Tommikka

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be

It’s most likely ‘just’ the hose was originally slipped onto a nipple whilst warm and when cooled There should not be air getting all the way up the ‘ribbed nipple’ to arrive at the arrow mark There won’t be much to be done other than cutting the hose shorter and making another connection - which is bound to be too short and also less likely to get a good seal If it’s new then go back to the retailer, the line may get exchanged Whats the pressure range at that point? HPA isn’t to be sniffed at; but the ‘high’ is relative and the risks relate to the incoming and outgoing pressures. eg airsoft / paintball cylinders fill at 3000psi or 4500psi Have a leak at that pressure going to skin contact is nasty, and a sudden burst can send cylinders flying (there’s also something much more dangerous when shortcuts are taken when filling) Old school cylinder regulators dropped pressure to 800psi to 850psi More modern ones could be half that up to around 600psi/650psi You still don’t want that on bare skin and the cylinder can still be sent off spinning Inline regulators then come down to the lower hundreds of psi It still needs respect If it’s not new then consider buying a replacement hose or if confident about constructing a replacement hose A potential bodge is to ‘aid it’ with some heat shrink Cover the joint as well as you can, then warm the hose in warm water. Press it forward and then cool it (The hope here is to get back to the best seal) Make sure it’s fully dried Get some heat shrink, long enough to go back up the hose and onto the fitting - but not so far enough to effect the join Gently warm the heat shrink evenly Note that you’re trying to hold your original hose well rather than gaining any extra seal, but the shrink helping to hold in place as you guide the hose around your RIF (((Note that you lose any warranty and it could fail again later)))

Pictures would be needed The tubing/hose is factory fitted to foster components in a number of ways which are not generally user repairable. The Foster type of connection is metal to metal at the male/female connectors, and through the ‘working parts’ can have leaks resolved by taking apart and investigating / cleaning / replacing the seal But the hose itself can be on the back of a Foster component in many ways including a push to fit bayonet, a more complex crimping etc These usually cannot be ‘repaired’ outside of a workshop which would include cutting away the hose and redoing the connection - a whole new hose will usualy be cheaper and easier Don’t glue or wrap anything around it Put up some pictures and arrows to the problem area

It’s been many many years since I’ve been doing any of that running stuff. Back then I was able to do a warm up and would be able to keep going on water and perhaps some chocolate In more recent years I’ve found that if I power my body a bit better, hydrate and have some good electrolytes etc then my body isn’t broken after exercise …….. Onto the relevant part …. I tended to go for SiS products, usually making up the powder drinks from either a packet or the giant buckets For convenience I’m more likely to use the tabs dropped into a bottle of water Sometimes I’ll use gels for an easy booster - I prefer drinks due to the water, but gels are convenient to carry High5 do good packs, with a range of drinks & gels with packs aimed at runners, cyclists etc Part of the difference is the type of bottle, with a ‘running bottle’ that fits into your hand ‘better’ - but is smaller in capacity Have a look at your local Halfords, they will tend to have the cycle packs but have had often had discount prices It depends on what you prefer, but carrying gels while you run and grabbing water from ‘stations’ might work

No matter what you do with painting patches, even if you get a precise colour match with exactly the same original paint then it will be visible that it’s been patched Either go for a full respray (of at least that piece of the body) even if that means a couple of light coats on the patch and an overall top coat, or just over the patches as lightly as possible with a black of a similar ‘sheen’ An alternate is to go for a field expedient camo respray, in which case the current paint/patch become irrelevant Personally I prefer field expedient camo sprays over perfect factory finish patterns

You must be gutted 🙂

(And for the record - mine was by courier) Regarding the boxes Rocket…… Did you choose ‘box’ or ‘no box’ On the theory that perhaps ‘box’ means a phone style box and that you just got packaging boxes

