HPA vs CO2, which is better? HPA is.

Well that would be a short post if I left it at that, so I’ll explain why HPA is better.

CO2

CO2 is the most common air source for paintball guns. 20 oz tanks usually only cost $20, and you can get them filled at a variety of places, not just paintball shops. Seems good, right? Well here are some pros and cons.

Pros

• Tanks are cheap
• Fills aren’t too expensive (usually $5 or less to fill a 20 oz)
• Can be filled at places other than paintball shops (Cabela’s, Gander Mountain, hardware stores, welding shops, dive shops, etc)
• Durable - you don’t have to worry about scraping up your steel tank

Cons

• CO2 is a liquid when compressed inside your CO2 tank, so if you tip your gun the wrong way, liquid CO2 could enter the gun and break it
• Pressure drops dramatically in cold weather, and increases in hot weather (if there is too much pressure your burst disk will burst and release all the CO2)
• CO2 cools your gun as you shoot, so if you are playing in cold weather, your parts could freeze up

HPA

HPA is just compressed air (or nitrogen). You can find some low-end steel tanks, but most tanks are fiber-wrapped.

Pros

• Extremely consistent. HPA tanks have regulators on them, so your shots will be consistent even if your gun doens’t have a regulator. Temperature doesn’t have much effect on HPA.
• When you go to a paintball field, you will usually get free all-day air, or it will cost like $5. This means you can fill it as many times as you want without worrying about money.
• Quieter than CO2
• No cooling effect, which means you can use it in cold weather.
• You can use it with high-end markers. If you use CO2 with high end markers, it can damage the internal parts.

Cons

• Tanks are very expensive. If you want a nice tank, be prepared to spend around $150 or more.
• You need to be more careful with the fiber-wrapped tanks. They need to have a cover on when you play, otherwise a gouge in the tank could make it start to unravel.
• Usually you can only get these tanks filled at a paintball field.

So there it is. If you own a low end gun, CO2 will be fine. However, you can always get HPA to make your low end gun shoot better.  Just make sure there is a place near you that can fill HPA tanks.

If you own a high end gun, you will absolutely need to use HPA.