This means that when you’re dead, you really are dead!

If you are a looking for a new extreme sport activity which is cheat-proof, look no furtehr than outdoor Laser Combat! Click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company specialising in Laser Combat, based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK).

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Problem: Paintball guns aren’t very realistic!

Whilst there are paintball markers (guns) available which look somewhat like real guns, the paintball markers (guns) used at most commercial paintball site don’t look particularly like real guns. Paintball guns also don’t make sounds like real guns, so it can be difficult to hear where people are shooting at you from.  Finally, Paintball markers can’t have selectable fire modes (i.e. single-shot, burst and fully automatic); the United Kingdom Paintball Sports Federation (UKPSF) state on their own website that the Home Office have advised them that Paintball guns capable of fully-automatic or burst fire modes would count as a prohibited weapon under Section 5(1)(a) of the Firearms Act 1968, and for that reason the UKPSF requests that all paintball sites in the UK only use paintball markers which operate on a semi-automatic basis (i.e. one pull of the trigger releases one burst of gas, and fires one paintball). Bearing in mind all of the above, paintball is hardly a recipe for realism!

Solution: Laser Combat guns are as close to the real thing as you can legally (and safely) get!

In outdoor Laser Combat, the electronics can be fitted into almost any design of gun case. This means that they can be made to resemble real gun designs more closely in style.

In outdoor Laser Combat, the guns digitally simulate gun sounds through their in-built speakers! They can also have a choice of sound effects, for example un-silenced and silenced (supressed) shooting sounds effects.

Finally, because Laser Combat guns don’t fire projectiles, they can legally have a burst and/or fully-automatic fire mode.

If you are looking for the most-realistic outdoor combat experience available to civilians, Laser Combat is for you! Click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company based in the southwest (Penzance) area of Cornwall (UK), who specialise in outdoor Laser Combat.

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Problem: Paintball operators struggle to come to you, so you have to be prepared to travel to them!

You’ve gone to the effort of getting together a big group to play paintball. Wouldn’t it be nice if the paintball operator could travel to you, rather than you all having to travel to them? Unfortunately, this is not generally possible with paintball, as it would be unfeasible for the necessary safety screening, safety signs, etc to be erected in a short time-scale.  Even if it were possible, because of the amount of safety precautions that have to be put into place, if a paintball operator come to you you would generally have to be prepared to play in a relatively small game area, and to foot the bill for the long amounts of time that would be spent in setting up and dismantling the safety equipment.

Solution: Laser Combat operators can come to you!

Because outdoor Laser Combat guns do not fire projectiles, there is no need for any safety screening, etc. Laser Combat can be operated from virtually any private site, providing there is sufficient space for good game scenarios, and providing the operator has barriers which can be easily transported to alternative sites.  Alternatively, some sites may already have sufficient “natural” barriers (such as trees, bales of hay, etc) in place.

If you are looking for a outdoor Laser Combat operator who can offer Laser Combat as a mobile service, you needn’t look any further!  Click here to to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company based in the southwest who are able to offer a mobile laser combat service.

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Problem: It is virtually impossible for children aged under 12 to play paintball!

It is virtually impossible for children aged under 12 to play paintball; this is because most insurers won’t insure paintball sites to accept players under the age of 12, and some won’t even insure players below 14, 16 or sometimes even 18. This means that paintball is often not an option for younger people, nor can it be considered a family activity. If you have a child aged under 12, and a commercial site lets them play paintball on it, we strongly recommend that you ask to see a copy of their insurance policy to make sure that your child will be covered under it.

Solution: Laser Combat is accessible to younger players!

Because outdoor Laser Combat guns do not fire projectiles, there is no legal minimum age for participation.  Furthermore, insurance companies recognise Laser Combat as being intrinsically safer than paintball, particularly for younger players. Providing the players can manage the weight of the guns, insurance companies will generally insure outdoor Laser Combat sites to accept young players, making Laser Combat an activity which is equally as suitable for families as it is for the stereotypical adult all-male groups.

If you are looking for a outdoor Laser Combat operator who can offer Laser Combat for all players aged 6-60+, click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company specialising in Laser Combat, based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK).

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Problem: The goggles/masks which have to be worn for paintball compromise your ability to perform to your best!

Whilst you are playing paintball, the goggles/masks which you are supplied with have to be kept over your face at all times, as there is a serious risk of eye damage if you are shot in the face whilst not wearing the appropriate protection.  So what happens when your goggles/mask starts to steam up and you can’t see properly? What about the fact that they reduce your field of view. What about the fact that they compromise your hearing?

Goggles/masks are essential for safe paintball play, but do little to help you to perform to the best of your abilities!

Solution: Laser Combat players do not generally need to wear goggles!

Because outdoor Laser Combat guns do not fire projectiles, there is generally no need to wear eye, ear or face protection (the only exception being in woodland areas, where players may be required to wear goggles at some sites, to protect against the risk posed by low branches, etc which could impact with the eyes).

If you are looking for a outdoor Laser Combat operator in the southwest (Penzance) area of Cornwall (UK), click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company specialising in Laser Combat.

