'MURICA!

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Airsoft-Ed

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A seedling idea has sprouted.

Me and a mate think it would be awesome to go to the US next summer for some MilSim events, being there in Brit kit surrounded by yanks and the look on their faces when it turns out we're actually British. We reckon that'd be worth the cost of the trip lol. "Whatcha doin' with all that Brit crap?" "Y'what, mate?!" lololololol.

I imagine we'll be able to get the gear on the plane with relative ease, but the guns? Hmm. I could dismantle mine into individual components and then it probably wouldn't look like a gun, or I could just take the parts out and off it, but once we're there, buy one and stick all the bits back on? It'd add another $300 to the savings needed, but I could always sell it again before we came back.

But anyway, that's a secondary issue, how do we go about planning something like this? Does anyone have any US airsofterly contacts? We need to know places, events, work out transport, flights, how long to stay for, the costs involved etc etc.

Also, does anyone want to come along? It could be an epic AF-UK trip!

 
I'd be up for it, prefer to go in my A-TAC's with my M'whateverthehellitis' though, Might be able to borrow some kit and a gun if there are a few of us going and a team esque thing would look awesome.

I've got a couple of mates in Florida, near Tampa who'd be happy to let us crash if things happen.

 
You may be able to put an airsoft gun in the main luggage (not the hand one) if you contact the people who deal with this sort of stuff beforehand. I've heard it somewhere before. Also, would you need an orange tip for your gun as well? Otherwise the site may deny you.

I'm too young to go, but I would of loved to go to Florida and go to one of those sites with vehicles in play and massiveeee amounts of land. Sounds so much fun compared to some of the smaller sites here in the UK.

 
Yeah, same problem here. Plus, no offense to any of you guys but I don't think my parents would be happy about me travelling halfway across the world with people I've never met before :ph34r:

Lol :)

 
Parents? Pah, I'm 21 they can't do a thing lol.

 
If I was going abroad to a.milsim, I think berget in Sweden is probably the best one to go for tbh

 
I think you can take guns on a plane, you just have to tell the airline that your are bringing it, but they may say no though. I think you have to have a sticker on the gun box saying thats its a replica gun or something like that so customs know its not real!

 
Some you can some you can't. I looked a while back, alternatively maybe you can try and do it how berget events do send the guns and equipment to them beforehand and they'll hold it till you arrive.

 
I know that BA are willing to let you transport RIFs (occasionally in hand luggage), last time I checked it had an additional cost of about £50 - but you have to inform them in advance, and again when you check in.

Air France are the same if you're travelling anywhere within the EU. I think they had a slightly different policy for rest of the world. I seem to recall (at the time) they wanted RIFs to be stripped down in transport.

It really depends on where in the States you want to go, when you want to go and perhaps most importantly - how much you're capable of spending. BA will get you there and back - but expect to pay through the roof...

As for Brit kit in the USA, there's actually a surprisingly large number of Brit-kit players (and even teams) in the States, so unless you plan on going to some back-water, deep-South airsoft site, you probably wouldn't look that alien to them. Hell, I've met more Yanks airsofting as Brits than I've met Brits airsofting as Brits...

 
Yeah I guess there is that. Most Brits tend to go for the American look too, though I always thought that'd be more to do with the availability of everything.

I'd be surprised to see an American with an Osprey.

 
That would be Epic, I would actually buy a L85 just for added measure lol.

show up in Full DPM/MTP gear with british flag on velcro.

Maybe get a plastic badge of this made up too.

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And yeah, you can take airguns on plains, but it is done so at the airlnes discression. people do it alot with air rifles.

Also we wouldnt need US contacts, only need to keep an eye on Airsoft GI and CrazyNCman youtube channels to get update on all the big arsofting events.

 
I'll be off there shortly myself if everything goes to plan, though for some RS stuff rather than airsoft. The biggest, most well known mil-sim over there seems to Op. Lion Claws - http://www.oplionclaws.com/

I think between the RIFs and gear for a loadout you might be looking at a fair whack of extra baggage charges, but obviously the main point is to be extremely cautious with regards to the transport and handling of the weapons throughout the whole process. The airline personnel I know seem to be less "omg, lks liek gun = ev1l" than most due to the constant array of things people presumably carry on aircraft but you never know when you'll come across that one idiot who loves nothing more than jumping to massive over-reactions over something perfectly legal.

 
Well if you contact the company you're going to be travelling with far enough in advance and if you buy a pretty heavy duty gun case you could get the wrapping around it (those machines that spin cases around and wrap them in some sort of cling film) then there probably wouldn't be a problem.

As to tacti-cool gear, as long as your PC or Chest Rig, helmet, comms and eye wear is in your suitcase realistically there wouldn't (or shouldn't) be a problem. But. Again, you would have to all individually let the airline know you are airsofters and probably explain everything since nowadays, anyone who has any interest in military is considered a threat.

 
I would be prepared to buy an L85A2 for this too, but not an Osprey. TBH I seriously doubt i could afford the whole trip anyway. Or get a visa for the states. But let me know what you find out, because you never know...

 
I didnt need a visa for New york when I went, I just had my standard UK passport.

As for shipping charge, I only get charged about £20 each way when I go snowbaording under the "sporting gear" charge, and my snowboard gear equals more weight than my M4 in a case.

 
From what I've been able to gather: Long as you're a British citizen with a computer readable passport you just get a thing called an ESTA. Costs about $14, pretty simple to sort out online.

 
Yeah, well... unfortunately that doesn't help me.

 
As cool as this sounds, going America when there's Berget in Sweden which costs a whole lot less and have protocols in place for foreign players and their gear being shipped, there's only one choice I could justify.

If I had an unlimited budget though...

 
Well I was thinking of doing a fundraiser. I'm not sure what yet, or how.

But, if we manage to pull it off then I was thinking about writing it all up, keeping a diary of it all whilst we're there, taking videos of parts of the trip, as well as the games of course. It'd all be aimed towards helping other people make similar trips. Maybe I could call it an airsofting holiday, set up all the protocols for it and run it as an annual thing or something. If there's a way to make it all cheaper I might even be able to make a small time business out of it.

Who knows?

 
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