History of Paintballs
michaelrussell asked:
Paintballing is a relatively new sport that has come into popularity since its creation almost 20 years ago. The core of the idea behind paintball was to recreate the thrill of hunting wild game in Africa without the expenses included in making such a trip. Inspired by Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game and eager to recreate the adrenaline rush of the hunt, three friends–Hayes Noel, Bob Gurnsey, and Charles Gaines–eventually worked out the most important qualities that a hunter could possess, but what they lacked was the necessary tool to make such a game possible.
It wasn’t until a friend of theirs showed them a paintball gun manufactured by the Nelson Paint Company that they found that tool. The paintballs and guns produced by Nelson Paint Company were originally designed for agricultural purposes–tree marking, etc. However, this did not stop these men from developing a game designed along the lines of capture the flag based around them. The very first paintball game took place June 2, 1981, with a dozen players competing against one another. An article was published that same month in Sports Illustrated on that game. The first games were crude compared to today’s standards, with extremely limited ammunition per gun. Players would even resort to throwing paintballs at one another.
Interest in paintball climbed steadily, and Bob Gurnsey eventually founded National Survival Game and contracted with Nelson Paint Company to be the sole distributor of their guns and paintballs. This initial monopoly allowed Gurnsey to turn a profit in six months. Competitor manufacturers of paintballs quickly appeared in the early 1980s, spurring development in paintball technology. Nelson Paint Company would later split into two companies: Nelson Paint Company, which focused on traditional paint products, and Nelson Technologies, Inc. (better known as Nelson Paintballs), which still produces paintballs today.
Competitive tournaments have been going on nearly since the sport’s inception. The first major paintball tournament was held in 1983, with the Canadian-based team The Unknown Rebels from London, Ontario, winning. Originally played in the woods, tournaments shifted over to the speedball format in the late 1990s. Speedball is similar to the idea of indoor soccer, with an even, enclosed field with a set terrain that afforded neither team an unfair advantage over the other. Tournaments since then have largely been in this format. The world’s largest, the World Cup, takes place each October at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee, Florida.
Paintballs themselves have evolved over time as well. When the game first began in the early 1980s, paintballs were oil-based. Turpentine parties were not common after a game to get the paint off. Today’s paintballs are a gelatin shell filled with vegetable oil and food coloring. A number of variations have been developed for paintballs, including glow in the dark, scented, and cold weather ones. Some teams in tournament play will put their paintballs in a freezer to cool them and make the paint more brittle to shatter easier on impact and reduce the odds of a ricochet.
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Paintballing is a relatively new sport that has come into popularity since its creation almost 20 years ago. The core of the idea behind paintball was to recreate the thrill of hunting wild game in Africa without the expenses included in making such a trip. Inspired by Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game and eager to recreate the adrenaline rush of the hunt, three friends–Hayes Noel, Bob Gurnsey, and Charles Gaines–eventually worked out the most important qualities that a hunter could possess, but what they lacked was the necessary tool to make such a game possible.
It wasn’t until a friend of theirs showed them a paintball gun manufactured by the Nelson Paint Company that they found that tool. The paintballs and guns produced by Nelson Paint Company were originally designed for agricultural purposes–tree marking, etc. However, this did not stop these men from developing a game designed along the lines of capture the flag based around them. The very first paintball game took place June 2, 1981, with a dozen players competing against one another. An article was published that same month in Sports Illustrated on that game. The first games were crude compared to today’s standards, with extremely limited ammunition per gun. Players would even resort to throwing paintballs at one another.
Interest in paintball climbed steadily, and Bob Gurnsey eventually founded National Survival Game and contracted with Nelson Paint Company to be the sole distributor of their guns and paintballs. This initial monopoly allowed Gurnsey to turn a profit in six months. Competitor manufacturers of paintballs quickly appeared in the early 1980s, spurring development in paintball technology. Nelson Paint Company would later split into two companies: Nelson Paint Company, which focused on traditional paint products, and Nelson Technologies, Inc. (better known as Nelson Paintballs), which still produces paintballs today.
Competitive tournaments have been going on nearly since the sport’s inception. The first major paintball tournament was held in 1983, with the Canadian-based team The Unknown Rebels from London, Ontario, winning. Originally played in the woods, tournaments shifted over to the speedball format in the late 1990s. Speedball is similar to the idea of indoor soccer, with an even, enclosed field with a set terrain that afforded neither team an unfair advantage over the other. Tournaments since then have largely been in this format. The world’s largest, the World Cup, takes place each October at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee, Florida.
Paintballs themselves have evolved over time as well. When the game first began in the early 1980s, paintballs were oil-based. Turpentine parties were not common after a game to get the paint off. Today’s paintballs are a gelatin shell filled with vegetable oil and food coloring. A number of variations have been developed for paintballs, including glow in the dark, scented, and cold weather ones. Some teams in tournament play will put their paintballs in a freezer to cool them and make the paint more brittle to shatter easier on impact and reduce the odds of a ricochet.
