Paintball Essay -- essays research papers

Paintball is a fast and furious sport. It is played on both a social and serious level by over 16 million people around the world (Cooke,11). It is one of the fastest growing sports on the planet. Paintball's history, games, guns, and safety are all part of the fun. In 1970, James Hale, an engineer, invented and patented the first commercially successful paintball gun. Paintball guns were first used by the National Forest Association to mark trees that would be cut down. Then, it was used to mark cattle by cowboys. One night while sitting around a campfire, one cowboy shot another and that is how the game of paintball got started. This "splotchmaker" can rightfully claim to be the grandfather of modern paintball guns (Peters, 73). Over the next two decades, Daisy Manufacturing Co. Inc. of Airgun Frames manufactured these guns under contract for the Nelson Paint Co. During this twenty year span, paintball evolved from a "survivalist" game into the wholesome, exciting, family game it is today. In paintball, there are two teams equipped with paintball markers. These are basically low-powered airguns that fire small capsules of paint. It is not a dangerous sport. The only real danger is getting hit in the eye with a paintball. Wearing specific goggles made for paintball easily stops this danger. This rule is strictly enforced at all reputable playing fields worldwide. Obviously if a player is out of sight of the referee and takes off his mask, then he is looking for trouble. American Insurance statistics show that it is safer to play paintball than to play golf or go fishing (Pierce, 17). Getting hit by a paintball generally does not hurt. You may get an occasional bruise, but on the whole the game is not painful. The excitement certainly outweighs any momentary discomfort a player may feel. To lesson the chance of being bruised, long sleeved shirts and pants are highly recommended. To be on the safe side, more than one layer should be worn. Bright colors should be avoided, purely because the more visible you are, the more likely you are to be shot. Most people like to wear camouflage clothing. This helps them to blend into the environment and not be easily shot. Also, good quality hiking or trail boots with ankle support is a good idea to protect both feet and ankles. There are many different leagues and tournaments you can participate ... ...If the surrounding team captures the item and returns it to their station, they win. Also, surrounding players alive at the end of the game can be assigned a point value to make their rescue even more important. The last game is a continuous play game. The only extra items you need are a paper punch and a player card. This is a great game to play when you have a continuous stream of experienced players arriving on the field at different times. Each player is given a card to keep track of how many times he or she is eliminated. When eliminated, the player comes off the field, punches the card and returns to the game. The team loses points every time a team member is eliminated. The team gains points every time they bring back the opposing side’s flag. Paintball is a fun and serious game. It does not glorify war. It is an old paintball adage that the sport actually proves how easy it is to be shot. The supporters of paintball like to prefer the sport as a tactical game of skill. (Cooke, 93) You need to wear protection and play fair so everyone stays safe. Also, you can play the regular, basic games or make up your own. The most important thing is to have fun and play responsibly.