06: Paintball

But for those who were there, 2006 represents a specific smell: HPA (high-pressure air) mixed with grass and the faint acrid scent of cheap Walmart paint. It was a time when a 17-year-old with a part-time job could buy a used Ion, throw a drop-forward on it, and feel like a pro.

By: Feature Desk

If you asked any veteran paintball player to name the single most explosive year for the sport, a majority would point to 2006. Sandwiched between the gritty, woodsball-dominated 90s and the hyper-regulated, machine-like precision of the 2010s, 2006 was the year paintball went mainstream. It was loud, colorful, and unapologetically aggressive. paintball 06