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In this hobby (I'd argue it extends past it, but we'll stick with this hobby for now), everyone is a prick in some way, shape or form. Make peace with it and move on. The budget boys want to yell from the roof tops that they're keeping up for a third of the price (they aren't), the gucci gang think more expensive will always mean more good (it doesn't) and the folks that have a different RIF for every day of the week will question why you'd ever spend so much on one RIF when you could have bought 4 for that price (and never use any of them). Everyone has their own view and, albeit intentionally tongue in cheek (which seems to have been entirely missed courtesy of the interpretation of typed text), folks with a differing view point tend to fall in the category of prick... so for every person that agrees with you, there are at least two categories of people that think you're a prick. I guess my answer to the 'form or function' question is quite simply, both. And fortunately my personal preferences for what I like the look of line up with what I like the function of.

I'd say you're missing category 3, which is the one I'd tend to fit in which is a few RIFs which have had some money thrown at them to improve them (be that performance, reliability, or both). I guess I'd call it the "quality over quantity" elitist pricks. I have 3 'primaries'. An NGRS AR with the works done to it, an E&L AK with the works done to it and an MWS which has a new hop nub in it. Including mags and extra gubbins that's thrown on them they're roughly all valued equally, and what I use is based simply on what I fancy using. And I have 3 'secondaries'. A Glock 19 which is my most frequently 'taken out' one. A Glock 17 which I should probably sell on but won't and a Glock 34 which is used as a primary for CQB from time to time. I've got a CYMA AKSU I need to list on here at some point which was initially bought to be the base of the project that ended up being an E&L instead, and as mentioned about I'll probably move the G17 on. Outside of those I'm super content with what I have, and for the first time in perhaps ever when it comes to airsoft there is nothing I want in terms of RIFs or kit. It's all been bought and altered based on my prior experience of 'my favourites' over the years to fit the way I play and what I like the look of. I guess I've landed on 'I like what I like' and have stopped chasing things for no other reason than the 'high' of something fresh arriving at my door and posting pictures showing it off. Once you're only buying kit for you I feel it become a lot easier, I definitely fell into the trap of trying to impress others... being a bit older and wiser certainly helps.

Mayo as hell so exceedingly boring, but very functional. Just had the NGRS back after a bit of work on the insides. Looking forward to giving it a run out in a few weeks time.

Have you tried it spun around so the angle is forward facing at all? If it’s not for you, then it’s not for you but I find the BCM one the best by a mile personally… but only with the angle facing forward.

TLDR is better grip to pull them out of pouches without having a loop which can get caught on things/adding length to the mag which can be a twat when prone. The purpose of a magpul is to make getting mags out of pouches easier, so they're still doing their job without the loops.

Nope, not at all implying it's a negative or stupid thing... not without evidence anyway. It's just a very Western approach to an predominantly Eastern dominanted market (at least to my knowledge). The only part we could ever really question would be the return on investment (ROI) of their various marketing activities, which I doubt we'll ever know... and truthfully any publicly available numbers wouldn't reveal much. I've never owned a KWA RIF to speak for their quality first hand, most of what of seen is fairly positive in terms of OOTB performance with the main critiques being 'on the pricey side' (with CYMA going from strength to strength this'll start to be applied to everything), stock hop buckings aren't great (with the exception of Marui this extends to pretty much everything) and proprietary part(s) (this is just the tappet plate if memory serves)... none of these are unique to KWA so perhaps their allocation to marketing is what they're doing to separate themselves from the pack so to speak. Is it working? 🤷‍♂️, fucked if I know. I guess the reason I say 'obscene marketing budget' is very much a comparitive statement when compared to other companies in the same market. Generally speaking marketing budgets are allocated per project when it comes to the usual 'manufacture goods, sell goods' model, and RRPs tend to be chosen based on the margin after combining those costs... so I'd say it's safe to assume the end user is covering a portion of those costs in some way/shape/form (again, not unique to KWA... KWA just do more with marketing so that portion wouid likely be higher). For reference of where this is all coming from, I design and develop board games for a living (on salary for a company, not as a freelancer) part of that job includes product development with some marketing input and juggling budgets etc. While aware there won't be an exact translation across markets I imagine it's much of a muchness, there's a pretty cookie cutter way businesses of a certain size are run these days. So yeah, not entirely plucking it out of my arse, I'm aware you didn't ask, but I figure some background might be useful to the conversation.

