Colin Allen

I wear this for airsoft. It is old and a bit crap, but it does the job, rather like its owner.

Iturri Cold Wet Weather boots; go a size up from what you normally wear and get the Wide fitting. They are the best boots that I have worn in 40+ years of wearing boots.

I wear a cheap digital watch that I bought about 20 years ago. I am not sure why I wear one; it is probably just habit.

That is exactly what it is.

Rather predictably, this morning saw me at Airsoft Plantation, where I met up with around 180 other players for a day of slinging plastic at each other. After setting up and chronoing my recently overhauled and upgraded QBZ 97, which was shooting slightly hot, comparing guns, discussing the pros and cons of gas and gearboxes, and listening to the safety brief and the first game brief, our team set off for the mortar pits, while the red team went to the village. We had two lives, while the attackers had 10 medics, upon whom they had infinite regens. Their objective was to get three smoke grenades, which were carried in an ammo box, to their respective targets in the mortar pits. They could not open the box to find out where the objectives were until they were in the mortar pits and, if the player carrying the box was hit, they had to hand it to the medic who saved their life, who would give it to the next player who regened on them. I initially took up a position behind a berm towards the left side of the mortar pits. The enemy took a while to appear but, when they did, the recently upgraded SR47 showed that the work that I had done on it had been worthwhile; it was popping BBs out to a great distance and had a much improved trigger response. I got lots of good hits before being hit, whereupon I fell back to the bunker, from where the SR47 carried on as it had started until I was hit again, this time by an enemy player who had sneaked around the boundary berm on the left. I joined my other deceased team mates along the back of the site to watch the fun, which included a brilliant piece of work from a rental, who took out several of the enemy before being hit. Eventually, of course, the attackers achieved their objectives and, after a short visit to the safe zone to reload, the game was reversed. In this iteration, I was one of the medics; our attack was pretty direct and we pushed into the mortar pits, taking a lot of hits along the way, which kept us medics busy when we were not shooting the enemy. Our smoke grenades were set off at their targets in a time that was four minutes faster than that of our enemies. Hip hooray and tally ho, as Blackadder's Lt George would probably have said. The next game was a fallback using most of the site. The red team had to transport a casualty on a stretcher, which was a four person lift, from the far end of the woods to the border bridge, then to the town hall and finally to the plane in the DEA base; at each location, they had to set off a smoke bomb that was located there. They had infinite regens on a marshal who was 30m behind their rearmost player, while we had one life in the woods, another in the border/village, and a final one on the far side of the firebreak. We set up a two layer defence in the woods and I found myself being part of the second layer. The enemy's attack was quite slow, taking a long time to break down our front line, who were well supported by those of us in the second line. Eventually they did so and, after a bitter fight, we were overwhelmed and I made my way back across the border bridge. I decided to make use of the boundary ditch, which is largely sheltered by bushes and small trees, as a good location from where I could easily move back and forth and pot enemy players as they advanced past me. As some of you may remember, I have previously written about the different types of mud at AP and this location offered me a completely new variety to admire; it was reddish brown, clearly indicating that a different soil stratum exists along the far boundary, very smelly and extremely glutinous; I was as happy as the hippopotamus in the song by Flanders and Swann. This plan worked rather well as I was able to shoot passing players from the ditch and then scuttle along it to another position without being seen. Eventually, I heard a shout of "Game Over"; the enemy had timed out without reaching the town hall. Lunch followed and the somewhat filthy appearance of my boots and trousers was in contrast to everyone else in the safe zone. After lunch, the game was reversed, with our objectives now being limited to getting the stretcher and its casualty to the border bridge and the town hall, setting off their smoke bombs. The group that I was with formed the right flank of our attack in the woods, moving along the boundary and getting into lots of engagements with the defenders; although we took casualties, we worked well as a team and overran them reasonably handily. We then got somewhat bogged down at the border ditch and bridge due to a stalwart defence by the red team, which we we eventually overcame, but not before I twice had to go in search of the regen marshal. As the enemy had taken heavy casualties fighting at the border, we were able to push into the village reasonably rapidly, getting the casualty to the town hall and setting off the smoke bomb there. At this point, I had to leave as I needed to get home, sort out my kit, have a shower, and then get to Desertfest in Camden in time for Slift and the truly awesome, overwhelming and weirdly uplifting Earth. It was a typical AP day of airsoft, with well designed games, great play and lots of fun; it was played in a good spirit. I am not sure if I will be playing next Sunday; I am going to see Soft White Underbelly (aka Blue Oyster Cult) at the Islington Assembly Hall on Saturday evening and the thought of getting up early the next morning is not particularly attractive. Weapons used: Hurricane Kit SR47 MP5A2 (most of the externals are SRC, except for a CA SEF trigger group, and it has a mix of internal parts) ASG XP18 Commander (CO2) Drinks consumed: Water Tea

Grenades were used in Song Dynasty China (960-1279), being known as Thunder Crash Bombs (震天雷).

If that is the hardest decision of his life, he has led a very sheltered life.

