Tommikka

Youve only gone and bought a goggle classic. There are obsessive collectors for the Flex/ProFlex series, and it’s a goggle design that the company have tried to develop & improve but players kept pushing back to older editions because it was a design that had been ‘right’ for a long time

Those funny Scottish people in skirts keep going on about their ‘fweedom’, but evey Orcadian knows that we would just have to fork up 100,000 crowns to pay back the King of Norways debt for which Orkney was handed over…… Less than £10, unless we’re generous as he was king of Norway and Denmark at the time, so if we use the Danish exchange rate its less than £15

The electrics are inside, and some electronics are coated these days (I don’t know whether any of the branded airsoft electronics benefit from coating) Unless your equipment is soaked it will be fine Wipe dry at any opportunity during the day, and make sure it’s dried off before storing afterwards

Quite interesting On an independence slant, don’t necessarily disregard the IRA - providing you look at the first Irish Republican Army which was the origin of the Free States army, then with Eire and now the Republic of Ireland - now known as the Defence Force Into the 90s they kept with simple olive green instead of migrating to disruptive camouflage patterns - largely due to the troubles avoiding border confusion with the British army, but have moved onto DPM - but with a different paddyflage colour pallette (The Rangers went DPM earlier in the 80s) Now they would be seen in their own variation of multicam ITMP - which has FF embedded in the pattern …. Worth a Google for general interest, but it’s not your target era, you could consider for a later 2020s ScotCam) In the 90s most army’s had a mix of plain green and camouflage patterns depending on the order of dress for what they were doing. Today the camouflage scheme is typically used for most forms of dress (there is interest in reverting to a barracks dress but MTP dominates all but dress uniform - and if your regimental dress code formally retained the green wooly pully as at the right date then it remains permitted but other regiments / corps it’s MTP with no wooly pully) Ireland and Scotland have very different histories with England Both have been subject to historic occupation with brutality, the handling of Catholics and migration (potato famine & the highland clearances being of note) But they have been on very different levels - it would depend on your alternative history backstory With a lesser ‘hatred’ level, and geographic position I would feel that an independent Scotland would not have remained neutral for the world wars - not just for the different England / Scotland situation but with close historic ties to France and constant ties with the Scandinavian countries Scotland was (and still is) essential to the UKs naval strategy, in the 1900s still had a solid ship industry - this declined post war and was reinvested in around the 60s/70s I could see a period of things being rocky after independence depending on how your story covers the seperation, but there’s scope for some time to WW1 and a definite alignment to their international allegiances for WW2 The North Atlantic situation would not allow for a neutral Scotland very long (I’ll mention Orkney & the other islands up there - us Orkney folks have a different mindset, an independent Scotland could have triggered a Norwegian realignment seoerating Orkney to its own independance, and if staying Scottish would have leapt in to support the Norwegians even if Scotland maintained neutrality - the Shetlanders are even more mental than Orcadians so would do the same) Going back to uniform schemes - starting off plain with a style pretty much the same as the British (units most likely to be the former British Scottish regiments with fresh badges) The situation could depend on whether it was a clean independence or a demarcation split such as Eire / Northern Ireland - but Scotland does not have the equivalent “English/protestant colony” - if there is a clean independence it would both ease the situation for a WW1 alliance and mean there is no (or minor) ongoing revolutionary action so may not be a need for border forces to be clearly distinct Into the 90s that could mean an adoption of a Scottish DPM - perhaps the same as the British, perhaps a JimmyCam colour scheme They may align with the Scandinavians for a pattern, all had some form of disruptive pattern (which could also differentiate from the British if necessary). Some in their own blobs, some in splinter or spots. Colours tended to aim towards their forest colours, which differ from Scotland’s environment I would still think of British DPM for the right environment other than a heather colour palette If allied with England then their expected Cold War field of battle would be Western Europe which keeps DPM / JimmyCam, but you could come up with a background story to ally with Norway etc and adopt theirs as a Cold War battle ground - but i think that it’s too bright for Scotland For weapons they would begin with the Lee enfield But moving on they could easily adopt Norwegian styles - both are hardy environments, Norway went down the HK & FN routes FN gives a choice between going British with the SLR or to not accept the single fire variant but the full auto FN, and an excuse to bypass the SA80 by rejecting to adopt it with early issues (Including or excluding the SA80 could tell quite a lot about the attitude on change to independance as to how friendly ties remained) To build a load out it is clearly a lot easier to adopt a base uniform and create your own badge designs Mix and match allegiances (I’m inclined on British DPM plus Norwegian accessories) The SLR edition could still make sense on doctrine of the single shot option due to the common English/Scottish military’s Have a look at the Irish Defence Force for differences / commonalities with the British for a bit of an independence story, and then look at Norwegian vs British loadouts of the 90s

