Most common team ID colour?

Biguk

Biguk

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Hey guys,

im getting back into airsoft after being out for maybe 8 years. Back in the day teams were indentified with crappy bits of red or blue fabric or duck tape.

I was thinking of getting some durable reusable armbands, but wanted to ask If the most common team ID colours are still RED/BLUE?

 
I would say Red and Blue but Yellow seems to be popular. Most places use duck tape as they never get the velcro etc one back so I assume they just use the colours that they can get at the time.

 
At the 2 sites I play its either banded or non banded so colour isn't that important.

 
Red and Yellow at Red Alert, site membership includes an armband of each colour too which is nice!

 
red and blue where i play, i just googled cheap ID bands and most come up, think i only paid a few £ for mine, Enola ones are nice and used but they seem to go missing from site hence tape is also used.... 

 
red is definately the most common colour but iv always found it dosent catch te eye as well as blue or yellow and is a bit unfair(all degrees in the end of course) if i ran site id be using yellow and blue but thats just me. 

 
As with most posters the most common that I have seen is Red vs Blue.

When we have run multiple factions we have gone for adding yellow and green.

On occasion we have tried to use dress codes for faction identity, such as DPM vs anything else (Top half). But there is always that guy who can’t/won’t read the pre-brief and turns up in non-DPM plus a DPM vest ..... “I’m not wearing DPM, it’s just my vest”

After offering a few options such as a faction swap or lending him our gear, none of which he would take, we opted for pointing him out to everyone ...... Brits, that guy in the DPM vest isn’t on your side, Argentines - don’t shoot him.

We have also had a team who planned ahead with custom jerseys, they had two printed each - with a red or a blue band on the arms.  The problem was on their first event using them we had allocated them as a special faction in yellow.

The Enola armbands are good, but sites have had these disappear.  You would need at least two to be prepared for whichever faction you are allocated, and then it looks like you’re pilfering then when you pack up and that you had previously pilfered them when you arrive.

A good value for money alternate is a colour selection of material from your local fabric shop.  There is a ‘silky/satiny’ man made ‘fabric’ availabile in almost all the colours you can think for for next to nothing per metre.  One meter square of each colour would give enough to make a strip for each arm for a small team.

Ive used these for flag stations and then made up strips as arm bands.

 
Still seems like red and blue, although on some outdoor sites I've heard of general green/tan clothing teams but doesn't seem as common in the UK as the US.

That or banded/unbanded, often red for banded.

Slightly off topic but related:

As for ID, I just use these. Cheap and cheerful.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07LG66S1Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Only downside is they don't do white and my local site tends to do red/blue/white if there's 3 teams, and most arm bands like this in green isn't really green it's hivis yellow-green.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derbystar-Unisexs-Captaincy-4085040100-Captaincy-White/dp/B0064OXXIW/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=derbystar+white+arm+band&qid=1579011362&sr=8-3 Using this for the white.

I also like to wear a shemagh in team colour and sometimes have some flag sized patches too. These come in red, blue, green and yellow. 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/8792393098/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Depends on the outfit and surroundings.


I tend to wear the unofficial team colour of the "non banded" side if they have one, just for quicker ID (IE. Whatever colour can be seen as obviously not the other/banded team), so my IFF can be "do they continue raising their gun, if yes I can shoot them". Too many people will wear red sleeved hoodies as blue/unbanded and such so now I just make myself super obvious and go more by threat than colour. But that's more useful in CQB/indoors than outdoors where hiding/camouflage is more appropriate. 

 
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At the Gaol, its banded vs non banded.

Banded colour = Orange (both arms)

 
Jaylordofwaargh said:
Red on right arm yellow on left.

That way you can always shoot
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There is a point there - as long as people comply

If you’re red and see a bare left arm then it’s friendly.

But you do need everyone to have two arms, or to be on the appropriate side.

One trick that I noticed early on in paintball was the kind of guy who would hang their arm band on the back of their goggle strap. They would tell you that it’s to stop them being shot in the back because they always run up front.  Whereas it’s became the opposition will just see two bare arms and hesitate

 
Tommikka said:
One trick that I noticed early on in paintball was the kind of guy who would hang their arm band on the back of their goggle strap. They would tell you that it’s to stop them being shot in the back because they always run up front.  Whereas it’s became the opposition will just see two bare arms and hesitate
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I'm buying patches to do just that! I seen a guy at my last outdoor game tape up his PC handle and it was so quick and easy to see he was on my team but the enemy have no idea unless they get behind him and in that situation he is probably already dead. At  my indoor CQB site you need to be identifiable from the front as if you flank the enemy and then retreat you will get friendly fired 9 times out of 10 even with arm bands on.

 
Tommikka said:
There is a point there - as long as people comply

If you’re red and see a bare left arm then it’s friendly.

But you do need everyone to have two arms, or to be on the appropriate side.

One trick that I noticed early on in paintball was the kind of guy who would hang their arm band on the back of their goggle strap. They would tell you that it’s to stop them being shot in the back because they always run up front.  Whereas it’s became the opposition will just see two bare arms and hesitate
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 The marshals make a point during briefing of saying don't mess around with colours. Players seen with no tape get spoken to and taped. I have seen a person told to sit out\naughty stepped for a game where the marshal had to ask twice. 

 
SgtTalbert said:
At the Gaol, its banded vs non banded.

Banded colour = Orange (both arms)
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Place I play at is "Banded" vs "Black"... Banded and Non-banded sound too similar.  :)   But that's underground where you can't see shit....so you see someone, shout out for identification..if they answer.  Shoot anyway! :)

 
Monkman said:
Place I play at is "Banded" vs "Black"... Banded and Non-banded sound too similar.  :)   But that's underground where you can't see shit....so you see someone, shout out for identification..if they answer.  Shoot anyway! :)
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It was just an explanation that only one team wears bands. In game, colour calling is 'Green' (non banded) or 'Orange' (banded)

 
makes me glad my old site used tape and try put it on one arm. those who grew suspect got it on both... was good that i can change hands shooting and keepping the taped arm behined when getting into short range. but then again im usually fairly identifiable... 

 
I've bought my own set of Enola Gaye arm bands. They do the job and there's enough colours to satisfy the sites I play at in Kent. 

 
Edit: Wasn't paying attention and already said most of what I was saying in my previous post, just in a different way. Haha.

 
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