New to Airsoft; what to buy?

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

@Lozart yes astigmatism exactly.

I wasn’t aware they did contacts to suite.

I will look in to that!

@Rogerborg Sweatbands! What a great shout I will try to find some suitably coloured ones; after all I wouldn’t want bright red! ?

I am seriously considering mesh.

I have an astigmatism and suffer from the dreaded hyperhidrosis too.

Contacts for astig are a thing and work fine.  I actually tried non-astig (read cheap) lenses and the difference is minimal as long as I don't want to read/focus up very close.   Certainly fine for airsoft.  Worth a punt if you order them online.  

I have to use mesh, as even the best goggles with Cat Crap applied and a fan get covered in sweat even if they don't fog.  

Sweatbands do work.  Take at least three, dry them/hang them on your mirrors as you drive home as they start to stink.  Instead of a beanie/cap etc, wear a crocheted prayer cap.  Seriously, they come in khaki/OD/black etc and camo the head whilst being really cool.  Cost a couple of quid on Ebay.  

I use webbing, but you can get plate carriers that use water carrying plates that can be cooled and used as hydration bladders too.  

 

[AirsoftRich]

@Druid799 Thanks for your input.

That further cements that the best option for me will be OOTB TM.

That’s until I know a lot more about what I am buying when it comes to upgrades.

I fear going down that route I could end up spending a lot of money on wrong parts from many peoples differing advice and end up with a gun that’s crap.

I think to give me an idea of what mods work best on a custom built gun; seeing, holding and possibly firing other peoples set ups over time is the way forward.

Handy to know it will lift .28’s and handy to know the more seasoned player will see those heavier rounds coming.

@Tactical Pith Helmet

I will have to contact the opticians for my prescription and see if I can order some to try.

I have really taken a liking to the mesh that @heroshark produces.

I am still considering my options but I like his kit very much.

I will defo be buying some sweatbands and will certainly look in to those crocheted prayer caps you mention.

I have seen the water carrying hydration plates.

I have a hydration pack and without it even being next to my body it was warm in 3 hours.

I might invest in a belt and yoke.

Having a large area of restricted ventilation because of a plate carrier seems somewhat pointless when we have no need to protect vital organs from a plastic BB.

Besides I got shot that many times above, below or through the sides of it.

It near as made no difference.

I feel with a belt and yoke I can carry kit and be a lot lighter and cooler.

I can only try it out and see what works best for me.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Lozart]

@Druid799 Thanks for your input.

That further cements that the best option for me will be OOTB TM.

That’s until I know a lot more about what I am buying when it comes to upgrades.

I fear going down that route I could end up spending a lot of money on wrong parts from many peoples differing advice and end up with a gun that’s crap.

I think to give me an idea of what mods work best on a custom built gun; seeing, holding and possibly firing other peoples set ups over time is the way forward.

Handy to know it will lift .28’s and handy to know the more seasoned player will see those heavier rounds coming.

@Tactical Pith Helmet

I will have to contact the opticians for my prescription and see if I can order some to try.

I have really taken a liking to the mesh that @heroshark produces.

I am still considering my options but I like his kit very much.

I will defo be buying some sweatbands and will certainly look in to those crocheted prayer caps you mention.

I have seen the water carrying hydration plates.

I have a hydration pack and without it even being next to my body it was warm in 3 hours.

I might invest in a belt and yoke.

Having a large area of restricted ventilation because of a plate carrier seems somewhat pointless when we have no need to protect vital organs from a plastic BB.

Besides I got shot that many times above, below or through the sides of it.

It near as made no difference.

I feel with a belt and yoke I can carry kit and be a lot lighter and cooler.

I can only try it out and see what works best for me.

Thanks for your input.

PLEASE don't fall into that trap of believing all the bollocks online that says "yeah TM recoils are great, once you change X, Y and Z". Leave it the fuck alone, it'll be fine. Plus, any excuse to repost this:

As for contacts, they even do varifocals now! Weird as fuck to use but they do them!