An update from me I let @rocketdogbertbe the first Guinea pig then ordered after his update It’s journey was: Despatched 14/1/23 UK arrival / customs clearance 22/1/23 UK sorting centre 22/1/23 Local depot & delivery 23/1/23 I was out, but I received the delivery confirmation and promptly forgot about it until this afternoon Checked the status to see if it actually was confirmation or that it was on a van Found the photo, so had a peek in my glass recycling box Packaging remained fully sealed, indicating it just went through the motions at customs (perhaps with an X-ray) Unless it was a bulk delivery through customs and repackaged by the UK arm, but the timeframe points to it being a single package My box appears to differ from rockets I have an iPhone style box (so what - but it’s a nice storage box) The phone pistol, shells with integral springs, projectiles, and a ‘reloading’ press I used to collect ammunition components for someone I worked with, now I have my own reloading press 1)slot in empty shells 2) top that with the middle and slot in the projectiles 3) press on the third piece and have one failure Pop out the gun A top ‘rail’ slides back to open the chamber, the grip folds out Loading: two empty chambers insert two shells note the slide on the side, this slips the shells back & forward slightly Note the two recessed pins - they are the hammers for each chamber Shoot one - pew Shoot again - misfire shoot shoot shoot The hammers alternate Crawl on the carpet to find the second projectile Verdict - it’s not airsoft or paintball (strictly speaking with the far gone history of airsoft it’s similar to some of the predecessors I had back in the day) Its a novelty piece of fun Don’t be a dickhead and shoot someone’s eye (And for the record - mine was by courier)

Thingverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=Airsoft&page=1&type=things&sort=relevant

‘Young man’ may not be a suitable description when my dementia forgot Oracle Those will be worth a pretty penny, which I always think when I poke my nose in the attic seeing my Spectrum, QL etc boxes …… and then close the attic again as I won’t want anyone else’s sticky fingers on them

True certified digital signatures have been about for some time, but as the EvilMonkee says isn’t yet widespread on a personal basis - though I was using my personal one 15 years ago, and doubt it’s been put to use for much less than that, definitely more than a decade Old people may remember Ceefax, which was a form of internet on your TV, two way communication versions such as Prestel were used for some industries and dated back to the early 80s. Prestel didn’t pick up well here with dial up Bulletin Boards being preferred by British geeky types In France Minitel home terminals were distributed by a phone company as an investment to save on updates to printed phone directories, and stayed popular with its various online services. This lasted about 30 years in france, well into the internet age Faxes gained popularity about 10 years before Ceefax, Prestel, Minitel etc and has lasted for longer. Generally we won’t see faxes and will think to email instead but their value in transferring a tangible duplicate remains, complete with legal recognition where applicable I can forsee that even when personal digital signatures become widespread, that faxes will still have their niche areas for some time Before covid there was still a real fax in my office, but with a steady change across to personal Skype numbers we still had desktop phones. During Covid the phones left the desks, and only a handful remain as fall backs. I’ve still not even noticed whether or not the fax is one of them

The fax machine example here isn’t necessarily an airline clinging to old technology, particularly with this being Japanese airlines as fax machines remain prevalent in Japan, and that’s not the only country or industry A fax is a very good proven technology that makes a piece of paper physically arrive at a destination You don’t need a fax machine to send a fax, computers still have fax as a printer driver, and I still remember the day in the early 1990s that the IT systems manager ran upstairs with excitement that he heard the servers fax board kick in because I had discovered it as a print driver…… and my confusion - “Why wouldn’t someone use the fax driver? I don’t have to walk across the room to pick up a piece of paper from the printer, over to the other office to the fax, and then downstairs to the shredder room” (Though I do still love a good shredding session and it’s very sad to have less paper) A piece of paper popping out of a fax happens straight away, is visible and makes a noise You know it’s there and can pick it up instantly or you can leave it until you feel like grabbing the pile If it’s an email then someone has to look and act, they might open it not act and then it ends up forgotten, it could disappear into a junk box etc

….. yes, hopefully just unnecessary pedantism, for the benefit of the randoms who may find the forum without a common sense portion of the brain

