NickM

The guys that used to stay on site in the evenings were told categorically by the site owners that they were not allowed to have any RIF's or IF's, and no training knives etc. If they did it they did it armed with nothing more than a bright torch and a mobile phone. Although a few did run night games from time to time. I can just imagine the brown trouser moment when a vandal gets caught by what appears to be several heavily armed men in cam cream.

Of the 4 sites I have played at most 3 have had vandalism problems. One of these has a fantastic community feel with players regularly contributing materials and time to help put things right and improve. They even managed to get 20 or 30 guys together to do a litter sweep one Saturday in before spring set in, apparently they did this most years to keep litter down across the site. Most of the structures they built or relied on required concreting into the ground and/or were built from non flammable materials, large earth embankments and bunkers etc. They also had a group of players who either camped out every so often, had a few beers and patrolled the area or some of the locals would take their dogs for walks in the area at random times. The instances of vandalism slowly dropped as the vandals got the message they might get caught by groups of large guys in camo who would hand them in to the police. One of the 3 was trying to get that sort of thing going but the owner couldn't decide what he wanted built, eventually some of the players took it into their own hands and started building. But their efforts were not appreciated by the owner so they jacked it in. I offered one of my days off and spent a significant amount of time to collecting materials but I spent the build day trying to get the owner to tell me what I could/couldn't do. Eventually we were told to dump the materials in a pile where to my knowledge they are rotting. I haven't been back since. Gunman Tuddenham is the 3rd and by far the worst damage. There was a large and very interesting box fort which is now ash. There was from the sounds of things a significant amount of materials put aside to build new features. which are again ash. And to top it all, because this area was made from packing crates and recycled materials it is now littered with rusty charred nails and wire making it unplayable until someone gets out and clears it all up. The one that didn't seem to have vandal problems was the sandpit, but I guess that comes with having a large fence round the whole place and full time security on site. I guess they are easy targets what with being fairly remote and not overlooked by the very nature of what the site owners are looking for. I seem to remember Plymouth used to have a problem with tomb stoning, those kids who got caught were offered diving lessons free or cautioned. It reduced the problem. Maybe something similar would be a good idea, ie do a game for all the kids in the local area free every so often, that way they might take a bit more interest in the site in a more positive light.

As several have already said there are numerous BFG's (blank firing grenades, I wont cover the tornado and other gas grenades as they are not really pyro, more pyro effect) they split into 2 main categories Timed and Impact. Timed are normally a 3-5 second delay, some have found their grenades a bit temperamental timing wise. Impact need a hard (ish) surface to go off, I have had mine fail to go off on concrete if not dropped from high enough, or at the wrong angle, and go off on a dirt road. Both types are fairly heavy bits of kit as they tend to be made of milled solid metal so you wouldn't want to take a hit to the head or body from them. Configurations: Both types can be bought in configurations that fire 9mm revolver blanks (50pcs for £18 ish, very loud in confined spaces, maximum allowed at many sites) or Shotgun primers (100pcs for £14 ish, loud in confined spaces, allowed at many sites), some can be used with shotgun blanks (10pcs for £10-15 ish, super loud, many sites wont allow these to be used). Timed: Dynatex and SWAT (from my understanding the swat is a clone of the dynatex), they both need a loading tool but have the advantage that they can be used in soft floored environments, grass/ mud etc. I have seen them used effectively in woodland skirmishes although I wouldn't want to take the risk of throwing an expensive bit of kit into bushes and not being able to relocate it. Some modify them with reflective tape and I have seen red ribbon streamers to help find them after use. Require a pin as a safety. Impact: Dynatex, Swat, OhShi...Boom! and TRMR. The first three use a pin for safe storage, the TRMR twists. Dynatex have 2 versions (or they did), the older version, which was cheaper and sensitivity wise was on a par with most of the other impact grenades, the newer version was about £15 or £20 more expensive, about a cm smaller and more sensitive, I have seen it go off on grass from knee height. In my opinion the impacts are much more useful for CQB games, but next to useless in woodland. There are two more Alpha-Tec Hex grenade (6 shots) and the Incentive designs (5 shot), they don't fire them all at once or all from a single drop, they are like a revolver, you simply pick it up click to the next position and throw again. The incentive designs can be used with a tripwire adapter to turn it into a booby trap. There is one more coming onto the market. In the prototyping stage now and heavily supported by players using an indigogo page. The Molyneux Advanced Systems MAS-G, this relies heavily on electronics but should, when finished be able to be used as an impact, timed (with delay of 0-10 sec set by the user before throwing), ir mine and tilt mine. There are some that use caps, like the ones in those toy guns I remember from the 90's but on steroids, they are far cheaper and exclusively impact. But not as loud or much of a flash. Baz was testing one and I've never seen one in use other than a video. RRP of most of the BFG's range from £65 to just over 100 for the multishots. My ohshiboom paid for itself in less than 50 shots when compared with the average priced high quality card pyro, Enola Gaye or TLSFX. But I still carry card pyro for woodland and for occasional cqb use. The ohshi is exclusively used in urban environments. None of the bfg's do anything other than make a big bang, and a small flash. So smokes are card only. I have a MAS-G on order and look forward to testing it when it arrives, likely in September from the sounds of things.

