Tommikka

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

Smashed it in these two paragraphs Awesome example RHS at the Mayflower, Southampton = some enthusiastic cosplay audience participation Specific groups of LA theatres / cinemas = the celebrities of professional RHS participation LA tourists managing to get in on a midnight showing = an audience to the professional audience Want to be taken more seriously then a guy dressed in a corset & stockings, sign up to the RHS international fan club - does that make them a serious theatrical audience partici……..pation performer? …… and when waterpistols get brought into the legislation I predict a fresh resurgence of RHS for people to earn their defence

Import / buy are pretty much the same thing, but as you’ve noted yourself as ex police import/buy are different things under the VCRA legislation For RIFs without a defence : Import = offence Buy = not an offence Sell = offence

There is the offence of importing a RIF, but they should have handled the documentation on that while it was held In this case there is no VCRA offence as UKARA details had been shown. But a declaration should have been handled before releasing: No - it does not contain a firearm Yes - it does contain a RIF Yes - a valid defence is held

Ultimately it comes down to if/when a case goes to court, the specifics of the case and how the lawyers approach convincing the court. Ideally it never gets to court on a VCRA basis but in accordance with other offences (such as waving pistols around McDonalds) or the police use discretion (I’ve seen many cases of the police being involved and ending with ‘advice given, but no offence committed - whereas a whole raft of offences could be applied - they have used discretion eg magfed paintballers leaving a site with guns in car parcel shelves and parking in the services besides motorway police having a coffee & doughnut break) ’Realistic’ in the legislation is not absolute - there is ‘distinguishing from a real firearm’ which means if there isn’t a real counterpart then it’s not a RIF, but there is also ‘can only be distinguished by an expert’ so if anyone thinks it might be real then it is a RIF The best there is for an ‘absolute’ is what construes an IF - that it is much too small, it is clear or it is predominantly one of the approved bright colours There are of course airsoft guns sold as IFs that have been coloured but not to the specified colours. Such as American training blue, which is not VCRA bright blue …. and where sales are concerned the potential offence lies with the seller. So there are those who strictly stick to UKARA as airsoft and make some allowance for justifying other defences (museums, reenactment, theatrical …) there are also those who think it doesn’t apply to them or are just ignorant (eg claims that the VCRA doesn’t apply to gel ball guns) or a retailer that comes up with Cosplay insurance in partnership with a comicon that bans RIFs We do our best, avoid encouraging chav law bending, but accommodating ‘genuine’ airsofters who may have difficulty getting UKARA or renewing under Covid, or are just in a panic because they bought a two tone but a RIF arrived There are a couple of arguments for RIFs being suitable in cosplay - for your average individual that’s a no, for the ‘professional’ celebrity cosplay as a comicon headliner the theatrical defence applies. For a cosplay society then it could possibly be argued, maybe if it’s a WW2 dress up and you can qualify the society as historical reenactment (a better argument for a military vehicle club displaying at shows) not so easy for Aliens or Star Wars, but if the club is invited to a comicon or runs a stall and the members wander around displaying then it’s creeping towards theatrical

Cosplayers (or just human beings in general) have an inability to think about potential consequences No gun related items required for this one …… A friend of mine opted for a Lazy Town themed costume …. And while dressed in her lovely pink Stephanie outfit on the train she noticed a little girl staring at her, so she smiled back As the girl burst into tears, she remembered that she had not gone for a classic Lazy Town, but had added a little spin to customise the ensemble ….

This is a tricky one Legislation on the carriage of dangerous goods changed a few years back and brought in restrictions on ‘pressure vessels’ as opposed to ‘pressurised’ This means that any ‘normal’ carrier will show them in their ‘restricted’ or ‘prohibited’ goods lists (probably prohibited) and then you can only use a specialist carrier, or as retailers will (or ought to) use their contracted carrier on specific runs etc Blame the people who used to lie on their declarations and had air cylinders found on routes that used air Mail (a lot more than you may think) If you manage to find one, then ideally the cylinders regulator should be removed (rendering it impossible to pressurise - but doesn’t stop it being a ‘pressure vessel’ A lesser measure is to remove the full nipple and/or the high burst disk - but anyone running the package through an X-ray won’t notice that - they will still see a cylinder with a fitted regulator (***** of course it must be fully depressurised before removing any parts *****)

You’re surely not saying that cosplay is not a VCRA defence and that JustCos is a worthless fake scheme ???????!!!!!!!

