Impulse

I guess I'm lucky. It's rare that anyone uses tags at my local site, because they're silly expensive. However, when I went to my first (and probably only) milsim event last month, people were launching tags more than I was firing my bolt action rifle. Seriously, the number of tags that went off were horrendous. That said, I have seen them at one skirmish game day from a bunch of milsim manchildren where they got annoyed with me because they kept firing tags into a location that I had long since relocated away from, they just hadn't seen me relocate and assumed I was there and not calling the hit. You'd have thought they'd give up after 2, but I think they fired 5 tags into that position before the game ended. To me, it's unfathomable how much some people spend on airsoft, and that's coming from me and my real steel load bearing gear, expensive HPA boltie setup and multitude of upgraded TM pistols. Adding another to this list though, I'm going to say GBBRs. They're inconsistent, can throw a tantrum in the cold, but I love them all the same. I just love the kick and the realism, even if I'm limited to 35 BB magazines vs hi-cap heroes at a skirmish day Also, any original 1911 GBB. The magazines are tiny, so a full fill is equivalent to like... half or less of another GBB magazine. However... I love my 1911! And why not make it a third. M14s. M14s are horrible to work on, they're really heavy and super front-heavy, and they're just another AEG now that their hop up isn't wizardry relative to other platforms any more. However, once I HPA mine it will be my main gun alongside the VSR because I love it and I love how it looks. There's just something about the m14 that I love (and people seem to love. I get a lot of people asking about my m14 and complimenting me on it whenever it comes out to play)

Plate carriers don't look good on larger individuals, because the plates are designed to be small, but large enough to cover all the vital organs, and if you're overweight there'll be spillage up, down and side to side. They also don't feel good, as the weight will sit weird if you're carrying a few spare tyres. If you're tall and in shape, plate carriers are fine, but being overweight really emphasises all the issues plate carriers have and they're super uncomfortable, as well as looking pretty awful. I mostly run a belt kit with harness to keep it in place, as I do the snipey-snipe so I want to go prone a lot and crawl on my stomach, which is uncomfortable with a chest rig and super uncomfortable to the point of impracticality with a plate carrier, once again compounded when I was overweight. If you want something on the body, I'm going to also advocate the Warrior Assault Systems 901 chest rig. It's a fantastic piece of kit and you can buy a back panel for it for if you need the extra molle space on your back. They also last for years; I'm still using my one I bought when I was about 15. 15 years on and it's still going strong! it's always fit me too, from my fittest (17 years old and around 100kg of muscle, captain of the school swim team, number 8 on the school rugby team), to my heaviest (literally no exercise and 160kg of flab), now back on the road to my fittest, my Warrior Assault Systems gear has all always fit me really well. I'm 6'5", like you, and I also have a sturdy Dutch build, but Warrior Assault Systems stuff has always fit me. It's pricey, but worth the investment in my opinion.

Oh, no, 2200 is my BMR, so that's how much I'd burn if I lay in bed and slept all day. I aim for 2000 as a large deficit, but I should be having around 3000 normally. Higher with exercise. I meant 2200 is high for the average person, not a 6'5" dude with a sturdy Dutch build

Yeah, I don't find it hard to go keto since I don't have a sweet tooth, so cutting out sugar is easy as I don't really eat sugar anyway. Part of my issue is that I am big and tall, so even my low calorie intake is pretty high. Generally can't get it from veggies unless I eat buckets of the stuff

Yeah, this is where everyone's different. My BMR is about 2200 calories and I'm currently on a calorie restricting diet of around 2000 calories a day. I think on an active day of airsoft I burn way more than 3000, probably more than 3500 but not quite 4000 I will probably hit the keto diet again once I've paid off debts, but it's far more expensive than my simple calorie restrictive diet; did it for 9 months last year and it was good. I might not need it though, since at some point I'll have to return to the office, meaning cycling three times a week to and from there, plus once I can get back into martial arts (as my school is still shut; thanks covid) that plus the cycle to and from there. Calorie restricting is still working well enough and the only exercise I'm doing is airsoft every two weeks, so once I add in all the cycling and the martial arts, the remaining weight should fly off. Then I can joke about having lost an average person's body weight as the total weight loss would be 70kg from start to finish.

I took up martial arts to go alongside my stealthy sneaky airsoft because I want to be Big Boss. In all seriousness, I saw airsoft as an active hobby that gets me out of the house and running around nature. I always wanted to do martial arts too, but I just never got around to it, so in 2018 I just decided to jump in and thoroughly enjoyed it. Over the course of a year I got back into airsoft and started doing martial arts twice a week. I've always hated exercise for the sake of exercise, so going to the gym or jogging or anything like that was always a massive mental hurdle, but airsoft is just a fun game that I enjoy playing, and martial arts is learning a skill that hopefully won't be needed, but is good to know just in case. And now I want to be as good at my hobbies as I can be, and to be as good at martial arts and airsoft as I can be, physical fitness is a good way to do it and get a leg up on the stereotypical... mature and "well rounded" airsofter. I'm really feeling the fruits of my labours now, having dropped 50kg so far and being able to move a lot quicker, for a lot longer and handle firefights a lot nimbler is incredibly refreshing and invigorating. Still got 20kg or so to go, so I look forward to seeing how good I can be once I've shifted all this extra weight.

