Tommikka

I really am going to need to create a thread about props, gadgets etc and the advantages & disadvantages of a using them around a game structure. (The need of a game first, and the gadget after - not a game to use the gadget) The wrong drone is in these pictures, but it was the first one we used and let a side take ‘control’ (tell our pilot where to fly it) and see what they can see A later iteration that could take a payload was then mixed in with the screens in the case. Watch what the drone or RC car can see, and do some stuff But there is footage here of an early test flight among the trees … and my one handed dive and catch as it decides to drop out of control ……. Here’s one I watched earlier …… which is nice affordable technology giving localised real time positioning All fantastic, until he tries to apply it, correct errors, and it all gets just worse and worse …. Our man with the soldering iron just says no He’ll drop in trackers to find something, or quietly work away until one day he’ll throw in a working product But currently it’s no - not reliable, not worth the effort, and for any ideas brought up there are simpler and alternative ways to do it I gave him a laser tag ‘missile launcher’ once. He had the idea and built a laser designation pyro control system operating across a valley. Players had to spot and ‘tag’ a sequence of reflective sensors Great fun, worked perfectly and then at the end of the day he told me that he just painted it, made some boxes with reflectors - and stood beside the operator with a pyro remote button in his pocket

I’d read that

…. And if I can build & programme some over lockdown, then anyone can Our man behind the gadgets is a perfectionist, and builds things to survive abuse But anyone with an idea, and the ability to think it through can knock out a gadget with ease undercutting everyone else

Don’t worry - I have been called out for breaking his dreams in our team chat We had some discussion by PM and the questions he asked me about our devices that I had referred to earlier in the thread. Without him actually telling me what his specific plans were, we discussed some types of features. We have those in our devices, but do not have live tracking (at least not as a player feature) On that basis, and from our conversation he isn’t pursuing his project, as it appears that his ideas have already been produced (and may also be in the public domain under open source & project demos etc) I did add a comment that I’ve pissed on his parade, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have an outlet for his idea, nor that he won’t come up with a product that people will want to buy - just bringing down some expectations that the customer base will be small such as taking a first edition to his local site etc ………… On the matter of ‘future soldier’ I was in on the fringe of an boring element of that programme, important but boring. Had a previous poster about his super new idea timed things differently then the Brigadier that he said he was speaking with would have spoken to my Brigadier and I’d have ended up in the discussions if they went anywhere. As an aside for that, at some Future Soldier programme happenings they would show us two displays side bush side - “Future soldier” and “eBay soldier”, not only the example of big money defence investment filtering down to the private market cheaply, but cheap and cheerful tech rushing on ahead with cheap disposable ‘good enough’ technology giving the capability to the poorest countries armed forces or terrorist/Irregulars today whilst technological nations were floating around prototypes and concepts

Getting shot in the finger is the worst thing in the world (Literally - I have been shot elsewhere with less pain than one in the finger) I dislike the loss of touch when using gloves, but would use fingerless gloves for some hand protection, and also full finger gloves but cut down in spots. In recent years I’ve developed Raynauds in one finger, which has been attributed to a nerve injury. (Probably when I was shot as a photographer) So now I don’t intend to be on field without a full finger at least on that hand. I’m likely to be wearing one full glove and one fingerless glove

I know how you feel when Velcro is bad. Either that it’s badly designed with the Velcro going over the top or bottom edge, or that it pinches in the space behind the knee - when that happens I’m just not going to wear the pads at all Ignoring the specifics of the pictures that I’ve just randomly picked from the internet for their look, these are a couple of styles I’ve used: Hinged - these I only use when I have to be serious, and my knee is threatening to pop out, or I’ve had one of the occasions where I’ve turned around but my foot has decided to stay facing forwards. The brace hinge locks the knee together and my leg knows it’s under scrutiny (There have been occasions where I’d be sat with my trousers around my ankles to ease the brace off for a break !) Less severe - elasticated support Something stretchy and supporting, no Velcro etc, just an elasticated sleeve giving support. These are much easier to wear for a whole day I have a few ‘proper’ paintball knee pads, depending on the pair they give the support of an elasticated pad plus some padding for kneeling (I’m not going to be spotted diving and sliding, but could be crawling)

Flushing toilets: Where do we stop for our last chance pre game McShit on a proper toilet

No - I can’t help with someone more local But in a reasonable driving distance (an hour) is Super5ives in Lee on Solent https://shop.super5ives.com/pages/servicing

Can I be your forum fwend?

