National Survival Game (NSG)
        London Ontario

Paintball started in London Ontario in 1982. This new business venture was started locally by an out of work Ford worker by the name of Steve Ingles. Steve had, I believe, the only NSG franchise in Ontario at that time.  His first field was located out the southwest end of the city, Warncliffe rd. towards Delaware.
   You can read more about this era from James SPUD Botaitis , an "old skool"  player who played pro for 8 years out of the group that was the Unknown Rebels.
  Spud remembers the First Year of NSG:
"There was lot's of interest when NSG opened. Lots of companies bringing their staff out for fun.. or so the boss could see if managers were really leaders or followers.  Steve Ingles milked the Free Press for lots of free advertising since paintball was a novelty in the first years.  Like any business I guess the first year was slower than the 2nd as the word of mouth built up the crowds."  
"My pals Gord and Jim and I worked as referees many weekday games for "company picnics" and the weekends were mostly the rental crowd... so it was quite busy relatively early on. Business went downhill for Steve because he was a bit of a dick as a person, and ran a minimal operation with his field.  He charged maximum money for minimal service, he had no concept of customer service.   The Nelspot and then Splatmaster were also no competition as the other guns started to come out. He was his own worst enemy as the years went on. Soon as Flagswipe opened up he lost all the regulars practically over night."
The first group of regulars at that field banded together under the name of the "The Unknown Rebels" to play Capture The Flag in tournaments under the 15 man team rules of the NSG.   They were invited to the first NSG sponsored North American Championship in New Hampshire in 1983.  The team won the two day tournament and People Magazine hailed the Canadians as the first world champions of the sport. The Unknown Rebels and their offspring continued to intimidate competitors at the NSG championships for several more years, but it wasn't enough to keep this field in business.  Steve was reportedly hard to deal with and the regular players were always looking for alternative fields and equipment dealers. This NSG field serviced the casual rental crowd until about 1988/89.  The start of Flagswipe in 1986 had quickly taken a serious chunk out of Steve's business.

Joe Survival - London Ontario
   Joe Survival was really nothing more than a blip on paintball history. It was a poorly run operation that the paintball playing crowd, that were going to the NSG and later the Flagswipe field would hardly consider.
Glenn and his wife Anita (Logey, Logie?) ran the field, Back in those days the game was a survival game, And then later a paramilitary style capture the flag. All the markers were uncommon even for the time .50 caliber pistols. Cheap knockoffs of the other popular .50 caliber the Crossman 3357
As you can see from the map in the flyer, and the google map below. The first field is Just north west of the new Oxford bridge, right near where Commissioners comes up to meet Oxford out west of the city. The field was within what is now city limits, that field was closed when the owner of the land sold it for residential development. Sept 1987,  Joe Survival then moved to their newer field which is now the site of Flagswipe outdoor.
The opening of the Original Flagswipe field in 1986 certainly was the death toll for this field. It lasted probably only a few years after they moved in 1987 not able to compete with the better run, and better equipment of Flagswipe.,

Matt 'Maverick' remembers...
well, where do I begin. The last time I was at Joe Survival out past Byron was May, 1987. That Sept. I was told that they had moved.. I was never sure where, as I was more interested in Flagswipe and actual 'capture the flag' as opposed to Joe survival. I found the guys at Joe survival very 'anti-Flagswipe' and anti-68 cal. They were convinced that .50 cal was the only way to go, despite being the only 50 cal field left in North America. They focussed on the 'war' aspect of the game more then any other field I've played at. It was mostly 'capture the flag' style games, but they had their own twists to it. They had their own 'mercs' who would play for whoever could bribe them the best, they had these mortar contraptions they'd shoot off towards one base or the other... lots of smoke got tossed.. he was working on 'grenade launchers' when I was there the last time. I just found that Flagswipe was a better option for me. As much as I enjoy the mil-sim experience, Joe survival made it more like 'soldier of fortune'.
Matt