Ian_Gere

If i were you, the next thing i would buy would probably be a vertical foregrip*, but the person who said good boots are a very good investment is spot on imo. Knee pads are also very useful, less so but not to be ignored are elbow pads. How happy are you with your eyepro? I have a lot of options, most of which are good for specific purposes, none of which are perfect for any game, but having plenty of options allows me to choose the best couple for any given day. *Assuming your gun can accept one. And +1 to spare battery also. A hydration bladder and backpack/pouch is great also - being able to sip without having to mess with a canteen is quicker and less involved, so you tend to stay more hydrated, which improves performance. I would say that 3L is too much - really a 1L bladder is enough, but for some reason finding pouches for them or 1.5L isn't easy and they tend to be more expensive, so a 2L and just don't fill it so much is probably the best way to go. Don't imagine that you need to spend loads for a name like Camelbak, etc - the cheap Chinese ones are just as good and even if you get one with a simple bite valve, if you want the extra functionality of a removeable valve plus tap (so that you can decant water from your bladder into a cup say), you can get them for about £8 as an add on. Maybe consider things like gel insoles for your boots and/or thousand mile socks (although i prefer Marks & Spencer thin 'gents' ankle socks against my skin, with a pair of thicker walking socks as the outer layer - which gives the same double layer as thousand mile socks for blister protection); maybe Sealskins socks if your boots are comfy but not completely waterproof. Do you have gloves which fulfil your needs? Can you feel everything you need to through the fingertips? Are they tough enough to protect your hands when crawling through bushes etc? How warm are they? I have more glove options than i have boots... If I were you i would not buy a pistol yet - they are a laugh but very little use, unless CQB is your preferred venue. Better to practice with your primary and get good at quick mag changes, transitions to your off hand side (for the times when you need to lean around cover to get at a target), plus the all important muzzle awareness (whenever your finger is on the trigger, you should be looking through/over the sights and keep from pointing it at friendlies) and accuracy.

Molle Hydration Pouch - £13.99 posted ~ fleabay (I'm going to cut it down to fit a 1.5L bladder) 500ml Black Liquid Latex - £9.98 posted ~ fleabay (to stain my tank crew kecks) 10s Sound Recording Module - £1.25 ~ fleabay (distraction device) 200rnd speedloader - £2.20 posted ~ fleabay (because you can never have too many speedloaders) + about a tenner's worth of capacitors, resistors, transistors, and laser modules. Edit: and a busted Well R4 from our own dear ikarma70

Apart from not being waterproof, this is the ultimate BB bag: Just a shame it's shaped like a massive cock'n'balls The scoop shape of what's left of the bottle adds enough structure so that you can use it 1 handed easily, which leaves the other hand to form a funnel around the opening of whatever you're pouring the BB's into. The interior of the plastic bottle, and inside the lid, is all covered in that white packing foam, so no rattle; it can hold about 5K BB's at max capacity; the lid can't get lost; and the shape of the bottom is the same as a canteen pouch, so that's the way to carry it. Personally, as others have said, I wouldn't usually carry it into the field - I load my mags with enough ammo (I also used to use speedloaders when i didn't have enough of all the types of mags I use). But for the National Airsoft Event, where I may be in the field all day, it is perfect. I hadn't even considered that it ought to be waterproof before, but I'm shortly going to buy some liquid latex to make my Soviet tank crew trousers look like they're stained with engine oil, so I may paint this with it also...

Exactly, and therein lies the problem, the arrow does carry a lot more energy. Yeah, re-enactors use them, but they are usually also wearing chainmail and/or plate armour, plus they, in general, are a lot more hardcore about taking their lumps - I mean, they fight with swords etc ffs and just because they don't die of the injuries doesn't mean it doesn't hurt...

