How old are Airsofters?

[CaptainSwoop]

I was curious as to the age of Airsofters.

It seems to me that a lot of 'youngsters' enter the hobby while still in their teens but drop out as they get older (As with most hobbies it has to be said)

There seems to be a good sprinkling of College and University students then a sharp drop off.

What happens to airsofters as they get older? are you still there but not skirmishing?

Do 'older' people join the hobby?

I just started recently when my son got in to it and I am 50!

Please participate so we can build up a picture of the demographic.

 

[Baz JJ]

I think a wide range of ages play Airsoft.

It appeals to many different layers of people from all walks of life for different reasons and its interesting to see different age groups doing an activity together where so many diverse people get along and derive different pleasures from the sport.

Some like dressing up in some form of alter ego, some like tactics and strategy, some like firing weapons that they wont get near in reality and some get a feeling of freedom and power running around a field armed to the teeth. Of course, some like all these things !

Probably best not to probe too deeply as we might end up committed somewhere.

When I started playing, I suspect the site owner was a tad suspicious of a lone man of my age playing and his face told me he thought I was a journalist or something looking to discredit the sport. He asked me why I had started and I told him that I wanted a fun way of keeping fit. That was true although there are lots of ways of keeping fit.

I suspect from observation that the average age is 16-30, but I still see lots of players older than that.

I think the oldest where I play is in his sixties and suspect the only thing that caps a lot of older members is mobility and physical fitness. Ive just entered my fifties and luckily am still reasonably fit, but I wish Id found Airsoft sooner in life as I know a point will come in the not so distant future where I will injure myself and not be able to keep up. For this reason, I will enjoy it while I can.

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

I'd have said the largest crowd would be early 20s to late 30s. Though that's certainly not to say I don't have a lot of mates into their 40s who play as well, and even one in particular in his 80s!

 

[Suzuki Yamamoto]

There's an old guy who skirmishes at Billericay and his load out consists of DPM coveralls and a PPSH with drum mag - Awesome!

No chest rigs or ammo pouches. Just slaps in the mag and he is ready!

 

[jay83]

Thats the great thing about airsoft , age does not matter , you can be quicker then someone in there 80's but they can still shoot you with a good shot and good positioning. Its a great, can i say - sport? for that reason i think and i think its going to grow big in the next few years.

 

[Lozart]

I'm 43, me. First time I went I swear I coughed out a lung and it felt like someone had stabbed me in the knees the next day but it seems to be easing with a bit of regular tomfoolery. 20+ years of driving a desk I guess!

 

[Baz JJ]

One of the guys I play alongside is a similar age to myself.

He used to take part in Napoleonic battle re-enactments and had a heart attack during the Battle of Waterloo and now does Airsoft as its less taxing. Apparently they used to march for miles as those battlefields were huge.

 

[PT247]

am 38 and started playing this year.

 

[CaptainSwoop]

I have to say after a full day at Gun Ho yesterday my legs ache from spending a lot of time moving at a crouch and my ribs and arm ache after falling into a Foxhole when I wasn't watching where I was going.

It's the most exercise I have had for years, my usual sports are Archery and Fishing neither of them involve much running around although Archery does help with upper body and arms strength.

My son who is 14 was off on a skateboard as soon as he got in from school, not an ache or twinge!

 

[NickM]

I'm 29, started at 27 but was interested at 19 when I was thinking about what uni to choose. Plymouth didn't have an airsoft club but I could do SCUBA diving as part of my degree so they won. It came back to me when I started work in an area where I don't know anyone at all other than work colleagues who all think I'm some kind of survivalist/Bear Grills type because I bivi, airsoft and carve stuff from green wood.

The teams youngest player is about 14, and the oldest is in his 60's or early 70's, but if I was to average out the ages I guess the mean would be between 30 and 37. The older guy aka the colonel ( not a military rank but bestowed on him by the team probably because he has this way of leading without giving any orders just by being there) runs an M4A1 with a drum mag. Then he puts a bottle of blasters in his back pocket. He never runs or tries to be sneaky but he's pulled off some of the cheekiest moves I've ever seen! I've also seen him running an ICS M4 CQB pistol with the drum mag. It's terrifying!

 

[TacMaster]

I'm in my mid teens, I've always had a fascination with weapons, and I enjoyed paintball when I went on a birthday do with some mates. I'd played with garden plinkers as a boy of 12-13, and after discovering the huge professional market and the hundreds of sites across the UK I was very interested.

I started regularly skirmishing in March last year, and I've never looked back

 

[CaptainSwoop]

Of course any poll on a Web Forum is very self selecting and can't give too much of a picture of Airsofting at large.

 

[jcheeseright]

how long is a piece of string would be my answer to this.... airsofters are somewhere between 12 and 120.

 

[Cheeky vimto]

I'm 24, started this year. I've always wanted to join the military but never had the chance as my job just pays too much to give it up. I contemplated on joining the T.A, even went to the recruitment office and got all the forms. I didn't go through with it as my dad was in the army and expressed how much he didn't want to see me go off to afghan if I didn't need to.

So I picked up a plastic gun

 

[MacBones]

I am 50 also and my son plays and he is 14, it's great fun playing together. However it's quite costly shelling out for 2 loads of kit etc..... I don't ache so much now, but I tend now to be more stealthy and slower than when first started, after 30 yrs of rugby my bodies knackered.

 

[Zak Da Mack]

Is there anyone who plays airsoft not to do with joining or wanting to be in the army?

 

[bigshep]

Could you elaborate on this statement, as I think you are saying that everyone who plays airsoft wants to be in the army?

 

[Lozart]

I ceratinly have no desire to be shot at professionally! I have nothing but respect for those that choose the profession, but it's not for me.

 

[Ian_Gere]

45 - I really wish I'd discovered airsoft earlier: I expect it'd hurt a lot less now!

Exercise, tactics, shooting, shooting people, trying to avoid being shot, building/modifying stuff and then using it under pressure... and you get to dress up as well!?!

Oh yeah, we're a bit strange.

 

[TacMaster]

We're a lot less strange than people in many other hobbies- the cosplay people, and definitely the bronies, are a lot stranger than us...