Tommikka

@The_Lord_Poncho Note @Rogerborgincluded a health warning about eyesight Making your own mesh eye protection will not result in meeting safety standards. Sites should not be letting players use home made / modified eye protection In addition, if making mesh lens inserts they aren’t necessarily going to remain in situ when hit

I’m not the right person to help with glasses type such as the Blocs as I hate them as a protection - impact is fine with glasses, (as long as they are designed for inpact). But they have to fit, be worn properly and securely (I’ve seen so many BBs get in via the side etc - which seems OK when the energy is lost on the way, but that’s a failure) Glasses types should not be fogging internally (If it was just with that type I’d be suggesting to consider also whether it is external - try them then do a finger wipe) The cause will be air flow due to all the additional factors of mesh guards etc Try wearing your different options in different conditions. Eg if you just sit down inside in ambient conditions, not being active - you should have zero fogging with glasses alone as you aren’t generating extra & trapping your breath Then move on to moving around and heavier breathing. If you have fogging without excess breathing then you’re either a very heavy breather or a heat source Once you’ve ideally cracked getting fog free glasses try again with your mesh - again with no activity, moving to mild and stronger activity - the difference would be the extra air flow problems / air being forced into the glasses/goggles

That’s a fair assumption, but I less inclined to say it’s morons Morons will always be morons I’m more inclined to say that it’s irrelevant as to whether a sites underlying membership is free or paid - I am of course reading between the lines as @veylo has opted to message the site asking about renewing three seperate times - either they are impatient or it implies to me that they might not use the site, because otherwise they could ask when there They of course might be playing the site but don’t play enough in relation to the newer paid membership. In this case it’s the sights policy now to have paid membership, and UKARA is a central registry of site memberships Even when sites process membership and UKARA validation for free, it’s not just their admin time but they have to maintain site membership themselves at a cost The UKARA was born out of a need to cover the retail industry under the VCRA, but also to hopefully give the participating sites a regular customer base - if that worked for the site then it’s probably worth a free membership scheme, if it’s no longer working then they can choose other options such as paid membership

Ventilation is usually the main issue. Dye goggles are typically good for ventilation. Are your Wileyx just the goggle element ? In which case ventilation shouldn’t be an issue because your nose and mouth wouldn’t be exhaling into an area trapping your breath So what else are you doing? Wearing a scarf, snood etc and trapping the hot/moist air? Using a seperate face guard ? Are you restricting the air flow? Wearing a helmet ? Is it close to the top of your goggles and restricting flow from top vents? Another cause is your hot head - making a heat source inside the goggle, sweating etc After market coatings should not be used as a first choice - any manufacturer coating can lose its effectiveness Fans etc can aid moving the air, but if it’s trapped and not flowing then you’re just moving hot air

I like the way that you think, using the depth rather than laying things flat with miles of foam deep below

All (legitimate) paintball goggles are suitable as full face airsoft goggles. As mentioned an alternative for airsoft is a combination of eye protection plus face shield Dye became the go to goggles in airsoft, perhaps partly due to looks & speedsofters, but perhaps also because their designs tend to be compact Thet work better with small heads, eg I had i3s but the i4 left out my chin, and pretty much the bottom of my mouth Some features loved by airsofters and attributed to Dye are the equivalents that are found in all premium paintball goggles - better air flow, soft rubber bodies (aids getting your chin into your stock for sights), and dual pane lenses took some time to come as default with the budget/rental grades My personal favourite (that can be bought) are GI/VForce Grills - these also have handy slots in the foam for glasses users Number one is eye protection - I will always point away from glasses types of eye protection and try to direct to a goggle style even when not full face (eg snowboard / ski style goggles) Number two is your head - what fits comfortably and works for air flow with one head doesn’t with another If you can then try goggles on. If you’re lucky enjoy then go to a bricks & mortar shop where you can ask and try some on, failing that ask other players about theirs - everyone loves to talk about their gear, most will let you try on their goggles Spares are less of an issue - the main brands usually have a range of lenses so you can choose clear for common use, a tint for open sunlight etc. But when it comes to the lenses getting old the goggles are probably getting a bit tired so you may want a fresh strap - add those together and you’re usually pretty close to the price of replacing them Main brands do however usually provide other spares right down to replacement foam and clips The grills were popular and didn’t change their core design for many years, opting to bring out colour variations - I therefore often bought a new set every year at discounted prices as the new seasons pretty colour mix came out This means I change goggles rather than changing lens for a sunny / dull / indoor / outdoor game - or my bright marshalling set

