SE Tour Review: Cool Under Fire (Kent)

[Asomodai]

Site Name: Cool Under Fire

Telephone number: 07960532613

Website Address: http://www.coolunderfire.co.uk/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/coolunderfireairsoft/

Site Address: Moonfield Farm, Doddington ME9 0JS

My battle buddy and I popped along to Cool Under Fire on 25/11/18. This site has received generally positive reviews online and a personal OK from my battle buddy who had been here before. 

It is a Small/Medium sized Orchard/Scrubland site. Lots of small Pear trees dominate the scenery. The size of which are quite small, but definitely lends itself to shorter statured players. A separate outdoor CQB section is also in play. There are a quite a few buildings relative to the size of the site. One or two natural pathways.  Short to Medium engagement distances. No water features. The ground is very uneven so careful of those ankles. Pretty much flat in terms of elevation. 

Good:

Pyro: Last week we had some decent pyro at Ace Combat. This week we had even louder/bigger 'splosions. My ears are still ringing! 

Shop: Supplied by Platoon stores, had a healthy selection of Pistols and Rifs. (Both myself and the battle buddy came away with JG MP5's for a decent price!) Good selection of BB's and gas. There was a second shop inside the warehouse which had some small bits and pieces. 

Parking: Plenty of parking is available which is right next to the safe zone. 

Average: 

Safe Zone: A fairly large warehouse. Lots of tables but not alot of space per person. mostly out of the elements. 

Bad:

Rentals: The worst thing were the rental players. There were a large group of 20+ players for a birthday party. They were awful all day, didn't take hits, when one did take their hit I turned my back and I got full autoed from under 10 metres from the same person. I had a go at the kid only for one of the adults to come over and say its his first time (It was the last battle of the day so should have known better, and since when is it acceptable to do that?) and the adult then shot me from within 5 metres when we were sorting things out, then denied he even did it! My buddy got full autoed even with his hand up multiple times. 

In the second to last game, the rentals were attacking a base, my battle buddy and I were pouring fire into this one kid who wouldn't take the hit. Just standing there and taking it from 20 metres away, he lights a grenade, throws it at us and runs on towards the objective. BB's were literally pelting off of his clothes! 

Food: No Vegetarian option. Only one option which was pork hotdogs boiled in water. Very very poor. I went hungry. 

Chrono: No Mandatory chrono, and no checking of chrono on the field. You guys know how I feel about this. 

Safety brief/mission briefs: Very very brief, didn't even mention the no blind fire rule which considering the amount of first timers would be paramount. 

Playing space: We found it fairly limited. there were a fair few structures but of poor construction. 

Marshaling: Considering the amount of rentals who were misbehaving and the amount of complaints that were coming in about them from the regulars, NOTHING was done about them. If this was Zed Adventures: Battlelakes, they would have been chucked off the site by lunchtime. The amount of full auto abuse was so bad a semi only rule could have been put in place but never happened. One poor kid who had played before got completely rinsed by the rental players and went off very upset. The lack of leadership and discipline was awful and seemed like they valued single time players over regular ones. The Marshalls were friendly when spoken to, but Christ do not book large groups of first timers and put them all on one side. 

Long turn around time: It was like herding cats to get people out to play today. Took forever to get going and went back to the safe zone after every skirmish even if it only lasted a few minutes. 

Conclusion: 

I don't swear much, but this was a F**king shambles of a day. I would call this on par with Tactical (Croydon) for worst skirmish of the year clientele wise. At least we had the sensibleness to stop halfway through that day, soldiering on didn't do much for us here as things got worse as the day progressed.

£30 was quite high for what you got. Considering the lack of food options, I think we should have a choice from sites to pay less if not having any food that is included in the full price. 

As you guys know I am incredibly balanced in my reviews, but I really struggled to write positives for this site. Mediocre playing field, poor marshalling, good shop. Everything else just meh. 

Bullpup Watch: One and that was my own L85. So not great  

NOTICE: Only one last skirmish til we shut up for the new year! Next weekend we will be going to Battle Paintball (The Zoo) in East Sussex for their airsoft re-launch. I will be writing a end of year report summarising what sites we liked most and least, maybe in some form of "top ten" list. 

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[Immortal]

Thanks for the review. I'll not be going there that's for sure!

I look forward to your next one as the Zoo looks a very interesting site and novel.

