The game of paintball when taken into the woods or any other combat scenario becomes known as bushball/urbanball/woodsball or basically freeball.  Freeball is played in any sort of arena (woods, urban sprawl, open plains) usually with two opposite teams competing against each other in the hopes of completing a goal (elimination, capture the flag, push, hunter) before the other team does.  Hopefully, with this review, the casual paintballer will be able to determine if woodsball is for them and what kind of gear is required/suggested.  Note, this review is written with the understanding that you, the paintballer, understand the basics of paintball and the general inner workings of a marker.
 
Paintball gear can be broken down into two groups, Primary and Secondary with primary gear being the essentials to play and secondary being the air and the barrels.  Look for future reviews on secondary gear that includes clothing, paint grenades, triggers, and communication.
Primary Gear
Within this section, I will discuss gear that I feel is an absolute must as well as which brand I would recommend.  One thing to keep in mind while reading this review is that woodsball is a very rugged sport and while require equipment that is not only lightweight, efficient and accurate but durable as well.  Hence I will not be discussing/recommending any fully pneumatic markers except for the Ion SP8.  Also note that all guns with the exception of the SP8 are run on CO2.  HPA will be discussed further on.
Markers
When purchasing a woodsball marker (rifle), the only name I would stand by is Tippmann.  All others (with the exception of the SP8) pale in comparison.
 Tippmann 98 Custom (or custom Pro)
This is an excellent marker for anyone who wants a reliable, highly upgradeable, inexpensive marker.  The 98 custom is blowback markers that can run on either CO2 or HPA (High Pressure Air).  Out of the box, the marker comes completely stock with an 8” barrel, a gravity fed hopper, and your basic internals.  This gun will perform really quite well without any upgrades and is made out of cast iron resulting in a highly durable gun.  (I’ve seen these things dropped, thrown, run over by vehicles and they still worked just fine).  Understandably, most people who buy a marker want to make it better than everyone else through the use of upgrades.  Well, the 98 custom is one of the most upgradeable markers on the market with hundreds of different modifications.  Modifications including; mechanical/electrical fully automatic upgrades, 3”-18” barrels, internals (bolts, power tubes, etc), triggers, air source, stocks, grips, mags, etc.  While this gun is very good, and it will last forever, most people usually upgrade from this gun to a higher model as they get more into the sport of woodsball.
 
Tippmann A5
This marker is generally known as the big brother of the custom 98 as well as the king of woodsball guns.  This gun has it all; highly upgradeable, durable, excellent feed system.  Originally modeled after the mp5 series, this gun has a few huge differences from the 98 custom other than its looks.  Perhaps the biggest draw to the A5 is that is comes with the cyclone feed system.  The cyclone feed system is the A5’s patented loader comprised of a circular container off the side of the gun containing a ninja star shaped feed that feeds paintballs directly into the chamber.  The cyclone feed system has 5 paintballs preloaded at all times to keep a continuous stream of paint being fed.  This system drastically reduces paint being chopped when firing at high rates or at full auto.  It can feed at a rate of 15 balls per second (bps) + 2 bps.  The other major difference between the A5 and the 98 custom is that the A5 can be field stripped without the use of Allen keys.  Field strip means that all the internals of the gun can be accessed, removed, and inspected in less than 30 seconds without the use of tools.  (However, a full strip is recommended for regular oiling).  Another nice feature of the A5 is that the grip or trigger frame is all contained in its own casing as does not require being opened to service or oil your marker.  (The custom 98 is two halves while the trigger system also is revealed when stripped while all the springs and small parts are nicely contained in the A5’s grip.)  Out of the box, the A5 comes will all the same things the 98 custom did.  If you thought the 98 custom was upgradeable, this marker will floor you.  With the ability to accept other makers barrels, as well as equipment from hunting rifles, the milsim/tactical/hybrid rifle you create will look and play like no one else’s.  This marker will generally run you 100$ more than the 98 custom but with all the options and the quality, you will keep this gun throughout your entire paintball life.
 
Smart Parts SP8 (ion)
Generally I stay away from pneumatic markers when playing woodsball because they are usually built for precision and not meant to take a beating.  However, more and more I see ions being used in the field as a suitable woodsball gun.  They are a high quality marker with a medium quality price.  The SP8 is simply and ion, upgraded with woodsball parts including, suppressor barrel kit, adjustable stock, site rails, and body kits.  The smart parts sp8 is the first elctropneumatic marker qualifying as tournament grade marker.  It boasts 17 bps, anti chop electric site eyes, high reliability, impulse threads (use other barrels), great accuracy, improved ball detents, and improved air efficiency.  (These are standard on the ion).  This marker must run on HPA and the price of a decent tank can run into the 200$ range.  Whether or not this is detrimental to the SP8 is up to the reader.  HPA is A LOT more consistent than CO2.  The price tag on this gun is substantially higher than the 98 custom and even the A5 but the quality is there.  If you want a reliable gun already heavily upgraded to high bps, the SP8 is the right marker for you.