ah I getcha, but I've never seen other replacement ones of those. If it was me I might be tempted to make another set in whatever colour. Kinda depends on if you are handy with a sewing machine.

If they are stitched to the vest there is probably very little you can do to change the look of it other than maybe spray paint/stitch material over the top, but spray paint would probably be easier. If the pouches are removable then you can change them but it doesn't sound from your description that you can.

I make mine almost flat, I use a vacuum bag (the type used to store clothes/blankets etc) to form them. I say almost flat, to stop the mounting screws for the belt connectors and molle set ups rubbing the pistol I build up the area under the trigger guard to the widest point, which tends to be the slide. Then add a little more depth for the point where the screws will be. Mine are not as detailed and defined as the bottom one of the three above but that's not what I am aiming for, they are closer to the tan pistol. I work on the basis that I want the gun to be snug but not super tight then I heat up the area where the trigger is and gently squeeze this in, the 2mm indent actually holds the pistol very securely and means to draw the pistol it takes a gentle but distinct pull. If using a press I would have thought it would be a case of removing the bottom foam, or pressing onto ply perhaps.

I tried to find this guys petition but it didn't seem to show up in the list of active petitions. However some of the ones that are on there are just batSh!t crazy!

Making a petition like this a day after a 16yo and two 17yo's were arrested by armed police officers and released on bail pending inquiries when they got a RIF out in public in Hanley, Stoke-on-trent is a massively dumb move.

If you are after something a bit different and more on the LARP end of the spectrum, Gunman do a running series called flying lead, its wild west themed, not much shooting its way over on the role play side but looks like a giggle. Although I'm not sure I could pull it off. They also have did a WWII game based loosely on allo'allo with French civ pop who could also play the part of resistance, but could only be detected when they pulled a weapon and were caught in the act. There were a series of games based in a war torn middle east area with civ pop who would mill around and populated a market. In some cases they even traded items with both the military personnel and masked the presence of insurgents. No idea who it was doing it though. But I think it was at some Fibua place.

Mostly because the blaster bottle caps are crap, every one I have ever had has split, they aren't designed to withstand any pressure, even slightly over tightening them causes them to break. Coke bottles are designed to be far more robust. My heavy weight ammo comes in plastic bags. I have a supply of 500ml coke bottles and a slightly ocd nature that means I want them in matching bottles. So I now have a washed set (about 2000 of each) of .20 for chrono. 0.25, 0.28, 0.30, 0.36, 0.40, 0.43 and 0.45.

I genuinely wash mine, well the ones used in my sniper only. I have a 5 stage process that has been refined from the data on the sniper forums, in an AEG it's probably pointless because of the number of variables already in play. However I clean the barrels of my pistols and AEG's every game day, mags are stripped and cleaned about every 4th or 5th game day, unless they get particularly dirty somewhere like the sandpit perhaps. The point of the sniper setup is to remove as much variation as possible. There is a release agent and dust from production on the bbs, the release agent causes variations in the pressure and back spin applied by the hop. Dust and release agent can cause patches within the barrel that might have an impact on the flight of the bb. The sniper forums are very details orientated, and results are published, evidence is targets with 10 or so shots, and variables are tested fairly scientifically, clean barrel + unwashed bbs, Dirty barrel + unwashed bbs, clean barrel + washed bbs. The difference in groupings was fairly clear in my eyes. Someone even tested different washing techniques. My process (which is probably overkill and unnecessary, but it makes me feel better, and mistakes with shots are my fault not the kit) Step 1, hot water and fairy liquid. 5min soak, then swirling, drain. Step 2, diet lemonade (cheap and nasty works fine), this is for the acids. 5min soak, then swirl, drain. Step 3, hot water and fairy liquid, swirl. Step 4, rinse in cold water Step 5, dry on a clean baking tray, on a windowsill in the sun as quickly as possible, store in washed 500ml coke bottles.