 

[Chopper92]

Jeez i didnt even realise there were sites without a mandatory chrono at the start of the day and ive been airsofting for a number of years now!.  Surely that means they dont have any insurance ? Judging by the amounts of safety points they were evading.

Re-iterates my belief in going to sites run by reputable companies/people.

i will avoid no doubt !

 

[Asomodai]

Jeez i didnt even realise there were sites without a mandatory chrono at the start of the day and ive been airsofting for a number of years now!.  Surely that means they dont have any insurance ? Judging by the amounts of safety points they were evading.

Re-iterates my belief in going to sites run by reputable companies/people.

i will avoid no doubt !

Click to shrink...

Read some of my other reviews and you'll see its actually a common occurrence! Shouldn't be acceptable at all. 

 

[Druid799]

If a site don’t chrono at the start of the day or any time through out the day then the words of a wise man spring to mind ; “fuckdatshit im out of here ! “ wouldn’t go ANY where near it .?

 

[Tackle]

unfortunately CUF, amongst others, are the sites local to me, & all the negatives you've mentioned are almost the norm, which is the same reason why I've not qualified for ukara for years, you go to most of them with high hopes, & then come away thinking "fuck that,never again", so I never play the required 3 games anywhere.

I'd kill to find a decent site location, I'd start my own site & wipe the floor with these amateurs ?.

@asomodai, thanks bud, keep up the good work ?

 

[ak2m4]

Thanks for the review, local'ish to me.  Gotta keep rentals on a tight leash ?

 

[Sneaky]

Noted..

 

[sonofsammo]

No mandatory chrono?

 

[EvilMonkee]

Just a thought - is it because these sites in that area are mainly Paintball related switching to Airsoft and hence lack the experience needed?  Or are they just shit and not even having that mild excuse?

 

[Tackle]

Let's be honest......... there are no excuses, if a sites shit then it's down to poor management, that pretty much covers everything, the only possible exception being the actual physical terrain, but even that can be improved upon in most cases.

 

[Druid799]

As Tackle said no excuse at all if you don’t think you need to chrono at the start of the day then you shouldn’t be taking money from people to play or even in the business period ! 

Me personaly I think chrono is the corner stone that site safety is built off , if you can’t regulate the power of your players guns then you won’t be able to control anything , if someone’s using a ‘hot’ gun it’ll affect pretty much every other rule some way or another .

 

[COOL UNDER FIRE (CUF)]

Thank you for your comments. 

We are sorry about your experience. 

However, reading your review,  there are few points I'd like to state as incorrect.  On the day, there was 2 briefings, one for the pro airsofter's and regulars and one for the newbies.  The idea of this was that, the people who regularly play airsoft didn't have to sit and listen to a long beginners briefing.  The beginners briefing had in it, eye protection, weapon safety, hit re-gen rules, blind firing, safety zone rules, site safety rules, grenade kill rules, engagement distance and pyro safety.  

We highly regard the importance of covering all safety aspects of the sport at CUF. 

Regulars were briefed on pyro's and site player safety. Majority of players attending the day were regulars.  We had some issues, the first part of the day which were dealt with.  We had 6 Marshals on the field to sort problems with hit taking and game rules. 

With regards to the chrono, chrono was used on the day.  I had 6 weapons tested throughout the day recorded from marshals that carried out the tests.  90% of players were regulars and didn't have hot guns. Normally, we wouldn't have a big party join a skirmish and we would have a party run on another day.  Yet, 8 of the adults were airsoft players with their own kit that regularly play at other sites.

With regards to the food- in the new year, we are in the process of building a separate food shop on site.

In the past, Vegetarian or those with dietary requirements, enquiries have been made by phone, email. 

We have regular airsoft players and a healthy turn around every month and welcome new players every time who enjoy the fast paced, hard hitting action we offer!

An unhealthy review isn't great but enables us to move forward, adjust and make improvements. 

2019 is looking good! We genuinely offer our apologies for your experience and hope to see you again in 2019.

Cool Under Fire

 

[Battle_Buddy]

Thank you for your comments. 

We are sorry about your experience. 

However, reading your review,  there are few points I'd like to state as incorrect.  On the day, there was 2 briefings, one for the pro airsofter's and regulars and one for the newbies.  The idea of this was that, the people who regularly play airsoft didn't have to sit and listen to a long beginners briefing.  The beginners briefing had in it, eye protection, weapon safety, hit re-gen rules, blind firing, safety zone rules, site safety rules, grenade kill rules, engagement distance and pyro safety.  