As @Austeyrhas advised - always assume there will be an import cost First make a valuation based on the item cost plus the postage cost. This gives you a guide to the valuation, particularly as customs can include postage - this does not always happen, but plan for the worst case and also they may reject the declared/invoice valuation and estimate a market value Start with VAT - assume you will be charged 20% But that means there is admin at customs, and the carrier at the port of entry handles that - so you get a handling fee on top. This varies and may be a fixed amount or a percentage of the valuation It is very unlikely, but overseas retailers can now register with national tax offices to handle domestic VAT. If they did then your checking out on the transaction would include VAT and they detail that on the declaration with their HMRC registration - if this occurred then you would not get a charge on import and therefore no carrier handling fee However, NI sits in an exclusive position following Brexit. You continue to have a land border with Europe and a complex agreement in place to minimise trade friction across Ireland If you import from Hong Kong etc then charges will be due, but if you import from an EU airsoft retailer it could get interesting and you could benefit from the Brexit mess

Absolutely I’m very fond of sneaky players (as opposed to cheating players) The ones who will walk around ‘non aggressively’ until the perfect moment to get the ideal kill or grab a hard to get objective. This is bad enough when players get butt hurt that one of the opposition got in and shot them first, after the sad player assumed and didn’t challenge It does of course mean an eliminated player may get shot walking through so obey the rules and put your hand up/call out (or even better adopt the rarely seen airsoft dead rag rule). Stupid rules make more problems, and advertise that the sites/organisers are likely to have more problems We play games that involve shooting people, and in playing them (plus running them) we accept that we will be shot too (but there are far too many who don’t understand that) Laser tag and nerf exist for them

🤦 Somebodies had a ‘clever’ idea about dealing with minimum engagement distances. Its supposed to be quite simple, and they are clearly aware of the MED workaround of snipers having a secondary. My rule would be they can use their secondary, stay hidden or run away - and if you’re running away you can be shot. If you don’t like that then stick your hand up and walk to respawn.

It would depend on the site Semi is not one ball in flight at a time but one per pull, as opposed to full auto A quick enough finger can replicate full auto, but doesn’t have the danger issue of full auto from snagging on a bush A multi shot shotgun shell sits somewhere between semi single shot and burst fire Burst fire is a set number of shots one after another, eg one pull of burst giving three BBs in a row whereas the shotgun shell launches three at once Assuming their semi rule is a combination of safety and minimising dick players then multi shot shotguns would be acceptable - but up to the site

What @Rogerborgsaid Those specific top venting blank firers are illegal due to non compliance with UK legislation, not due to any change but they were not compliant with UK standards. They have been identified and an amnesty put into place.

Perhaps he took JustCos on their word: covering CosPlayers with Public Liability insurance in their right as a re-enactor to wear and carry costume articles that may prove alarming or ‘scary’ to third parties who may not understand ourpurpose. This policy particularly covers the right to carry imitation weaponry that could otherwise be mistaken asreal or mistakenly reported as an offensive weapon. He’s certainly proved to be alarming and scary to third parties who did not understand the purpose.

What is accepted as a proof valid defence is dependant on the seller The legislation is the VCRA. (To be pedantic airsoft is actually not in the core legislation but by statutory instrument) The seller is liable to ensure that they are content that the buyers purpose for a RIF is covered by one of the VCRA defences The relevant airsoft defence is for the playing of / participation in “airsoft skirmishing” at an insured site The most commonly recognised scheme is the UKARA - this requires players to attend a participating site on multiple occasions, the multiple game requirement means that it also complies with suggested guidelines at the time, which are not explicit in the legislation / statutory instrument The UKAPU may be accepted by a retailer but the UKAPU website explicitly states that it is not a defence https://www.ukapu.org.uk/join/ ….. If you are after a blank firer then the Airsoft defence does not apply. There is no need for a blank firer to be black/realistic when used for many purposes such as starting pistols The only need that I would see for a blank firing RIF would be for theatrical / film making use etc - which have their own defence requirements - and also have many reasons to not use blank firers

We don’t know what we don’t know, and the wise man knows that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know You’ve started well having identified a potential flaw and then thinking about how that is resolved The first time we ran an airsoft game I knew nothing about how airsoft actually runs. I was sat at the safe zone entry waiting for all players to return before resetting props & pyro for the next mission. The players didn’t know why I was there, the first player through showed me his empty magwell - then everyone in turn showed they were safe & clear or stopped to remove magazine and fire off the last BB in the chamber - and then due to my presence a few remembered they had a holstered pistol to clear as well In just a few minutes I learned the airsoft method for clearing before exit, and some of the peculiarities of different RIF types * we always run events in in collaboration with sites so did have real marshals to do that side - not only because we have a paintball background vs airsoft specifics, but I prefer a clear distinction on the primary roles - everyone should be looking out for safety but I feel that the game marshal should be focused safety first that rather than us who are running the flow of an event and hopefully spotting safety issues