I'm afraid that this country has already absorbed so much US culture that if I were to attempt to discuss why this kind of thing is now increasingly more likely to happen in the UK also, few people reading it would even understand what I'm talking about. But ask yourself this, when did it become the norm for British people to think in terms of "the bad guy"? And while you're at it, consider this: if someone shoots the bad guy, what are they? If, for even a millisecond, you thought "the good guy", then there you have it: dualism. If everything we experience leads to a mindset which first always seeks to understand anything in terms of 2 polar opposites, then it will become so fundamental that it will seem to be instinctive, and indeed, since our bodies are symmetrical, to a degree it may well be. However, just as we go through phases of thinking as children, where for example we learn that holding onto things and screaming 'mine' at the top of our lungs does not confer ownership of an object, the process of growing up ought to equip us with at least another pole, that of "the things which i do not know", which is quite a profound realisation, one which ought to be quite mind expanding if considered more than cursorily. By the time we reach teenage then we also ought to understand that, apart from the stuff which we simply do not know about a situation, there are the things which we do not understand, and the things about which, although we understand them, we cannot really form a definite opinion, many of which may be the subject of age old debate, but perhaps more importantly there are also the things concerning which it would be "an ill wind which blew nobody any good"... This is actively demonised in the US as "moral relativism" where the President can actually say, "You're either with us or agin us," and not be laughed out of office for attempting to run foreign policy as if it were in a playground. Personally I find it no surprise that the likes of Henry Ford gave large amounts of money to fund Christian higher education, promoting values which we in the UK would consider fundamentalist - after all, a workforce with a simplistic mindset are much easier to control. All you have to do is successfully create a terrible "bad guy" and then anyone who is against them, no matter how 'bad', has to be "the good guy", because there is no other thing they can be... In this case the cops show up to an incident involving a gun in a playground. The gun should not be in the playground. The person with the gun is therefore the bad guy... The bad guy does not immediately comply with instructions: shoot the bad guy. It's all simple and reasonable, isn't it? Simple. Reasonable. Isn't it?

Zero One are the cheapest for 2 tone - they do it for free. They also have a wider stock of G&G stuff than most other retailers. G&G make a replacement lower handguard with rails for their RK's, but it is very expensive and rare to see in stock in the UK. I'm not sure that the Tokyo Marui compatible options made by the likes of CYMA, D-Boys, G&P, King Arms, etc do go straight onto RK's - I think you would need to do some Dremmeling. But with such a low budget you should forget accessories/external modification. In fact the only reason I mentioned changing the hop rubber and nub on the JG tactical AK-47 is because those parts are very cheap and make a very noticeable difference in performance for the money. The charger you need is the same as I mentioned above, for an 8.4V NiMh battery. They come in all sorts of shapes, but for guns wired into their stocks, you are generally best going with the simplest rectangular configuration, like this. But you should check with the retailer what connector the gun has: it will be either Small Tamiya (which that battery fits) or Large Tamiya (which is usually used for larger batteries like this which ought to fit in a stock also) and if you are buying direct from VapexTech via their ebay shop (because they are the best NiMh batteries available without spending silly money) you may as well get one of their chargers also, like this (which has both Large & Small Tamiya connectors) and ask for a combined shipping price. You should avoid cheap batteries because, although in airsoft it is not at all true that you get what you pay for*, in the case of batteries, it is. If you buy a cheap one, it will not last as long and it will not perform as well, so you will get poor trigger response from your gun (the time it takes from the moment of pulling the trigger to when the BB is actually fired) and it will run out of charge in use faster too, so you may need a second one just to complete a full day's play; under average use a Vapex 1600mAh battery will last all day (although you ought to have a spare anyway, for the heavy trigger finger days, and in case you damage 1). The charger I linked in my above post will do the trick, but you could use one of these (with a Small Tamiya connectors) and use the app to find out how long to charge for and set an alarm to prevent overcharging. *There are plenty of retailers selling stuff for airsoft at outrageous prices compared to other retailers and there is also plenty of stuff which costs a fucking fortune from anywhere which does not perform as well as cheaper stuff. You can extend a G&G M4 barrel, but there isn't much point - you could just buy one with a longer barrel - they come in a variety of sizes. Also bear this in mind, the external barrel is purely cosmetic, it is the inner barrel which affects how the BB is shot. Also understand that although fitting a longer inner barrel to a gun will increase the power somewhat, that will not necessarily translate into greater range - it depends on the quality of the barrel inner surface, and shorter barrelled guns could well be more powerful. Also the length of the barrel does not determine accuracy in airsoft - it is mainly the hop up unit vs inner barrel surface polish and diameter. Edit: but M4's with batteries in their Crane stocks need a special type of battery called a 'nunchuck' like this or this.

That is unrealistic to someone who knows about firearms, but not to the genpop, so no the retailer cannot sell that to anyone who cannot provide a defence.