For a ‘more interesting’ scenario it takes the game author to have ideas rather than objects that enhance the game When I began (in paintball) I began with basic rental games under which the site staff would run basic missions but apply some tweaks here and there for the returning customers. I looked around and was introduced to scenario paintball, this was in the heyday of UK scenario just in time for a boom in games across the country run by players for players. Most scenarios would have ‘special’ props which could be a few pipes and a circuit board to be found and ‘assembled’ into a super weapon As a team we decided that we could do it as well as the others and put on our own games, we quickly got into building working props in preference to pretend props. Flashing lights, sounds etc just made a prettier prop than slotting some pipes together or glow sticks in water bottles with coloured water but still needed an overall scenario that had to be simple enough to understand, complex enough to gather some interest and to have different angles for different players wants - there are always those who want to just shoot, those who want to search in bushes and those who want to solve a puzzle, and those are the hard core scenarioists LARPing with guns We are known for our events and devices, but our ‘best’ loved ones perform an actual function which contributes to enhancing the game experience - for example a Hollywood style bomb device that triggers remote pyro, we used one in a game letting teams acquire the device and set it against other teams in a 3 faction game - our tech guy was rushing back and forth as teams would set alliances to capture a key location at a key time for points and then double cross each other by settting the device and detonating to ‘destroy’ the location and eliminate their temporary allies for bonus points Airsoft has a loose match with scenario paintball, but the typical game on site is a crossover between rental, site regular, scenarioist/LARPist and cosplayer just dressing up When we began to run games for airsoft a few players said they wanted more complex games than the basic site ones, but then many quickly disliked the full mission - they talked a good game but just wanted a dressed up gun fight Real time tracking is a possibility, but introduces technological problems of making sure it works and is reliable. Our tech guy won’t touch it with a barge pole, they don’t meet his perfectionist standards We’ll plant tracking devices in some devices / props but they are to aid us in knowing where they are Theres also a recent video by another tech guy in a different industry - he demonstrates using a real time tracker, but as he goes on the reliability gets worse and worse giving false readings which he begins to resolve with error correction but they repeat inconsistently and give false positioning A commercial GPS device will do the job, as long as you can get good enough signals and can pass that information on to a receiver. If there’s a device to be made and sold then there’s a limited customer base (sites / event organisers) and those customers are limited down to those who can apply a device into a good game, then slice them right down to those who don’t have a geek on call who can make something good enough putting their time into it for the fun of solving a problem and making some code (plus copy / paste from free online demos with a little tweak) I spent some of lockdown one working out the hidden menus from an undocumented commercial ‘device’ and building a series of custom devices plus my own code drawing from a a few free online examples and my rewriting to my own game plans.

No comment regarding my young teens on Salisbury plain

It’s a fine idea, but just another thing It pinpoints a 3 metre square But if I send my co-orientates then I’m pinpointed to a 1 metre square, or smaller depending on signal A slight flaw is spelling, a short while ago what3words was used by someone to ask for help looking for a lost dog. They were not the sharpest tool so what3words was probably their best option. Except they couldn’t spell, posted on Facebook “I’m here X X X” with no context - not even mentioning a lost dog, or even what3words. By the time people worked out what was going on the dog was found Had they put up coordinates then they would presumably have put the wrong numbers up - but depending on the digit might have been out by a metre, cm or a thousand miles Copy/paste or a screenshot would have worked Regarding picking up rusty stuff on army training ranges - don’t touch anything, especially not the old rusty stuff https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/422666/9-03-269_Dartmoor_Walks_Rides_Booklet_Web_Version.pdf With regard to using what3words, if I was writing a game info pack today then I would add it to the choices on how to find a site

