Tactical Pith Helmet

Anyone used a bump cap insert in a regular cap? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184642644889 Looks useful to me, but potentially uncomfortable.

Nope. Pyros were allowed, but ear defenders were issued and marshals were informed. This was after consulting the accompanying adults and kids themselves. During the game, it was obvious that proximity was a big factor. With the ear-pro bangs in the next room were fun, bangs in the same room were NOT fun. The kids wanted to play and seemed to understand the risks to the organisers satisfaction. They were soon calmed and back in the game. Personally, I would have preferred a no bang rule. I would not have enjoyed seeing a young one having a really nasty time for two minutes let alone ten because I'd chucked a MKV at them, but not my call. My concern was that another youngster may take the piss, due to no inclusion of anything in the briefing. 'Some people are really shocked by grenades and get upset. Please be helpful. Immediately inform a marshal who should be close to hand, or tell X and Y and Z,' may have done it.

I've only ever worn pith helmets, cheapo Mich 2000 styles and various steel lids for themed events. Leaving aside the sun wear and heavy steel, I find that with a willingness to mess about with fit/stitch in extra padding/compress foam carefully, even the sub £20 job is good in the pissing rain, and the webbing/partial padding does let some air circulate. The ability to sport several different covers is handy too. You can go from '80s Grenada invasion to 2014 Luhansk separatist headgear in seconds, if that's your thing. Since my head now is a bald spot I'm stealing your story.

Do you think Pol Pot is a source of comedy?

Apologies, for my sloppy wording. I was thinking of two kids that I've played with a few times. It clearly reads like a general comment though.

A governing body that makes life simpler is what is needed IMHO. As someone partially deaf, an acknowledgement of invisible disabilities is needed too. A mumbled safety brief etc on a windy day, with people chatting, ambient traffic noise etc, is just a panto for me. I have seen autistic players turn up unacknowledged too. They WILL freak out at close grenades. The rest of us need to be told that we need to guide them gently to a quiet spot to calm down. It only takes a few moments, both to do and explain. Sites respond to these kind of concerns pretty well when they are raised, but not everyone is assertive/has confidence to speak up.

Depends on your eye sight. I can shoot both eyes open with a 4x no problem. Some people cannot at all. I doubt that anyone needs much more than 3 or 4 times mag for airsoft. One can walk shots in to the limits of range with irons at 350fps. 400 - 425 wont challenge too much more. I just looked and my DMR has been left set at 1x since I last used it. Someone else may habitually use a high(ish) mag scope all the time. Image quality will always ace magnification in any event. The 1x settingis on a £200 piece of glass. I use my silly money HFT scope at x5, my daughter uses my far cheaper cast off at about 8x if memory serves. Both suit us well. You should ideally have a look through a few set ups before splashing cash. Some makes will have a tint on the coatings that won't suit your eyes. Some will have busy reticles or white out if exposed to light. Some will work better than more expensive models that you look through. Their is no substitute for trying a few out.

'Sad news that someone fell from the roof of a local nightclub and is seriously hurt,' my wife said reading the morning paper over breakfast. 'Obviously not one of the bouncers,' I thought.

I tried that years ago. The Baileys curdles and turns to something akin to porridge. The cognoscenti put banana schnapps or Tia Maris in Guinness.

Nice work. What can players in your region do to assist you?

My wife was fretting about something she'd done today. I told her to embrace her mistakes. She must have been cheered up because her reply was to give me the biggest hug!

During lockdown one, wrestling firms (fat blokes in leotards, not MMA etc) were left out of schemes for sports venues. Lack of a governing body meant wrestlers were ineligible to call themselves sports persons. Same obviously with airsoft sites. The APPG on sport also had concerns re: safeguarding and exclusion from child protection legislation. Mark Fletcher (newly elected and publicity hungry) MP raised the (novel tabloid friendly) issue in parliament and lo and behold, after years of saying that it could never be done, a body was formed, by those saying that they never could form one. I'd rather see sites get their act together and standardize game rules etc and form some substantial trade organisation, than wait for a whole slew of bad publicity to combine with an MP or other public person with some self aggrandising/promoting campaign to stop children playing at simulating killing each other/learning terrorism skills/being at the mercy of marshals with no safeguarding policies/other old bollocks etc etc. Until then we cross our fingers and hope that any such silliness does indeed wrap tomorrows chips and achieve fuck all else. Like you, I donate/renew UKAPU each year, but as you say, they seem to be missing in inaction.

Whatever we personally see as the rights and wrongs in an extremely complex political situation with roots that go back hundreds of years, I expect that someone will wear Russian/Ukrainian kit this weekend. It could well lead to very negative press attention for airsoft. There is no go to governing body to handle any fallout. The situation shows yet again that there needs to be. If a journalist fancies it, they could attack airsoft in many situations. I dare say that players unknowingly wear kit on anniversaries of horrific events, and that a professional muck raker could run amok with pictures from games that are years old if they wish.

You won't be laughing when Sea of Tranquillity Airsoft is up and running and making mega bucks.

I just got a job as a cuckoo in a cuckoo clock. It’s not the best job in the world, but it gets me out of the house.

At about the seven minute mark, there is a short sequence of a Polish militia training with airsoft rifs. Cool airsoft mortars, MKVs, and poor hit taking at 7:49. Bit like a day at a local site.

These are brilliant for festivals, camping and bloody power cuts. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162731868970 I will confess to taking mine to a 'milsim...'

I have a cursed AK. It gets bent or dropped or looses a mag with tedious regularity. It always shoots though. Have you tried sacrificing the first born of an imperialist? It's been recommended by a friend.

To be pedantic, 'custom' is short for customerized I think. It applied to work carried out by the (car or motorcycle) supplier, who, in the '50's, would have employed fully apprenticed and ticketed mechanics to carry out the work. That way you kept the warranty as the mechs would be qualified and employed by an accredited agent. I remember a writer on one of the 'custom' bike mags telling me that he cringed each time he wrote the word.

You won't be laughing if she finds out how much that Surefire torch you just bought actually cost...

Glad I stayed home for once. Rain in sheets and a huge wind. Loads of dead wood on the roads/my garden, some pretty substantial. Not a day for running in the woods.

I'm lucky to live close to five sites. I only play at four of them. My favourite is the best marshalled. According to reports on here, the site that I don't like has improved immensely since I last went. I'll try it again. How the games are run matters. All sites can have off days, but imaginative management can make the dullest featured location fun, and of course vice versa. One thing I will say is that a well coordinated set of mates can clean up objectives against a massive opposition that are milling about chatting and being slack. Ignore the members of your own side doing the same and concentrate on your own game - you'll have fun whatever anyone else does. As for time wasted between games, tell the site. I sent an email to one site complaining about waiting around. The next time I went the head marshal was obsessed with getting us up and playing a.s.a.p. Won't cost you anything to contact them. Good luck for your next game.

Hmmmm... A hi-viz ghillie.

Thankfully, apart from some light flickering, we've been fine. First time ever that I've cancelled playing because of the weather though. I don't bother looking usually as the wet weather gear is always in the motor anyway.