Child protection vest

[Clovisspike]

I wonder if anyone can help. My 13 year old is venturing into airsoft. He uses an old blue tac vest of mine as it has padding on the front and back lessening the impact of the bb's, sadly its too big. Does anyone know where i can get a childs size from ? I bought mine on ebay and it was classed as a journalists vest (the type the use in warzones) with the exception of the bullet proof being replaced with padding.

 

If anyone has ideas it would be appreciated

[Zak Da Mack]

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/111384236937?nav=SEARCH

 

Don't know if this is what you're looking for, but it seems like good armour for protection.

[Russe11]

To be honest, a vest is not necessary for protection. Baggy clothing will stop bb's just as well. The places that bb's will do damage are the face, ears, neck and hands.

Do a search on amazon for childs tactical vest, it will bring up several options.

[Happy]

Patrolbase do a lot of gear for kids:

 

http://www.patrolbase.co.uk/kids-army

[two_zero]

great for making him miss hits. if he cant take a 6mm plastic at ~1j he shouldn't be skirmishing, imho.

[Mr Monkey Nuts]

What Two Zero said.

[n1ckh]

Hang on but how many adults have been hit more than several times in a tender area ?? I certainly have and it still hurts wether your a child or not

 

There's people who dont like heights etc but they still do it

 

All the guys asking is for advice not to be told 'well he shouldn't do it' who are you to tell him that, he's looking out for his kid

[Russe11]

Getting hit in certain areas hurts. None of these areas are the chest or back. Neck, Ears, face, head and hands are where it hurts. In terms of protection a helmet is more worthwhile than a vest as although a hat is usually enough protection from bb's, it doesn't prevent you smacking your head on branches, low beams etc.

[n1ckh]

I got hit 3 times on my inner thigh near my groin on sunday it was a combination of lucky shots and me stepping out on my right leg, got hit on my upper lip aswell

[Mr Monkey Nuts]

No body is telling him anything, we are offering advice and personal opinion, he is free to listen or disregard them at his choice.

 

No amount of armor or padding or protection will prevent bbs from hitting vulnerable spots and being painful. You can not escape from the fact that he will get hit and will sting a little. It's the whole basis of the sport.

If you don't what your child to be exposed to it then airsoft may not be the game of choice.

 

As an adult and I hope many other are with me, I try very hard not to dominate younger players, especially as young as 13, but it's not easy and often leads to my own demise.

unfortunately there are many 'yoofs (read: under 18s) but also adults who don't take it easy on kids and will open up a hi cap onto them without a second thought. Padding won't protect him, either train him up to deal with it or wait a few years till he can cope.

Just my opinion, take it or leave it.

[TheGrover]

...

 

No amount of armor or padding or protection will prevent bbs from hitting vulnerable spots and being painful.

My juggernaut suit dissagrees:

 

Edit: this isnt actually my suit. Its just a quick google image to prove to the world i can funny

[Russe11]

I got hit 3 times on my inner thigh near my groin on sunday it was a combination of lucky shots and me stepping out on my right leg, got hit on my upper lip aswell

Baggy clothing ftw. Best protection ever would have to be WW2 British Battledress with Denison smock. When I get shot, I can usually only feel the movement in the cloth and hear the hit. I did however get shot in the ear on Saturday, that hurts and it bled a little.

If you look at these trousers, there is so much loose fabric that bb's lose all their energy before they can hit flesh. Most modern tactical clothing is more fitted and therefore provides less protection. Best protection for the upper body is some sort of smock, the baggier the better.

[n1ckh]

great for making him miss hits. if he cant take a 6mm plastic at ~1j he shouldn't be skirmishing, imho.

I think you'll find you did

 

End of the day, he wants his son to be a bit safe. I have both a 13 & 14 year old boys and they love it wether they get hit or not, teaches them to keep there head down

 

The guy needs guidance and not ridicule or belittling his son

 

I apologise for any offence caused but I'm a protective parent some times, I do believe in kids being toughened up as a majority play on there phones or consoles, I personaly try to avoid kids but will still have a go and both me and my sons have been on the receiving end of being hosed

[beastmode]

I wouldn't avoid kids in a game. If they are playing the game they are equal to everyone else in my mind. They can pad up all they want as long as they take their hits. If they don't like getting hit with padding or without they shouldn't go.

[Russe11]

Back when I used a tactical vest, I took the foam padding out after an embarrassing incident where I was tapped on the shoulder by a guy who explained he had been shooting me in the back for a while. Foam will protect you from hits, but it also makes it hard to feel the hits.

[TheGrover]

Back when I used a tactical vest, I took the foam padding out after an embarrassing incident where I was tapped on the shoulder by a guy who explained he had been shooting me in the back for a while. Foam will protect you from hits, but it also makes it hard to feel the hits.

Exactly the reason i take the soft armour out of my osprey mk4, whats the point playing if you wont feel your hits?

