TacticalWaifu

Why would you buy a battery before checking if it was compatible? Is there a particular reason you didn't just grab a 7.4V LiPo? As with a lot of things, the answer to your question is pretty much "it depends." Not all MOSFETs can handle 11.1V properly, and it could result in over-cycling if you're leaving everything else stock. It's also worth noting that if you bought it new, a number of retailers say that -- unless they've specified it's ok to use -- putting 11.1V LiPos in a RIF they've said can only handle 7.4V, will void the warranty.

@ragingviking you could try DMing @Ebr sniper,they were trying to get one appraised back in January:

Worthwhile contacting the NAF to find out if you're even allowed to transfer tickets (they don't seem to say anything about it in their FAQ)... https://www.airsoftfestival.com/contact

Too soon, man. Too soon. 😢

Obligatory "it's a great deal, really! This can only go up in value!" 🙄

As @Tackle said, you're not bothering anyone here Congrats on UKARA, and your new gun! Free from the rental mafia, you are now the proverbial lone wolf with your precious, hand-picked piece -- enjoy it! You don't have to disappear -- folks here are generally a social bunch, and pretty much happy to chat about anything airsoft-related (or not) -- and if someone can't help you with an issue, they'll generally be able to point you in the direction of another user or person who can 😊

Adamantium? Pfft. The seller told me my plate carrier was pure Unobtanium! Nuprol are rare and well-made, right? Surely I've not been overcharged, right? ... --Guys? 😅

"One can argue" the sky is white and the sea is blaze orange, doesn't make it true, or relevant to this thread. Nobody proposed "any more regulation" than what is actually required, if you took the time to read the thread properly. The idea of an SGB was raised specifically with the concern that it not needlessly encumber players or operators. As for the "one can even argue one is airsoft is not a sport" ... you're just trolling for trolling's sake. The ESC definition of "sport" is: Let's see how that related to airsoft, shall we? Casual participation: yes, walk onto any skirmish site and just play. Organized participation: yes, there are pre-arranged game days and game modes available, as well as the likes of milsim events. A lot of players have said improving their health happened to be an aim, and probably a greater number say it tends to be a good thing for their mental well-being - in the same way riding a motorcycle can improve well-being for bikers. Forming social relationships? Absolutely. Obtaining results in competition at all levels: an option, not a requirement, but yes -- UK has held qualifiers for the G&G World Cup, the UK Action Shooting Association was a thing (UK association for ActionAirgun), and was later associated with IAPS (International Airsoft Practical Shooting), never mind sites having ranges with electronic targets where competitions have been held... so yes, absolutely has and can be competitive in the formal definition. As such, you can try and argue it's not a sport all you want (although I don't see why you'd feel the need to try and thrust yourself upon that particular sword), but the European Sports Charter would disagree with you... as would the OED: Definitely involves physical exertion, and skill -- you can't just run around spamming full auto and "win the game" - there are additionally rules and customs adopted, so yeah - whether you see it as just a hobby or not is up to you, but it's absolutely a sport. Returning to the UKAPU question, "what do they even do" is a very valid question, especially given their total silence in recent years. "Bargaining power" would generally apply to the likes of unions, or large organisations like the NHS having large quotas to fill, when seeking preferential pricing with manufactures -- an association with free membership and a couple of thousand members doesn't have bargaining power. The "free market" is irrelevant if manufacture specs, usage, etc. are curtailed by legislation -- so that point doesn't apply, either. UKAPU absolutely aren't (and shouldn't be) market research 😂 The idea of a national "sport governing body," working to the aim of formal recognition within the UK, is the *opposite* of your "fragmented nature" analogy, but it would seem apparent with the long list of hypotheticals, that you just want to say your piece. You seem to have had the very knee-jerk reaction to the word governing that I addressed in my very first mention of it - and that it need not have much more than existing agreed-upon standards, and some formal organisation - but with a much greater cause and end result.

Yeah, according to the folk that run The Citadel, CQE just have the one building that they'll be skirmishing in.

Personally I think the SGB aspect is needed, but isn't necessarily UKAPU-specific -- in fact given how UKAPU has been for the last few years anyway, a different team/org would seem more suitable for the "recognised as a sport" goal. UKAPU-wise, there's not much any of us can do until members have the opportunity to nominate themselves (or others) for the committee elections, prior to the next AGM. At that point certainly folk can help constructively by offering to stand for an officer post, or indeed ask the committee about other non-officer ways of helping UKAPU... I know I will be, at any rate 🙂 Calling out the significant issues is quite right IMO, they've been going on long enough -- I don't now about others, but I'm certainly looking at putting my passion and energy into things including UKAPU, and have had several conversations in DM with others about this.

Precisely. A "governing body" doesn't have to mean someone new to tell players/sites what they can do, it's just agreed standards that -- other than helping meet sport council requirements by (among other things) demonstrating basic standards and organisation / "governance", they can focus on outreach and advocacy for airsoft in the UK

This would be better placed in https://airsoft-forums.uk/forum/51-skirmish-sites-stories-reviews/ I suspect. "Definitely worth checking it out" seems a bit disingenuous since you appear to be the operator, rather than an unrelated player giving a positive review... What makes you a "superior" (according to your website) skirmish site, anyway? Superior in what way, and compared to where else? 😊

Absolutely this. Politically there are a few ways of describing airsoft which will absolutely not garner support to the cause... 😅 You replied while I was writing mine, but this is exactly the point -- there can be big advantages to having an SGB, from "recognition" to funding, certain statuses afforded to sports (in things like lockdown, etc.) - and being promoted as a "sport" rather than simply a hobby (push mental and physical health benefits, etc.) can do a lot to help improve public image / correct misconceptions.