I can count on one finger the number of full game days where I have used my JG Bar10 boltie (I've had it for 2 years). And on a single hand the number of half days. There are so many variables that come into play with sniper style play that I think you would soon get bored and give up if this was your only source of airsofting kit. For a start you need a gun that has been upgraded and had a serious amount of time and energy put into it. Then you need a decent and very reliable secondary for engagements within your MED, somewhere between 20 and 30m for most sites. For me that rules out sniping during the cooler months, because gas pistols can sometimes be unreliable in the cold. In addition, if winds are strong, or gusting you can't make reliable adjustments between shots so hitting your target is more luck than good shooting. Then there is the speed of play, unless you know a site has really good areas suited to sniping play, or the games will be played at a fairly slow pace to allow you to sneak into a position, get dug in, take a few shots and then get away without being seen, you will find you are constantly struggling to keep up with the action, or people are very quickly within your MED.

Might need to fit bright orange flash hiders/tips to the barrels, afaik its one of their rules for airsoft stuff. So I would presume they would need you to do that to import.

They don't publish much because there is very little to publish. Most of it is exactly the same as it has always been. I've been twice and it went as follows: Arrive Friday as early as possible ( both times by about 2pm) keep in mind its Friday of the bank holiday and they are based close to the south coast so expect to be in traffic from halfway down the M3 if coming from the M25. The closer you are to the shop/arena entrance the louder it will be, expect some pumping music, war films on big plasmas and projectors competing with pissed up players and bonfires. Further back its more relaxed, no loud music just smaller social gatherings. There is a Friday night game, that I have never bothered to play, starts about 8ish I guess and I can't remember if it might have been a single shot/pistols/shotties only affair. Mostly its only some of the diehard players and kids with energy to burn who play. We are normally getting stuck into the second half of a crate or beer by then, and the spirits flow by about 9. Zero one empty their entire warehouse (and they are one of the largest retailers in the uk so it's a lot of stuff) into a marquee, we tend to have a brief bimble around it on the Friday when we go up for wrist bands, don't forget your traveling beers for that one as its a bit of a trek from where we try to camp. There will be loads of guys selling second hand kit along the main paths and tracks. G&G I think it is have a stand as well and there is a bar and stage. Never seen a single "act" on it though. You get given a pack containing a poor quality map of the site, it marks the main structures and tracks, the dead zones. But for anyone used to serious navigating it's almost as useless as something someone draws from memory (I got a copy of a map Ian_Gere made which is much better in my mind). An outline of the following two days, each team Delta, Bravo and others gets their own set, which should mean you have some objectives in common. So far both years one teams have been given to another team by mistake. Rules etc. We tend to give up following the plan fairly soon and try to put a spanner in the works for Bravo and The others. Both last year and the year before we had the impression that the others and bravo had a sort of truce of sorts and were ignoring each other to hit us repeatedly. But who knows we knew we were the largest single team. Game on is about 10:30 both days. On the first day they run 2 briefings one at 9:30 I think for people that are on time, and 10 for the second batch that miss the briefing. Then its a long trek up to your base. 4:30 to 5 ish is a massive assault on the central village, a 3 way blat fest between about 1500 players. (my advice is full face, helmet, plate carrier and some big balls if you are going to give this a serious go) worth doing once, and I would recommend doing it on Saturday. Sunday as soon as the game ends its a race to get off site. We tend to pack up camp before we head out to play starting a little later than we are supposed to. Then play till we get bored or tired then hit the cars by about 4 ish.

My first experience of airsoft was wandering into the middle of a weekend skirmish happening on public land round the corner from my house (in Hong Kong). When I was about 8. Something about 20 or 30 fully grown men in camo armed to the teeth stuck in the mind. Fast forward about 6 years I joined the cadets and the schools shooting team, turns out I was good with a gun. I was allowed to shoot 40 to 60 rounds a week on the range for about 5 years at lunch time at school. Once I left school there was a big gun shaped space in my life. I paintballed a few times at uni and with mates, the lack of realism, inaccuracy of the guns and crippling costs made it briefly enjoyable but not something I could have taken up long term. I had seen airsoft about 10 years ago as one of the clubs at a uni I was looking at but it wasn't until I had finished uni, had been traveling and started a fairly well paid career before I could justify the expense. I turned up on my own, rented for 3 Saturdays. On the second, one of the regulars and I got chatting, he was on the opposition team and I think he respected how much fun I was having even though I was on my own, plus I had hit him a few times. 3rd time I was asked if I wanted to join their team. Now we meet up at as many games as possible.

What is the difference between a paintball society (many uni's have them) and airsoft? The answer is very little, once the uni folk are aware of the sport. It should be pretty easy to get it through. Most uni's student union just require enough people to be interested to set up the society. The only one I know of that was outright refused was a uni lot that wanted to start a drinking club. Exactly as it sounds, use the start up money to buy a ton of booze and have a huge party on the unions money. Unsurprisingly they binned that one pretty quick. As far as I know they tried again and got it through as something else.

