What is Paintball Gun Man?
Paintball Gun Man is your one best stop for product reviews and videos related to the exciting sport of paint ball. If you’re looking for the latest model of paintball guns and paintball gear and want the most accurate paintball sniper gun on the market; look no further! I continuously test and review the best brands like Spyder paintball guns, DYE paintball guns and more! If you’re hitting the field for the first time and need some paintball equipment or you’ve been out there a thousand times and just need a new paintball mask to intimidate your opponents with, we’ve got the videos, information and links to the best deals for the latest paintball gear. My paintball accessory and product reviews help you choose the best paintball gear to improve your game. I take pride in making your paintball games a success by helping you choose the right gear with top of the line paintball pistols, barrels and more! When it comes to cheap paintball guns I review, and rank every one to make your decision easier and a batter experience. I’m sharing my 15 years of playing and industry experience and into one convenient place! Paintballgunman.com will become your paintball supplies review headquarters and I intend to stay that way for years to come!
Who is Paintball Gun Man, the person?
Sounds pretentious to refer to myself as “Paintball Gun Man”, oh well, most people call me Hammer (being my last name and all). I first played paintball in 1989 at the ripe old age of 14. There was a group of us kids that played lazertag and bb-gun wars out in the neighborhood woods, regularly. Paintball was the next logical step. However it was not until 1994 and my time attending Washington State University, that I got serious about the game.
My dorm room mate and I went out and each bought a paintball gun, mask etc. We then started frequenting the local paintball “field”, which was just a piece of land the Forest Service gave us the okay to play on. In that first year of university we founded the university paintball club and formed an “Amateur” team. (At the time the only other option was Pro). Before I had played my first “tournament”, more than one paintball gun did I own. (Sounds like Yoda, right?)
Over the next year our paintball team competed in a bunch of events in the Pacific NW, rarely getting out of the prelims. We had a great time, being dirt poor and still ballin. At the time the difference between a crap paintball gun and a high end marker was significant. Most of the players on the paintball club team were DIRT poor. So we shot entry level paintball guns… Well most of us did. The next year a bunch upgraded to high end paintball guns and went up to play for a major local team. That team was well sponsored including paintball gun sponsorship from Airgun Designs. Even with the influx of young talent and top notch gear, the team never really amounted to much. But I was getting more experience at larger events, practicing regularly against good talent.
At that time I also started a legitimate field in the area, that the WSU paintball club ran. We bought a fleet of rental paintball guns. Made enough money to play and we practiced way too often. But we were all getting better.
Paintball Gun Man’s Big Break
Then it happened. I got asked to guest for a sponsored team from San Diego in a “major” event. I jumped at the opportunity. To this day, I remember every game from that paintball tourney. I was a killing machine… seriously. For the first time I was playing with people who knew how to take advantage of the holes I would open in the other team. From that point on I was a member of Tsunami.
I was even allowed to form a Northern squad to play local events with. For the next 2 years I played every local event with my northern squad and national events with the main team. I even met my wife on that Tsunami North squad. One of my roommates was a great player from another team, he and I spent every free moment practicing IN the house… Usually without paint… usually.
By this time my paintball gun collection was starting to become significant, and the addiction to the game was becoming noticeable to those around me.
After graduating from the university, my wife and I moved to back to our home town. It was time to begin careers, and be an adult.
Regarding paintball, I knew I had to start over. Not in regards to my skills, but because I only knew two other paintball players in town. I made a point to meet all of the field and store owners, help out when I could and find the local teams worth playing for. One of those paintball store owners talked me into forming and captaining a new team. So, with the stores backing I formed 24/7.
I have always been a reluctant captain. I don’t want to be in charge, I want to go out and play. And I sure as hell don’t want to be the best player on the team, I want to be surrounded by talent that challenges me to get better. Regardless here I was coaching and captaining a team where I was clearly the best player. Thanks to the store owner we gained many sponsorships right out of the chute. A local field picked us up, as did PMI for paint. At different times we had Air America, Worr Game Products for our autococker paintball guns, Diablo, DYE, M-Pack, Smart Parts, JT, Bonebrake and loads more. over the years 24/7 had many squads. Mostly they had different sponsors and captains. We practiced together, and I snagged players from the other teams, treating 24/7 as a farm system with Novice and Rookie squads, to whom I was very hands off, focusing primarily on the Amateur team.
24/7 played mostly West Coast events, we were very jekyl and hyde as a team went. We’d smash the top teams and somehow manage to lose to teams that we should have rolled. It was just the way we played… balls out, full throttle, no backing down, adrenaline mayhem. 
Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Kill! Kill! Kill! My main thread of focus was “If You are Not Reloading you are Firing!” And “If you are Not moving you are DEAD!” I hated to sit, and consequently we played super fast, and super aggressive. We won some events, and placed here and there but we could never find the right roster or coordination. To this day I am still pissed over missed opportunities and blown advantages that some players left open. In paintball gun skills are almost as important as tactics, and some people would excel at one but not the other, and I was not the best coach. It is hard to watch and coach from the 50 or the snake. I was a front player, and treated the game like that was all that mattered.
I took 24/7 as far as I was capable and at that time was working in the paintball industry. I was also getting offers to play for other teams, that had greater overall potential. So for the next 3 years I guested for any team willing to pay my way. I gained tons more paintball guns and gear. It was a great run, it was great fun and I would never take back that time, but by the end I was completely burnt out. I was no longer playing with my friends, paintball had become a job, and the sport was about to go through another major shift.
At a practice with one of the teams I was playing for my knee blew out. After the surgery I decided to retire as a player. That was in 2005.
What does paintball Gun Man do now?
Now, well I review products, make videos and generally try to give away the info I wish I had when I first started out.
Paintball Gun man is now listed on: PBDirectory.net and PaintballIndex.Com – Paintball Index, the web’s best paintball directory and Paintball Directory and Directory World
I wish I could take the paintball guns and equipment from today, back to the early 1990′s. I would love to share the knowledge and experience I have with the me from then. But since that is impossible I will do the next best thing, I will try to share all of my accumulated knowledge, experience and my paintball gun addiction with you. Maybe that will alleviate the anger over missed opportunities. Paintball Gun Man might just be the therapy I need 