Why have an ‘or’ when an ‘and’ will do just as well? Avoid combining stamps, trains and anoraks at once - the unholy trinity may cause the end of the world, or ruin the sticky side of your stamps out in the damp air These nerds are on a day out to the highest station in the U.K. at Corrour ….. which isn’t far from Spean and the Commando monument where they could have had a nice sit down on the bench for their picnic & vaguely slips back on topic The majority of people couldn’t care less what you wear & how accurate or thrown together a ‘look’ is There will always be that one guy who will either call you out for being inaccurate with the wrong or missing badges or for daring to have badges and ‘calling out’ a spotty teenager for ‘walting’ as a steeley eyed dealer of death Everyone knows airsofters are playing a game of dress up, some may look down, some may love their eBay income inflated by ‘SAS issue’ spammed in the title A minor top tip on getting the British Army look to be just right is to not wear anything as per regulations Thats for recruits who have to comply with the instructor On arrival at unit they then have to comply with the new shouty man with the badges & stick and what he (maybe she) tells them on how to wear kit Then they learn what they can get away with replacing with shiney kit from their surplus cash burning holes in pockets Followed by learning what falls apart and is best left to free exchange at Q&Ms, and can be supported overseas Find some photos of an era you like, recreate a look that you like

Good call on the capsules 12 gram co2 are good & disposable Buy them in bulk so save a little (Note that co2 isn’t HPA)

Can’t help you on the conversion specifics …… but just in case the next question is similar to other posters (I’ve converted to HPA - now how do I fill it?) Does/do the site/sites you play at have HPA compressed air fills ? If not, do you have plans for sufficient pre filled sources to cover a days play? Are you aware that home compressors aren’t the best thing to have ? Tyre compressors are out of the question Workshop / tool compressors can be boosted in theory but at expense, concerns for air cleanliness and nasty things can occur ’Cheap’ (hundreds of £s) compressors do exist, but I’d still be wary of them - for low usage, and still need to be maintained & filtered for clean air etc If home fills are necessary the best options are a scuba cylinder and fill station, or for occasional use and muscle building a stirrup pump

This is a question that has been asked a few times but then they don’t come back to tell us what happened An orange tip is no good, that’s the American system for ‘toy’ (Back in the 70s here it used to be for toys that could not shoot anything, and only had a dummy barrel) In the UK to prevent it being a RIF it would have to be painted one of a set list of bright colours, covering more than 50% of the body The law here covering whether or not you can import (or buy) a RIF is the VCRA To do so you require a ‘defence’ which is the intended purpose - the applicable purpose is ‘airsoft skirmishing on insured sites’ or in other words ‘playing airsoft’ The UKARA is a retailers trade scheme that counts players attendance at member sites then grants UKARA membership for a year. This is not a legal requirement, but is the best known scheme to ‘prove’ you are an airsoft skirmisher You therefore need to convince customs when it comes through, whether that is by courier or packed in your luggage Options are: Try to convince them that you are an airsoft skirmisher Paint it, and you can then later clean off the paint as long as you aren’t damaging any current finish Package your RIFs and leave them behind, come here, play some games, get UKARA membership, then get someone to post them with the relevant info

Of course it’s no good if your adverts get pulled, but I still stick to eBay - it gives access to the widest potential customers. I buy & sell random things, and take into account the auction fees when I buy and whether there is any margin left for me on what someone may be convinced to pay covering postage and eBay fees. If the numbers add up then I’ll go for it Even better is that I have access to space in some shops, and on trade stalls at shows - so if it’s a reasonable size, fits in with the type of people who may shop there then I’ll put it in a shop (and pay much less in fees, not have to worry about post etc) I’ve an account on Etsy and could sell some on there, but have not bothered to do so yet as eBay has sufficed and if it’s vintage and Etsy suitable then I’ve probably got another option via the shops & shows Theres also local ads & Facebook market place, but those mean dealing with local people. I could list and put it for collection from a shop, but still have to deal with the time wasters etc - I may as well just put it in the shop Selling things is a matter of finding a good route - your own site etc pretty much had your own rules but people have to find you, an online market place has its rules and it’s customers

It’s a ‘creative marketplace’ and sales are supposed to be of craft & vintage items There are airsoft items on Etsy, but to be compliant with the rules it should be something you made (includes 3D printing) or 20 years old

But if you give way to a pedestrian at a crossing or at the point of a junction then they won’t be able to chance it by jumping in front of you as per previous wording to guess their intent of ‘about to cross’

