Gunboat Diplomat

No worries, looking at the price of the 416 has me thinking you did my CC a favour! I’ve got some ESS V12s in my ebay watchlist as it happens, but I’m loathe to spend on anything full-seal as I expect I’ll end up with the same result. I’m considering some Bolle Cobras for me, but will need a a full seal option for the boy.

Also sums up our day. Good news: 3rd game in the bag so UKARA registered now, perhaps bad news for my credit card though. Got to meet @RostokMcSpoons briefly, nice to put a face to an avatar. My cheap boots have bedded in so no more shredded feet. Despite (or perhaps because of) the small turn-out the games flowed well, with a couple of new game types I've not played before. Highlights were a tense battle for our team to make it through a choke point heavily defended by the enemy. Rushing to a cover point, stopping to catch breath and then hearing a 'Hello?' from the other side of the tarp that made up the cover. 'Hello...' I replied. 'This is awkward, shall we talk instead of fighting?' asked the disembodied voice. 'Erm, what do you want to talk about?' I asked, stalling for time as my team moved up. '....Erm...' came the the reply. Not to see this verbal stalemate continue, one of my team had taken advantage of this thrilling discourse to cook a grenade and tossed it casually over the top of the tarp. Bad news: Both mine and the boy's Revision Bullet Ants steamed up constantly, despite using antifog (more on this to come). His eventually fell apart and are pretty much bin fodder at this point. I'm not convinced mine will last much longer. Really unimpressed by these. Lowlight was the boy uncharacteristically started flagging in the last hour and by then end was complaining of drowsiness and being dizzy, so I decided to end our day early and get him home. He's super fit (compared to me at any rate) and can easily do a full day football tournament, so this was not right for him. He said that he'd started feeling odd since applying the antifog so suspect he had some kind of reaction to it. Seems fine now having slept for much of the day, lesson learnt on that one. Things to look forward to: Carlos hinted that his CQB site will be opening soon so rather looking forward to this.

Your bed looks like the inventory screen in an old school RPG. I’ll keep an eye out for the guy pushing a wheelbarrow to the range tomorrow. 😉

* DeltaMike Mini V2 Really pleased with this, been using rental masks til now and this feels another level of comfort. Leaves my massive nose exposed but I’ll take that. * Revision Bullet Ants Bought 2 pairs for me and the boy. I have a feeling these are going to fog up instantly for me but we will see. * Flecktarn/Bulle M4 chest rig I wasn’t planning to spend anything on military wear, but for a shade under £50 this feels so much better than the generic backpack I’ve been using til now. 3rd game this weekend so hopefully I’ll be able to spend even more money once UKARA registered.

Agreed. If anything at all, the biggest giveaway is the sheer size of the discount on offer. But like you, with a few drinks inside me and the fear of missing a bargain I’d have fallen for it.

I had to google half of that, I don’t know one end of my MTP from my DPM!

Round the back. Thankfully I carry plasters and bandages in my pack, so was able to patch them up. Although pulling sweaty socks off in the field and trying to get plasters to adhere to damp feet was a laugh. Good tip though, will pad them out for the next trial run.

Yep we should be there again next week, prob only a half day again as the boy has a football tournament on Sun. Combat Airsoft looks interesting - the distance might cause a few ‘are we there yets’ from the passenger seat though.

Possibly too extreme but I’ll see how they break in before I relegate them to gardening duties.

I was, until today, quite pleased with my bargain Nortiv8 boots I picked up from Amazon for £17. However, after half a day on the field my heels are shredded. Not sure if it's a case of break-in or poor fit. Hopefully the former as aside from that they are actually comfortable in all other respects and pretty supportive.

Back from our second ever game at Spec Ops MK. Only did a half-day today as expected it to be hot and it's a good thing as my new boots have cut my heels to shreds, so was very much done by lunch. Turns out wearing them at your desk for a couple of hours doesn't count as a proper test. That aside, another good day of fun. Played a new game mode which involved rescuing a downed pilot (dummy) from the enemy camp. Hugely entertaining, especially when on the defending side as I managed to get a decent rate of kills. I think the game might need rebalancing though as I don't think anyone stood a chance of evac'ing the dummy, but who doesn't love a suicide mission. The boy had a good game with no injuries or mishaps, so at least one of us made it unscathed. He was, unusually for him, tired out by lunch so I'm assuming the heat has got to him. One more game to go before I'm UKARA registered which will simultaneously make the day rate cheaper but also meaning I empty my wallet on gun purchases. Have also realised I need something other than a bright red backpack to carry my gear and my £10 Asda jeans now have holes in the knees, so I'm open to suggestions on budget chest-rigs and trousers with knee-protection built in. Hello new hobby, good-bye fiscal responsibility.

The question is, how long until our nodding-dog political peers follow suit and update VCRA to mandate that all RIFs must now be transparent, pink or shaped like a banana irrespective of your UKARA status. Would be a very easy and lazy win in this climate of being tough-on-crime-whilst not-actually-being-tough-on-crime.

I'm another newb (also the wrong side of 40), my son and I had our first Airsoft game at Special Ops this bank holiday Monday just gone. Was a great day, Carlos and the team there are all very helpful. Food as mentioned above was great and you will have worked up an appetite for it. We're planning to go back soon, once UKARA registered I'll be waterboarding my credit card to fund kit for me and the boy. Spoke to a few of the regulars (possibly some of you guys who have replied - if so hello!) during the day and everyone was happy to chat and give advice, certainly no sense of gatekeeping or elitism that I experienced. Really enjoyed it, had some great battles, one memorable moment saw me exchanging fire with a couple of guys maybe 60 meters away from cover. Took out the first guy, then tried to walk my shots to the second as he was returning fire. We both took each other out more or less simultaneously so both took the hit. Quick thumbs up to acknowledge good-game and then back to the respawn. Some tips from my recent experience: The car park is small (though I think they have some extra parking further down), so arriving a little earlier probably means you'll get a better chance at a space. If you are renting gear, the above is also true as you'll want time to collect your kit. Take advantage of the range in the safe area (netted section towards the back) to test fire your gear. Their rental stuff is tough but well used, my first mag wouldn't wind and the hop-up needed adjustment on my gun. All easily rectified but better to find out before you are in the field. Ask questions in the game briefings if you're not sure. It took me most of the day to get a vague mental picture of the site in my head, during briefings there is a lot of arm waving and naming of map features you won't yet know. Better to ask someone to confirm a spawn point or objective then rather than mid battle. Your legs are gonna burn afterwards.