Well, I've not been airsofting long, but most of it has been in not exactly clement weather, sometimes cold and recently pretty wet. Regardless however, I've also been into "the great outdoors" for about 35 years, so I've picked up a few lessons. You'll be able to tell by the state of the gear in my pics that I have put it to the test (and not bothered to clean it yet).
I think you're on the right track by first concentrating on your feet. If your feet are wet and/or cold, no matter how comfortable the rest of you is, you will be to some degree miserable. I'd say that if you have the money then funky socks are probably worth spending on, but £15 extra spent on a pair of socks will not produce the same benefit as £15 more spent on boots. That said boots generally fall into 2 categories: heavy, solid, waterproof all the way to the top, leather; vs lighter, more flexible, not really rugged, water-resistant rather than proof and made from a variety of materials - the former are cheap if you get them as grade 1 surplus, but not very comfortable, however 1 pair will last at least a decade of civilian use - the latter tend to be comfortable when dry but invariably fail to live up to their manufacturers claims of water-resistance and durability and also, once they are soggy, they fail alarmingly catastrophically and there is nothing quite so disheartening as not only having to deal with the physical reality of fubar footwear in adverse circumstances, but also the emotional trauma of knowing how much the 'kin things cost!
It may sound like I'm prejudiced here but really I'm not
because I must admit that my personal experience doesn't include the most recent developments in high-end boot technology and the disparity in comfort is a real issue - I use these:
which I think are German military issue and have
Speed Lace Zips on them for ease getting them on/off. I've got 1 pair of odour eaters and 1 pair of comfort insoles as well in them and I tape up the back of my ankles with 10cm strips of fabric plaster held firmly in place with micropore tape against blisters whenever I skirmish or walk more than about 2 hours in them... as well as wearing 1 pair of very thin M&S socks inside some pretty good hiking socks - to stop my feet moving about inside the boots. See what I mean? This works for me, but compared to a pair of Magnums which I expect I could wear comfortably with just a pair of decent socks, it's a fair old faff to get right! That said, these are the 2nd pair of this type of boot I've had since I was 17 (I'm 44) and I confidently expect these to last the rest of my foot-abusing life, whereas, in the mean time, I've also trashed maybe 5-6 pairs of gucci'd-up boots. Bear in mind that, despite appearances, I do actually look after the leather of my boots.
I go with Remploy Ltd. TROUSERS MANS WATERPROOF:
I forget how long I've had these for, but I'm pretty sure Remploy don't make them anymore. They're supposed to be breathable, but they're pretty hot to wear, although thinking about it, my kecks underneath don't get soaked in sweat like they used to under some Peter Storm waterproofs I used to have ages ago. I can sit, kneel or lie in any mud/puddles etc without getting soggy and they're totally rain-proof so they're worth it. These are size 170 height even though I take size 180 because they fit over my boots better a bit short. Soldier 95 kecks do well under them, but I also have a pair of pre-95 ones which are looser and thicker so better in wind. I wouldn't bother with gaiters or twists, I just wear my combat kecks tucked into my boots, although I would get gaiters if I thought walking through knee high wet grass whilst not wearing my waterproof over-trousers was a likely regular scenario.
NBC Jacket:
Totally waterproof and windproof, it's also a handy length to wear with over-trousers. I can only wear it for the first 1 or 2 scenarios because it gets way too hot, but once I'm warmed up, with the waterproof kecks on I stay warm enough in just a shirt and my Web-tex vest. I just put the NBC back on during longer breaks in the safe zone. If there's no risk of serious rain I just go with either a 95 jacket or a warmer pre-95 pattern British one.
I've been wearing a scrim scarf sometimes too, to keep the wind off my neck, but I've recently got a free gift of what Mean & Green are calling
a military head-over, no doubt to distance it from any unfortunate 80's connotations attached to the word "snood" and despite my remembering those connotations all too well, it seems pretty good and fits nicely under my Viper Comforter for full lower face and neck warmth and BB protection. I sometimes wear a MK6 helmet which obviously keeps rain off and other times a Baabaa beany - it's really thin and lightweight but keeps my hair in order (it's long and unruly) and my head warm.
I've still not found gloves that I'm really happy with. I started with some fairly decent leather gloves, but they got damp and bitterly cold in the wind - I also didn't want to trash them because they're smart. I tried goalie gloves - handle the damp well but get trashed by twigs and mag winding. These weren't too bad:
although they weren't actually waterproof, I could knuckle my way through shallow puddles/mud. That said, the armoured backs were never that comfortable on my fingers. Then I managed to burn right through the right thumb by lighting a smoke bomb with a lighter (and that really hurt!!!). In a knee-jerk reaction I ordered some
AFV Crew flame retardant gloves (they were cheap - £4) which are actually totally impractical, although I suppose that when it gets really cold again, i could wear them inside some other water-resistant/proof gloves. Next I got these:
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Pyrohide and kevlar gloves with armoured backs - wow I thought, because I got them for £7 inc P&P off eBay, and they're usually expensive, eh? Well, the inner part is a bit loose so bunches up a bit making it difficult to get my little fingers into them, they're pretty difficult to feel through so mag winding isn't so easy, and the leather does get a little damp, not as bad as my smart ones mind, but bad enough that I expect to have problems when winter comes around again... I did pick up another pair of plastic armoured gloves like the ones I burned but made by Rhino for a few quid - yeah well, the label says XL but they're more like just L IMO! Any suggestions with experience to back them up would be appreciated...
Oh yeah, and I should mention my custom bum-rig, which is great for comfort in the wet. It can be seen here:
It's actually a gardener's kneeling pad which I've coloured in camouflage with permanent markers and attached to my webbing with elastic and a carabiner (which allows it to be shifted from under my bum to be knelt on instead). My main reason for using it is because I have a medical problem which causes me so much pain sometimes that I just have to get off my feet regardless of whatever the options for sitting are. That aside though, it's also just really handy! It's waterproof, cushioned and keeps the cold off no matter what I sit on. I mean, yeah, it looks pretty weird but that's just because nobody else wears one. The 1st bloke to wear a top hat got arrested (serves him right mind, the dick) and so did the 1st bike rider or something like that anyway... you'll all want one eventually!
