Since 2002

WhatIsPaintball.com went online in 2002 with one goal: explain paintball to people who had never played it. The original welcome page put it plainly: this was “the site for those who don’t know squat about paintball and want to know more.”

It was built by players, for new players. Over the next few years it grew into articles, gear reviews, tech help, a forum, an IRC channel, photo galleries and a field locator, almost all of it written by volunteers from the community.

The original server went dark in 2026. This rebuild keeps the archive alive, cleans it up for modern screens, and adds new guides for the questions new players still ask.

The site log

2002: WhatIsPaintball.com launches with “What Is Paintball?”, a history of the sport and a beginner FAQ.
October 2003: More articles, plus a live chat in #Paintball on the Undernet IRC network.
June 2004: New articles and a rebuilt forum.
August 2004: A Tech Help section, run by a certified tech, and a “New to Paintball?” section for first-timers.
2026: Rebuilt from the original backups. Same mission, new guides on types of paintball and your first day, and an updated FAQ.

About the archive

The archive articles were written between 2002 and 2005. We kept them in their authors’ own voices and only fixed spelling and formatting. Where gear, prices or safety practice have changed, you will see a yellow note from us at the top of the article.

A few things from the old site did not make the move: the forum, the IRC chat, the field and store directories (twenty years out of date), and a handful of articles we republished from other sites back then. Those belong to their authors.

Thank you to our contributors

Every archive article was written and shared by a player who wanted to help new people into the sport. Thank you to Angie Loewen, Jim Brown, Jerry “Kan Man” K., Chris Berg, Derek Smalls, Dustin Goodwin, Samy Rouabhia, Cory Stabel, David Helgeson, Eric La France, Matt Palmer, Richard Passmore and sNoW PIrAnHa, and to everyone who posted on the forum, sent in photos and hung out in #Paintball.

Get in touch

Questions, corrections or an old photo from a WhatIsPaintball.com game? Email [email protected].