Welcome

This is the website for the first Isle of Wight Airsoft site Island Recon.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF AIRSOFT

Airsoft is a modern combat sport or recreational hobby in which participants eliminate opponents by hitting each other with spherical airsoft pellets, launched from airsoft guns. Participants typically employ the use of varying types of weapons designed as replicas of real firearms, tactical gear, and accessories used by modern military and police organizations.

Airsoft has its roots in late-1970s Japan where firearms were difficult or impossible to obtain due to local laws, and people sought a legal alternative to owning actual firearms.

Airsoft game types

Fundamentally, airsoft is a game played within a predetermined area where the objective is to "kill" the adversary. It is generally accepted that when a player is hit, they call themselves out, unlike paintball, which leaves visible marks on clothing. Some common game variations include Team Deathmatch, Capture the flag and Close Quarters Battle (that attempts to simulate real life Close quarter combat).

Special rules

 are often incorporated into airsoft games in order to make basic games more interesting or to increase "longevity" with seasoned players. These may include Medic rules and rules regarding hits to one's equipment.

Honour system

An "honour system" is employed whereby the players rely on each others honesty to admit to being hit, because unlike paintball, the plastic pellets stop on hitting clothing. Depending on the muzzle velocity of the gun and distance from which a person is shooting, the person on the receiving end of the shot will usually feel a slight pain on the area of impact. The pellets will sometimes not be felt by a player at very long ranges.

Kinetic energy

Kinetic energy transfer is relatively minimal in airsoft compared to that of paintball. A airsoft projectile weighing .2 grams and traveling at 300 feet per second (90 meters per second) transfers about 1 joules of energy. A paintball projectile weighing 2.84 grams and travelling at 300 feet per second transfers 11.8 joules.

Most airsoft guns are capable of shooting from 250fps to 600fps. A hop-up unit, if present, puts backspin on the pellet giving a slight upward arc. This gives an airsoft gun more range than an airsoft gun without a hop-up unit. Airsoft playing fields usually have rules specifying what velocity

is allowed for each player position. This makes the game much more realistic, as an airsoft pellet will not travel as far as a real bullet.

Cost

To a new player choosing between airsoft and paintball, a beginning package for airsoft is much cheaper in terms of hardware, but for apparel and cost, they are roughly equivalent. One major difference, however, can be seen in the cost of ammunition and upkeep of the packages - due to the type of ammunition used, airsoft guns are less prone to "jamming", and airsoft pellets are considerably cheaper to manufacture than paintballs.

Safety

Although airsoft guns operate on completely different principles to real firearms and are not lethal, basic airsoft safety should be followed to prevent the random chance of injury during play. The four fundamental rules of firearm safety are:

·         Treat all firearms as if they are loaded and ready to fire.

·         Always point the gun away from anything and everything that is not intended to be shot.

·         Keep fingers away from the trigger and outside the trigger guard until ready to play.

·         Always be sure of the target and what is behind it.

A direct hit from a BB on bare skin is usually only mildly painful and can leave a welt. Also, a BB can easily cause serious damage to the eye of a person not wearing eye protection. Therefore, a standard of safety guidelines and equipment has evolved in the airsoft community. Like many competitive sports, airsoft inherently involves a certain risk of injury.

Eye and Face Protection

The minimum safe level of gear required to participate in most games includes a pair of fully-sealing impact-rated goggles to protect the eyes of the participants. Traditional prescription glasses and sunglasses are almost never accepted as they will not prevent serious injury. Goggles not designed specifically for use with airsoft or paintball guns may break or shatter upon being struck, causing eye damage.

Other Safety Precautions

Some other rules such as a maximum BB velocity and distance guidelines are used in different ways by groups depending on their location.

 

Blind Man

One commonly adopted practice is for players to shout the words "Cease-fire, Blind Man" or "Walker" and halt an ongoing game if a player or bystander is seen in the designated game play area without proper eye protection, proper eye protection being goggles and helmet. Any player hearing the words must, in turn, stop and also shout the words, resulting in a chain reaction which halts and alerts the whole game. Once the situation is resolved by properly removing the person from harm, the game is usually resumed at the same point at which it was stopped.

A player is required to keep their face mask/goggles/shooting glasses on at all times. This is basic safety upon an airsoft site and this law is always enforced by the marshal in charge to ensure that all players remain safe and no accidents occur during the game play.

Airsoft equipment

Airsoft equipment encompasses many types of equipment used in the sport of airsoft, including the airsoft gun used to shoot airsoft pellets at opponents, safety goggles, and all sorts of tactical gear including vests, equipment holders, and gun accessories.

Airsoft guns

The guns used in airsoft are typically replicas of real firearms.

Airsoft guns are classified according to their operating principle which can be either: spring–, electric– or gas-powered. An airsoft gun is selected according the level of performance (battery life, range, and magazine capacity) or realism the player requires.

Airsoft guns have three broad classifications depending on their use in the game which in turn determines the pellets speed and energy generated. Besides the normal ranges or class, there are weapons designed for longer ranges, typically sniper rifles and shorter ranges (also called Close Quarter Battle (CQB)= and usually of 200 feet or less). CQB situations include close range confrontations such as "house entry" where manoeuvrability is more important than range or power. The airsoft guns used in these scenarios typically fire less than 360 fps to ensure safe operation. Some high-powered and well-upgraded airsoft sniper rifles can fire 6mm pellets at velocities of about 600 fps. So, most airsoft guns typically fire 200-450 fps, since they are used outdoors for most operations, balancing good speed and range with energy generated.

Clothing

Most players typically wear military uniforms known as BDU consisting of separate trousers and shirts or jackets when playing, because it – just as with real soldiers – aids concealment from adversaries. Aside advantage of camouflage, some participants aim to faithfully replicate a specific military (particularly in games such as MilSim).

Similarly in <placew:ston>Europe, local military uniforms are more readily available and probably more suitable to local conditions. Popular patterns include the German Flectarn, British DPM or Swiss Alpenflage.

Tactical gear

Players wear tactical clothing and accessories not only for the added realism, but to fulfil practical needs similar to that of a real soldier such as being able to carry spare magazines, water, food or other equipment. The most common accessories are holsters and load bearing vests such as MOLLE, ALICE and the British PLCE systems. Some players even wear military-style helmets, such as the Kevlar PSGT helmet or hydration systems, such as those manufactured by Camelbak. Pyrotechnics

Some airsoft sites allow the use of pyrotechnics, which are small explosive-driven replicas of ordnance such as grenades.

The latest Airsoft grenades have much improved since their first introduction, TLSFX UK have done pioneering work in the development of much tougher grenades using rocket star burst shell cases, allowing them to be thrown much further, ring pull fuses, and filling grenades with dry peas instead of paint balls or pellets, making them mostly biodegradable. The ring pull allows German stick type grenades for re-enactors and adds to the realism of ball grenades.

Smoke grenades have also been improved with cool burning and much less toxic smoke. Use of old naval rescue smokes should be avoided, as the smoke used was never designed for possible inhalation.

Other equipment

A large amount of equipment exists for real world soldiers which is also usable in airsoft games. Military surplus stores can provide many items currently issued to the player's country but many airsoft go further and purchase other equipment that may have been used by a soldier or private military contractor. Some common examples are scopes, flashlights, rails and holsters. Equipment is generally for increasing combat efficiency, but can be used to provide enhanced realism.