Laser Tag Equipment

Laser tag is a game first devised by the US military to simulate a real battlefield to train soldiers. In the 1979, after the success of Star Trek and their space age fights, laser tag became famous with the release of the Star Trek Electronic Phasers, a toy that was manufactured by a company run by Milton Bradley, who was a pioneer in American gaming industry. Today, laser tag is played by kids and adults; it is played outdoors and indoors in arenas. For all these types of play, there are different kinds of equipment available. Here we talk about different facets of laser tag equipment.

Laser Tag Equipment Manufacturers

First made by various makers in the 1980s, today, a number of laser tag equipment makers make different kinds of laser tag guns, vests, holsters and other equipment. The more famous manufacturers are DarkLight Developments in UK; and in US – Delta Strike, Laser-Blast, Laserforce, LaserTrek, LaserTron, LaserGame, LaserStorm and Q-zar.

Each manufacturer makes equipment with their own design, which converts to different type of rules and game-play when you play with laser tag equipment from different brands. Some manufacturers have their own franchise of arenas to go with their equipment. Example includes Lasertron.

Equipment required to Play Laser Tag

Unlike sports like baseball and soccer, where all you need is a ball to start play, laser tag is a pretty equipment intensive sport. Here are the types of laser tag equipment you need to play laser tag:

• Guns or Phasers Laser tags guns or phasers as they are also called emit infrared rays and are used to target and tag the opposing players and other targets in the arena. They need to be held by both the hands – with one hand holding on to the trigger and the other hand cupping the barrel from below, where it is touch sensitive. The guns also contain a LCD screen.
• Vests laser tag vests are embedded with LED's and other kind of lighting which is illuminated during game play when they are tagged by a player with a laser gun. This is done by the infrared sensitive sensors that these vests have. Different vests will come with different types and numbers of sensors – for example some vests will have sensors only in the front, but others, more expensive ones, will have sensors both at the front and the back. Laser vests for kids are called junior vests – they are different in size like any piece of clothing.
• Remote Controls Remote controls control the laser tag system using RF network, and allow the operator to control the laser tag system from wherever they are.
• Base Stations Also called the control stations; these have different lights, target sensors and smoke and even animatronics systems.
• Sentries Also called the Base Sentries, these can be used by the operator of the game to individually program each game. Like base stations, these are an important component of the laser tag equipment system.
• Energizers These allow players to gain more lives.