In a game of paintball, having a reliable hopper can make a whole lot of difference to your performance and enjoyment of the game overall. After all, having your equipment let you down can cause you to lose your advantage or even get you taken out of the game.
So, it is important that you have to make sure that you are using the best kind of hopper for you to make sure you get the most out of your time paintballing.
Within this article, we will go over some of the best options for a Paintball Hopper, as well as some of the things that you should be keeping in mind when looking at different options to purchase.
Top 5 Paintball Hoppers
5. Editor’s Choice
- Intelligent Proactive Feeding: The Spire IR uses improved sensors that make paint feeding more intelligent and proactive. The loader ensures a constant stream of paint that never fails you on the field, rain or shine
- Never Pulses, Never Jams: The drive system allows the Spire IR to feed faster and more consistently while still being able to feed the worst paintballs imaginable without jamming. Improved sensors remove the unnecessary pulsing and create a quieter, more efficient loader
4. Budget Option
3. Must Have
- Provides every style of player a loader that retains the quality performance that’s needed to win at a price tag that’s unmatched.
- Patented DYE loader technology that fuses top-notch functionality with mind-blowing feed rates and reliability. Patented Rotor Force Fed Technology, 30+ balls per second.
- The LT-R sets standard for battery efficiency, powered by only 3 AA batteries allowing the hopper to get 80,000+ balls shot count.
2.Most Popular
1. Fan Favorite
- [Advanced Tech] – Enhanced proactive feeding logic | Industry first angle indicator | never jams with magnetic drive cone
- [Perfectly Balanced] – Sits balanced on all mechanical and electronic markers thorughout running, diving, or snapping
- [Compact] – Smallest and lightest 200 round loader in paintball | Greater field of view with the compact profile
Buyer’s Guide: Paintball Hoppers
How much are Paintball Hoppers?
Price is an important factor in the purchase of any product and of course, Paintball Hoppers will be no exception. When it comes to these products there can be a wide variety of different prices available for different tiers of skill and feature sets. We’ll go over what these are in the following paragraphs.
Beginners
At the most basic, beginner skill levels, you can often pick up a paintball hopper that will do the job you need for around the $20 price point.
For this price, you will be getting a paintball hopper that will perform well enough for someone just starting out and allow you to have a great time in your first paintball matches.
In this price point, you will also find that most of the hoppers are gravity-fed as opposed to a battery-powered hopper.
Depending on your playstyle this may affect the reliability of the product and we will go into more detail on this later. In any case, for those just starting out, a cheaper gravity-fed hopper will do just fine.
Intermediate
As you become more proficient in your paintball skills, you may want a hopper that can keep up with a more intense style of play and can get more paint downrange than the beginner products can.
These more intermediate-level products will usually cost you around $90 to $130, although depending on what features you either need or don’t need, this price can be either a little higher or lower.
Often, these more advanced hoppers will have higher durability, battery-powered operation, and a more reliable feed rate so that you can be sure of your hardware when in a game of paintball.
Tournament-Level
At the highest level, and a significantly higher price to match, tournament-level equipment will give you features that help to compete with other highly skilled paintball players. These options can cost anything above $170 some even around the $300 mark.
At this level, you will want every possible advantage you can muster to outmatch your opponents.
This can be features such as an LED indicator for letting you know when to reload, wireless connectivity with an app to change settings, and even specially tooled feeds to make sure jams are kept to as low a level as possible.
If you end up at this level, then it can well be worth spending so much on a hopper, but for the more entry-level or intermediate players, it may be better to invest in some other areas first.
What is the capacity of a Paintball Hopper?
Obviously, you will want to be able to carry as many paintballs in your marker as possible, but depending on the hopper putting too many in could cause reliability issues.
For an average hopper, you will find that the usual number of paintballs that can be contained within is around 200 paintballs.
Now, a cheaper and less reliable hopper may reduce this amount to relieve some of the issues that can be had from having such a high number of paintballs in a product that isn’t so reliable.
They may cut down the number to something like 100 paintballs or even as low as 25 in some cases, but for the lower capacity, you will find that jams and paintballs bursting within the hopper will be much less prominent.
On the upper end of the hopper capacity scale would be around 400 paintballs. This number will only really be seen in more expensive and more well-made hoppers as they will need a more robust construction to make sure that paintball failures are kept to a minimum at such a high capacity.
Will my playstyle affect the type of Hopper I should buy?
Yes, the way you play will indeed have an effect on which type of hopper will allow you to perform to the best of your abilities. Some may take their time and only fire a few shots a minute, whereas others will be moving at great speed and firing their marker in a similar manner.
These variances in playstyle will mean that you should consider whether or not your equipment is up to the task.
For instance, if you are a slower and more methodical player, you may be just fine with a gravity-fed hopper as you won’t need a fast feed rate and are at a significantly lower chance of jamming as you have longer between shots.
However, if you play in a more sporadic and quick fashion, then you would most likely want to avoid a gravity-fed hopper and opt for a battery-powered option instead.
This will help you to avoid the jamming that can occur when firing a gravity-fed hopper quickly and will allow you to maintain a much higher rate of fire.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, you will find that there are a great variety of options available for paintball hoppers and that no matter your requirements you should be able to find one right for you.
Whether you play fast and loose, or slow and steady, you will be able to adjust your choice in the hopper to suit you. Playstyle, skill level, and the capacity you are looking for are all things worth considering when making your choice.
Hopefully, this article has been useful in showcasing some good options and giving a few pointers as to what you should be looking out for in your paintball hoppers.