You won’t want to read this about the ABA/UKARA player licence scheme proposal accepted by the Home Office resulting in the skirmisher defence https://www.popularairsoft.com/news/ukasgb-ukara-aba-proposal-vcr-bill

In that sense ‘it works’ Anything works if the seller accepts it Another retailer as above (no longer trading) had a tick box for buyers to declare their intent to play airsoft at insured sites - at least that related to the actual defence of playing airsoft There is no legal requirement that defines how a defence qualifies (the UKARA is in line with the proposals that the airsoft industry raised during VCR bill consultation, though airsoft never made it into the VCRA itself but as an add on via Statutory Instrument - it is up to the seller to satisfy themself in a manner that they would be happy with if they were ever subject to a VCRA prosecution Those behind JustCos have actually produced prosecution evidence themselves

Reserve cleats for good ground - they aid grip on the right surface but can grip too well and turn an ankle (Ive seen people run, turn and left their foot grip in place trying to go in a different direction) For variable surfaces it must be something with good ankle support, chunky soles help but as Lyndication noted deep sloppy mud is sloppy mud In my tournament photography days I wore astro football boots for astro turf (chosen by a football mum and turned out perfect on good turf) For grass I would use dedicated paintball cleats (actually close to golf shoes) with a range of changeable studs - they included asto studs but I never fitted those as football mums know best These were great on the grass and mud but the studs stabbed into the soles of my feet on the gravel paths For anywhere else boots are the right answer * I would not have spent money on those cleats, but a copyright infringement when a manufacturer publishes an advertising campaign using an uncredited meme of your photo works wonders for copyright compensation 😉

There is a shout out deserved by the bobbies involved Based on the date and proximity, the idiot will have been on his way to London AnimeCon at the Novotel, which would be a 45-50 minute walk from Chelsea & Westminster Hospital as referenced in the call, and Fulham Broadway not being on the shortest direct walk about 15 minutes from the hospital That 15 minutes has to have time deducted for the caller to have seen, mulled it over, thought that it’s not a real threat, but it does need to be reported - then call in, and for the control room to despatch, put the call out, CCTV to find and track etc They are not an armed response team, so unlikely to have been directed by CCTV (but may have had updates on the radio) With the match day they may have been crowd control, and acted either on other reports such as football fans telling them “there is a bloke with a gun over there” or just on sight themselves Perhaps also working on the principle that it looks like a dickhead dressed up, but still in need of controlling the firearm fast They put me in mind of the armed response officers body cam footage when he chose not to shoot when called to respond and a teen pulled an airsoft / BB pistol from his waist band and pointed it in the face of the police officer - with his brain fighting over “danger shoot now / it’s a kid” https://winter.londonanimecon.com

The point of JustCos is well established to be nothing to do with Comicon - the comicon that they listed as partnered bans RIFs The point of JustCos is to add an income stream and claims to provide insurance for claims of ‘scaring people’ - on that basis this individual would have a claim

Those are designed for the game, but don’t have any particular groin padding etc - just combat trousers etc I’d still recommend going for loose and baggy, once you’ve got some games in then you’ll have an idea what features you will want for your style Too many layers just add weight and heat retention, with the knock on effect of not knowing you’ve been shot Take away the layers and you’ll find that hits don’t hurt, and if you’re hit up close then it doesn’t last long The best protection from groin shots is to keep your groin away from barrel height, if you’re outside most shots are from people standing or knealt which should put hits from belly up - once at a distance when the BB drops over distance it’s losing velocity and energy

It does turn out that they have gone off to history like many smaller brands They would be worth it on a second hand buy (I sold mine, and though they were well abused they did the job and should be serving the new owner for a good while) The in thing has become skinny for those trendy young things The benefit of skinny is that there is less area to hit, which is more important in airsoft as a hit is a hit, whereas in paintball a non broken bounce is not a hit (unless in specific game types where bounces count) The thicker / soft padding in paintball being primarily to absorb energy and try not to break the ball, rather than avoiding pain The main brands remaining, unless the brand really focuses the ‘trendy’ fashion victims does tend to have at least one thicker option in the range — but will need checking out the photos and specs An option I forgot to mention is something like Anthrax paintball that sells theirs with your own design options, with off the shelf designs, partial custom (generally off the shelf with panels you can have printed) and fully custom (design your own colour scheme) I have a jersey from them in our own custom camouflage pattern, and their pricing doesn’t kill the wallet too much - if you do your own artwork there is no design fee, noting that some manufacturers have a set up fee which works out very little when kitting out a whole team but pricey for a small number https://www.anthraxpaintball.com/custom-paintball-pants

