Ideas for building our own field

[irgingermk2]

hi i have a 7 acre field i dont use and me and my mates are thinking are using it for airsoft. At the moment we only have pallets and about 20 oil drums to start building with and was wondering if any one could help with ideas for it. 

 

[Samurai]

Does it have trees, bushes and is it flat?

 

[irgingermk2]

yea its an open field  and pretty much flat so its going to be one hell of a projected

 

[Jedi_Master]

Is this just for you and friends to play on, a private site, or do you plan opening it up to the public?  If just for yourself then anything goes but a public site will need plenty of  thought and proper construction, etc.

You will want some features to provide cover and make it more interesting to play around. A trench system is always good.

 

[Robert James]

Watch tower.... Barad-dûr style....

EDIT: CONGRATULATION YOU WIN 1ST PRIZE FOR 200 POST

 

[Albiscuit]

just plant magic beans.....

 

[Iceni]

Check with your local town planning. Depending on where you are the rules change.

For instance it is not always possible to dig footings for a building. However climbing frames and fences can be put up without need for planning in a lot of instances. You may have a total length limit.

With fences you can make enclosures. Think 3 sided buildings with no roof. 2x3 tanalised cls uprights and marine ply are more than enough if the players are reasonably careful.

Climbing frames can be interpreted into wooden frame structures with an upper platform. Think watchtowers.

Sheds without a concrete base are not classed as permanent buildings. Nor are porta-cabins.

Fast growing trees and bushes can be purchased pretty cheaply. But check with local planning. If you live in green belt land there may be restrictions on non native trees. Poplar and willow are generally classed as native. Willow is especially good because you can just go hunting for them in your local area and take 18 inch straight cuttings, Remember to mark the base and tip. Use a rubber mallet to hammer into the ground so about 6 inches are showing over the ground. They should start to grow in a few months, and will be a decent tree in a couple of years. Expect them to add about 2 feet a year in growth.
 

 

[Samurai]

Willow is especially ...
 

I think this was the most detailed and great, absolutely non airsoft answer to an airsoft related question I have ever read.

 

[callumbagshaw]

hire a mini-digger for the day and build a small trench system.

 

[lemon191]

Cheapest option is going to be makeshift defences from whatever you can get your hands on really, keep it movable so you can mix it up. 

If you have a decent budget and basic building tools/know how then build a small town with basic fence panels as wall's etc. You could certainly make a nice cqb area doing that. One thing to be aware of if its near the general public then you may get issues, also the chance of vandalism to take into account if your near any towns etc as for some reason kids and young adults love to burn and smash things. 

 

[lemon191]

Oh and a decent firing range so you can adjust sights, test accuracy/ range etc 

 

[irgingermk2]

thanks for all the replys. we are just over a  mile away from the nearest road and public walk ways chose this field as its deep in to my own lan. never thought about sheds

 

[lemon191]

I just wish I had a garden I could shoot in let alone enough land to think about playing games on lol. 

 

[irgingermk2]

it is nice having your own land that mates can play on the amount of game ideas you can try is good

 

[Tackle]

I too feel a flat field would benefit from an extensive trench system, it would be almost unique ?, BUT safety must be paramount, for starters an experienced digger operator is necessary , an amateur on a borrowed bit of kit would likely cock it up.

plus even fairly shallow trenche would be subject to wall collapses over time, especially during use, so some kinda shoring up system would be necessary , prob timber, & there's the water table to consider, so close boarded pallets as running boards may be needed.

i love the idea, done properly it could quickly develop in to a viable airsoft business, which in turn could bring more funds for site development, but you can't afford to bodge it, even if its just a few mates, somebody buried in a trench collapse would spoil the day lol.

reccomend you start stockpiling pallets from any source you can.

 

[AshOnSnow]

If you go down the construction vehicle route, the extra money spent on hiring a professional will be far better than getting sued later when it collapses because you botched it.

In terms of barricades, long corrugated steel panels are very good, and the super loud clang of the BB hitting it makes for some excitement.

 

[Rogerborg]

<Buzz Killington>

Incidentally, I should mention that any liability waiver that you get participants to sign isn't worth the paper that it's written on.  You can set out what's expected of them, but you cannot disclaim away your duty of care or enjoin people to give up their right to redress. Your mates' word of honour to not sue you, mate, honest, mate, will last as long as it takes one of them to break a leg down a hole and be off work unpaid for months, or worse.  Life care for a full-potato injury quickly runs into millions.

Even amateur, unpaid volunteers can be sued successfully where a duty of care exists - see Vowles vs Evans.

I wouldn't run a site, even for chums, with less than £5 million indemnity, preferably £10 million, based on a crystal clear risk assessment.

</Buzz Killington>

 

[Hangtight]

Old metal garage doors are quick and easy to throw together into compounds and improvised buildings. Old industrial racking is sturdy enough to climb on as long as it's securely fixed to the ground. Simply hammering stakes well into the ground at each leg will be fine and allow you to screw the frame together solidly and level.

Old pallets are easy to get hold of and easy to screw together in a variety of configurations. Bit of paint and a couple of cheap camo nets.

As for digging trenches, is amazing what a few determined mates armed with shovels can do in a couple of weekends. You don't need to go too deep as any spoil can be used to create ramparts to hide behind.

 

[PopRocket123]

If you can afford it some derelict vehicles would be cool. Take out the glass and round off sharp edges and they make a cool addition to the field. Probably pushing it a bit but if you can find an old aircraft airframe like a helicopter or light aircraft then you can make that an element in gameplay like pilot retrieval and stuff 

 

[AshOnSnow]

If you can afford it some derelict vehicles would be cool. Take out the glass and round off sharp edges and they make a cool addition to the field. Probably pushing it a bit but if you can find an old aircraft airframe like a helicopter or light aircraft then you can make that an element in gameplay like pilot retrieval and stuff 

I think that's probably a little out of the league. Finding scrap aircraft is hard in the UK, not like the US, and transporting it if you do find one is even harder. Especially since he says there is no vehicle access to the site.