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The first paintballs were created in the 1970s by
Charles Nelson of
the Nelson Paint Company of MI, Inc. in Kingsford, MI for use by
foresters in marking trees from a distance, and also for use by
cattlemen to mark cows. The earliest versions of paintballs were made
from wax, but they were not sufficiently durable, and soon softgel
encapsulation was identified as the best method of containing the paint
in a projectile that would survive being rapidly accelerated when
fired, yet break on the intended target.
In 1976, Hayes Noel, a stock trader, Bob Gurnsey,
and his friends Mark Chapin, a S.W.A.T.
officer, and Alex Rieger, a Green Beret were walking home and chatting
about Gaines' recent trip to Africa and his experiences hunting
buffalo. Eager to recreate the adrenaline rush that came with the
thrill of the hunt, and inspired by Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous
Game, the two friends came up with the idea to
create a game where they could stalk and hunt each other.
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