I don’t think that the most ‘modern’ designs go for as much padding with some trends towards ‘jogger’ style, and in some cases they may be less likely to advertise features as ‘padding’ due to some of the more serious tournament rule wording on clothing, eg you can wear two layers of clothing which includes counting the bounce vest and/or slide shorts - if it’s a thick quilted materiel on the trousers then that’s just hard wearing materiel and not extra soft padding to promote bounce rather than bursting paintballs My ‘best’ ones don’t appear to be on the market anymore, and at the time a few years back were highly pricey at £200+ or even more- but I didn’t pay that - I won a pair in a raffle. I also would not have chosen the colour scheme which was (supposed to be) very white but for me was promptly stained by dirt & grass They were low slung in the crotch, combined with thick quilted material plus a extra front panel to clip across and another internal crotch panel of foam like materiel Thick all over for general padding, extra layers at the crotch, stretchy in areas and didn’t let in the wet when Knealt on wet astroturf or muddy puddles No endorsement on any of the following but a search of the Laysick name should show a few similar looking designs with extra crotch, Angel can cover some old school designs, Dye, Empire & exalt have some handy ones but beware of too lightweight and joggers Anthrax can be useful, and if you can handle Photoshop you can get fully / partial custom design prints (Ask for templates, do your own design and unless you use their consultancy design they don’t much different to just buying new off the shelf https://www.anthraxpaintball.com/custom-paintball-pants

I wouldn’t bother Slide shorts are primarily designed to provide padding around the hip and thighs for abrasion when sliding (hence the name) Many if not all current designs will have groin padding If you’re going to be diving around then they are worth it, otherwise it’s another layer to get you hot & sweaty - especially as they are likely to be worn as an extra layer on top of your underwear and under your trousers Baggy trousers perform the job without adding to what you wear, and easily absorb impact Bear in mind that airsoft BBs are fired at maximums of either 1.3 or 2.5 joules, which compared to paintballs maximum of 12ft lbs / 16.3 joules There is the added difference that paintballs are a larger frangible sphere vs airsofts small solid sphere which means the burst of a paintball disperses energy. I have been shot a lot, I enjoy the adrenaline that comes with that (also a painkiller in itself) BBs are a short sting, paintballs are more of a slap. I’ve also taken more dick shots than I would like - in photography paintball designed baggy trousers do the job fine - a padded groin that is loose and baggy. For CQB play I opt for a box in cricket shorts (they make me feel enclosed, but when you’re being shot at from a couple of feet away on the stairs they help! Paintball tournament referees typically wear a towel hung from their trousers which deals with absorbing impact, I’ve considered that when photographing but don’t need it when trousers are baggy, and as a photographer I’m not in the middle of the field but on the boundary. (On practice / training days I would often go into the middle of the field for photo opportunities, and may be laid or squatting directly in line of shot, but still didn’t need that level of crotch protection) …….., Protect your eyes, protect your fingers with gloves, your ankles with supporting boots. For your body loose clothing does the job Unless you are a diver & slider I would not bother with slide shorts, but perhaps look at paintball trousers that have some thicker padding at areas such as knees, thighs & crotch ** note that I write in English, therefore I say trousers, they generally get listed in American English as paintball pants Avoid the tight skinny jean types of paintball trousers - they look stupid and don’t have the padding , also beware of “paintball training trousers / training pants” as they may be thinner and lighter without the padding When you look up paintball trousers you will see scary higher prices (compare those shorts at £55 to trousers at £100 / £150) Shop around, particularly for late season sales and last years range etc - or even better look up eBay and vinted Another option is workwear trousers - check out your local DIY or trade counter and see what they have in heavy duty work trousers that provide multi layer / padded zones etc

Genuine gifts still have a value When crossing international boundaries there is a different threshold for taxes and duties on gifts The potential problem with the Chinese habit of marking as ‘gift’ is that it is a fraudulent customs declaration, and an obvious fraud However customs are used to it, they will just get to it when they get to it

Biodegradable BBs are expected to degrade in years and decades as opposed to standard BBs which will take centuries Every ‘degradable’ object also needs to be in the right conditions, airsoft bio degradable BBs are likely to need to be stepped into the ground to be subjected to pressure and heat This will mean that they are not suitable for the land that you have access to