Plate carriers are sweaty as fuck so definitely check out belt kit but don't rule out chest rigs either. There's loads of them out there that have plenty of variety.

 

[Sneaky]

When you go airsofting, check everyone else's gear to give you some ideas.

NGRS...cannot go wrong..

 

[Fatboy40]

... Said sweat coming off my head and really distorting my view through the goggles.

... I have considered going for the more ‘ski mask’ type and wearing my glasses underneath.

Even without my glasses I feel these would be better as there would be a seal around hopefully stopping sweat covering the inside.

For your first point a simple solution, but maybe not that elegant, is a good old school sweat band on your head as that's what they were invented for (keep a few in a kit bag and swap them over frequently).

I wear glasses always and I'm very happy with my Guard Dog Evader 2 goggle and how they fit perfectly over them. However, I'm a sweaty betty as well and when I'm huffing and puffing they will fog, with Revision wipes from eBay helping somewhat, however this weekend I'm playing for the first time with my new helmet and ExFog setup (tubing carefully routed with velcro retaining it) so I'm hoping for a totally different experience regarding fogging.

One thing I'd say that has helped with my fogging is getting rid of my mesh face mask and getting a Delta Mike Facepro Snood. The mesh mask directed some of my breath upwards towards my goggles, but this is all gone with the Delta Mike, and another big plus point is that I've gone from a bulky mesh mask to something skin tight so my peripheral vision has improved so much (especially looking directly down to my chest rig and what I'm walking over / up / down on).

 

[AirsoftRich]

@Lozart what a cracking funny video that is! ?

Basically if it isn’t broken don’t fix it.

@Fatboy40 One of the F&O marshalls said about those but he couldn’t remember the maker of them he said to just google it.

Along with the masses of other information I have been taking in that one slipped my mind and you have just reminded me and given me the site. 
So thanks for that.

They look good!

I am looking up some sweat bands and some anti fog wipes and going from there. 
If that doesn’t work mesh it is.

 

[Druid799]

@Druid799 Thanks for your input.

That further cements that the best option for me will be OOTB TM.

That’s until I know a lot more about what I am buying when it comes to upgrades.

I fear going down that route I could end up spending a lot of money on wrong parts from many peoples differing advice and end up with a gun that’s crap.

I think to give me an idea of what mods work best on a custom built gun; seeing, holding and possibly firing other peoples set ups over time is the way forward.

Handy to know it will lift .28’s and handy to know the more seasoned player will see those heavier rounds coming.

@Tactical Pith Helmet

I will have to contact the opticians for my prescription and see if I can order some to try.

I have really taken a liking to the mesh that @heroshark produces.

I am still considering my options but I like his kit very much.

I will defo be buying some sweatbands and will certainly look in to those crocheted prayer caps you mention.

I have seen the water carrying hydration plates.

I have a hydration pack and without it even being next to my body it was warm in 3 hours.

I might invest in a belt and yoke.

Having a large area of restricted ventilation because of a plate carrier seems somewhat pointless when we have no need to protect vital organs from a plastic BB.

Besides I got shot that many times above, below or through the sides of it.

It near as made no difference.

I feel with a belt and yoke I can carry kit and be a lot lighter and cooler.

I can only try it out and see what works best for me.

Thanks for your input.

I’ve currently got 7 recoils and over the past 14+yrs ? I’ve had around 15 and can happily tell you the only ones I’ve ever had problems with were 3 ‘upgraded’ ones . 1st was done by my self and a mate , 2nd by a good site tech and the 3rd by a very well respected TM recoil upgrade specialist , now don’t get me wrong all of them did perform better after the upgrades BUT none of them lasted that long before work was needed to maintain this improved performance . 
Where as I’ve got a Socom and 74su that are both totally stock bar a deans connectors fitted and there 13 and 12yrs old respectively . So I think that speaks volumes for the brand ? 

