Paintball took off in popularity in the mid-1980s. Economically, those were boom times. The stock market got bullish and stayed that way. Money, happiness and prosperity seemed within the grasp of every citizen. And there was trouble in the Soviet Union’s international worker’s paradise because “The Wall” between East and West Berlin was going to fall this decade, something baby boomers, the children born in the decade immediately following World War II, never thought they would live to see. And almost immediately, our game began to change from an individual survival event to a team-oriented game of paintball.
| 1980 | Ronald Reagan elected to the U.S. presidency.Bill Gates licenses MS-DOS to IBM (for virtually nothing!).The Empire Strikes Back is released. |
| 1981 | First paintball game with Bob Gurnsey , Hayes Noel and Charles Gaines.The disease AIDS is first identified.Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II wounded by assassins.World population is estimated at 4.5 billion. |
| 1982 | Caleb Strong opens the first outdoor paintball field in Rochester, NY.Hayes Noel markets paintball as the National Survival Game (NSG).PMI (Pursuit Marketing, Inc.) becomes first paintball products distributor.Barney Clark receives first artificial heart. |
| 1983 | First NSG National Championships have a $14,000 cash purse.First Canadian paintball field opens in Toronto.Sally Ride is first woman in space aboard Space Shuttle Challenger.U.S. invades Caribbean island of Grenada. |
| 1984 | Called “Skirmish Games,” paintball gets a start in Australia.Caleb Strong opens the first indoor paintball field in Rochester, NY.Paintball as “The Ultimate Challenge” takes hold in England.Ronald Regan is re-elected U.S. president. |
| 1985 | Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union.Palestinian terrorists hijack Achille Lauro ocean liner. |
| 1986 | Space Shuttle Challenger explodes.Halley’s Comet is visible.U.S. heavily involved in Nicaragua. |
| 1987 | Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister in Great Britain. Severe earthquake rocks Los Angeles. |
| 1988 | The IPPA (International Paintball Players Assn .) is founded to promote paintball. |
| 1991 | Paintball begins in France, Denmark and other European countries. |
| 1992 | NPPL , the National Paintball Player’s League, is organized. |
| 1996 | Paintball fields and pro shops can be found in 25 countries. |
In America, the entrepreneurial spirit is still strong. When the founders of paintball decided to develop the National Survival Game, woodsy play became a business. Today, a strong business community is necessary to hold professional tournaments, develop safety standards and build expensive, high-tech equipment. Johnny Postorivo is chief operating officer of the world’s largest paintball wholesaler, National Paintball Supply, and his second objective is to promote safe and reliable gear that is fast and efficient. His first objective, just like those founders of the game, is to make a profit for his company, because in America, nothing goes forward without a profit.
Your Basic Paintball Marker
All paintball markers use air pressure from an air tank (or a 12-gram cartridge) to fire a paintball. The velocity of the paintball leaving the barrel is usually 250 to 300 fps, the maximum allowed at tournaments (290 fps is the maximum permitted on most playing fields). Air tanks come in different sizes. The bigger the tank, the longer you can play before requiring a refill. Sizes begin at 4 ounces and go up to 20 ounces.
1. Feeder (also called a hopper or loader): Paintballs drop one at a time from this refillable bulk feeder into the marker.
2. CO2 Tank: Air is pressurized at 750 to 1000 psi. Air leaves the tank through a valve into an airline. High-pressure air (HPA) is a non-CO2 system and requires a regulator. HPA tanks are pressurized to thousands of psi and are typically larger than CO2 tanks.
3. Air Line: Air travels up the line and into the chamber.
4. Trigger: Pulling the trigger activates the hammer. The hammer slides forward, pulling the bolt over the exhaust valve while pushing the exhaust valve forward to the chamber. Air shoots out of the chamber, through the exhaust valve and through the bolt.
5. Barrel: The released air leaves the bolt, forcing the paintball out of the barrel.
CHAPTER 3
RECREATIONAL PLAY
Paintball is a high-tech game of playing tag. The same philosophy applies: It is better to give than to receive. So, give all you’ve got.
Most of what you will read in magazines is about tournaments and airball fields and professionals. Now, 99 percent of us won’t ever play competitive, cash-prize paintball and don’t really care. Most of us just want to have fun. So, you can sum up all the tactics for playing recreational paintball in just ten words: you run, you shoot, you hide and you play fair. Nevertheless, here are some tips and essential playing skills for higher-level play.
