Best Paintball Elbow Pads: Complete Buying Guide

When you’re looking for the best paintball elbow pads you shouldn’t have to scour stores for hours or look online to try and find the best deal because these elbow pads are essential to ensuring you don’t get serious scrapes or bruising when you’re playing a round of paintball. You never know what can happen running through the woods, and having a safe, and fun experience. Paintball is a very intense game, with a vivid backstory built on friendship and a single question. A game this intense almost requires padding to be able to play without getting hurt in some way, so these elbow pads just might be what you’re looking for.

In a Hurry? Here’s Our Top Picks…

1. Black and Red Elbow Pad

Social Paintball SMPL Arm & Elbow Pads Protection, Black Red (Medium/Large)
  • Lightweight 4-way stretch sleeve made with moisture wicking, quick drying compression fabric for added multidirectional support, full range of motion, and breathability.
  • Durable abrasion-resistant fabric outer layer.
  • Impact Padding zone made with same technology as our professional level Flex Jerseys to protect your forearm and elbow.
  • Built to work in conjunction with with any jersey or glove combination on the market.
  • Non-slip bicep cuff that keeps the sleeve in place for you to focus on playing.

Last update on 2024-03-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

This pair of elbow pads are some of the best paintball elbow pads you can get. They’re lightweight making it easy to carry them for long amounts of time. The impact padding makes it easier to handle any falls avoiding scrapes and cuts from moving throughout the brush. These gloves are no slip, so once you put them on they won’t move around and they’re incredibly durable them one of the best options for paintball elbow pads overall.

Most people will have problems with products, but if anyone is dissatisfied with this product they haven’t said anything about it. These paintball elbow pads don’t have a single negative that we can find, making them very appealing overall to use.

Things We Like

  • Lightweight
  • Impact Padding
  • No-Slip
  • Durable

Things We Don’t

  • There’s nothing!
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2. These Sturdy Arm Pads

These are another one of the best paintball elbow pads we have, These also have a high impact padding, but it’s reinforced with dual layered crash padding, so you can avoid any serious scrapes and bruises when you’re moving at high speeds, like running from an enemy team down a rocky embankment for example. Add to that a thermo fabric layer and you can be sure you’ll be able to maintain an adequate body temperature without any further issues.

This awesome pair of paintball elbow pads though does come with one downfall. The sizing isn’t exact, making it come across as a little to large on occasion but other than that there is very little to complain about. These are a solid steady and stable pair of paintball gloves that you won’t regret.

Things We Like

  • High Impact Padding
  • Dual Layered Crash Padding
  • Thermo Fabric

Things We Don’t

  • Sometimes an error with sizing
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3. These Appealing Pads

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This pair of paintball elbow pads dosen’t have a lot of information in the specs, but it does provide full elbow protection. The reason it landed itself on our best paintball elbow pads list though is because of the things people had to say about them. With rave reviews there isn’t much to complain about with these gloves, they work very well for large and small players alike. People play with them heavily but haven’t had any issues thus far with them. There isn’t a lot of information on them though, which is a downside in and of itself.

Things We Like

  • Customers like them
  • Full elbow protection

Things We Don’t

  • Not a lot of other information
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4. These Army Crash Pads

HK Army Crash Arm Pads (Camo, Large)
  • Enhanced comfort and durability
  • Contour, dual-layered, high-impact padding
  • Neoprene arm support
  • Lightweight, breathable 4-way stretch sleeve
  • Adjustable velcro strap, Built-in thermoformed protective glove

Last update on 2024-03-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Paintball elbow pads, especially good ones, can be hard to find. Overall when you’re looking for a great elbow pad, you need a low profile lightweight elbow pad that has high impact padding. This is that elbow pad, they’re versatile and strong, made of durable material with only one small minor issue, it runs a little smaller than it should but that’s the only real flaw with this elbow pad and because of that it’s made its way onto this list. You’ll be able to easily have fun with the stable, sturdy nature of this awesome elbow pad.

Things We Like

  • Low profile
  • High impact padding
  • Lightweight

Things We Don’t

  • Sizes run a little small
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5. Moisture Wicking Arm Pads

HK Army Crash Arm Pads (Camo, Large)
  • Enhanced comfort and durability
  • Contour, dual-layered, high-impact padding
  • Neoprene arm support
  • Lightweight, breathable 4-way stretch sleeve
  • Adjustable velcro strap, Built-in thermoformed protective glove

Last update on 2024-03-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

These delightful arm pads are the only one in our list that has moisture wicking but on top of that it’s also anti slip and strategically moves with you, ensuring comfort by providing relief to the parts most prone to pain points as you move so you aren’t strained during your paintball rounds at all. This makes for an easy to use, durable, and incredibly appealing pair of elbow pads. The only real downside to this excellent pair of elbow pads is the fact that it can occasionally ship a little late so be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get them before your upcoming match.