Very true - Sabine my CM.028U has been raped and pillaged while i learned how not to treat an AEG when attempting to tech my own guns, but she's still a viable skirmish gun. Can you still get them for £125 in the UK? Oops, answered me question: not the classic tactical versions (£165 inc £15 for 2 tone from actionhobbies.co.uk) but under folder tactical for £130 + £25 2 tone but there is a Beta Spetsnaz on actionhobbies for £99+£15 / and it could be worth speaking to these people, because even though they seem to be selling CYMA AK's with their original springs, which are too powerful for UK sites, they are probably quite used to downgrading them for customers, as well as 2 toning. But there is also the JG tac AK-47 which is pretty much the same as a CYMA except for the hop rubber, which is quite a crucial part, since the hop up is the main reason CYMA AK's are so good. But you could remedy that by having them prefit the gun with an Ultimate 50 degree rubber for £5 + ask them to order an H-nub for £2.60 - £25 is expensive to 2 tone a gun, so in fairness they ought to do those hop part swaps for the cost of the parts. Just a note though - the battery that comes with CYMA AK's can only be considered as a desperation stakes back up, a 2nd back up even, because it's crap, but i used the charger that comes with them as my only charger for all sorts of NiMh batteries for about 18 months, just using an alarm or timer plug to stop overcharging, before i bought a better one to be able to charge LiPo batteries also - it is still going strong also. But now VapexTech have their own ebay shop, it's well cheap to buy their batteries and they are the best NiMh's - this is what you need for a CYMA AK. and my attention span is now exhausted

Why do you want to add one?

For a NiMh battery you want a basic smart charger like this. They used to be under a tenner, in fact i'm pretty shocked to see that price, but although you could get one from componentshop cheaper, their P&P is outrageous, so you'd end up paying more in total. You could use a simple trickle charger and an alarm in your phone to remind you when to unplug your battery. If you look at our app (link top of the page) you'll find the info you need on how long to charge batteries for. Oh yeah, and really, to avoid disappointing days when the gods are against you, you really should look at getting 2 batteries, so that if 1 gives up the ghost, or gets damaged in transit etc, you're day isn't ruined. Plus a discharger, which is usually about a fiver - this is so you can store your spare battery flat, only charging it before game days, and leave your main in your gun for plinking during the week - that way the spare will last a long time before it needs replacing (as allowing NiMh batteries to lose their charge over time, rather than discharging them through use, damages them eventually).

First, bearing in mind your budget, you should read this. Of particular note you should pay attention to the bit about shouldering a few different types of assault rifle before you buy your own. Chances are that whatever you buy is going to be your gun for a fair while, because your parents are not going to want to keep shelling out £125 minimum, so try to get something which feels comfortable to hold and operate (fire selector position, distance from back of pistol grip to trigger, magazine catch position and change operation), that isn't too heavy or, even if it is light, that the weight doesn't feel too far forward, unbalanced because, even with a sling, that will give you arm ache pretty quickly - so also resist the urge to put shed loads of equipment on the rails of any RIS / an angled or vertical foregrip is all you need unless you are going to be playing in the dark. Considering you need boots, eyepro, lower face protection, gun, battery, charger, spare mag, and BB's then £125 is a pretty skinny budget, but you if you can get that starter pack that will set you up for the time being. If you can't get that, bearing in mind your size and budget, you're best bet sadly will end up being a G&G CM16 Raider S - get it here for free 2 tone and a voucher that gets you a free game. I say sadly because everyone and their dog has a wombat machine and personally I'd rather recruit you to the dark side and see you with a CM.035 AKS-74U, but chances are you'll not be able to find one cheap enough... but keep an eye on sale prices.

Soreen fruit loaf FTW!

I'm a big fan of "pie slicing" - aiming through the door and covering the angles you can see as you inch forward. If you do it in pairs, with 1 of you close to the door, with a pistol, as security against a sudden rush out, then the other further back with an AEG, sweeping the angles they can see through the door as they advance a few inches at a time, you can be sure where the opposition you cannot see are inside the room, so then when you do go in, you know where to spray with full auto.

