You should know that before buying a paintball HP bottle...

If you want to buy a new Paintball HP bottle , you are literally spoiled for choice. The current range of air systems and bottles feels endless. Every regulator can be combined with every bottle. In the end, this makes hundreds of possible combinations from which you can or must choose as a paintball player .

At this point we would like to give you some basic information about paintball HP bottles that may make your purchase decision easier. Each design and size of Paintball HP bottles has its own advantages and disadvantages.

It is best to always buy aluminum HP bottles as a complete system

Anyone who needs an aluminum HP bottle is best advised to always buy a complete system directly. The price difference is usually less than 20 euros and you have a brand new bottle and a brand new regulator. In addition, the 0.8 liter aluminum HP systems are usually glued. So you can't separate the bottle and regulator that easily. This often leads to further damage when trying to do this. However, if you want to put together your own setup, e.g. a 0.8 liter HP system with a short HP regulator like the First Strike Hero or comparable models, you cannot avoid buying them individually.

Paintball Composite Bottles - What's the Difference?

The composite bottles usually differ mainly in weight. They are available in all possible sizes from 0.4 liters to 3 liters filling volume , but the common standard format for tournament paintballers is still 1.1 liters . This is also the decisive factor with which we want to deal at this point. The differences here are clearly in the material used. The lighter the material, the more expensive it is. This is then reflected in the sales price of the HP bottle . All bottles have the same structure. They have a metal core surrounded by fiberglass or carbon fiber material. This material is wrapped around the core during manufacture and bonded with synthetic resin. The difference in weight is ultimately due to the choice of material. For example, stainless steel is stronger than aluminum, so you can make the jacket thinner. If the jacket is more stable, you need less fiber material for the wound jacket. Less fibrous material requires less of the heavy resin adhesive. In the end, these three factors make the difference between a normal paintball composite bottle and a high-end product for tournament sports.

Is it worth tüvening my HP bottle?

Short and sweet answer NO if you own an aluminum system. YES possibly, if you call a composite system your own!

New TÜV for a Paintball HP bottle is not worthwhile for aluminum systems. We clearly recommend buying a new system. The cost for new TÜV on air bottles is usually 40 to 60 euros and thus about what a new air system would cost.

This is a little different with composite bottles. The purchase price is three to four times as high and therefore the expenditure for the TÜV test is worthwhile. But you should keep in mind that the technology in the field of HP bottles has repeatedly made rapid leaps in recent years. It may be advisable to check the current offer on the market again before the new TÜV . If you are already spending 40 to 60 euros for the TÜV test and are willing to wait four to six weeks, you might be better advised to buy a new bottle for 130 to 170 euros, which not only corresponds to the latest standards, but also also probably a fair bit lighter. Anyone who bought a composite air system around 2010, for example, usually went home with a bottle weighing between 950 and 1200 grams . 5 years later, when the TÜV was due, the lowest weight of the latest generation of bottles was already a super light 800 grams . So most players back then were moving up to the newer bottle models to keep their gear competitive. Today the current high-end standard is even lower. The lightest Paintball HP bottles weigh just 690 grams and that with a filling volume of 1.1 liters .