New ASTM Standard Aims to Keep Paintball Safe

Keeping paintball safe and fun is a major goal of Subcommittee F08.24 on Paintball and Equipment, part of ASTM International Committee F08 on Sports Equipment and Facilities. In order to do that, the subcommittee began work in 2005 on a series of standards that would expand the scope of its standard F 1750, Specification for Paintball Marker Threaded-Propellant Source Interface. One of the new standards to result from this work is F 2653, Specification for Paintball Valve Male Threaded Connection for Use with Approved Cylinders.
 
According to Michael A. Lukas, vice president, supply chain, Kee Action Sports, and vice chair of Subcommittee F08.24, the purpose of F 2653 is to define standards and testing parameters for the tank engagement portion of the valve described in F 1750. “Products meeting the testing criteria in F 2653 will be far safer for any end user, from the novice to the expert, to use without danger of catastrophic failure, which in the past could have resulted in injury or loss of life,” says Lukas.
 
Manufacturers, distributors and general users of all paintball air systems will benefit from the use of F 2653. “One of these connections must be used on every paintball marker in order for it to be used in paintball activities,” says Lukas, who notes that annual sales of paintball air systems is estimated at just over 600,000 units.
 
Lukas says that the paintball subcommittee always welcomes new participating members. “Currently, to maintain the balance in membership we are looking for users, participants or general interest groups who are not considered paintball manufacturers,” says Lukas.

In addition to the development of F 2653, Subcommittee F08.24’s activities to expand the scope of F 1750 have included a revision of F 1750 itself; the approval of F 2553, Specification for Warnings on Refillable CO2 Cylinders Used in the Sport of Paintball, which was published in 2006; and proposed revisions to F 2030, Specification for Paintball Cylinder Burst Disk Assemblies, currently on ballot.
 
ASTM International standards are available for purchase from Customer Service (phone: 610/832-9585; https://www.astm.org/contact/) or at www.astm.org. For further technical information, contact Michael A. Lukas, Kee Action Sports, Sewell, N.J. (phone: 856/464-1068, ext. 235; mikelukas@hotmail.com). Committee F08 will meet Nov. 12-16 at November Committee Week in Tampa, Fla. For membership or meeting information, contact Christine Sierk, Technical Committee Operations, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9728; csierk@astm.org).

 

Release #7762

Committee
F08
September 1, 2007