Paintball combines the philosophies from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War with anecdotes from Jackson Pollock's autobiography, I Will Fight Your Painting. Hone combat aesthetics with today’s Groupon to River Park Paintball in Lompoc. Choose between the following options:
- For $17, you get an all-day paintball package for one (a $35 value).
- For $32, you get an all-day paintball package for two (a $70 value).
Packages include admission, equipment, and 500 paintballs.
Maintained by paintball enthusiasts, River Park Paintball assembles contending marksmen onto its battlefield for all-day excursions of paintball play. After shielding themselves in rental masks and Medieval armor brought from home, participants load weapons with 20-ounce CO2 tanks and 500 paintballs before dispersing behind blockades of barrels, cable spools, rusting vehicles, and dads wearing oversize robes. Semi-automatic markers dispense shot after shot from high-quality hoppers without requiring manual reloading, so players can wallop one another with strategic rapid-fire attacks. River Park Paintball grants opposing patrons entry each Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. while spending weekdays reusing paint splattered on its field to fashion abstract modernist art pieces. Reservations are recommended for groups of five or more.
River Park Paintball
Crouched behind a broken-down truck, the player hears incoming paintballs smack all over the automobile. Scanning the field, he plots his next move—possibly to the field’s upturned section of corrugated tubing, a large cable spool, or the makeshift plywood blockade. The outdoor fields at River Park Paintball challenge teams to work together through this dilapidated yet sneakily helpful terrain, which evokes the same kind of urban-warfare setting of popular video games. In other areas, stretches of field give players tall, speedball-style inflatable barricades that offer cover from incoming shots. Paintball enthusiasts make up the staff that oversees the fields at all times, ensuring players adhere to safe play and honor house rules, such as washing up before the traditional midday tea and scones. River Park's team requires that players make reservations, as the facility keeps limited hours Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