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Problem: In paintball, reloading is not generally permitted mid-game... where’s the realism?!

At many commercial paintball sites, it is not generally possible to obtain reloads (refills of paintballs) mid-game. This means that when you’ve used however many paintballs you had in your hopper, your only option is to either sit out, or act like a masochist and run around trying to avoid being shot!

Not only does this mean that your game time can be cut short if you are a little too “trigger happy”, it also takes an important tactical element out of the game, i.e. when to reload, bearing in mind that whilst you are in the middle of reloading, you cannot shoot back at people!

Solution: Reloading is an integral part of outdoor Laser Combat.

Because Laser Combat guns contain circuitry to make them closely resemble the functioning of real firearms, reloading is not only possible, but actually essential.

When you are getting low on ammo, you need to make some important choices... do you change clips (magazines) now and lose the ammo which is left in your existing one, or do you wait until you have fully emptied it?  Do you reload where you are, or do you try to move to a safer position first?

Just like in real life, when you are in the middle of reloading a laser combat gun you can be shot, but cannot shoot, so you have to make a judgment call on your safest option if you want to last the entire game.

If you are looking for a outdoor combat activity which offers realistic reloading functions, click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company specialising in Laser Combat, based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK).

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Problem: Paintball guns all tend to work the same and have the same “stopping power”!

At most commercial paintball sites, everyone is issued with the same type of paintball marker (gun). This means that everyone has the same shooting range, and whichever gun you get hit by you will be “killed” straight away and out of the game.

With this type of setup, nobody ends up taking on a specialised role such as sniper, infantry troop, etc.

Solution: The highest quality outdoor Laser Combat guns support what is known as “variable damage”.

Put simply this means that, for example, being hit by a grenade from a grenade launcher will cause more damage than being shot by a small calibre handgun (in fact, a grenade could kill you outright, as in real life).  Equally, a sniper rifle would be built to have a far superior shooting range and accuracy than a small calibre handgun.

So, what’s to stop everyone wanting a sniper rifle or rocket launcher? Well, the weapons also have different reload times and firing rates.  For example, a sniper rifle might only fire 60 rounds per minute, whereas a sub machine gun might fire 400 rounds per minute.  This means that whilst a player equipped with a sniper rifle might have the advantage at a long range, up-close the player equipped with the sub machine gun would have the upper-hand.

The variable damage system allows close levels of realism, whilst still maintaining fair game play, i.e. nobody has a “super” weapon which would make them virtually invincible.

Many outdoor Laser Combat systems do not support variable damage.  To play with a system that does support variable damage, click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company specialising in Laser Combat, based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK).

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Problem: In paintball, there is no system of individual scoring!

On commercial paintball sites in the UK, there is no easy way for site operators to give individual players feedback on how well they have performed during their session.

Some would say that this is a good thing, for example groups playing paintball as a team building activity would not be interested in individual scores, as it is how they played as a team that counts.

Whilst this may be true for some groups, paintball player feedback suggests that most players would actually like to know how well they played relative to other players, and this simply isn’t possible in paintball.

Solution: The highest quality outdoor Laser Combat systems support scoring. The best systems in this respect support both team and individual scoring, so players can not only know how well they did as a team, but an also find out how well they did as an individual player.

The manufacturers of systems who don’t support scoring will tell you that scoring is a bad thing as it always leaves some people disappointed with their performance, but this needn’t be the case.

For example, even in football which is a team based game, people are interested in how individual players perform. In outdoor Laser Combat, you generally find that players very quickly forget about individual scoring and work as a team to achieve their objectives, however they also enjoy being able to see at the end of their session how well they performed as an individual.

If there are groups where it is not desirable to use individual scoring (for example, birthday parties, where it could spoil the birthday boy’ or girl’s day to find out they came at the bottom of the score sheet last just before they go home!), this feature can simply be disabled.

The finest outdoor Laser Combat systems will allow an overall soldiering ability to be calculated, based upon shooting accuracy, number of times wounded/killed in action, number of times treated by a medic, number of times issued with extra ammunition, etc. This is a very robust system, which takes into account much more than just how many times a player managed to shoot other players!

Many outdoor Laser Combat systems do not support individual scoring. To play with a system that does support individual scoring, click here to go to the bottom of this page and view details of a company specialising in Laser Combat, based in the Penzance area of southwest Cornwall (UK).

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Above, we have listed the most common drawbacks with paintball.  We hope we have explained how outdoor Laser Combat overcomes each of these problems. Below are details of a reputable site, based in the southwest of the UK (Penzance, in Cornwall), who can offer you a first-class outdoor Laser Combat experience.

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The Covert Combat Outdoor Lasertag Site, based in the southwest (Penzance) area of Cornwall (UK) are specialists in outdoor Laser Combat (sometimes also known as laser skirmish, outdoor lasertag, woodland laser or electronic paintball).  The site uses a state-of-the-art outdoor Laser Combat system which supports variable damage, individual scoring, and several other features not available with most other systems.

To enquire about booking a game at the Covert Combat Outdoor Lasertag Site, please contact the site directly on Mobile (07716) 556555. Alternatively, check out their website at www.covertcombat.co.uk.

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