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Paintball Markers Vs. Paintball Guns
michaelrussell asked:
Paintballing is a relatively new sport that has come into popularity since its creation almost 20 years ago. The core of the idea behind paintball was to recreate the thrill of hunting wild game in Africa without the expenses included in making such a trip. Inspired by Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game and eager to recreate the adrenaline rush of the hunt, three friends–Hayes Noel, Bob Gurnsey, and Charles Gaines–eventually worked out the most important qualities that a hunter could possess, but what they lacked was the necessary tool to make such a game possible.
It wasn’t until a friend of theirs showed them a paintball gun manufactured by the Nelson Paint Company that they found that tool. The paintballs and guns produced by Nelson Paint Company were originally designed for agricultural purposes–tree marking, etc. However, this did not stop these men from developing a game designed along the lines of capture the flag based around them. The very first paintball game took place June 2, 1981, with a dozen players competing against one another. An article was published that same month in Sports Illustrated on that game. The first games were crude compared to today’s standards, with extremely limited ammunition per gun. Players would even resort to throwing paintballs at one another.
Interest in paintball climbed steadily, and Bob Gurnsey eventually founded National Survival Game and contracted with Nelson Paint Company to be the sole distributor of their guns and paintballs. This initial monopoly allowed Gurnsey to turn a profit in six months. Competitor manufacturers of paintballs quickly appeared in the early 1980s, spurring development in paintball technology. Nelson Paint Company would later split into two companies: Nelson Paint Company, which focused on traditional paint products, and Nelson Technologies, Inc. (better known as Nelson Paintballs), which still produces paintballs today.
Competitive tournaments have been going on nearly since the sport’s inception. The first major paintball tournament was held in 1983, with the Canadian-based team The Unknown Rebels from London, Ontario, winning. Originally played in the woods, tournaments shifted over to the speedball format in the late 1990s. Speedball is similar to the idea of indoor soccer, with an even, enclosed field with a set terrain that afforded neither team an unfair advantage over the other. Tournaments since then have largely been in this format. The world’s largest, the World Cup, takes place each October at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee, Florida.
Paintballs themselves have evolved over time as well. When the game first began in the early 1980s, paintballs were oil-based. Turpentine parties were not common after a game to get the paint off. Today’s paintballs are a gelatin shell filled with vegetable oil and food coloring. A number of variations have been developed for paintballs, including glow in the dark, scented, and cold weather ones. Some teams in tournament play will put their paintballs in a freezer to cool them and make the paint more brittle to shatter easier on impact and reduce the odds of a ricochet.
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Paintballing is a relatively new sport that has come into popularity since its creation almost 20 years ago. The core of the idea behind paintball was to recreate the thrill of hunting wild game in Africa without the expenses included in making such a trip. Inspired by Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game and eager to recreate the adrenaline rush of the hunt, three friends–Hayes Noel, Bob Gurnsey, and Charles Gaines–eventually worked out the most important qualities that a hunter could possess, but what they lacked was the necessary tool to make such a game possible.
It wasn’t until a friend of theirs showed them a paintball gun manufactured by the Nelson Paint Company that they found that tool. The paintballs and guns produced by Nelson Paint Company were originally designed for agricultural purposes–tree marking, etc. However, this did not stop these men from developing a game designed along the lines of capture the flag based around them. The very first paintball game took place June 2, 1981, with a dozen players competing against one another. An article was published that same month in Sports Illustrated on that game. The first games were crude compared to today’s standards, with extremely limited ammunition per gun. Players would even resort to throwing paintballs at one another.
Interest in paintball climbed steadily, and Bob Gurnsey eventually founded National Survival Game and contracted with Nelson Paint Company to be the sole distributor of their guns and paintballs. This initial monopoly allowed Gurnsey to turn a profit in six months. Competitor manufacturers of paintballs quickly appeared in the early 1980s, spurring development in paintball technology. Nelson Paint Company would later split into two companies: Nelson Paint Company, which focused on traditional paint products, and Nelson Technologies, Inc. (better known as Nelson Paintballs), which still produces paintballs today.
Competitive tournaments have been going on nearly since the sport’s inception. The first major paintball tournament was held in 1983, with the Canadian-based team The Unknown Rebels from London, Ontario, winning. Originally played in the woods, tournaments shifted over to the speedball format in the late 1990s. Speedball is similar to the idea of indoor soccer, with an even, enclosed field with a set terrain that afforded neither team an unfair advantage over the other. Tournaments since then have largely been in this format. The world’s largest, the World Cup, takes place each October at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee, Florida.
Paintballs themselves have evolved over time as well. When the game first began in the early 1980s, paintballs were oil-based. Turpentine parties were not common after a game to get the paint off. Today’s paintballs are a gelatin shell filled with vegetable oil and food coloring. A number of variations have been developed for paintballs, including glow in the dark, scented, and cold weather ones. Some teams in tournament play will put their paintballs in a freezer to cool them and make the paint more brittle to shatter easier on impact and reduce the odds of a ricochet.
