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These combat sports have a very domestic and non-violent origin story. The truth is that in the 1960s, the Nelson Paint company was tasked with creating a solution for Cattlemen and Lumberjacks alike.
Charles Nelson stepped up and created the Crosman 707 marker. This product was designed to launch small paintballs at cattle needing sorting and to mark trees for harvesting.
Still, the product offered did not meet the customer’s expectations, to which Charles responded. He sought the help of a renowned BB-gun manufacturer to which the Nel-Spot 007 Marker was invented and mass-produced.
When did it All Begin?
As mentioned before, the origins of this sport start in the fields of a rancher and out in the forest on a lumberjack’s belt. However, it was not until years later that the idea of making a game out of the paintball launcher was brainstormed.
The year was 1981, and three friends were discussing the ability of city folk to survive in the forests and who were the better survivors, country or city folk?
The debate was so heated that it lasted for days until the idea for the game was born upon seeing an advertisement for a Nelson paintball marker.
Where did it All Start?
The first match of Survivor Game was held out on a one hundred and twenty-five-acre plot of land in the woodland areas of New Hampshire.
The dozen-player bout took place in the Northeastern state; ironically, the winner of the first match was a man named Ritchie White, who surreptitiously captured the flags with stealth. He proceeded to play the entire match without firing a single paintball shot.
The game was so enjoyable that a participant named Bob Jones could not help but publicize the game, which he wrote in an article published in Sports Illustrated.
Who Invented the First Paintball Gun?
So, as we already know, because of the aforementioned information, Charles Nelson, as part of Nelson Paint Company, was challenged to fill a need and invented the Crosman 707 and, with some help, the Nel-Spot 007, which lasted as a product well into the 1980s.
In this decade, other manufacturers began developing unique and advanced paintball markers and other field equipment.
These companies include Tippmann, Empire, and Planet Eclipse; by this point, the three friends had contracted from Nelson Paint Company shipments of paintball ammunition to properly stock the competitions taking place internationally.
When was the First Paintball Match Held?
Looking back into the beginning of the game Survivor’s inception, the three friends, Bob Gurnsey, Charles Gaines, and Hayes Noel, held the first match out in the woodlands of New Hampshire.
The date was June seventh, 1981; the three amigos and nine other players pitched one hundred and seventy-five dollars each to fund the first ever ‘capture the flag’ formatted survivor match.
Four flag stations were positioned on a one-hundred-and-twenty-five-acre plot.
The participants were given a Nel-Sport 007 Marker, protection for eyes, and a basic playing field map.
When did Paintball Become Popular Worldwide?
The popularity of the new sport took off in the 1980s; in 1983, Bob Gurnsey hosted a paintball tournament called The National Survival Game National Championship. A Canadian team took the trophy and prize of three thousand American dollars.
The growth was steady through 1985, and later in 1988, the international paintball community decided to form The Foundation of the International Paintball Players Association, signally the game’s extreme popularity worldwide.
In fact, at the end of the decade, it was estimated that over seventy-five thousand players in the United States participated in Paintball matches.
Final Thoughts on How many times can you Hydro a Paintball tank
Survivor Game, better known as Paintballing, is a rare combination of physical competition and combat.
So it is somewhat ironic that a battle match survivor game in which players tag or shoot one another was born out of a challenge from Cattlemen and Lumberjacks to create a product in which they could mark their livestock and/or lumber.
The history of this sport is fascinating and should make for a fun Hollywood production sometime in the future.
From Charles Nelson at Nelson Paint Company to the three friends Bob Gurnsey, Charles Gaines, and Hayes Noel, to the creation of an International players association, this sport has come a long way in a short time.
