The most widely known accessory is of course the paintball mask. Over time, the paintball mask has evolved from a simple snowboard style goggle that only offered coverage of the eyes, to a full blown head-encasing mask. There are so many styles and feature rich masks available today that you could easily get caught up for weeks trying to find the right one for you. Knowing whether you want protection or performance is the first step, and you can see what that looks like below.

A performance style paintball mask will have a small profile, be lightweight, keep you cool, and offer maximum visibility. The Empire EVS is a perfect example of a mask made for performance as it encapsulates all of these features. It has a huge lens that nearly goes ear to ear of the mask itself. It offers coverage of the bottom of the forehead down to the tip of the chin, which is more than enough for the professional paintball athletes, and because it is so small, it won’t feel like an oven is on your face.

A highly protective paintball mask will cover the entire head. It will cover all parts of the ears, chin, parts of the neck, top of the head, and forehead. Unlike the Empire EVS, this type of mask leaves no areas of the head exposed, including the ears. The material used in this kind of mask is tougher, and will not fold in on itself from the impact of a paintball as some of the more flexible masks tend to do.