Tommikka

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

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))))