Editing Bob Gurnsey (section)

== Historical significance ==

=== Founding paintball ===

Gurnsey was one of the twelve participants in the first widely documented organised paintball game.

He also helped establish the rules and commercial framework that allowed the activity to expand.

=== Commercial development ===

National Survival Game introduced a repeatable business model involving equipment packages, licensed playing fields and organised events.

=== Tournament paintball ===

The National Survival Game Championships helped establish formal competition during the early 1980s.

=== Equipment development ===

The Splatmaster and Rapide were influential early markers designed specifically for recreational paintball.

=== International expansion ===

National Survival Game's commercial model helped spread paintball beyond its original New Hampshire setting.

=== Historical documentation ===

Gurnsey's interviews and surviving archives provide important primary evidence about the sport's earliest years.

=== Recognition ===

His 2017 Paintball Hall of Fame induction formally recognised his contribution to the development of paintball.