[Clovisspike]

Guys thanks for all of your advice on this. I keep telling him it only stings a little bit but he was hit in the head with a paintball recently and whilst this will hurt a lot more he's a tad nervous. I dont mind him using my vest until he gets his confidence back. Thanks for the pointers to patrolbase etc ill have a look.

 

I dont take offence at peoples opinions, everyone is entitled, and as someone said if i dont like it ill disregard it,

[Josh95]

Honestly I agree with most of the people here, yes wearing paddign ect.. is going to prevent the (pain) of a BB strike however he wont be able to even feel it which might cause him to not take hits. I know some peopel are more sensitive then others but getting shot on a clothed area to me doesnt hurt at all unless its pointblank. maybe if he wears a thick jacket or something? and if he got shot in the head wear a helmet?

[Esoterick]

Surely you can hear the hits when they plink off your plate carrier? I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people wearing plate carriers don't have a problem with it....

 

Also the vast majority of hits will be on your arms and head unless you do something very odd. Outside of standing in the open or someone breaking your cover they are the first/only areas that can be hit.

 

People wearing baggy or padded clothing(hoodies and jackets) also run the risk of making it hard to notice hits. I've had to tell players on my own team they've been hit, where they were people I knew so unlikely they were knowingly ignoring hits.

 

I'd say wear what you want, just be mindful you might need to pay slightly more attention to hits the more you have covering you.

 

We could all wear lycra shorts and a tank top but it would be a bit weird

[Ian_Gere]

Sounds like a good time for a bit of father'n'son 1 on 1... bonding over the 1" bruises

[NickM]

You'll find that PC's most people use stop hits nicely and you get a decent sound that gives the hit away but they protect the body, and in my opinion hits to the body hurt less than to extremities so these are probably places you will want to protect.

 

An alternative to help protect the softer more fleshy bits would be to find an old thin wetsuit you don't mind chopping up and making you own version of the arms in a UBACS, it'll be warm but they make a nice thwack sound when hit.

 

I understand the concern, I have had bruises easily 4 inches in diameter from bb guns, the worst were on my inner thigh and inner arm. I've had skin broken a number of times from shots, some to bare skin and a couple to areas covered by thick layers of cloth. Mind you these were either from people knowingly using overpowered guns or cutting their MED/almost point blank.

[Sitting Duck]

I can take a hit but back - even with baggy clothes can sting

Especially when your team don't notice you taking an extreme left flank

then he must be enemy and fire - pop

 

I'm crouched slowly moving in from side - if I get shot by enemy at least I'm drawing their attention

any baggy clothes are stretched across my back - little flesh

 

OUCH - WTF in the back - HIT - friendly ffs

 

oh sorry m8

 

YELLOW FFS - check the band if you can - jeez

 

dunno what hurts more - my back or being on the noob team again

(wait - I'm a noob so fair do's it is my stinging back then)

 

Back on topic - full face as he is kid, maybe helmet (bang your head hard and you wish you bought one)

Think most of us are wearing another layer or two as it gets colder so reckon no need for juggernaut

GLOVES - full finger ones to protect ya pinkies - that can hurt in colder weather too

 

and a very generous of common sense for safety - eye protection ALWAYS ON

(still see real noobs thinking they can remove these if in dead zone)

If you invest in common sense then I'm sure he will be fine

no point having some protection and ignoring basic safety rules etc....

[Ian_Gere]

There are obviously a wide variety of gloves which you could choose and some look cooler than others - for protection from painful hits to the fingers however, paintball gloves like these can only be bettered by armoured motorcycling gloves.

[BrightCandle]

One of the things I noticed the other day was that I get hit a lot below the chest rig and above but I rarely notice the shot that goes into the chest rig, because I have to hear it. I only hear it if I myself am not shooting or not moving. I notice the same thing happens for most of the guys with plate carriers I play against, they just don't notice a lot of the time. Its kind of obvious they got hit given the circumstances but they just don't ever feel it. So I would wary of anyone going towards full padding, chances are they won't notice a lot of their hits and its going to be a problem. Wearing camo should be sufficient combined with the usual things people do such as face masks and shemaghs around the neck.There is no reason to do more, the guns are set at a power level to ensure no real damage occurs and wearing too much armour is going to stop that individual feeling their hits which based on the number of idiots I have run into is going to be far more dangerous than the hits themselves.

 

My advice is don't even do a plate carrier, go with a battle belt to allow body shots to be felt but do wear some nice thick well made camo to absorb much of the energy.

[TheFull9]

The main point to my mind is that torso hits are not the thing to worry about, they're comparatively the least painful (if painful at all) the vast majority of the time. As mentioned, normal/slight over sized clothing will take all but the tiniest bit of sting out of most hits, it's the ears, teeth, fingers etc that are the concern. Worry about getting the right protective gear for the head area and extremities, a vest is really not a big issue at all in this context.

 

Also a paintball is a very different animal, a BB will realistically just sting for a couple of second most of the time.