I'm lucky enough to receive occasional web releases to share with my readers. I say lucky because I always learn something new when I get them. One of today's releases is about paintball. I know nothing about paintball except that I think it hurts when you get thwacked by a flying wad of paint. Maybe you don't know anything about it either. Read on for a summary of some basic paintball history.

Paintball guns were not orginally invented as part of a sport. These guns or "markers" were first used by the forestry and farming industries to mark trees and cattle (poor cows!). These first guns resemble some still used today. They had the same source of power - CO2 cartridges - and the same limitations (poor range and limited accuracy). Interestingly enough, the paintball guns used for marking trees were modified to reduce their velocity to prevent human injury. I'm not sure why a human that is marking a tree is at more risk of injury than one marking a cow. I'm also still worried about the cow!

In 1985 the first paintball gun was patented specifically for the sport. It was known as "The Splatmaster." Paintball guns have continued to evolve ever since, achieving increased accuracy, speed, air efficiency, and reduced size. Tournament-style paintball requires a gun that is easily maneuvered, so new technologies will probably continue to make improvements in those areas.

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