A gun metal finish is more subtle than bare metal But it’s your gun, for your fun We’re playing games for our own benefit As long as you’re not destroying other peoples ability to have fun then that’s fine

Other than @Ebeneezer Goode popping in with a good old ‘keep it simple’ with PMR, most have gone straight in with the pros&cons of licenced systems Nobody has asked what @Halointends to do with a radio. Is it for general airsoft use, talking to anyone on the same side ? Is it for talking to only a team group? Is it within a reasonable range in the woods, indoors, an urban area? The best answer for general use is standard PMR, any model, by any manufacturer. Just UK compliant, on PMR frequencies and within the power range with a fixed aerial. The common answer is a fully programmable radio, usually Baofeng, supposed to be operated with a licence and programmed to PMR frequencies illegally operating over authorised power levels A good point is that most posters have pointed out the need for a licence if doing so. Ive used many, sometimes licenced, mostly standard PMR. The ‘best’ handset I have used which gave me great value for money with the ability to monitor comms across multiple ‘channels’ was a cheap and nasty Tesco PMR handset operating on the original 8 analogue PMR frequencies without the sub and did not ‘support’ the sub frequencies. But due to that lack of support I could set it to the basic home frequencies and listen to every sub frequency. eg I was tuned to 1.00 and could only transmit on 1.00, but I could hear 1.01, 1.02, etc Then with the aid of a fully featured PMR I could talk back to anyone Wheh running a game I would carry a minimum of 2, most likely 3 handsets 1) Tescos cheapie - monitoring 2) Full PMR - transmit/receive 3) PMR or licenced handset - event running Ive had a few handsets due over the years, the Tesco ones still worked the last time I tried, I assume they won’t manage to pickup my 16 channel digital PMRs - but Ive never tried

It can work with nowhere else to go - I’ve seen issues highlighted on forums where I’d rather just walk and do nothing

Glass to break Hard smooth slippery floors to fall over on Stairs to trip Bannisters to fall over Equipment Light fittings for dickheads to shootup Corridors to form bottlenecks Rooms with single entry You want to be able to condemn elements of infrastructure to allow its destruction, breaking holes through walls etc - without it collapsing Remove glass, board it up or at least cover it in vinyl etc ….. and have enough of a time frame to use it before it’s developed Then open as a business and take on the rates bill - unless a developer is committed to holding the property & underwrite paying the rates with a willingness to let a business come in for the rent income Take a stiff drink before asking for insurance quotes

I would reword that to looking a paintball goggles. Dye is not the only contender - their premium masks are known for being compact - which translates to not being good for large heads such as mine (which is a moot point when comparing glasses style to full face goggle) The Dye i3 full face goggle also had an airsoft specific snow/skiing style equivalent goggle without the full face element, and the i3s could be dismantled for the same effect Other premium goggles are available, and each design has its pros and cons for different heads Even cheap goggles are great if they are the right fit. I bought a pair of Sly Annex MI7s just for the multicam style colour scheme) (now likely to be marketed here as Valken). They are just basic rental grade in hard plastic - but they fit my head just right, and have good air flow My second ever goggles / first new goggles were the Dye i3pro with these my forehead was always exposed (but resolved with a headband, backwards baseball cap or beanie etc), my chin remained outside and whenever I spoke my mouth was exposed I tried on the i4s - even less coverage Ive not tried on the i5s I would not call Dyes ‘designed for glasses’. They do have great airflow - but most of that is because of how little they cover faces Every premium goggle should cover airflow, and seal the eye area away from your breath The perfect goggle fit for me are the Angel eyes but their full lens design has not made it through standards, and despite the reattempt of the C2 Eyon they have never made it to market My preferred goggles are the VForce Grills, which actually are designed around glasses - including slits in the soft foam for your glasses arms My standard recommendation for goggles is to try them on - everyone has their own opinion and the only way to know what’s right for you is to try some

This can lie in the fine detail - the page you linked refers to ‘impact resistant lenses’ - and as you’ve identified, the combined system has scope for clip in parts to be seperated e.g. Suitable for some impact situations and not for others This is the main issue that I have with all of the glasses types of eye protection. Fine for head on impact, very easy for BBs to work their way around - another example of ‘suitable for some impact situations, not for others’ I hope that you don’t have any lasting problems. Good luck

Did the insurer or the site react to something specific regarding co2? I certainly reacted for a moment when propane was mentioned earlier in the thread. Then I remembered that ‘green gas’ is propane Why did I react initially ? Because I imagined someone using a pot metal airsoft gun with little explosions of propane ignition —— I don’t fancy being around that (((((However I do know of the Tippman C3, a paintball gun - which ignites propane))))

Good points there on insurance It is a two way street - Insurers dictating insurance requirements into site rules / policies Site rules / policies set based on risk assessments and mitigations Or they could/should be a two (or multi) way street ……. Best practice bottom up from sites, through a representative body to insurers and then from insurers to sites The principles will be the same - airsoft is a game of shooting people with little plastic balls using suitably designed airsoft guns in an appropriate environment That environment ought to have controls between safe areas, playing areas, and without the general public strolling along Woodland, urban, indoor, etc are all different with their own complexities Individual sites vary as well Does a site and its staff understand why things are in the insurance/risk assessment/rules, or did they just purchase insurance? …… and therefore do they put the processes into practice or give them lip service with a waiver form?