I run CYMA midcaps in my Golden Eagle AMD65; Golden Eagle and JG are the same company.

No, this is a Double Bell.

My MPiKM has a new friend. This nice used rifle arrived today. I fitted the East German handguards; the next step will be to open it up and upgrade the internals.

Interesting; it is the same address as BBGuns4less.

Except that Ryan appears to be a lot older than 19. 😉

I think they might be a teeny bit "special" and, if that is a 19 year old, he needs a thorough health check. He seems to have a new funding site as well: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/cakeairsoftadventures

To be fair, cocaine has become more expensive lately.

Someone pointed it out to them.

It would be a shame if someone told them, wouldn’t it?

I was going to donate £0.01 and leave a comment, but the minimum donation is £2.00.

I have noticed that the lad and I are often the only people drinking water rather than so called energy drinks.

Describing someone as a nonce is unacceptable, unless they are shown to be one. One does not have to be a snowflake to object to such “banter”.

Dual power means that you can either run it with a battery or manually cock it for each shot.

Today's plastic slinging adventures took place at my most favoured haunt, Airsoft Plantation, in deepest and sunniest Essex. The safe zone was busy, but not over crowded, with probably about 160 people present. I was also using the day to try 0.30g BBs having found some in the cupboard. The first game involved us, as the attackers, starting at the DEA Base, with our first objective being to obtain an ammo box, containing four smoke grenades and information on where they were to be set off in the village, from the hill fort on the edge of the mortar pits. We had infinite regens on a buddy after a 30m fallback, while the defenders had one life in the mortar pits and two in the village. Our assault on the mortar pits went well and the ammo box was soon obtained from the hill fort; having wiped out everyone in the mortar pits, we set off to blow up the four targets in the village. At least, that was the intention; the reality was that those of our team escorting the bomber somewhat lost track of their mission as they were rather enjoying the firefights. The group that I was with swung around the village to attack it from the rear, which went well, and we soon pushed into it, taking a series of buildings from that side. Eventually, our bomber remembered his mission and disposed of the targets, albeit with something of a lack of urgency. After a short break to reload and take on fluids, we set out to reverse the game. Initially, I took up a position near the hill fort and picked off a fair few attackers before I got a nice little dink to the head, which left me with a headache for about an hour. Falling back into the village outskirts, where we held up the enemy attack for a while, I was hit again and fell further back to the rear of the village, where I concealed myself in a bush. This paid off as I spotted the bomber and his escort sneaking through the woods at the back of the village and took them all out; 0.30g BBs do cut through foliage rather well. Changing position, I engaged other attackers trying to sneak around the back, but was eventually hit again and went back to the safe zone. The next game involved ten of the players on our team, including me, being held hostage in the mortar pits. The hostage takers had one life each, while our potential liberators had infinite buddy regens after a 30m fallback. Our comrades had to rescue us without killing us; our captors were not allowed to kill us. Six of us were held captive in the bunker, where we enjoyed the banter with our captors and even more enjoyed seeing them get killed. Eventually, our rescuers arrived and we were escorted back to the plane at the DEA base; all ten hostages were rescued, which was excellent! Lucheon followed, during which a number of players left as they were struggling with the heat. Once everyone had dined and taken on more fluids, we set out for the woods for a fallback game. As the defenders, we had one life in the woods, one in the village and the final one in the mortar pits. The attackers had infinite buddy regens and had to set off bombs on the border bridge, in the well in the village and in the bunker in the mortar pits. Before this game started, there was a quick head count of both sides; the site owner failed to count me as he initially did not notice me sitting against a bush, despite only being about 6m away. When he did eventually notice me, he took a photo. Flecktarn, combined with an ability to remain very still, is very good in woods. I wandered over to our far left, where I potted several attackers before deciding that the best thing to do was to remain hidden and then sneak up behind the enemy once they had passed my position. This was very enjoyable as I took out several attackers before eventually being hit; while I was chatting to the guys who got me, they were all hit by another of our players who had done the same as I. Passing through their lines, I took up a position at the edge of the village, where we put up a good fight. I was eventually hit and fell back to the mortar pits, where I was again hit, sending me back to the safe zone again. A lot of players left after this game as they were really feeling the heat, so the reverse of it was played with far fewer numbers. We cleared the woods and blew up the border bridge rather quickly, but got bogged down taking the village and the mortar pits, with the game timing out before we could blow up the bunker. It was a very good, although very hot, day of airsoft, which was played in a good spirit, although there was a bit of whinging after lunch, which seems normal at every site I have played at. As usual, I had planned to use two rifles, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. However, the afternoon one was not happy with the battery I had brought for it and was over spinning, so I had to use just the one rifle. I was delighted to find that a 1600mAh LiFe battery can last all day. I will probably continue to use 0.30g BBs. Weapons used: Ares L1A1 ASG XP18 Commander (CO2) Weapon not used: Real Sword QBZ-97

Indeed; the company, rather than the directors, owes money to the creditors.

I sometimes use a hammer and small chisel to remove them.

By this guy (younger members might need to ask their parents or even grandparents).