A barrel blocker / barrel condom (properly fitted) will prevent accidental discharge Removing the magazine and firing to ensure there’s nothing left in there will mean there’s nothing to be shot

Correct Regulator fill nipples have an internal valve which will not open until the fill station pressure exceeds the bottle pressure A compressor or dive cylinder based fill station will exceed your cylinders pressure and open the valve. A stirrup pump fill will need some pumps to get started Note that there will be a small amount of air lost when purging the fill line after filling, but the cylinder will not bleed back when connected

That will do the job When you fit it don’t use any products such a thread sealant, loctite etc, and don’t use any tools to screw it on - do so by hand - and ideally finally tighten it with a torque wrench If instructions are included consult them, otherwise use the Ninja standard instruction https://www.ninjapaintball.com/_files/ugd/3e81ed_faa639e0b9a94c5f93bd5a509d26cea8.pdf If you can use a regulator tool to safely grip the regulator and aid with tightening Many different designs are available - some with and without the ability to use with a torque wrench Ask at your local site and someone may have one

In principle, any HPA bottle regulator will do. However they do come designed for use with either a 3000psi or 4500psi source cylinder - the obvious difference being the burst disk fitted, you have a 4500psi capable cylinder so you should use a regulator designed for 4500psi cylinders As airsoft gets governed by a subsequent inline regulator you can worry less about the specifications of the cylinder regulator. The cylinder you have bought is supplied without a regulator as that lets the owner choose their own, which is common in paintball to meet personal needs (It also means that the seller isn’t posting a pressure vessel) Here the Cat 5 is designed to accept an input pressure of 300psi to 1000psi: https://www.wolverineairsoft.com/files/documentation/STORM Category 5 Owner's Manual.pdf Feed it over 1000psi and things are going to fail, feed it below 300psi, and though the output is 80psi to 180psi you could experience refresh problems This is a basic 4500psi regulator, with a designed output of 900psi. But take note that even though the Storm could take that, the retailer doesn’t recommend it for most airsofters. (These days most paintballers would avoid such a high pressure) But It is cheap and cheerful (If you don’t want to spend much more at the moment you could call to check it would be OK https://shop.super5ives.com/shop/item/113567/standard-bottle-regulator-rated-45k.html For not much more £ there’s the Dye throttle, though these a typically still high in output around 850psi https://shop.super5ives.com/shop/item/100493/dye-lt-throttle-regulator-4500psi300bar.html Put up the budget a bit and you can get regulators designed to be adjusted, not only changing shims for the output pressure but also potentially adjust the position that the fill nipple sits (if using as a bottle on configuration to avoid stabbing wrists) Check the capabilities as that SHPs default would probaly blow your inline regulator, but the SLP would be the low end pressure for your inline https://shop.super5ives.com/shop/item/14010/ninja-pro-reg-v2-slp.html https://shop.super5ives.com/shop/item/12922/ninja-pro-reg-v2-shp.html

…. Cue me checking my Vinted listings …. Turns out that I have only put assault vests etc on eBay, but I do have uniform hats/peaked caps listed on Vinted - and a check of the rules does say they aren’t allowed It’s possible to get away with rule breaches, but you may or may not get listings pulled. On listing it depends on any key words or AI recognition of images, and then subsequently can be reported by other users (especially other sellers) I listed some disposable coats, but these weren’t the typical festival smock type but a hoodless button up lab coat - and immediately rejected due to the laboratory / medical words I did use Vinted as my default for selling clothing and some of the few other categories that they allow as the different way they do postage meant I may make more of the sale rather than full eBay fees. But then fortnightly fee discounts, and currently zero fees made ebay the better option I don’t tend to bother with Vinted now, just leaving existing items there if I can’t be bothered to relist on eBay - and there’s a couple of things that I have a few of so I keep a listing on both eBay and Vinted Vinted does annoy me with their ‘will you sell it for £x’ process which doesn’t result in sales when I accept someone’s ‘offer’ - and people want to heavily under cut the asking price Premium stuff from UTG I sold my old UTG urban MOLLE for about £15

