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Article #7: An overview of the game of paintball

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Paintball is a sport in which what became the very first game of
participants use compressed air guns paintball. Gaines won.
called markers to shoot paintballs The friends quickly realized they had a
(marble-sized, .68 caliber, gelatin created something special. In the
capsules filled with colored polyethylene following months, they devised basic
glycol "paint") at other players. It is rules for the game fashioned along the
in essence a complex form of tag, as lines of capture the flag, and invited
players struck with paintballs during the friends and a writer from Sports
game are eliminated. Illustrated to play. They called their
Paintball draws a wide array of players game "Survival." The article on paintball
worldwide, and the Sporting Goods was published in the June 1980 issue of
Manufacturer's Association estimates that Sports Illustrated. As national interest
approximately 10 million people play in the game steadily built, Gaines and
annually in the United States alone. Noel formed a company, National Survival
Insurance statistics show that paintball Game, and entered a contract with Nelson
is one of the safest sports in existence, Paint Company to be the sole distributor
safer even than golf. of their paintball equipment.
Games can be played either indoors or Thereafter, they licensed to franchisees
outdoors and take various forms. Rules in other states the right to sell their
for playing paintball vary widely, with guns, paint, and goggles. Due to their
most designed to ensure that participants monopoly on the market, they turned a
enjoy the sport in a safe environment. profit in only six months.
The sport requires a significant amount The first games of paintball were very
of equipment and has even developed its different from modern paintball games.
own slang. Nelspot pistols were the only gun
History Paintball began as a simple available. They used 12-gram CO2
hunting game between two friends in the cartridges, held at most 12 rounds, and
woods of Charlotteville, Virginia. in had to be recocked after each shot.
1976, Hayes Noel, a stock trader and his Dedicated paintball masks had not yet
friend Charles Gaines, a writer, were been created, so players wore shop
walking home through the woods and glasses that left the rest of their faces
chatting about Gaines' recent trip to exposed. The first paintballs were
Africa and the thrill of hunting buffalo. oil-based and thus not water soluble;
Eager to recreate the adrenaline rush "turpentine parties" were common after a
that came with the thrill of the hunt, day of play. Games often lasted for hours
and inspired by Richard Connell's The as players stalked each other, and since
Most Dangerous Game, the two friends came each player had only a limited number of
up with the idea to create a game where rounds, shooting was rare.
they could stalk and hunt each other. Between 1981 and 1983, rival
In the months following that fateful day, manufacturers began to create competing
the friends talked about what sorts of products, and it was during those years
qualities and characteristics made for a that the sport took off. Paintball
good hunter and a good survivalist. technology gradually developed as
They were stumped, however, on how to manufacturers added a front-mounted pump
devise a test of those skills. It wasn't in order to make recocking easier, then
until a year and a half later that George replaced the 12-gram cartridges with
Butler, a friend of theirs, showed them a larger air tanks, commonly referred to as
paintball gun he had found in an "constant air".These basic innovations
agricultural catalog. The gun was a were later followed by gravity feeds and
Nelspot 007 marker manufactured by the 45-degree elbows to facilitate loading
Nelson Paint Company and was used by from the hopper. Eventually, the manual
cattlemen to mark cows. Noel and Gaines "pump" marker was replaced altogether by
each purchased a pistol and had a duel in semi-automatics.






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