 
Other markers that deserve mention as a mid-grade woodsball gun
BT16, Sim Series, Spyder Surge
 Goggles
All goggles are not built the same.  When purchasing a pair of goggles there are 3 main points to look at; price, protection, and lenses.  Personally I believe that goggle brands and types can be broken into two groups; Dual lenses and Non dual lenses goggles.
 Non dual lens goggles
Tippmann, JT, Brass Eagle, Vforce
These goggles are generally inexpensive and rugged.  The offer protection in the important places and usually fit all size heads.  The have a single pane of lens that is very easy to remove and clean.  With this type of goggle, you can throw it on, play some paintball, toss it around, and then buy a new pair when they get beat up.  However, the major drawback to these goggles is fog.  If the temperature outside or inside is warm-hot you will have no problems with fog.  Once the temperature drops however, prepare to not be able to see anything.  Fog is detrimental for two reasons.  The first drawback to fog is that your vision will be severely limited.  If you can’t see, you can’t shoot.  The second drawback to fog is that players will generally take off their goggles in battle to try to clean them.  This is very unsafe and highly frowned upon in the paintball world.  All in all, if you can play with fog or play in an area where it is not a problem, these goggles are a cheap, effective way to protect your head.
 
Dual layer lenses
Dye, Proto, Vforce
These goggles are the cream of the crop.  They are highly comfortable (mold to your head), offer a large site range, protect all vital parts of your head, and most importantly, they do not fog.  The dual lenses in these goggles help to disperse and eliminate fog.  Generally, if you do get any fog, it will be a little line around the outside of your vision.  These goggles are fairly expensive, ranging from 90-150$ CAN and will require lots of care.  The replacement lenses on these goggles will run from 30-50 CAN and are a pain in the *** to swap out.  Luckily, each set of goggles comes with a soft carrying bag in which you can store and protect them when not in use.  If you are serious about playing paintball in all climates and weather conditions, as well as having the best of the best, then these goggles come highly recommended.
 
Secondary
Secondary gear will include everything from air sources, to clothing, to paint grenades.  For this next section, I will not compare brands or types of accessories but will instead recommend gear.  Due to character limites, in this review, only air and barrels will be reviewed.
Air Sources
CO2 vs. HPA
CO2 bottles are a good starting source of power.  They’re cheap to fill and almost any paintball store should be able to fill them.  However, that’s about where their usefulness ends.  There are a few problems with CO2, the main one being that it is very inconsistence.  If you notice your FPS (feet per second) drastically jumping around, it is most likely your CO2.  The second problem with CO2 is that it is utterly useless in the cold.  The CO2 won’t expand properly and will lead to your gun stuttering.  The third problem of CO2 is that it is very harsh on the internals of your gun.  If you ever see white snowy stuff coming out of your barrel, you know that you are now shooting liquid CO2 and that it is freezing up your insides.  The last problem of CO2 is that if you start shooting faster, full auto for example, the CO2 will not have enough time to expand in the gun and you will start to freeze up your internals causing damage and your gun to stop firing.  There are ways to improve the efficiency of CO2, IE expansion chambers, remote coils, and anti-siphoning your tank.  However, these methods are often not noticeable, difficult to perform, or expensive.  
 
HPA or High pressure Air (N2) is a form of compressed gases in a tank with a regulator.  Using HPA leads to the elimination of snow and your gun freezing as well as will keep your FPS within + 5 fps.  The tanks come in a variety of sizes ranging from 47-92 cu and a range of pressures ranging from 3000-4500 psi.  The main drawback to using HPA is the price of the tank.  The larger you go with a higher pressure, the higher the price tag.  You can also get carbon fiber wrapped tanks instead of aluminum, further decreasing the weight of the bottle but increasing the price.  The second drawback to HPA is that some places do not fill HPA tanks or cannot fill the tanks.  The last drawback to HPA is that the tanks need to be rehydroed every; 5 years for aluminum tanks and 3 years for fiber wrapped tanks.  Generally this is not a problem and the tank should last you through a few rehydros if it has been kept in good condition.  However, any deep scratches, dents, or mars, the tank could be rejected.  The regulator on the top determines what pressure is allowed to come out of the bottle.  For most guns, it is 850 psi; however, some low pressure guns are rated for around 350 psi.  Some regulators are preset to 850 while some are adjustable.
 
Final verdict:  Go with the HPA if you can afford it and get it filled.  It will keep your accuracy more consistent, will not damage your internals, and can be used in all weather/climate conditions.
Barrels
The first thing most marker owners upgrade is their barrel.  It is generally a cheap upgrade for the added edge.  Usually, any quality barrel will outperform the stock barrel in both accuracy and sound.  A couple of recommended brand names ranging from 50-200 CAN are Flatline, Stiffi, Dye and J&J.  The three main things to look at when buying a barrel is its length, porting, and construction material.  Studies have shown that barrels from 10-14” perform the best in both accuracy and sound.  The porting will control the spin on the ball and ultimately the accuracy and distance.  Unfortunately, there is no concrete proof to show that one method of porting is better than any other.  In some cases, the flatline for example, there will be no porting because of the specific construction of the gun.  The last thing to look at is the construction material.  A lot of the newer barrels are being constructed of ceramics.  These barrels are very light weight, quiet, and are nearly as strong as the metal ones.  The insides of these barrels are usually coated in some sort of liquid metal to increase the smoothness and ultimately the accuracy.


That concludes my review of woodsball equipment.  Hopefully, after reading this review, you will now be able to plan on equipment for your woodsball experiance