Rogerborg

Eh. You can still score a very occasional real bargain, but mostly by buying winter gear in spring, and summer gear in autumn. I did once bag a pair of new and apparently genuine GoreTextm lined motorcycle gloves for the princely sum of £23.98, and they were great until I managed to drop them while walking to my bike, turned around 30 seconds later when I realised, and some Weegie ned had already had them away.

If headshots didn't count at a site, folk would just stick their mask and the muzzle of an HPA drum fed pistol above a barrel and play in God Mode. Gun hits seem to be about an even split between: ignore; takes the gun out of commission; counts as a kill. See rant upthread, site marshals don't always know the site rules. I like to play a little sub-game of test quizzing marshals by asking them about gun hits, and seeing how many different answers I get over the course of a day. Oh, marshals who misapply or don't apply site rules, or who prefer to spend the day chatting or on Facebook: please, no. I very much appreciate good marshalling, especially as it's often done for peanuts or less. But a disinterested or conflict-shy marshal is just hoarding a hi-vis from someone who could do a better job of it.

The known-brand stuff they sell will be no worse than the same items sold anywhere else, but the problem is that they also sell some plastic gearboxed plinker trash that will be lucky to survive the shipping process, or wacky brands that even if they work out of the box are likely to take proprietary parts. I've bought from BBguns4less before, but when I knew exactly what I wanted, and why, and had checked that I was making a small saving. But for someone who doesn't know where to buy or why, the answer isn't likely to be found on sites that flog a lot of "Professional Grade Airsoft Gun in ORANGE!"

Predators only evolve when their prey forces them too. He's identified a community based on trust, and is ruthlessly farming it.

Yup. Base layers, I go either synthetic, or merino wool. Merino is great stuff, it's soft, wicks sweat, insulates, it's warm even when wet. Sheep don't grow cotton fleeces. Yup, you can find surplus gear (mis)listed as goretex, or under the generic term MVP (Moisture Vapour Permeable). I've just had cause to test a pair of surplus MVP over-trousers by cycling in torrential rain, and they did a decent job for much less than the cost of GoreTextm branded civvy stuff, and without the sweatiness of my previous rubberised vinyl trousers. I'm currently watching some MVP jackets/liners on eBay since the buy-it-nows tend to be £30+ upwards. In the meantime, I agree that cheap ponchos do a decent job, although they will leak and seep around the gaps once you start moving. Dubbin or copious globs of polish on your boots, or pick up some waterproof socks aka boot liners. Sealskinz or surplus both work. I'm always sceptical about waterproof gloves, as it's almost impossible to get all the seams full sealed. At that price though, they're worth a punt.

Counterpoint, if I won a free game day for every time a brief went "So... reds will be... no, blues... wait, who started in the Killhouse last game? OK, reds in the Killhouse, we're doing fallback. What? We just did that? Are you sure?" then I'd never have paid for a day's airsoft after the first.

I reckon so. Sad times, we're always tenants of last resort. It's a brave person who'd sink time and money into developing an airsoft site.

When even Nuprol came up with a new sub-brand so as not to sully their, er... reputation, that was a bad sign.

I'm a fan of putting them on a big sign and saying "Read that". That removes any excuses for not knowing, both on the day, and if legal push comes to shove. After all, how would you prove what you actually said in a briefing?

Smoking weed, whatevs. My main concern there would be them taking a whatevs attitude to chrono, hit taking and such. Alcohol - or doing lines off of their dashboard, since we're imagining heinous site sins - I'd be more likely run and cry to the site, because I agree that the consequences are potentially worse. I stress more likely, but I'd have a good think about it first, based on what I knew about the site. I'd be willing to bet that far too many site runners would tut then do nothing, say "Well, I didn't see it", or outright resent being asked to walk their talk.

And anyone with an "Oh, but that doesn't apply to me" attitude is likely to carry that over into the game as well.