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A Brief History of Paintball Guns
John Brock asked:
Back in 1970, a gentleman by the name of James C. Hale, an employee of Daisy Manufacturing, designed and patented a device to be used by the forestry and farming industries to mark trees, trails and livestock. This mechanism was to become the very first paintball gun the Nelspot 007, and was manufactured by the Nelson Paint Company.
Charles and Evan Nelson founded the Nelson Paint Company in 1940, as the forest and farming industries needed a way to mark hard to reach places. Charles is credited with the creation of pellets filled with paint that could be shot out of a regular type of gun to complete this difficult task.
The first game-style milestone in paintball history came in 1981 New Hampshire when 3 friends (Bob Gurnsey, a sporting goods retailer, Hayes Noel, a stockbroker and Charles Gaines, a writer) planned to play the organized game “Capture the Flag” with 9 others. On June 27, 1981, the game was played using the original Nelspot 007 paintball gun. The winning team never even fired a single shot. The twelve friends had such a good time, they decided to buy into the Nelson Paint Company, and began marketing their newfound fun as a recreational sport.
The paintball guns themselves had to evolve along with this newfound recreational activity, as alternations to make the paint pellets fire softer so they wouldn’t hurt their human target. George A. Skogg, employee of the Nelson Paint Company, invented a “washable marking fluid” formula for soft gelatin capsules, which were more accurate and bright easy-to-see marks that would wash away easily with water and/or detergent. This patent became the Nelson formula for paintballs, as they were the perfect mix for the sport.
The very first paintball outdoor playing field opened in Rochester, New York in 1982. Very soon after, paintball originator Charles Gaines began marketing it as the National Survival Game (NSG), and the following year saw the first NSG championship complete with a $14,000 cash purse for the triumphant party. Upcoming years saw the first indoor playing field in Buffalo, NY, as well as recognition and outdoor fields in Canada, Australia and England.
1988 brought with it the IPPA- the International Paintball Players Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the safety, education and growth of the entire paintball industry. The NPPL (National Professional Paintball League) was founded in 1992, which then started the NPPL Pro-Am series that are found all over the U.S.
Paintball has evolved into quite the lucrative business, boasting quite an array of products for its trade. The accessory trade has grown to include barrels and sites for the guns and sport-specific paintball clothing and gear, with lots of the newest, latest inventions adding to the paintball family the Paintball Bodybag to organize and carry all of your gear in one handy carrier.
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Back in 1970, a gentleman by the name of James C. Hale, an employee of Daisy Manufacturing, designed and patented a device to be used by the forestry and farming industries to mark trees, trails and livestock. This mechanism was to become the very first paintball gun the Nelspot 007, and was manufactured by the Nelson Paint Company.
Charles and Evan Nelson founded the Nelson Paint Company in 1940, as the forest and farming industries needed a way to mark hard to reach places. Charles is credited with the creation of pellets filled with paint that could be shot out of a regular type of gun to complete this difficult task.
The first game-style milestone in paintball history came in 1981 New Hampshire when 3 friends (Bob Gurnsey, a sporting goods retailer, Hayes Noel, a stockbroker and Charles Gaines, a writer) planned to play the organized game “Capture the Flag” with 9 others. On June 27, 1981, the game was played using the original Nelspot 007 paintball gun. The winning team never even fired a single shot. The twelve friends had such a good time, they decided to buy into the Nelson Paint Company, and began marketing their newfound fun as a recreational sport.
The paintball guns themselves had to evolve along with this newfound recreational activity, as alternations to make the paint pellets fire softer so they wouldn’t hurt their human target. George A. Skogg, employee of the Nelson Paint Company, invented a “washable marking fluid” formula for soft gelatin capsules, which were more accurate and bright easy-to-see marks that would wash away easily with water and/or detergent. This patent became the Nelson formula for paintballs, as they were the perfect mix for the sport.
The very first paintball outdoor playing field opened in Rochester, New York in 1982. Very soon after, paintball originator Charles Gaines began marketing it as the National Survival Game (NSG), and the following year saw the first NSG championship complete with a $14,000 cash purse for the triumphant party. Upcoming years saw the first indoor playing field in Buffalo, NY, as well as recognition and outdoor fields in Canada, Australia and England.
1988 brought with it the IPPA- the International Paintball Players Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the safety, education and growth of the entire paintball industry. The NPPL (National Professional Paintball League) was founded in 1992, which then started the NPPL Pro-Am series that are found all over the U.S.
Paintball has evolved into quite the lucrative business, boasting quite an array of products for its trade. The accessory trade has grown to include barrels and sites for the guns and sport-specific paintball clothing and gear, with lots of the newest, latest inventions adding to the paintball family the Paintball Bodybag to organize and carry all of your gear in one handy carrier.
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