Paintball

Paintball is a relatively new sport, though the materials used to play the game were actually around in some form in the 1950s. Modern day paintball can be seen as a mix of the games “tag”, “hide and seek” and “capture the flag”, with military-like equipment and tactics thrown in. Indeed, participants in the game must eliminate their opponents by shooting paintballs at them, using a special type of gun powered by compressed gas.

The paintballs are round, gelatin capsules that contain polyethylene glycol, dye and other substances, which are non-toxic and dissolve in water. Some form of paintballs already existed in the 1950s, though they weren’t used for sport. Instead, they were used by the forestry service to mark trees from a distance; they were also employed to mark cows. Besides using paintball guns to eliminate opponents, some paintball facilities allow the use of paintball pistols and paintball grenades.

The sport of paintball has become very popular and there are many places that offer paintball games. There are also quite a number of different game formats, which can be played either indoors or outdoors. Though some variation exists among paintball games, some common elements can be found. There are two opposing teams, and the object of the game is usually either to capture something the other team is protecting, while protecting something belonging to your team that the other team will try to capture, or to simply be the last one standing.

There is no specific number of players that a paintballing team must have; a team can have two players or 200, all depending on the location of the game and how big the field is. While attempting to fulfill the object of the game, players must also eliminate opponents by tagging them with paintballs and must avoid being hit by enemy paintball fire; the paintballs must split open and “mark” players for them to be eliminated. What counts as a valid paint ball mark often differs among paintball facilities. These games can last anywhere from between 5 minutes to 24 hours. Some of the more popular versions of the game are called woodsball, speedball, scenario paintball and special ops paintball; there are also pro paintball tournaments.

Paintball requires a good amount of equipment to play it properly and safely; though it may seem dangerous, the game is actually one of the safest sports around. All players must wear a mask or goggle system whenever they are on or near a paintball field; paintball masks and goggles are aimed at protecting the eyes and ears from paint balls, as it has been shown that these are really the only two parts of the body that can be seriously and permanently injured from paint balls.