Common Accessories

Drop Forward

Attached to the bottom of the gun, drop forwards essentially help mount the air tank into a more conveniant and more comfortable position, allowing the tank itself to be used as a stock. They may also offer an on/off switch mechanism which is an added safety feature. These have becoming increasingly popular and are practically standard on many modern guns.

Remote Line

A remote line is a cable or tube hooked up from the gun to the tank, which allows the user more freedom of movement while handling the gun. However, they may get caught up in trees and shrubs, and if hit, is considered an out. A technique to avoid such issues is to thread the line into your sleeve and down your shirt to the tank. Remote lines are not frequently used by tournament players.

Pod

Pods are simply rigid tubular plastic containers which hold paintballs. A normal pod holds about 140 paintballs; however, smaller sizes are available. Standard pods use a plastic top and a spring to open them quickly and with less effort.

There are variations - for example, Dye Lock Lid pods, which use a simple locking mechanism to ensure they won't open accidentally, and are covered in small plastic bumps to ensure better grip. Some pods are made of or lined with a refrigerating material, used to prevent paintballs from becoming a large, sticky, unusable mess, as paintballs exposed to heat for an extensive amount of time will often melt together or leak, hindering perfomance.

Harness

Harnesses hold pods full of paintballs. With larger games, rates of fire can be extremely high, and therefore players will need a higher quantity of paintballs to last the duration of the game. Harnesses are also known as packs, or pod packs.

Harnesses for Speedball or Tourney ball tend to consist of a bellyband with hoops in the back for the pods. Harnesses for Woodsball follow a more military look with pockets for maps, radios, and hydration pouches.

Squeegee

Squeegees are used to clean out a broken paintball or other debris that is blocking the barrel. Most squeegees are a hinge-mounted rubber disc on the end of a plastic rod of sufficient length to reach the full length of the barrel. The rubber washer end is inserted sideways into the barrel, pushed to the bottom and subsequently withdrawn with the rubber disc rotated 90° (so that the disc now touches the inner circumference of the barrel).

For paintball markers with an open breech or removable bolt, a "cable squeegee" may be used - a cable squeegee is a rubber disc is mounted perpendicularly on the end of the cable. The non-rubber-disc end (the "pull end") is inserted through the breech (or through the back once the bolt is removed, whichever is appropriate) and pushed fully in such that the pull end extends out the front of the barrel. The squeegee is then drawn through the gun by pulling on the pull end.

A "Battle Swab" is used commonly in speedball for extremely quick cleaning; a double ended stick with soft absorbent fur is shoved down the length of the barrel to remove any performance hindering paint or shell. The swab often has a bendable rubber section in the middle so that it can be folded over and stored in a pocket.

Regardless of the design, as the squeegee is withdrawn, the barrel is perfunctorily cleaned to allow continued use of the marker. A more thorough cleaning is recommended when time allows.