Just a little comment about the term ‘disused x’, as a word of caution Back in the day there was a fair bit of paintball, airsoft (probably before it went 6mm, not sure of the 6mm era) and also other shooting such as airguning in ‘disused’ locations around the UK - trespassing and potential firearms offences. A few old hospitals were known to be used by trespassing players Other countries may vary their laws with regard to abandoned locations There’s very little of the UK that isn’t owned by someone Today the ‘disused’ places where you can legally play are ‘actually used’ - eg I would guess that the ‘disused Debenhams’ is actually the ‘former Debenhams that’s used as an air soft site’ in Reading These types of site are generally the landowner getting some income pending future development As opposed to a ‘disused Debenhams’ such as we have in Salisbury for which was broken into last year by a drug addict who subsequently assaulted a friend of mine in her shop when trying to find a way through to the back of her shop to get back around the other side of the disused Debenhams This closed Debenhams is pending it’s next life Many if not most of the Army/Defence training areas that air soft can be played at are actually still current in the Defence training estate - event organisers hire the land to run the event eg Swynnerton, Sennybridge, Copehill Down. The major benefit is you play on the ‘real’ facilities, and (most) continue to be invested in and further developed. Defence gets income and can buy new toys Their contracts include cancellation clauses in case military training takes the date off them Some are sold as annexed areas beside active sites. Bought by sites or landlords and leased to site owners. Others are entire former camps The benefit being that your date doesn’t get cancelled, but taxpayers aren’t updating the facilities anymore

GnBB Gas no blowback

Tell us more Did it just come as the standard random Hong Kong post, and slip thorough easily or anything flagged for question etc?

What he said Changing any of the elements involved in launching a projectile can and will change the way it performs I’ll turn to paintball mode as that’s where my knowledge lies….. HPA is regulated, and therefore is ‘consistent’ if you don’t change any of the key factors. The can be cases where the first shot of a burst differs from subsequent shots - so you chronograph with multiple shots. If you fire long bursts and the inline regulator cannot refresh quickly enough then you lose operating pressure and lose energy - a ‘modern’ low pressure internally regulated paintball gun is much less effected by that then a high pressure mechanical one operating at the cylinders full regulated output If you change a spring, (or adjust it, or the internal space - as per the chrono adjustment of mechanical paintball guns then you change the power/velocity) If you change barrel then it affects the power & velocity. My X7 would be used at standard 280fps events and CQB 250fps events. I could happily just switch barrel between the usual and a 3” (of which most of it was the ‘muzzle break’ so effectively a 1” barrel) This was a very inefficient barrel as there was no space for the ball to accelerate, but would reliably drop the 30fps - I needed to go through chrono but didn’t need to adjust An excessively long barrel would also lose efficiency If you use a gas that’s affected by heat then it will cool/warm during the day and also cool/warm as you shoot which will change its performance CO2 in paintball is affected by atmospheric conditions - usually cold in the morning and velocity increases during the day. With long bursts it will also drop temperature, potentially go liquid and drop or increase velocity depending on the gun design - in extremes the barrel tip will snow Change the balls during the day and the physics down the barrel will change - to a degree paintballs distort under pressure which changes their efficiency & performance down the barrel With airsoft having plastic this isn’t the case, but different balls could bounce, float on a cushion of air or resist against the barrel under friction Bring in shaped projectiles and it’s a whole different situation. First strikes in paintball retain their velocity and energy for much further along their flight, and suddenly drop A first strike is half a paintball with a fin on the back - it hits ‘harder’ as it retains energy Add backspin and you also change the physics of flight - risking losing energy if you’re hitting a physical element, but a good backspin will aid the balls flight. A well maintained gun will be more consistent than a poorly maintained gun, and a if the owner/operator is confident in what they do then they may happily adjust to the top of the velocity / energy limit knowing that they will reliably be site legal (Unlike my X7 which received virtually no maintenance but was fully reliable) Site rules and chronograph regimes should take into account all types - and the staff should know how to enforce them There’s nothing wrong with HPA in airsoft, it should provide consistency and tagged to enforce

She will be seething inside with her loosing a piece of control Keep up the good work & play the system

