Editing Nel-Spot 007 (section)

=== Development of paintball ===

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, a group including [[Charles Gaines]], [[Hayes Noel]] and [[Bob Gurnsey]] began developing a competitive outdoor game based on tracking, concealment and survival skills.

The Nel-Spot 007 provided a means of marking opponents during the proposed game.

On 27 June 1981, 12 participants gathered in Henniker, New Hampshire, for the first recorded organised paintball game.

Each participant used a Nel-Spot 007.

The game involved collecting flags positioned around a wooded playing area while avoiding elimination by opponents.

The winner was Ritchie White, a forester, who completed the objective without firing a shot.[2][5]

The event became the starting point for the organised recreational activity subsequently known as paintball.