Wittering is a ‘well found centre of specialism’ as a ‘support enabler’ to the RAF and Defence objectives, that’s why it still exists and presumably will continue to do so ……. Either that, or due to potential military ground contamination, land value (or lack of land value), potential/lack of potential for housing/commerical development and the very important thing that ruins plans to dispose is as you have pointed out the terms under which sites went to government. Under BDES, which I have thumbed through in hard copy and electronic copy many times ….. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f6344b18fa8f5106b23aa86/Better_Defence_Estate_Dec16_Amends_Web.pdf ….. Defence have two key targets to dispose of 30% of the estate and in doing so to facilitate the enabling of land release for housing development of 55,000 new homes. They go hand in hand, except that sites no longer required for modern defence needs aren’t necessarily where people will want to live - especially if the site that would be closed is the main employer in the area. That’s before someone confirms whether or not government can sell the land, so the valuable land turns out to be required to be given back to the previous landowner rather than being used to facilitate the replacement site development Or the environmental cleanup Or the local MP complains about losses of employment Or the planning of expanding site B to rationalise what was in site A to close down won’t pass planning because that means putting buildings onto the open green land next door to site B Next let’s wait for someone to have the idea again of selling off the lovely Wiltshire land at Porton Down

They valued it that much? Gone are the days of Chinese packages worth 1p

With Brexit it’s now quite clear that everything crossing the border is an import so there’s much less chance of something just slipping through, and certainly a decent sized box as a RIF There is now the potential that an overseas retailer can register with the destination tax office to pre-process VAT (Highly unlikely for the nature of our hobbies as it is not worth the registration costs and administrative work for the small amount of business) If they did then you would see UK VAT being charged on checkout, they declare on the package declaration documentation with their registration details and it flies through the customs element. (A VCRA RIF defence would still be required) But in practice you will get assessed for VAT on arrival. Starting with the customs declared value & invoice, including the postage cost - in the overseas currency They may reassess the value based on a UK market equivalent so don’t count on it and allow for a higher charge (They might not include the postage cost in the valuation, but are permitted to do so - and by including that in your calculations you are preparing for worst case scenarios) Take the total amount you paid including postage, convert that to £s (at the current rate which may differ from the rate at the time of payment. Work out VAT at 20% Then add on a carrier handling charge, which varies between carriers - it may be fixed at £8, £20 etc or it may be a percentage of the total On $294.70 I was charged £45.73 VAT (20% of £228.65) sent by USPS from the US and handled by Parcel Force here, for which they took a £12 handling fee Ask your local / preferred retailer and even for items not stocked they may import on your behalf. You would pay a UK retail price, but would have a better idea on the final cost rather than waiting for an extra bill

The typical minimum age for both airsoft and paintball is 12 This is mostly in relation to insurance against the wider risks of controlling younger children - previously the limit dictated by paintball insurers was 13, but as much of rental paintball is for organised groups, and for children that was birthday parties sites were being asked to let in 12 year olds for their classmates 13th birthday and site insurance dropped a year to cater for those. The introduction of .50” paintballs (or more precisely reintroduction of .50”) was due to industry marketing to sites as low impact paintball. The smaller size and lower mass had some marketing to permit higher velocities still within legislations energy levels, but it was the low impact that won sites over (and to a degree the smaller boxes which caused quite a few sites to fully convert their rental equipment to .50” This low impact version of paintball brings me to the relevant point - insurers will allow cover for sites to reduce age limits to 8+ For general impact, airsoft BBs are smaller and have less energy in them, which means they have less impact when hit. But they aren’t designed to break on impact, which with paintball absorbs some of the energy Rental paintballs tend to be a lower quality than those used in tournaments and larger events. This is a deliberate design choice for rental sites as it prolongs the life in storage and simplifies storage requirements but makes a rental / recreational paintball hit harder than a fragile tournament grade paintball Keep skin covered to absorb the initial point of impact whether it’s a BB or a paintball For venues general woodland is better for young and new players with the openness rather than the up close environment of CQB & urban Ground is rough and uneven, but if you are lacking awareness of woodland surfaces then indoors is less forgiving - not only likely to be concrete floor or at least hard floor but the random things around the old buildings used for urban / CQB Then add slippery paintball gel or lots of BBs luring around on a hard floor (I played the infamous paintball game in the Reading Mall which left slippery residue for weeks/months - when ‘cleared’ the walls and ceilngs bled out some more BBs and paintball shells can be swept away, but the gelatine will remain - it’s going to need washing down, ideally by pressure washer I recommend a 10 year old waits, but low impact .50” will satisfy the itch for a year or two - and ensure that they are addicted if they continue to upgrade at 12

…. You weren’t meant to mention it

((Thanks for the informative background message))