If it has not been chrono checked then it should not be used If secondaries are not checked then no secondaries should be allowed When I began at scenario paintball events there were long queues at the chrono and air fill stations At the chrono people were checking, adjusting, checking, adjusting etc at a limited number of chrono points. I bought my own handheld, chronoed myself and then went to the official chrono - it would be slightly out. If I was a little below then I didn’t squeeze out adjustments for a few FPS, if high I would adjust and rechrono. I also chronoed as soon as possible rather than dithering and chatting - the queues were always at their worst when the organisers were trying to herd the sheep to get games started Sites brought in more chronos so players can get through more quickly & tinkerers can tinker to one side, they standardised limits between events so players didn’t keep upping and lowering each week, players learnt that if they didn’t get their act together they were going to miss game on A similar thing with air fills. I began events with a 3000psi system, the big queues were at the 4500psi fill points. When I ‘upgraded’ to 4500psi, rather than stand in the morning queue for 4500 I could get 3000, chrono and come back while others were still queuing Sites would then start up the fill stations earlier, bring in an extra air specialist for large events etc. Players also learned to avoid queue bottle necks Airsoft in the UK existed when I began paintball, there are seemingly more regular airsofters than regular paintballers - it should be better organised Either we don’t talk about the ‘good’ ones and the ‘bad’ ones don’t care / have not learned the lessons yet

Back in the olden days, paintball co2 was generally intended to be used in its gaseous state - it would go liquid in the cylinder and the gun would ‘draw’ a measure of CO2 gas. If the temperature dropped or you fired too rapidly then you would draw in liquid co2 Its been forgotten in the mists of time that some paintball guns were designed to run on liquid co2 (particularly in cold regions of the US & Canada) To aid this ‘syphon’ tubes were often fitted inside the cylinder - a pipe weighted with a bolt etc to always sit on the bottom and draw liquid Conversely ‘anti syphon’ systems were fitted with a solid metal pipe bent upwards - If correctly fitted they would ensure co2 gas was drawn As the years went by new players had no knowledge of the original difference ‘syphon’ and would ask for a ‘syphon’ tube to be fitted when an ‘anti syphon’ was required 12gram bulbs are obviously much smaller and less likely to be as variable to a larger co2 cylinder, but it’s been know to happen. I had a particular hard time with one pistol once which was giving very illegal velocities

I would assume it’s because CO2 is unregulated and inconsistent HPA is literally regulated - and consistent (that doesn’t mean that other factors don’t introduce inconsistency) In scenario paintball many years ago a collective UKSPC (UK Scenario Paintball Community) along with a ‘standard’ set of minimum rules The first event we ran in 2009 was the first UKSPC compliant event. Within the rules the maximum velocities for an outdoor event was HPA=280fps, CO2 260fps (If my memory is right) The reduced 260fps velocity was to allow for spiking between shots I don’t think the rules fully defined chronographing and any penalties, but my rules are for a number of shots, and you must chrono CO2 within 260fps to begin the game. If chronoed over on a spot check I would judge with an allowance for spiking - all over then I’m grumpy, one over then I’m nicer

This thread should help: I don’t know enough (pretty much anything) about the workings of gas operated airsoft ……. But in theory if the magazine normally holds an appropriate gas, then you ‘just’ have to replace the magazines existing gas fill valve with a tap & HPA fitting, then connect to an HPA source regulated to the right pressure. To switch magazines you’ll need to have the right mixture of on/off valves In theory if you tap the magazine with a self sealing on/off nipple (such as a bottles fill nipple) ….. and that the self sealing valve is stopped from blowing into the magazine …… then you could disconnect the remote line whilst retaining air in the magazine - but the pressure will drop with every shot As a paintballer, personally I don’t see much benefit in an remote line HPA fed magazine to a pistol. If you’re going to change magazine then you need to switch both the magazine and detach / attach the HPA source For certain paintball pistols they work best with 12 gram co2 capsules in the magazine, then magazines can just be switched. Whereas if the tap can go into the pistol body a remote line gives ‘unlimited’ air and the magazines can be swapped with no impact on the air