Had a great day today, running a very light VSR loadout and no ghillie. Had some issues with the HPA system leaking, but the tank lasted until just before lunch where I took it apart and fixed the issue, then switched to co2 for the afternoon. The line came loose where it screws into the bolt, so I just had to tighten that up. Got so many people with the VSR just holding areas and when I started playing aggressively with the mk23 I got loads of people with that by flanking as there were less numbers due to people wimping out due to rain (which all cleared up before the games started anyway). Also had a lot of success from a stealth perspective, even without the ghillie. Just observing the seven S's of concealment saw a lot of success, as I had people look directly at me multiple times and not know where I was. Scrim net over the head and shoulders, rifle wrapped and staying nice and still made me basically invisible. Paired with both the VSR and mk23 being stupidly silent and I went undetected for most of the day, just posting up and covering a location, then moving if things got too dicey.

Oooooooooooh, I've been in the market for an AK for a while, but wasn't keen on the NGRS. This will definitely tempt me! Also, thanks Google Translate...

Jeeeez, I'm suddenly glad I resisted the temptation to buy some pistols from HK. This is ludicrous!

I'm going to agree here. If someone isn't making it obvious they're hit, I'll just put one into the plate carrier to be sure. Some players will casually walk down a path, hands still down on their gun, in the hopes that everyone will think they're dead and not shoot, then shoot everyone in the back when they get past, and one shot to the chest really isn't a big deal, especially since most people wear a chest rig or plate carrier that absorbs most of the hit. I've never had anyone moan about it to me, and I'm usually slinging .48s at 2.3J. I think a single shot is different to lighting someone up because you think they might be playing dead. However, if they still have their gun shouldered in the game area then they are in no position to moan. To me I'd see them as still in the game until the hand goes up and they call out "hit"

That's some pretty serious teflon player action. I've yet to see someone take two shots to the face from my VSR and not call it, but they're .48s at 2.3J. I've definitely seen people shrug off multiple body shots though, even at that weight and power. And you just need a smaller 2nd gun. I bought a Cyma mp5k and it's not too difficult carrying both it and the VSR, though I'll agree it gets difficult with a larger secondary rifle. I did it with my 416 and it worked, but it was much harder and I'm 6'5 and heavily built, so two guns isn't as big on me.

Was doing some general maintenance to my pistols and came to realise I have more pistols than long guns... And I want more! I still need a handful of parts to upgrade the STTI mk23 (bottom left) and the Bell 1911 (2nd from right) which I'll get first, but there's at least a TM HK45 Tactical, Bell m9 and Bell MEU on the list of pistols I want to add to the collection.

As someone who uses a boltie, the number of times I hear this... It always amazes me when people are shocked that their stock AEG can't reach the same ranges as my painstakingly tuned boltie

You beat me to it. Glocks are undeniably great handguns. They're reliable, have a high magazine capacity, easy to use, they're everything you want in a pistol and if I had to carry a handgun I'd probably go for a Glock 21 as it's got all that Glock goodness and comes in .45 calibre. It's perfect. But I still hate them; give me my impractical m1911 with its outdated single stack magazine. Also, in airsoft... AEGs. Yes, AEGs. I think they're the best weapon platform for airsoft. They're reliable, they'll work in all weather, you can put thousands of BBs through them with no issues and all you need to do is swap batteries if you get low. Also, with how far hop rubbers have come along, they're reaching similar ranges to bolt actions (not quite the same, but comparable enough where you can just aim up or dash forward 10 - 15m to get in range). To top that off, you can run hi-caps allowing you to never run out of ammo, or even use a drum mag if you so desire. Or you can up them to be DMRs and bridge the gap between AEG and bolt action, getting the middle ground "best of both worlds" platform. All in all, they're amazing, they're versatile and they often look really good. But I still hate them. They sound silly, they're loud(er than HPA), and they're so uncivilised.

My mp5k or spring shotty always comes with me as a backup gun, regardless of what else I'm bringing. Always a good idea to have a backup! And you're totally right. Outside of gearbox related shenanigans, airsoft guns are really easy to work on. And even then, V2 gearboxes aren't that complicated once you open them up and have a look. I'll give someone a pass though if they don't want to crack open their V7 gearbox, as I've endured that pain myself and wouldn't wish it on anyone (unless it's a tech I'm paying to open it up for me, then I do wish it on them because that's what I'm paying them to do!)

Yep. I'll always advocate for doing basic maintenance, tune-ups and simple upgrades yourself. It allows you to notice when something is wrong with your gun and immediately have ideas on what's wrong and how to fix it.