I love to voice my opinion For the number of fills, this doesn’t give the right options, but is a really good guide. Second hand scuba will be fine, hydro tested shows it’s all good. Just have a nose at the markings From new you have x years until it needs a test, then the test periods For second hand that’s the same, but if it was untested and had been sat depressurised and damp then a tester could fail it I’m not fully on board for all scuba rules, they can have shorter test cycles (as they expect to keep breathing) but there have been the options of ‘surface use only’ markings - it that can be applied then you can have a longer cycle between hydro tests https://www.scubatoys.com/paintball/scubafills2.asp The scuba sizes they list are in American, I think the ‘Scuba 80’ is equivalent to a 12 litre A run through clicking the options will give a guide. Whenever a fill level is higher than you want, just stop and you next fill will be able to get more The highest it lets you choose is to refill at 1000, but in airsoft you should be using less air per shot than paintball, and can refill more often (Always use the site air station when you can to save on your scuba - and if possible get a last fill before they shut it down at the end of the day)

Do what works for you I have many ailments due to age and youth bodily abuse. Electrolyte drinks such as SiS & High5 cured me of post game aches and pains. Just drinking water helps, but a bottle of water with a High5 or SiS Electrolyte tab keeps me going all day or all weekend, and I no longer get the muscle aches in the following week My knees are totally screwed and one has a habit of popping out. If I’m doing lots of walking, running or going on rough ground then I’ll wear some form of knee support. Mostly just the stretchy ones. If I’m planning on odd movements then a reinforced brace - very useful in tournament photography where I would twist, lean and bend my body in odd shapes - especially when standing beside the boundary line but leaning in to get the picture And my back is fun. My last car had heated seats which were a joy when there was a twinge, or easing stiffness I’ve discovered a USB powered electric hot water bottle. Slip it into the small of my back for a short while and I’m back to being mobile again Ive not done that when out, I’d stop doing the activity, but this has sorted me from suffering from back pain that I’ve caused earlier. An alternative is the stick on heat pads I’m with you on cracking on. Once you stop then there’s no improvement Minimise the risk from before - use whatever treatments you need, minimise abusing your body - no need to go on a full in health trip and marry a tree

Though the video you posted states the fact that the ‘new rules’ are exactly how people should be driving anyway Don’t run over pedestrians Don’t crash into the vehicle in front Don’t make any manouvre that relies on the actions/inactions of others Drive defensively, pay attention and exercise hazard perception