We highly regard the importance of covering all safety aspects of the sport at CUF. 

Regulars were briefed on pyro's and site player safety. Majority of players attending the day were regulars.  We had some issues, the first part of the day which were dealt with.  We had 6 Marshals on the field to sort problems with hit taking and game rules. 

With regards to the chrono, chrono was used on the day.  I had 6 weapons tested throughout the day recorded from marshals that carried out the tests.  90% of players were regulars and didn't have hot guns. Normally, we wouldn't have a big party join a skirmish and we would have a party run on another day.  Yet, 8 of the adults were airsoft players with their own kit that regularly play at other sites.

With regards to the food- in the new year, we are in the process of building a separate food shop on site.

In the past, Vegetarian or those with dietary requirements, enquiries have been made by phone, email. 

We have regular airsoft players and a healthy turn around every month and welcome new players every time who enjoy the fast paced, hard hitting action we offer!

An unhealthy review isn't great but enables us to move forward, adjust and make improvements. 

2019 is looking good! We genuinely offer our apologies for your experience and hope to see you again in 2019.

Cool Under Fire

Click to shrink...

I am sure OP will respond but i want to say thank you for replying to the review in a constructive way.

No Restaurant critic can try every dish on the menu, likewise no Airsoft reviewer can see everything going on, explanation and clarification is always good to see but more importantly understanding that there are areas that can be improved.

Only additional thing i would mention is that with the newbies that day being, lets say over zealous, complaints were made to the marshals. But as the day went on it only got worse, when raised again to a marshal i was told "just get even" which took me by surprise. I refused to do that and 3 times in the last game of the day I received full auto for an extended time at less than 5 feet, it took all my will power not to punch them out.

Whether a visitor, regular or someone on a birthday party like that, after multiple infringements players should be ejected plain and simple.

Thank you again though for your considered response.

 

[Gepard]

Thank you for your comments. 

We are sorry about your experience. 

However, reading your review,  there are few points I'd like to state as incorrect.  On the day, there was 2 briefings, one for the pro airsofter's and regulars and one for the newbies.  The idea of this was that, the people who regularly play airsoft didn't have to sit and listen to a long beginners briefing.  The beginners briefing had in it, eye protection, weapon safety, hit re-gen rules, blind firing, safety zone rules, site safety rules, grenade kill rules, engagement distance and pyro safety.  

We highly regard the importance of covering all safety aspects of the sport at CUF. 

Regulars were briefed on pyro's and site player safety. Majority of players attending the day were regulars.  We had some issues, the first part of the day which were dealt with.  We had 6 Marshals on the field to sort problems with hit taking and game rules. 

With regards to the chrono, chrono was used on the day.  I had 6 weapons tested throughout the day recorded from marshals that carried out the tests.  90% of players were regulars and didn't have hot guns. Normally, we wouldn't have a big party join a skirmish and we would have a party run on another day.  Yet, 8 of the adults were airsoft players with their own kit that regularly play at other sites.

With regards to the food- in the new year, we are in the process of building a separate food shop on site.

In the past, Vegetarian or those with dietary requirements, enquiries have been made by phone, email. 

We have regular airsoft players and a healthy turn around every month and welcome new players every time who enjoy the fast paced, hard hitting action we offer!

An unhealthy review isn't great but enables us to move forward, adjust and make improvements. 

2019 is looking good! We genuinely offer our apologies for your experience and hope to see you again in 2019.

Cool Under Fire

Click to shrink...

Good to see a site join a forum specifically to respond to negative feedback. Two sides to every story as always. 

Don't see a problem with regulars skipping the briefing but all guns should be chronoed at the start of the day.  That's something that I would expect to be mandatory for all players not cherrypicked between the odd few. 

If cheating was an issue that was present throughout the day then it obviously wasn't dealt with as they continued to do so. They heard the briefing and knew the rules so why let them continue? 

I'm probably in the minority here but food catering isn't high on my list. I'm lucky enough to have a food truck at one of my locals and a decent array of snacks at the others but I wouldn't expect a site to have facilities set up. I'd contact them beforehand and see what services they provide or bring a packed lunch. 

I really hope this isn't the typical PR bullshit and they'll actually be some changes made at CUF because based on a few of the responses to this thread this isn't a rare one off occasion but something that happens quite regularly. 

 

[Asomodai]

Thank you for your comments. 

We are sorry about your experience. 