I've done some research into this previously. The home nations sport councils (sportScotland, Sport England, Sport Wales, Sport Northern Ireland, and UK Sport) all have a joint recognition policy -- and their decision on what counts as sporting activity is defined by the Council of Europe’s 1992 European Sports Charter (as revised in 2001). Essentially, what we'd need to see airsoft "recognised" as a sport in the UK would be a national Spoty Governing Body -- either one for each home nation as applicable, or a UK-wide SGB -- but the latter would need the agreement of all the above sport councils. This would require a fair bit of work, as it would require such an organisation to achieve some level of status within the UK airsoft community, and indeed a fair level of organisation and governance. Right up my alley, but I'm not about to say "right lads, I'm starting the UK Airsoft Association, who wants to help?" -- at least, not unless folk thought it would be worthwhile 😅 I can absolutely see the benefit of an SGB existing for airsoft, especially in terms of promoting it, recognition (including the possibility to apply for sports-earmarked funding to help further airsoft in the UK)... but I know some folk will balk at the idea of "governing body" and worry about rules and regulations being force upon them from on high. In a practical sense I don't think that's necessary, IMO a lot of things are covered by general good practice or UKARA anyway -- things like "accredited" sites having public liability insurance, potentially universal site FPS limits (or perhaps a "recommended" set, with sites ultimately being allowed to set their own within reason). TL;DR: it would be a fair bit of work establishing such an organisation -- but if we got the critical mass of community players and site operators supporting the idea, we could grow such a governance organisation to the stage where it could apply for recognition with the sports councils, which would help give some quasi-legal definition/status to airsoft in the UK, as well as other privileges (like being able to apply for sports funding) -- as well as being in a much better position for advocacy and supporting player's rights.\ If anyone does like the idea (or hate or, or whatever else), my inbox is always open. I'd love to try and make something like this happen, as (1) it's well overdue, and (b) it's not like UKAPU - sadly - has much in the way of relevance or bite atm. (UKAPU, no stealing this. Y'all can't even organise basic communication with members... 😕)

I'll put my hand up and admit I was the one that brought the finances to @Colin Allen's attention. The complaint isn't necessarily at the money is in "savings" (which it doesn't actually appear to to be) -- more the fact that the vast majority is sitting as a PayPal balance (which PayPal could freeze and effectively confiscate indefinitely at any time, for more or less any reason, as they are wont do to, especially if they took a look and decided there was even the remotest possibility it was firearms-related... Additionally, PayPal accounts are much more insecure than regular bank accounts, and cash in PayPal accounts aren't protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme -- so if something happened to PayPal (or even just their UK operations), those monies wouldn't be protected / recoverable. That aside, your "it's "nothing" for a "nationwide representative body" is disingenuous -- for that to apply, UKAPU would have to actively be representing their stated aims and interests, at a nationwide level -- and between their blatant lack of communication, significant number of vacant posts, and nobody else claiming the've had any dealings with UKAPU (which would at least provide some evidence in the face of UKAPU's silence about such matters), there is no proof they have been doing anything of note for the airsoft community recently, much less at a "nationwide" level. You're saying one hell of a big "if" for an association whose primary membership is FOC. How you expect that they should have "[a] reserve fund multiple times that" I don't know, they certainly don't have the membership or income stream to warrant such things -- nor do they offer or claim to "fight legal cases" or fund "white papers" or anything else. They don't need a huge slush fund to be effective, Stew -- they need a committee of members that (a) actively do things, and (b) actually communicate with members and the outside world - and as stated, between social media posts being 3 years out of date and there basically having been total radio silence for members (never mind anyone else) for over a year, and failure to provide any minutes or accounts or a 2022 AGM or anything remotely like that, it would seem apparent that they aren't effective at simply maintaining a members organisation, never mind actively promoting or fighting for any cause. Context matters. Failed comparisons and hypothetical what-ifs, not so much.

I'd also be interested to know what the backlog / action time is atm (little point rushing to order if patch orders from 6 months ago haven't been fulfilled yet...) Paging @proffrink to this thread... This thread, @proffrink, thank you! 😄

I appreciate it's voluntary, but professionalism seemed the right word. There's a certain level of competence and good judgement required (or at least expected) of committee members... and perma-silence is neither good judgement, nor even remotely polite behaviour 😕

As @Tackle and @Rogerborg have said, your best bet now is getting your money back - be it from PayPal or your card issuer / bank or whatever. They certainly don't deserve a third chance... Leave appropriate reviews wherever you can, so other potential customers can beware.

It certainly does seem to have planned to go to head, the then- (presumably now ex-)Chairman had said as much the day before, and was by his own admission (and words) "wholly unprofessional" in his responses, including taking the dictatorial decision to ban members from even attending, without ever consulting the rest of the committee. No word on if it did take place in the end though, or what the result was -- never mind word of an AGM under the new Chairperson. One can only hope they have a little more professionalism and communication than previously (although that's a low bar) -- otherwise they really have no right to be taking money from members and just being totally silent and seemingly dormant.

I am filled with rage 🤬 and bitter disappointment 😭

Wiley X Saber Advanced are solid and hold up well, IME. Gatorz' milspec lenses are great too, frames can be a bit Tacticool though - pricey, but a worthwhile investment.

Beware places having E&OE (errors and omissions excepted) stated on the site, or "prices are subject to change without notice" being hidden in their terms and conditions somewhere -- basically absolving them of responsibility if they've either got something wrong, or not updated the site in a while.