For sure, stockists get a sizeable amount of point of sale (PoS) material from KWA... stickers, patches all that sort of freebie merch stuff (limited edition clothing which is 'free' alongside a limited edition colourway of a RIF is a prime example). They seem to provide a lot of very highly quality images to stockists with online stores (I'd say this just in general, but especially compared to what others provide). And then we move to the sponsored content side of things and 'collabs' with content creators, KWA are very prevalent in terms of YouTube partnerships (or whatever they're called these days). They also produce a large amount of content themselves across their various social media platforms and put a lot of time and energy into their brand/branding. Ultimately it's all part of KWA being a US company, which means their marketing is all much more 'Westernised' compared to most other airsoft companies due to where the vast majority are based. I don't have a particular deep understanding when it comes to professional website building costs, but I know enough to summise their website certainly wouldn't have been cheap because it's at least making some attempts to take the customer on a 'journey' which is a very 'professional Western website-y' thing to do. Umarex very much lean into, hell some might argue entirely rely on, their licensed branding (HK plastered all over the packaging as you've highlighted) but I wouldn't say they put much into marketing it at all. But Umarex aren't an airsoft company per se, so it's perhaps an unfair comparison to make.

I'm not sure if I'm lost in a loop of piss taking or not (of which there is no better loop to get lost in), but my statement was aimed at KWA. I wouldn't be shocked if part of the premium you pay was at least in part to cover how obscene their marketing budget allocation is. Aaaaand to get us back on track, slapped the stretch panel on the AirLite rig in anticipation of getting my Krink back. The mags are also new, crossing my fingers that Cyma internals in E&L externals will do the trick.

Certainly not promising it'll fit, but also struggling to see why it wouldn't. Link is here. Truthfully I imagine you get a generic spring on eBay of roughly the right dimensions for much cheaper and cut it size though. Pick you poison I guess 🤷‍♂️.

Why bother spending budget on decent packaging when you spank it all on marketing...

If you wake up one more and have the urge to start fitting more cardio exercise in, are you likely to head out for a full 26 mile marathon or a 5km walk? If you decide you want to start lifting some weights you're going to find your 1 rep max and work from there (or at least that'll generally be the advice when creating a plan in my experience), not jump straight in consistently trying to lift heavier than you can. Nutrition should be treated no differently. TLDR, in my opinion (and seemingly others too), changes in nutrition should be implemented at the correct pace... hence me saying over and over, if adjusting is something you want to it it's worth talking to a professional. So many just blindly follow what has worked for others, often strangers from the internet, expecting the same results in a similar timeframe... while only replicating one element of that persons lifestyle. It's entirely daft, but it's more convenient than getting assistance from those that are qualified to advise you on the best steps to a healthier body... often with a healthier mind as part of the package. The number on the scales isn't the only thing that matters in the equation, so don't be a slave to it. 15 stone can be carried in a variety of different ways on your body.

I don’t know if it’s simply a case of the entire lack of exercise outside of airsofting once a fortnight throwing me off, but given your rough description of yourself (big and tall) but I’m not sure I’d agree with you that 2200 calories a day is high at all. If anything I’d say you’re way under what I’d expect, even taking into considerate that you aiming for a deficit. You know your body much better than I, and as I mentioned at the top of this post it could be the lack of activity that pulls it down. But I’ve never been one for keeping my mouth shut.

If you've found something that works then great, but I would like to highlight that it is absolutely possible to have what I would call a complete diet where you're not feeling hungry all of the time. You can absolutely eat meals which are extremely filling while having good macros and the correct amount of calories (which will always vary from person to person). The anecdote regarding the doughnuts, while again I'm happy for you that you're able to resist the temptation, is more about willpower than anything with actual hunger. The main downside of any diet relying on ketosis predominantly through nutritional intake is how strict you need to be with it. If you botch your macros and have a gram too many carbs you'll exit ketosis thus rendering the dietary sacrifices you're making pointless. That's largely why I land anything of that ilk as not being sustainable for most. So much of all of this is entirely in your, or our, heads. If you truly think about it you wouldn't believe how many times a day you're actually hungry versus think you're hungry because you're bored/it's habitual. Again, to highlight, that's not to downplay any level of success anyone is having with however they choose to do it. However, if folks are serious about making a change that extreme that they should speak to a professional because the 'fastest and most efficient diet for burning fat' doesn't necessarily make it the healthiest. Health and fitness are significantly more than how much fat is body burning on a daily basis.

I'm not going to give any advice on the 'actuals' of what to do (I'll be honest, the last place anyone should be taking fitness advice from is an airsoft forum) but I will pop some things that are worth thinking about below: 1) Though generally they go hand in hand, fixing your nutrition should be a higher priority than exercise. Changes to your nutrition should be sustainable, fad diets are all well and good for getting quicker results but are rarely ones most folks would be able to maintain for an extended period of time. 2) Though I'd tend to advocate talking to professionals, an easy way to start amending your nutrition is plugging your details into a TDEE calculator. It won't be 100% accurate but it gives you an ok starting point and calculating where you want to be for a calorie deficit. Cutting out fizzy drinks and replacing them with water is all well and good, if you're still taking in 4000 calories a day in other junk with shit macros then you're likely still in caloric surplus... and such, putting weight on. 3) Your motivation will be the first thing to cave, your willpower is going to be tested more than anything else in your body will be. Be mindful of this. 4) Starting point of folks health and fitness will vary, be careful following whatever the hot thing is on the internet. As much as folks will try to sell you on 'this works for literally anyone', that's not necessarily the case and linking to the previous point... all it'll take is falling at some early hurdles to wipe out your motivation. 5) Know what your goals are, if you go into it with 'I just want to be a bit healthier lol' it'll be really hard to maintain motivation as time moves on because you'll quickly realise you're not working toward anything and that initial drive you had at the start will fade. 6) You get out what you put in. Some would rather make non-intrusive small changes, others are looking for a lifestyle overhaul. Either way, the results are going to line up with what you change and how well you stick to it. 7) The biggest one, the one we've all done at some point in time... and will likely all initially claim we haven't. Stop making excuses for not doing things.