I think I'll also echo this, but also as a recent HPA convert. I stopped playing about 6 - 7 years ago after I left university, but got back into the hobby 2 years ago. HPA wasn't really a thing back in the early 2010s, but now it's everywhere. However, I have also learned to love it myself. I converted my VSR to HPA and never looked back. The effortless bolt pull, the silence of having no moving parts in the firing mechanism and the silly levels of consistency are all priceless and I just don't find myself using my spring VSR ever. I don't think I'll ever fit the bill of a stereotypical HPA full auto idiot (they exist in the AEG variety too!) though, since it's hard to get silly ROF out of a boltie I'll also add another thing I learned recently: I don't like milsim. Gave it a shot two weeks ago and had fun, but I don't think I'd repeat the experience. It's total pay-to-win at night time, because the guy who spends thousands of £s on NVGs will just win against the guy who can't afford to do the same. Yes, people will say "but you can see the illuminator" and that's how I did hit someone while being otherwise blind, or "pop smoke to screw with it", but seeing a red dot in the darkness is very different to seeing everything plainly and smoke doesn't solve the issue as then nobody can see anyone and firing blindly can be dangerous. Also, I don't really like the whole idea of being told exactly what to do. I'd much rather be given an objective of "we need intel on X, and if you see Y they are a target of opportunity" then be left to my own devices on how to accomplish it, rather than being given strict orders on "we need you to go and do A". Also, I didn't really get an opportunity to use my boltie at all (which made me sad ), as most squad-based tasks were ill-suited to it, so I basically played the whole event with my secondary (stock cyma mp5k) and sidearm (upgraded TM mk23). And the most recent thing: I've learned that carrying a small, lightweight AEG at the same time as the VSR is a game changer. I may go back to just the VSR and mk23 for some games, as I just like pistols and like excuses to use mine, but carrying a small mp5k alongside the VSR has been super easy and super useful; having full auto for tight situations and allowing me to push aggressively when my team is inevitably all hiding behind a barricade, shooting at enemies far out of their range as airsofters are wont to do has been really nice. The mp5k + spare mags are really lightweight and I just unclip it from the sling and put it to one side when I get into a position where I'm lying prone with the VSR. You learn something new every day

I love the hicap heroes who burn through thousands of BBs per game. Their shooting provides a wonderful soundscreen for me to move about. Nobody's going to notice the light rustle of foliage or the gentle crunch of a slow footstep when John Rambo over yonder is spamming his AEG at everything.

I had a decent day, even though I couldn't use the VSR as the battery connectors needed fixing (they're fixed now and reinforced with a bunch of electrical tape!). We played a long game across the whole morning and I got a good number of kills from my hide next to one of the objectives, even after it got completely overrun and I repositioned to start shooting the enemy in the back. However, I think my days using the ghillie are numbered; if it was much warmer, I'd have dropped it as I was pretty damn warm wearing it today! However, I found that I'm really not used to using 1J guns, as I would get into a hide with my m14 and lament at the shots I could've made with the VSR that I just couldn't with the m14. I don't think I had anyone within my usual 30m MED once through the whole day, which made the fact I had no MED (as the m14 is 1J) a moot point. Next skirmish day I'm looking forward to using the VSR again. It's a much lighter-weight loadout than the m14 as the VSR is lighter and I don't need a chest rig as everything fits on the belt.

Hey everyone, So this has happened three times now and I'm not exactly heavy handed on it. The battery connectors just keep coming loose. First they were re-soldered onto the mini JSTs, second time I got the mini JSTs swapped for Deans connectors and now it's happened for a third time! Was wondering if anyone had any experience with this and if there's any way to strengthen the connection of the wiring to the plug. I absolutely love the Wolverine Bolt for everything apart from the damn battery connectors that keep coming loose!

First milsim event on the books and I'm going to ache tomorrow. Did something stupid like 24k steps through the event (kept my smart watch on under my gloves as I was curious) and only got 3h sleep! Was it enjoyable? You bet. Will I do it again? Probably not, but you never know. I think the happy middleground of filmsim / battle sim is where my preference will lie, as milsim just seems a bit too... uptight? Serious? Pay-to-win? (just keep reading, you'll know why I say this) I get why people are drawn to it, but to me it's just not my cup of tea; I play airsoft to have fun with friends and play BB wars and maybe do a bit of silly RP and follow a story through a longer event, I'm not looking for that strict military feeling. High point? Our squad using site knowledge to sneak behind the entire enemy team using a really out of the way route to start engaging them from behind, though a premature endex hampered our impact as it took a while for the squad to get into position. It's such an out of the way route that one of the others in our squad was a regular on site and he didn't know about it. Runner up was dressing up in civvie gear and shouting insults at a very on-edge Taskforce after they got a journalist blown up by an IED. Low point? No NODs in a sea of lots and lots of NODs (on both teams). Our squad did one firefight in the darkness because we were assigned to defend an objective and got absolutely rolled over by double our number where almost all of them had Gen2+ NODs, while our squad had none. I got one of them with the mp5k before getting hit myself as I just shot at the red light in the darkness, but the fight was over in less than 10 seconds.