TBH I think that real steel CQB and airsoft are almost 2 different beasts - in airsoft, as you say Ed, if you know you're about to take the walk of shame because a bang has come in through the door, you run out shooting, but in the real world, 1) you're shitting your pants, 2) the 1st and most predominant idea in your head, that only intensive training and probably practice can overcome, is that you don't want to get hurt - regardless of whether you may know intellectually that you are about to die, the life long instinct to try to avoid pain cannot just be ignored... But yeah, when Wallace and Coldy were running those training sessions, it was Wallace's opinion that without a grenade, the 1st man through the door is a casualty.

If you're just starting out, read this. If you've just discovered airsoft and want to buy a gun and then go to a game day, you're putting the cart before the horse, basically, and chances are you are about to waste some money...

Boot types & importance of etc. Types of eyepro - myth of BB fragments hurting eyes / anti-fog methods. Otherwise i think you've covered everything. If you plan to just sit and talk, i'd at least have a bullet point list behind the camera to remind you of what you plan to say about each topic. Props are a must for keeping people's interest if you talk for more than 90 seconds and you'll get far more info over to them in a few minutes by referring to diagrams/photos etc than you will just talking, so maybe a whiteboard, or even a powerpoint presentation edited into your footage and, if you split screen it, you can refer to a prop in your hands and use a diagram at the same time. If you watch recent documentaries they have really jumped on recapitulation as a technique to make the info memorable - personally i find it insults my intelligence, but having said that, if i'm doing a few things at once then the recap is often the first time i've really paid attention to the point anyway...

Thanks mate! I got it working using a 2 x 22KΩ in series as Rb and 2 x 22KΩ in parallel as Ra which gives about 1.3Hz and approx 53% on vs off cycle. A mate on fb suggested i get an app, which helped But the way i've put it together isn't very good for the tin, so I'll have another go at it some other time.

Have you got a link?

The thing is, i don't want it to blink faster, i want it to be 'off' and blink 'on' momentarily. It must be possible... but if I use a larger capacitor with the circuit as is, that will just make it take longer between blinks 'off'.

So the larger of the 2 trays arrived this am but, when I thought about it, I realised that both battery trays wouldn't fit inside the tube with everything else, so I decided to go with putting the 18650 in a tray, because that will need to come out for recharging, and soldering some bullet connectors to AAA batteries for the motor. I decided to test that I had read the destructions properly and build it with a red LED first, so I wouldn't have to get me NVG out to see it working/not. And this is the result: I spose I ought to be pleased that it does do something... but it never occurred to me that when I read "1Hz" it would mean 'on' and blink 'off' 1/s because... unnnnnnngh why would you ffs!?! This is what I'm working to: Does anyone know what values of Ra, Rb, and C i should be using for 'off' and blink 'on' at approx 1Hz? What values did you use for the fast blink, Sp00n?

Just bought a PBS-3 suppressor for £30 posted. Aluminium, so should be nice on my Bizon 2.

Just to make something clear: you do not have to play your 3 games in more than 2 months at the same site. But if you want to reregister with UKARA and do plan to do so by playing at different sites, you must print the form out yourself and get each site to stamp it to say that you did play on the date you were there. Once your form has the the 3 stamps, send it off to any UKARA registered retailer and they will add you to the database. But as has been said, it is bollocks. I've had time off due to ill health and Skirmish Airsoft Mansfield readded me to the database as soon as I came back.

^^I'm waiting on some battery trays, AA & 18650, to build something similar with a motor inside, supported by dense foam, to also make a quiet noise. I'm going to fit it inside a Soviet infantryman's torch, to match era with my NVG: It will not be smart though, just a pair of pushbuttons inside the screw lid to switch the LED and motor on/off. I was thinking that I may add a visible light LED and buzzer and attempt to use a key finder fob to wirelessly switch those on/off, because in my design the blinking IR LED is just to help me find the poxy thing in the dark and (for those who have joined us recently) the quiet motor sound will be just to distract from the quiet sound my NVG makes. But a more obvious distraction device built in would make the thing potentially a lot more useful. I'm not at all sure how well soldering the receiver antenna of the key fob to the container will actually work however, because in low power circuits like that, afaik if they are encased in a metal box that is usually connected to the earth rail, and the earth rail is the opposite pole of the circuit from the antenna. If anyone knows this stuff for sure, any help would be gratefully appreciated.

So is mine but you probably can't do it that fast because you need to play 3 games in not less than 2 months.

^^I held one at the weekend - not my cup'o'tea, but it is well balanced and light without feeling toylike.