The Trend of Trends

Let's face it, paintball is one trendy ass sport, probably more so than other popular sports either traditional or extreme. The most popular trend in paintball is the trend to not look like everyone else by looking like everyone else...yeah, you read that right. If you disagree with me, go back and look of pictures of yourself and compare them with your teammates or other players, you look just like them. Just because your flex frame has neon green trim and your friend's frame has hot pink trim doesn't make you different. Argue all you want but here's the truth; in six months neither of you will have color frames and more than likely both of you will have latched onto some other new trend.

Like all trends, there is some statement being implied but for some reason that statement seems to lose merit or significance over time. Some trends disappear as quickly as they came while others seem to last awhile longer. Why this is I'm not sure but if I were to venture a guess (and I will) I would say that it's because some people are just too damn stubborn or it actually offers a level of practicality, which is an added bonus really. You're fashionable and smart, how often does that happen? However, some people take these trends too far and I no longer find it laughable but discouraging. I know they'll say they were only joking but if you're willing to dress up that much that means at one point you were serious enough to do so...

So which trends in paintball vanished and which ones persisted? Also what are some of the newer trends and what is on the horizon?

Sandanas - This has been the one persistent trend in paintball that will probably never go away and for good reason. The sandana is one of the oldest paintball products behind paintballs, guns and masks. The first reason the sandanas will stick around longer is that it is a practical piece of equipment. The mesh helps your head breath/stay cool and the headband offers some protection when taking a blast to the forehead. The second is that they're fashionable. Camo will never die, never. Despite all our efforts to try and separate out sport from the common misconception of this being a war game, we still hold onto some porition of camoflage like a security blanket. Third, if you can pull it off, then by all means wear it. Not everyone looks good in a sandana, I'm one of them, which is why I don't wear one (also because I don't find them that comfortable). A lot of players seem to not realize this and wear them anyways making me laugh at them and then singling them out later to try and teach them a lesson. It never goes through but their sandana aint so pretty no more.

Du-rag/do-rag/doo-rag - How ever you spell it you probably know what I'm talking about. Made popular by hip-hop/rap musicians, these are basically a poor-man's sandana but for someone who wants a little more flair out of their headgear. These started making their way onto the scene sometime in 2001, grew and then started to phase out. They came in a wide variety of colors and schemes and were dirt cheap. Du-rags also didn't offer a lot protection and some of them didn't really breathe well either. I wore one for a long time as I got tired of going to work on Monday and trying to explain why parts of my hair was pink or orange (hellfire use to stain terribly) so it did have some practical use.

Rockin' the 16 - This was a very short lived trend but it was big, no pun intended. Simply put "rockin' the 16" meant having a barrel 16 inches long and if it was a dye ultralite and/or two piece, well you were ahead of the pack. This also came out during a time when guns weren't exactly compact as they are now and with a 16in barrel, they looked like rifles (ex. 2k2 platform timmys). They made playing tight more difficult and didn't exactly improve accuracy but neither of those things were important to those who chose to "rock the 16."

HK Army/agg - I'm not going to even bother with this as this has been the most popular trend to sweep paintball. If you're not aware what either of these entities are go http://www.pbnation.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=349> here and I can only hope you make it out alive. They are responsible for all kinds of crap and manage to sill be the biggest trendsetters in the game.

Stickers - A pretty basic trend that at one point bore on absurd. Stickers are a great way to rep sponsors and express yourself. They're cheap, easy to apply and when you're tired of them, you can peel them off or just place new stickers on top of them. Well, a long time ago someone apparently noticed that if you put enough stickers on your gun or hopper, you can disguise hits or make them easy to wipe off.

Now, I don't know who thought this was a good idea and I don't know if it actually worked but the league soon jumped on it. At one point you were only allowed one 2'x4' sticker on your hopper or gun but I don't think any ref actually enforced this rule and if they did, I'm sure they were extremely popular.

Pink - For a brief period, paintball's figurative masculinity and sexuality was called into question when the sport went metro. Everything had to be pink to some people. I found it offensive as I watched perfectly fine guns re-anno'd to various shades of pink. It was awful and there are a stubborn few who feel it is necessary to continue in this ridiculous fad.

Area code - Letting people know what first three numbers you dial on your phone and where you're from is important to some, rekonize foo! Place it everywhere you can to remind people and if you feel necessary to do so, chant your area code. This will also help you remember in case you forget.

Florida Capri - This is a very recent trend and one I don't quite get. It's also entirely localized to the state of Florida and only players from Florida do this. Basically, instead of letting the pants go down the length of the leg, someone thought it was cool to stop the cuff sometimes as high as mid-shin leaving part of your leg bare and exposing your white socks to everyone. So far I've found no practical use for this adjustment nor do I believe there is one. Maybe they do this because they live in Florida and it gets hot there. Well, it gets hot here in Texas but I've never felt the need to hike my pants up to cool down. Maybe they do it to add some kind of bounce factor, hell I don't know, it's just weird and I'm sick of people asking me why they do this like I'm suppose to know...

I have no idea what new trend is headed our way and I don't really want to think about it. The fact of the matter is something will catch on, people will run it into the ground to where it's not cool anymore and then the whole cycle will repeat itself with some other asinine idea. Cue Lion King music...