Aye, super impartial from a chap who's good friends with a retailer that carries Silverback products 👀. That, not insignificant, element aside... am I just blind or does this type of video just show nothing? It's been a long time since I bothered with 'airsoft YouTube' largely because it's just a hive of useless (often paid for, but rarely disclosed) information and shite peddling, but even when it was something I engaged with I've always struggled to see the point of this type of content. It's literally someone strolling around while you squint at the monitor to track a BB, only to have sound effects and post production convince you things hit because you sure as shit can't see it for yourself. If it's something you're into, you do you, but I have never understood this type of thing.

Funnily enough this was the end of the spectrum I experienced when attending F&O sites. That and the worst implementation of ‘player marshalls’ I’ve experienced to date. There is a delicate balance between not enough and too many when it comes to marshalls IMO. Too few and there just isn’t the coverage, too many and they just wandering around chatting doing a whole load of zero marshalling (largely down to the fact a decent portion of them are doing it ‘for favours’ on a ‘voluntary basis’ rather than being employed). I should clarify before this comes across as too much of an ‘attack’ on F&O at large that each site is managed by different folks as far as I understand it so I’m sure some of them are solid. But the two I’ve been too weren’t ‘up to it’ IMO.

Given my experience at both of the sites I’ve been to which are run by them that’s probably the easiest part for me to understand. Granted I can’t say I’d experienced anything to this extent, but if I was to sum up F&O in a nutshell it’d be something along the lines of ‘resting on their laurels’ and ‘got lazy’... seemingly that’s spreading to ‘outright daft’. And that’s not to say I’m here celebrating a decline in quality, they have a decent number of sites up here so ruling out attending them at all is frustrating… but I’d hit a point where I’d show up expecting a poorly run day with 7 hour long self promoting safety briefs only to play the same games over and over none of which take advantage of the sites to their fullest. Goes without saying that it sucks the OP had a shit time, only to be exacerbated by the response from F&O… but the moment I saw this topic I had a sneaking suspicion as to who/which site it was. And while not surprised in the slightest, I’m gutted I was right.

I'd imagine so, can't help but doubt they're old enough to have dreams about anything interesting just yet. The good ones come along once you've hit puberty.

Took about a month to get here from Italy, but a few bits for the MWS should I decide to actually install any of them.

Either heating it up or putting it in the freezer for a while may/will likely help. Given the design of the barrel nut I’d put a suitably chunky Allen key (or similar) in one of the holes on the barrel nut and start tapping said Allen key around with a hammer/mallet. An AR block would help but I’ll go ahead and assume you don’t have one.

It's hard for me to be able to answer that entirely loaded question honestly because that's simply not a temperature we're likely to encounter over here in the near future (assuming the various gradual bullshit going on with global weather doesn't accerate that is). For you, already having sunk the expense of tanks, taps, a regulator and a way of filling said tanks sure it financially makes sense. For me, in the unlikely event I encounter weather conditions the MWS won't run over here, I'd rather have an AEG back up than go through the faff. TLDR - We'll likely always have opposing opinions because you have a problem I don't have. And if i were to, I'd solve it differently.

As someone that used primarily HPA with an engine rather than tapping for the 2/3 years ahead of the various lockdowns happening I'll never understand how people skirmish with tapped RIFs. One of the biggest reason for picking up a GBBR and dealing with the minor inconveniences (some of which are blown way out of proportion/consideration) is the added element of realism leading to further 'immersion'. The two biggest contributing factors to that increased realism because recoil/feedback and reloads. The moment you tether it to yourself, and add disconnect line at the start of a reload and reconnect line at the end of a reload you're taking what is largely considered the biggest disadvantage of running a GBBR (that being mag capacity) and exacerbating it by making reloads harder. Alongside that you're also making reloads decidedly less realistic... and that's before considering the fact you have a droopy line by your side the entire time. But yeah, I'm not sure I'd say it lands in full on heresy... but it is entirely counter to the reason many choose to run a GBBR in the first place, hence why it's meet with raised eyebrows and pitchforks.