Invention of Paintball
In 1976, Gaines returned to New Hampshire from an African buffalo-hunting safari, and discussed with his friend Bob Gurnsey the idea of a game in which the participants would stalk each other through the woods. The concept was inspired in part by the short story The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. In 1981, Gaines and eleven others played the first game of paintball, using Nel-Spot pistols which were intended for marking trees and livestock by ranchers. This initial game was a capture the flag style scenario. Later, Bob Gurnsey formed the National Survival Game company, which was the first firm to sell paintball equipment.
In 1997 Gaines published a novel entitled Survival Games which features inventors of paintball, probably based upon Gaines and Gurnsey, as the main characters.
Read more about this topic: Charles Gaines
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