Well, the stock Specna Arms unit, which is very similar to a ZCI and works well. I'd look again at the air seal. I'd seen close to 1.2J ("360fps") from an M105 spring in my Specna Edge with a 249mm Tornado 6.02mm barrel, and had to drop down a bit again. You're under 1J. The air seal in my Specna was OK, but not great. I have much better seal in my prole-spec CYMA with fewer o-rings. I'd suggest stretching and greasing the piston o-ring (or replacing it if you're still not rock solid), and getting some lube into the nozzle o-ring. If you don't fancy stripping the gearbox again, just scoosh some silicone up the nozzle, and into the cylinder cutout, then blow it out the nozzle before re-assembling. You could also consider replacing the tiny tensioning spring on the hop unit with a bigger over-barrel spring, or rubber o-rings, to get a really solid seal against the gearbox (although be aware that the long hop lips on the Maple Leaf rubber can make feeding an issue). Other than that, you've already got all the right parts. Just get it up to the site energy limit using 0.28g or heavier BBs, and enjoy. If you actually want a DMR, that's a different project, and I'd agree than an Orion gearbox is a poor choice. Of course, I went ahead and did it anyway, and it's working out fine so far, but if you want to stick to AEG limits I expect that all you need is better air seal.

The problem is, you can't tell from a snapshot instant whether you're seeing the former, or the latter. "Oh, it's just my first sip / spliff" is exactly what an addict would say to hide their addiction. Zero tolerance doesn't mean "... at the point where it becomes impossible to ignore."

Please send him a box of your finest turds.

Eh. Sites, like politicians, tend to talk a great game. If they actually acted on it then the tiny minority of throbbers who ruin it for everyone wouldn't last long in the hobby. This is actually a fair point. Nicotine and caffeine are awful drugs, they'd be banned now if so many influential people weren't already hooked. This isn't a joke (although addicts will laugh it off), they're both debilitating, mood altering, and highly physiologically addictive. They're treated differently to cake in part because we can take them in small, controlled doses, without stigma or (generally) without bingeing too much. If Woka-Cola started putting small amounts of cocaine back into their bottled diabetes, it would be no worse than caffeine, and less harmful than the sugar. OK, I'll bite on the original bait. I wouldn't actually have much of an issue in principle with someone airsofting on a bit of recreational THC. I'd actually prefer it to a speedyboi rushing around off his tits on sugar, taurine and caffeine and seeing things like he's in the Matrix. However, in practice, you don't know what they're smoking, its strength, how much they're binging, whether they think the squirrels are spying on them, or if they've got the full blown... I've mentioned before that there seems to be a lot of people who turn up to airsoft sites for reasons other than actually playing airsoft. Me, I'm there to sling balls, and if I had one airsoft wish, it would be for all sites to be run by people who will actively facilitate that, and nip everything else in the bud, pun intended.

And we're not saying that all Nuprol batteries and chargers will fail. But when we do hear about a battery, and especially a charger failure, far too often it's a Nuprol. I made the mistake of buying a Nuprol "smart" charger, a lot of people do. But when you see how much more a half decent charger (even an older B6) will do, it's immediately apparent why the Nuprol's couple of blinkenlights and an operating temperature close to the sun's corona does not make for a reassuring experience.

Agreed, and we'll always be a tenant of last resort. The 2nd time Hammer II Operations got kicked off, I heard apocryphally that it was down to one home-owner on the edge of the nearest estate complaining to the council that they could just barely hear pyro going off, and the land owner said "Not worth the hassle."

My strategy is to get to the next problem in the shortest possible time.

Given your intro to this forum, I think you're just fishing for attention. Congratulations, you win a prize.

I'm thinking of a couple of local sites which sunk vast amounts of time and money into developing themselves, then got kicked out without any warning or negotiation. One then relocated, built up a new site... then got kicked out again a year later. I really feel for site operators, they're at the mercy of land owners.

Nothing wrong with pockets. When I can't be doing with strapping myself into a chest-tac-plate-belt-rig, I just throw on a vest and fill it up. eBay for "assault vest" or similar, there's plenty around for under £20. e

A Sten as a first RIF is like your first girlfriend being a redheaded stripper called Tiffany. Sure, your sensible friends will say you're crazy, but secretly they'll be so, so jealous.

Webbings wobble but they don't fall down.

No, there are loads of idiots like that. LARP as you like, it's all good. I have had issues with people in plate carriers genuinely not feeling hits though, I wouldn't encourage them.

Fooly ruggedised.