 

[AirsoftRich]

I’ve currently got 7 recoils and over the past 14+yrs ? I’ve had around 15 and can happily tell you the only ones I’ve ever had problems with were 3 ‘upgraded’ ones . 1st was done by my self and a mate , 2nd by a good site tech and the 3rd by a very well respected TM recoil upgrade specialist , now don’t get me wrong all of them did perform better after the upgrades BUT none of them lasted that long before work was needed to maintain this improved performance . 
Where as I’ve got a Socom and 74su that are both totally stock bar a deans connectors fitted and there 13 and 12yrs old respectively . So I think that speaks volumes for the brand ? 

The only thing I am going to do is convert it to deans for a lipo.

I read one review saying the recoil stock knocks sights out of zero over time.

I find this hard to believe.

Have you had any experience of this?

 

[Druid799]

The only thing I am going to do is convert it to deans for a lipo.

I read one review saying the recoil stock knocks sights out of zero over time.

I find this hard to believe.

Have you had any experience of this?

Yea I’ve seen this one as well , only way I could see the recoil effecting a scope enough that you actually notice it is if you’ve gone out of your way to find and then buy literally the cheapest/nastiest/poorest quality scope you could find ! ?

??

 

[Rogerborg]

I read one review saying the recoil stock knocks sights out of zero over time.

I find this hard to believe.

We're already in the realms where 0.8 = 1.1, anything is possible.  

 

[AirsoftRich]

We're already in the realms where 0.8 = 1.1, anything is possible.  

That’s gone over my head.

Am I missing an inside joke or something?

 

[Rogerborg]

That’s gone over my head.

Am I missing an inside joke or something?

Well, I find it funny when folk swear that a TM putting under under 0.8J will outrange a CYMA producing over 1.1J.

A lot of airsoft is subjective, and there's a real aesthetic pleasure from watching a perfectly hopped BB float out there in a straight line - "shoots like a laser" is a very common claim.  And I accept that TMs come with decent parts and can be very consistent - and consistency is what matters for hitting your target, at ranges that the BB will reach.

But ultimately, a BB only has linear and angular velocity, and one with more energy (and sufficient backspin) will go further than one with less energy (and sufficient backspin).  It doesn't know what toy it came out of, how much it cost, or how far you feel it should go.

TM versus CYMA, the meme.

View attachment 62071 

TM vs CYMA, what matters.

To be clear, I'm not saying "Don't buy a TM recoil", you'll be very happy with it.  I am noting that if you stand side-by-side with someone with (e.g.) a nicely set up CYMA AK then you may find that their mundane BBs go just a bit further than your magical ones.

 

[AirsoftRich]

5 hours ago, Rogerborg said:



Well, I find it funny when folk swear that a TM putting under under 0.8J will outrange a CYMA producing over 1.1J.

A lot of airsoft is subjective, and there's a real aesthetic pleasure from watching a perfectly hopped BB float out there in a straight line - "shoots like a laser" is a very common claim.  And I accept that TMs come with decent parts and can be very consistent - and consistency is what matters for hitting your target, at ranges that the BB will reach.

But ultimately, a BB only has linear and angular velocity, and one with more energy (and sufficient backspin) will go further than one with less energy (and sufficient backspin).  It doesn't know what toy it came out of, how much it cost, or how far you feel it should go.

TM versus CYMA, the meme.

View attachment 62071 

TM vs CYMA, what matters.

Oh I get that totally.

There will be upgraded airsoft weapons out there that will way out shoot a TM and hopefully one day I am knowledgeable and confident enough to do the same things as in that video.

Right now as a novice I want something out of the box that will be competetive, consistent and robust enough to last me a couple of years minimum whilst I navigate the sport/hobby.

I want to be able to create something like in the video posted but I am nowhere near there yet.

I am sure I will come across but not end up being one of those people the meme highlights ?.