Safezone aka The Airsoft Catwalk

Wouldnt call it a fashion parade for wearing camo.  We play a game where we often hide in bushes and undergrowth so camo is a logical thing to get for a potential stealth advantage.

The other side is that some people enjoy building load outs and hunting down obscure camos and equipment.  

Personally if everyone just went in jeans, hoodie and walking boots i would find the experience at game days much less enjoyable.  Plus if the rifs look realistic is it bad to want to at least imitate the people who would use them? Unless somali pirate is the desired loadout.

 
kasaran said:
The other side is that some people enjoy building load outs and hunting down obscure camos and equipment.
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I get a lot of satisfaction when I put together a loadout how I like it. It's normally something that takes a fair while and far too much thought goes into it for something that ends up so simple but the end product is denifinitely satisfying.

Druid799 said:
Exactly the same argument can be used for the guns we use as well , why lump an M60 around when a stubby M4 will do exactly the same job , why buy a Dragunov when a vsr looking gun does the same job and is lighter to carry ?

Take speedball markers for instance , there built purely to deliver snot ball down range as quickly as possibly there’s no consideration for aesthetics at all , purely function , like this one .

So why do we us ‘gun’ looking guns then and not a simple hopper/barrel/compressed air delivery system  ? Would be a much more efficient system BUT using it would be an absolutely soulless experience.

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I would not be interested in airsoft if guns weren't replicas. For me it is always gun first and then gear/loadout. 

 
Resistor170 said:
I get a lot of satisfaction when I put together a loadout how I like it. It's normally something that takes a fair while and far too much thought goes into it for something that ends up so simple but the end product is denifinitely satisfying.

I would not be interested in airsoft if guns weren't replicas. For me it is always gun first and then gear/loadout. 
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Me too mate , I’ll spend wks if not mths putting a loadout together (the more obscure the better) then once it’s finished I’ll scurmish it once or twice THEN move on to the next one !?‍♂️

Again me too bud , if they didn’t look ‘real’ I wouldn’t have even started playing . When it comes too the guns it most definitely is form over function for me .

Take the Evo for instance , supposed to be one of the best guns ever but if some one was to give me even a totally tricked out one with all the bells and whistles that make it the ultimate Airsoft gun ? I’d sell it before it had fired a single BB ! I detest them no reason just can’t stand them period . 

 
Samurai said:
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Ahhhhhh!  When I met Prince Andrew (he probably still name drops me to this day) his Serious Looking Secretary was clutching a briefcase.  I've always casually wondered what was in it.  Quite scary when you realise that the gun is hot and the trigger is right there on the handle.



 
Druid799 said:
Me too mate , I’ll spend wks if not mths putting a loadout together (the more obscure the better) then once it’s finished I’ll scurmish it once or twice THEN move on to the next one !?‍♂️

Again me too bud , if they didn’t look ‘real’ I wouldn’t have even started playing . When it comes too the guns it most definitely is form over function for me .

Take the Evo for instance , supposed to be one of the best guns ever but if some one was to give me even a totally tricked out one with all the bells and whistles that make it the ultimate Airsoft gun ? I’d sell it before it had fired a single BB ! I detest them no reason just can’t stand them period . 
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Haha, it's like a jigsaw puzzle. The main enjoyment comes from the struggle or challenge of putting the exact, correct pieces together more than looking at the picture at the end.

Also I second your example about the evo regarding form over function but I do ideally go for the most reliable manufacturer. Other than my first airsoft gun cm16 raider, I just buy what gun I like most at the time and then set it up to how I want it to look. 

That said, if I knew what I was doing internally then I imagine I would get a similar satisfaction to the one I get when building a loadout but it really is about what gun rather than what it can do. 

I have a few air pistols I have bought during my break from airsoft and my ukara ran out. I have had a lot of fun setting up and building and buying different types of targets to shoot in the garden. But again, the pistols are all replicas of 'real' firearms (barring a vintage one) and I wouldn't be nearly as interested in doing that either if they all looked like the pro ones you see at the Olympics. 

 
The Evo certainly isn’t the best gun ever, it’s top of the range for one manufacturer but not aimed at the ‘top’ market.

Paintball went to refining the ergonomics long ago, but if you go to any paintball site you will find some standard rentals may have the ‘paintball form’ but top rentals are those that look like guns.  Even when a site has Paintball specific functionally designed guns they probably have a rental ‘upgrade’ to a ‘machine gun’ or ‘sniper’. (Downgrading your playing capability for some extra £ but getting the placebo fun factor)

MagFed Paintball with RIF designs has got big.

Go to 99% of walk-on site and you will see pretty much every style of paintball gun

On a competitive event you will see ‘proper’ ergonomic guns, but can also spot the occasional basic Tippmann 98.  Either that’s what an entry level player has when trying their first tournament, or they just decided to use it for the fun factor and glory moment when they outplay someone with the shiniest new gun.