If you’ve customised and replaced a compete upper or lower then you will have bought parts and would be selling parts - not selling a complete pistol in two halves You wouldn’t need a VCRA defence to purchase the parts, and again wouldn’t need to ensure your buyer had a VCRA defence to sell the old parts Unless you have upgraded triggers RIF replacing every component and resulted in a complete set of spare components

I would be suspicious on the wording of the question, if it had been worded about selling the parts of a pistol then I would be less suspicious, but asking about selling in two halves sounds like an intent to work around the law, such as selling to two people who are going to reassemble back into the one piece. This is similar to the old Hong Kong sellers that would send RIFs in multiple packages to smuggle through customs to evade both VCRA and import duty Truely separate sales would just be parts. ……….. However the work around may not be required in the first place. UKARA is just an extension of site memberships as a method to document a buyers intent to use a RIF for airsoft skirmishing and to protect the retail industry from the VCRA As seller it is up to you about what you accept as the buyers intention to play airsoft rather than chav activities

Try telling that to James (formerly*) of Enola at Paintfest/Airfest when I had prepared a revised format for the killhouse game on the first morning. Traditionally Enola and mornings do not go well unless they are snowboarding I had a good idea on my needs for smoke, as this hangs well in the kill house, so that was an easy one - I’ll have those for setting atmosphere, some of those and some of those Bangs were a different matter, with early morning zombified James and me trying to work out “We went through x before with y people, but I’m also planning to do this and might do a bit of that….” James hands me a case and tells me to go away Some of the pyro gets handed out to players, but most is for game atmosphere & manipulation (eg forcing players around the CQB maze towards each other) James then panics on the £s he’s just given away, freaking that at any minute I’ll send a runner over for more, plus the fact that we have another days sessions to follow …. Am I going to turn up for the same again? If you look up ‘relief’ in the dictionary you would see a photo of James face when I return late afternoon with a case of flashbangs, most of the contents still there, and even better when I tell him “I’ve hung onto a few which should last for tomorrow - I’ll send one of the guys if we run out” * ‘formerly’ being unrelated to this, he left Enola voluntarily for other pursuits (Unless the general stress of Adam and my event pyro ideas got too much)

On trust of course, once preceded by an intent to do what may be illegal then the education of theoretical skills turns its direction. But you have covered the matter that you intend to be a licenced Baofeng user, and could therefore operate outside of the PMR restrictions. I’d still veer towards just buying a Baofeng antenna which would be easier and cheaper than the parts to self assemble. But as you have the parts then that’s of course in effect free, and can be a fun project and learning experience If you Google ‘baofeng antenna upgrade’ and/or ‘baofeng antenna length’ then you ought to find all the answers

Under new regulations if an overseas seller registers with HMRC they can charge UK VAT, and it just becomes a slower delivery across borders (They declare appropriate references on the customs documents and pay HMRC) If not then they charge you their sale price and overseas postage, it arrives at the border via a carriers handling centre, the carrier check the declarations and send you as importer an import VAT bill of 20% of the item valuation (which may be the invoice amount or may be revalued for the UK) plus the carrier add their handling fee (which could be a fixed fee or could be a percentage) There is also likely to be VCRA validation of your defence to import a RIF Customs/Border Force may inspect, but most items just get handled by authorised carriers

Note that for legitimate PMR the antenna should be fixed and not replaced. In doing so this can increase the power and enable the handset to work outside of PMR specifications. You can however work on licenced handsets - which should be operated on licenced frequencies instead of PMR

If you use full face goggles, then both the goggle and spare lenses need to be protected Many ‘premium’ goggles come with their own soft bag, I’ve also made a few microfibre ‘bags’ with large Poundland microfibres. Just fold a large microfibre in half, sew all but one side and add a carry loop. Then I have a soft cover for goggles whether they are in a gear bag or on a car seat, and a handy cloth to wipe off Particularly when I was photographing events having this microfibre bag hanging off my belt ready for a lens wipe (goggle or camera) and when off the field I could also hang my goggles off my belt and in the microfibre bag