Things We Like

  • Moisture wicking
  • Anti Slip
  • Strategic movements and relief

Things We Don’t

  • May arrive late
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon

Education

Paintball wasn’t originally a game where you shot paintball guns, called markers back then, at each other. Paintballs were originally used to mark things, like cattle, from afar. THe first paintball game was brought together by a single conversation about how far survival instincts might take you even if you weren’t raised in a country setting. The idea game from Haynes Noel and Charles Gains, and their friend Bob Gurnsey made up the rules for them to follow. Naturally they fired a test shot to ensure that the paintballs weren’t going to hurt them seriously while they played, Shelby Gains did this by taking a shot, and exclaimed that it didn’t hurt much.

From there they got together a group of people for their survival game, the first game of paintball. The players had to capture all four of their flags while taking enemy fire, the team went from two to twelve, half of them were woodsman on one team and the others were those that held less survival related professions, a writer was one of them for example. In the end Ritchie White stealthed his way through the map, didn’t fire a single shot, and managed to get the flags. A plaque stands today at this field to commemorate the first game of paintball.

From there Bob Jones helped to tell people about their National Survival Game, or NSG as they called it, before long people were asking about rules, buying starter kits, reading magazine articles and playing paintball in their own backyards. All because a couple of friends wanted to know if individuals with profession outside of woodsmen and hunters could survive. Today paintball is still a very intense sport, and is widely played in many different landscapes, including your backyard bar-b-que, with people in different professions, all trying to prove if they could survive in a survival situation like this or not. There are paintball courses you can play on, but don’t try to play on something as intense as a ninja warrior course.

Best Brands

There are so many paintball brands that it’s incredibly difficult to find any one solid stable brand. Thankfully there are so many brands on the market that it’s easy to find one that fits your needs. Exalt for example is one of the many brands that makes paintball gear that can help keep you safe throughout your game, including some of the best paintball elbow pads. HK Army is another incredibly prevalent gear maker, they turn out a large majority of different colored, sized, and shaped pieces to ensure you are both safe and look good during your games. Social Paintball is the last of our favorite brands, and they too make some incredible elbow pads.

It’s important to be sure you’re getting your elbow pads from a reputable brand, safety comes first and these brands know it. The people behind the brand name work hard to make sure you and your loved ones are safe during games of paintball, and all of the elbow pads on this list are great additions to any avid paintball players arsenal. These brands are built around the idea that you’re going to be playing a rigorous game, the products themselves need to be sturdy, all while being comfortable, to ensure your safety and maximized possibility for fun while you’re playing.

FAQ

Q: How bad does paintball hurt?

A: It’s not nearly as bad as you think, with most wounds feeling like a flick to the arm, while others leave bruises and welts.

Q: Can you bring your own gear?

A: Yes, but the guns that you bring will likely be checked to ensure that they aren’t gas-powered or high powered. This makes sure all players are safe and can have fun together without a hospital trip.

Q: Has anyone ever been killed by a paintball?

A: No, paintballs and paintball guns simply don’t have the power, shot distance, velocity, or weight to do anything more than give you some serious welts and bruises. Be careful not to take one to the eye unprotected at short rage though, it could blind you.

Q: Do you need an ID to play paintball?

A: Paintball markers are registered as legal firearms, so yes you’ll need an ID to play. If you’re under 16 your parents will need to give you consent and provide their ID.

Q: How long is a paintball session?

A: Paintball sessions usually include several games, and can last anywhere between 2 to three hours in total.

Q: Can you wear jeans to paintball?

A Yes, but you should never wear shorts, there are a variety of different things you can wear and gear you can use, but the more padding you have the better.

Q: Is paintball safe for 12-year-olds?

A: Yes, paintball is a very safe way to burn off energy, and is a great game for kids

Q: How long do marks from paintball last?

A: That depends on the mark, welts will go away quickly, usually in a few days, where bruises will take much longer, up to a few weeks.

Q: Are paintball guns good for self-defense?

A: No, not even a little, sure they may hurt the attacker if you can fire them and hit them, and the shape of the gun itself in the darkness may scare an attacker off, but for the actual defense of your person a paintball gun is a bad idea.

Final Thoughts

Paintball is an interesting and fun game with a vivid past time and a bright future, making the best paintball elbow pads even more important.  You need to be able to have very strong elbow pads when you’re playing so you don’t have to worry about getting seriously hurt while you’re running around in the woods or on a man-made course. Paintball is all about survival, though you’re not actually in any danger. The first game was created over the idea of survival. Thankfully with the right gear, you can easily avoid bruising, welts, scrapes, and scratches all by having any one of the pads on this list. If your safety is important to you or your loved one you should consider the option of investing in safety gear much like these elbow pads. So they come home in one piece after each and every game.