However, reading your review,  there are few points I'd like to state as incorrect.  On the day, there was 2 briefings, one for the pro airsofter's and regulars and one for the newbies.  The idea of this was that, the people who regularly play airsoft didn't have to sit and listen to a long beginners briefing.  The beginners briefing had in it, eye protection, weapon safety, hit re-gen rules, blind firing, safety zone rules, site safety rules, grenade kill rules, engagement distance and pyro safety.  

We highly regard the importance of covering all safety aspects of the sport at CUF. 

Regulars were briefed on pyro's and site player safety. Majority of players attending the day were regulars.  We had some issues, the first part of the day which were dealt with.  We had 6 Marshals on the field to sort problems with hit taking and game rules. 

With regards to the chrono, chrono was used on the day.  I had 6 weapons tested throughout the day recorded from marshals that carried out the tests.  90% of players were regulars and didn't have hot guns. Normally, we wouldn't have a big party join a skirmish and we would have a party run on another day.  Yet, 8 of the adults were airsoft players with their own kit that regularly play at other sites.

With regards to the food- in the new year, we are in the process of building a separate food shop on site.

In the past, Vegetarian or those with dietary requirements, enquiries have been made by phone, email. 

We have regular airsoft players and a healthy turn around every month and welcome new players every time who enjoy the fast paced, hard hitting action we offer!

An unhealthy review isn't great but enables us to move forward, adjust and make improvements. 

2019 is looking good! We genuinely offer our apologies for your experience and hope to see you again in 2019.

Cool Under Fire

Click to shrink...

Hello gents. Despite the negatives of the review it is great to have you here communicating with the forum and I really appreciate your measured response. Some sites have responded with abuse to my reviews which is not what I would wish upon anyone. 

Physical features are fairly easy to review such as toilets, site, safe zone, shop and food. When it comes to less tangible things such as behaviour of players, marshal interaction and so forth, It can be difficult to make a comparison as the "proof" is in the eye of the beholder. People can have wildly different opinions depending on what view they have of it. Less tangible points are also more affected by bias, mood, chance and emotions. As such, the less tangible things are also easier to not actually see without being informed that they occured, such as the rentals briefing and the occasional chrono test, in which I will give the benefit of the doubt on occuring. As always with less tangible points if we came the weekend before it would have probably been a decent game. It was unfortunate that we came that particular weekend. Having said that, how a site deals with issues on the day and how they are dealt with in the future is what interests me. 

I do stand by the rest of the review. Even with the safety brief, the rentals were not dealt with and they should have been sat on hard or kicked off site.

With regards to the food issue, there was no where that I could see on the website that says I would need to tell you in advance if I needed a non pork or vegetarian option. The online booking system was down as well.

Most of the sites that provide food do offer an alternative meal. (Even if its a veggie sandwich)

Don't see a problem with regulars skipping the briefing but all guns should be chronoed at the start of the day.  That's something that I would expect to be mandatory for all players not cherrypicked between the odd few. 

I'm probably in the minority here but food catering isn't high on my list. I'm lucky enough to have a food truck at one of my locals and a decent array of snacks at the others but I wouldn't expect a site to have facilities set up. I'd contact them beforehand and see what services they provide or bring a packed lunch. 

Click to shrink...

It is not hard to stock an alternative or at least inform players on the website that they need to let them know in advance. Many other sites do it and do it well. 

Chrono should be mandatory at all times and I haven't met anyone who frequents the forums often that would not agree with this. I could be a trusted regular but bring a new gun that fires hot (I have an M4 that was upgraded by a shop who told me that it was firing at 320FPS, It actually chronos at 365. I would have had no idea.) Chronoing 6 random guns is not my idea of safety. 

Lastly, I really believe that pretty much any site can turn things around. Less tangible points dominated the issues that day, but luckily those are the points that are easiest to solve as it costs very little if any money to Implement. 

 

[Albiscuit]

A great response by the site and hopefully they have a think of what was said and things change.

As mentioned a review is generally in the eye of the beholder, I have come back from games and had an amazing day to see loads of people moaning how crap the day was, same as having a crappy day seeing loads of cheating and getting pissed off to others saying it was their best game ever!

But, some of the things mentioned by the reviewer and the site are a little concerning, regulars or not all guns should be chronoed. As annoying as it is going week  in week out to the same site with the same guns with last weeks stickers on someone could have done some tweeking and end up with a stupidly hot gun.

The two briefs is a good idea if carried out correctly.