Paintball news can be pretty frustrating.  Rather than focus on the pros of the sport, most media coverage is still based on the negative - primarily acts of vandalism and mischief.  Whenever I go to a news reader and search for paintball the primary stories are not about the results of tournaments, the camaraderie of teams or individual experiences playing the game, it's about stupid people messing around and causing problems.  I'd count how many negative stories come for every positive one, but I'm sure I'd get depressed doing the math.

Paintball is a very constructive activity and the world should know about it.  For some reason though, too many boneheads drop all common sense whenever they pick up a paintball gun.  It's frustrating and it's not helping the sport grow.  Unfortunately, when all somebody knows about paintball is that they got shot in their car while driving home they often don't have any desire to try the game or learn more about it.  I can't say that I blame them.

Whether .50 caliber paintballs and paintball gear will catch on remains to be seen, but another manufacturer has bought into the idea.  Kingman has announced the Spyder .50 line of equipment.  It appears that they're planning on releasing similar guns to what they already have, just in the .50 caliber format.

I'm still undecided whether I think the .50 caliber format is a good idea for paintball or if its just an attempt by manufacturers to get existing players to spend more money on new equipment.  Either way, I'm very interested to see which other companies announce new .50 caliber gear and how much support is given to the smaller format.

I spent last night reading through old comic strips of The Whiteboard written by Doc Nickel (It received its name since it was originally drawn on a whiteboard and then photographed before turning into a traditional, paneled comic.).  As far as I know its the longest-running paintball comic strip (or webcomic).  While it's based on the life of paintball store owner (who happens to be a polar bear), almost anybody who has ever worked on a paintball gun can relate to some of the comics.  While not every comic is paintball-related, some very accurately describe what anybody who has ever hosted a paintball event already knows.

If you've never read The Whiteboard, check it out.  If you've ever worked at a field, spent time at a store or run a small business, you'll probably catch yourself relating all too well.

Paintball equipment is designed for the sport of paintball, but that doesn't mean that it can't be used for other, useful, things, too. Check out some of the unique ways paintball equipment can be used and feel free to add any more that you know of in the comments.  Keep in mind, this is a list of legitimate, useful things - nothing illegal, cruel or overly-childish.