HPA is perfectly safe as long as you are not a complete nobber and treat it with respect You need to do absolutely no maintenance to your cylinders If they are excessively filled the high pressure burst disk will fail, make a scary bang noise, and safely exhaust the air Just don’t have skin next to the burst disk, and if the cylinder is sat in a table then it will probably spin & bounce around - you don’t want the first thing it hits to be a fragile bone such as your skull Avoid this with steady fills and watch the gauge Ultimately a burst disk might fail due to the number of fills it has had cycling from low/no pressure to full pressure. The majority will last the entire lifetime of a cylinder. If the regulator fails and too much pressure is released then the low pressure burst disk will will fail, make a scary bang noise, and safely exhaust the air As above but a lower pressure and it lasts longer. Minimise this by fitting a full nipple cover to avoid dirt on the nipple. If you have no nipple cover then dirt will get onto the nipple, a sensible person will rub that off, but there will still be residue which gets blown into the cylinder on the next fill, then gets into the regulator. If it builds up over time then ‘performance’ is effected and a failure may occur - it becomes inefficient and doesn’t refresh quickly or it allows higher pressure through and the burst disk saves you Burst disks are your air fuses. The high pressure burst disk is your mains trip/fuse cabinet, the low pressure burst disk is your plug fuse Don’t ‘self service’ your cylinder and don’t lubricate it You cannot overfill a cylinder and make it explode (unless you try very hard and replace the burst disks with solid bolts) A flash fill failure is a very rare incident, I’m not aware of any for probably 15+ years (at least in the UK, Europe & US) There were two back in the day, one at a site in Southampton and one at a European event. At least one involved a specific type of cylinder which had a very thin lightweight design, and only had a maximum 5 year life. This was not the cause of failure, but faith was lost and it’s manufacture was ceased Other very lightweight designs have since been manufactured They all must be manufactured and tested to the same standards The combination of caused of these failures were: 1) oil contamination In the UK case it was established that the user had not contaminated their cylinder with oil It was found that the oil contamination was due to someone else’s cylinder filled some point earlier 2) high speed fills The filling was of 4500psi cylinders, but at unregulated speeds Any filling generates heat, but the combination of oil, very high pressure, very fast filling generated a lot of heat very quickly and turned the cylinder into a Diesel engine - flash fill failure / flash fill explosion To avoid these: Don’t use oil on the high pressure end Even better don’t use any lube on your cylinder - if the cylinders regulator ever needs work then refer to a professional (But at the price of 3000psi aluminium cylinders just buy a new one) Don’t use unregulated fill systems Use the right fill pressure system - 3000psi / 206bar (I’ll tell you something about scuba later) Fill slowly, ideally top up often If filling a lot (eg from low or empty) then start to fill for a short while holding the cylinder, stop, wait a moment, if it has got noticeably warmer then stop for longer and fill in shorter bursts Don’t use a full system without first familiarising with it - get shown how to fill by a competent person The tournament paintball community learned these lessons when the flash fill incidents occurred. The UKs scenario paintball community adopted them among event standards a few years later, including UKPSF air safety briefs before players would be permitted to self fill (an air pass would be handed out valid for a year) I discovered that the tournament community forgot those lessons, and was relearning them again (luckily the sites / events maintained regulated fills) Stirrup pumps take a lot of pumps to fill. I’ve got one, but I’ve never done enough for a fill. I’m a team captain and I have peasants to do the hard stuff (However the stirrup isn’t intended for filling, only for a level of top up if ever required when away from a proper fill source) Normally my advice is to fill a little bit and often - don’t let the cylinder drop far down, then top up to 3000psi With a stirrup this is still valid advice - BUT the first strokes of the pump don’t put anything into your cylinder, they only bring the hose up to pressure until it matches the cylinders current pressure and opens the fill nipple valve. Then subsequent pumps go to wider area of the cylinder and hose and begin to fill. The more you drain the cylinder first, the quicker you actually pump air into it - but then need more strokes to get to your desired pressure If you’re doing a quick top up between games then there is the danger that in a short time all you manage to do is pressurise the hose, then run out of time before you get any air transferred If you start from practically empty then you quickly get some pressure in, but have to get in enough to play With a stirrup use slow, steady, firm pumps - all the way from top to bottom Scuba cylinders are a good option - but if you have 3000psi in your scuba and fill your playing cylinders you won’t get 3000psi - you’ll get a fraction less as they equalise Then on your next fill the scuba is starting below 3000psi, so you get even less and gradually the maximum you can get drops So avoid filling your filling cylinders to 3000psi, go for something like 2800psi and then don’t let it drop too far - fill straight away (You are then taking as little as possible from the scuba each time - and of course do it slowly) If you get a 4500psi/300bar scuba it costs more, but you have much more spare capacity before it drops But this brings the ‘danger’ of a 4500psi scuba source filling a 3000psi playing cylinder You could buy a regulated fill rig set to output 3000psi - at extra expense Or you control the flow, monitor all gauges and only fill the playing cylinder to 3000psi (or less) High pressure air is very safe when treated with respect

Fills should come from: A maintained professional compressor, costing thousands, and run steadily A pre filled scuba cylinder - filled from a maintained professional compressor A stirrup pump at home If you live in deepest Canada, playing the odd game in your remote woods then perhaps consider a dual system of a workshop compressor and a discontinued Tom Kaye shoebox booster compressor. Run it on a stop start basis over a day or longer A compressor costing a few hundred should not be ‘thrashed’ daily How warm were your cylinders when they were filled? What pressure were they filled to, and how much did they drop when cooled back down? A professional compressor is best used in a cascade manner into a substantial holding cylinder, players cylinders drawing from the master and the compressor kicking in to top up the master See here for the UKPSF basic air safety HPA1 sheet https://m.facebook.com/nt/screen/?params={"note_id"%3A796094531191401}&path=%2Fnotes%2Fnote%2F&_rdr

And a co-operative retailers governing body, the UK water pistols association, complete with forum posters asking how they can get their UKWPA licence without staying up past midnight 3 times