As with anything you can go cheap and cheerful or high end. Yeah you get the guys who want all the real steel kit and pay £200 for a pair of trousers. But guaranteed they'll be stood next to someone who has spent that much on most of their kit combined including AEG. And their gaming experience will probably not be all that different. I started with 2 loadouts, a dpm (free from my cadet days) and a ddpm (£20 from a surplus store). My PC was £40 on ebay, second hand, came with most of the pouches I needed, all but a hydration carrier. Holster was second hand about £15. That did me for most of my events fine. As Baz says, the midcaps were probably my biggest expense, but if you shop around or club together you can get a box set between 2 which really brings the cost down. One event had SF vs generic middle eastern rebels. The brief for constructing each kit was SF, anything goes, upgrade anything you want. Rebels spend the least amount possible, including their rif, also try to remain with the look as well. So Cyma AK74 second hand, no upgrades.

I like the idea of a mag don't get me wrong, I just can't see how 9mm blanks would work in a real mag due to the lip they have. They aren't smooth on the bottom as they are designed for revolvers as far as I know. But if someone could show me a video of them being loaded and unloaded from a RS mag I may well change

Cheers Lads, keep the options coming!

Yeah, after a few days of use I ordered an M120 spring. Fitted it which is very simple, and it fired bang on what Ed was predicting on the middle setting. I think they shipped it with a lower power spring than I was expecting.

Ok, so after 2 years at the NAE for me and many more for the team we have decided to look about for an alternative. It doesn't have to be on the august bank holiday weekend any time in August would work nicely. Ideally it would be in the south east, I guess a 2 hour drive from London would work. We aren't interested in hardcore milsim, and would like time to have a few beers, a BBQ and to be social in the evening. I know Baz has his Okto event but are there any others?

I did a days training at the sandpit with a guy who was introduced as "serving SAS". He certainly knew his stuff and he put us through our paces doing room clearance. It was a great experience and has paid off improving my own skills, but it would be far more useful if I had done it with a few of the guys from the team that like cqb. Simply so we were all working from the same play book. There are a couple of us who have had a little bit of training as part of cadets years ago or are now in the TA, plus one ex services guy, so things like fire and manoeuvre, hand signals and proper coms procedures or moving in a formation are useful skills we use together without too much faffing to get organised. and for some of us after 3 years playing together we have a fair idea of what people will do in given situations. Training or more likely practicing skills together is worth a go. But don't let it get in the way of having a good time.

"Hey dude, I'm starting a team called X wanna join?" "yeah sounds alright" Boom TEAM FORMED! Can't really be a team without a two or more members. We are an "anti team, team" formed because there were strict requirements to join the other two on the site already and they talked the talk but didn't seem to walk the walk. Mind you they looked good while they lost badly. The only things that ties us all together is a genuine love of the game, getting rounds down, copious use of pyro and having a damn good laugh while doing it. Individually our game styles are very different, some are great at the sneaky thing, others buildings are more their bag but we tend to try getting together every couple of months for a big game with less of us meeting up in between. A good set of coms is a real bonus simply to facilitate rejoining your mates after returning from respawn. But it helps keeping you on a similar page.

I do use my radio when I'm dead, but before you all shoot me down: We play at the sandpit, often there are lots of us. It's a big place and often we lose contact with each other. You head out as a squad, or a few sometimes, one gets hit and makes their way back to the regen and might find it hard to re-join your group for various reasons. I will often make calls on the lines of "dead man walking" or "Nick is OM to regen", I often leave it a minute or two before I make the call to clear the area and do not mention where I was hit. If I do mention locations, ie where I am now, I only do this when well behind the lines in fairly generic areas. I won't give any details away about others movements but it does allow members of the team who are also making their way back to regen or just about to leave the regen decide they may hang back so we can form a small squad to return to the game in force.

Walking boots are good, I've been using mine for bout 3 years, or go to the surplus and pick up a set of assault boots. Grade 1 or 2. You've got a pretty good cold war loadout on the go, its definitely post ww2, possibly almost looking a little Vietnam or Korean. Its not spot on if you want accuracy for any of it but its functional. The only other addition I might suggest if you are planning on skirmishing the G36c regularly would be either a wrap or some of the camo tape for the guns blue parts. Make sure it is something you can put on when you arrive at the game and you remove before you leave. ( This is not permanent and therefore falls outside the VCRA as you are not manufacturing a RIF, however if you leave it on between games it's not in the spirit of the law). Even a few thick elastic bands and a scrim or piece of cloth will do.