Personaly for me its all about the fun.  Play with what you want, how you want.

I have all shapes and sizes of gun, from a tiny one shot pistol to a monstrous SLR.

For my first game in years I lent out my shiney tournament gun and played with my 3rd ever gun / 1st ever new gun, an entry level electronic Ion.  I’ve fully customised it over the years with a fully trustworthy gun that can compete at any level.  Its not so ultralight due to the aftermarket metal railed body, and I’ve just remembered the macro line needs replacing as it leaked when I aired it up to play (temporary fix by taking the macro line out, licking it and twisting it back in to a slightly different position)

Airsoft is a fashion & gear parade for some, but note that is the fact that kept airsoft going beyond the VCRA.  Without that factor there would be no airsoft RIFs.

If you’re a T-shirt & jeans type of guy then don’t laugh at the warriors - thank them for keeping the hobby what it is

 
I *always* check out the opposition in the safezone. I get a fair* idea how good the 'other side' are likely to be by how they appear:

I assume that anyone dressed light or in paintball clobber is going to be zipping around like Usain Bolt and will probably cause all sorts of ambushes to be triggered early.

I assume that young rental players will either be dead keen to follow the objectives or be dead fucking annoying.

I assume anyone linked up with Comms and with better than average kit will probably be the ones who decide the outcome of each objective.

I assume that the older, quiet, laconic looking snipers are going to be shit hot shots and should be best avoided at all costs.

I assume the Essex'y wideboys who you can hear from the car park are going to be the ones who kick off, strop off or stand off at some point in the day.

I assume the geardos dripping in Crye and shit-hot RiFs will be sound...because they are my team..(I jest)!

*Yes, assumption and stereotyping, but hey, you pick up a thing or two after 12 years plus.

 
Dentonboy said:
I *always* check out the opposition in the safezone. I get a fair* idea how good the 'other side' are likely to be by how they appear:

I assume that anyone dressed light or in paintball clobber is going to be zipping around like Usain Bolt and will probably cause all sorts of ambushes to be triggered early.

I assume that young rental players will either be dead keen to follow the objectives or be dead fucking annoying.

I assume anyone linked up with Comms and with better than average kit will probably be the ones who decide the outcome of each objective.

I assume that the older, quiet, laconic looking snipers are going to be shit hot shots and should be best avoided at all costs.

I assume the Essex'y wideboys who you can hear from the car park are going to be the ones who kick off, strop off or stand off at some point in the day.

I assume the geardos dripping in Crye and shit-hot RiFs will be sound...because they are my team..(I jest)!

*Yes, assumption and stereotyping, but hey, you pick up a thing or two after 12 years plus.
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Nothing to add to this , 100% spot on ! ?

 
Dentonboy said:
I *always* check out the opposition in the safezone. I get a fair* idea how good the 'other side' are likely to be by how they appear:

I assume that anyone dressed light or in paintball clobber is going to be zipping around like Usain Bolt and will probably cause all sorts of ambushes to be triggered early.

I assume that young rental players will either be dead keen to follow the objectives or be dead fucking annoying.

I assume anyone linked up with Comms and with better than average kit will probably be the ones who decide the outcome of each objective.

I assume that the older, quiet, laconic looking snipers are going to be shit hot shots and should be best avoided at all costs.

I assume the Essex'y wideboys who you can hear from the car park are going to be the ones who kick off, strop off or stand off at some point in the day.

I assume the geardos dripping in Crye and shit-hot RiFs will be sound...because they are my team..(I jest)!

*Yes, assumption and stereotyping, but hey, you pick up a thing or two after 12 years plus.
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Totally agree... But what's wrong with us Essex boys?? ??

 
1 hour ago, BibbsOnTour said:



As we would say, in the language of my fine people;



 
I used to run various cobbled together rigs (rolling dpm, flecktarn and partizan in the same loadout just to annoy the purists) but now i just run a smersh rig. It's comfortable, has more than adequate storage, a great balance of speed versus retention for the pouches. The russians got that one right.

I dislike plate carriers, they're bulky and uncomfortable and the only reason i'd go out of my way to wear one would be if i actually needed to protect myself from bullets, in which case you might as well hang some pouches off it. But seeing as being mortally wounded isnt a problem in airsoft i'll go for the comfort of a belt type rig.

Whilst you can slap a drum mag in an arp and run around in a morph suit and get a load of kills that's not for everyone (although minus the morph suit it's a fun strategy when you're tired).

what i love about this sport is that for every squad of co-ordinated multicam wearing marui m4 toting "special" forces, there's some joker bailing around in a pimp hat with a pink tommy gun to remind us not to take it too seriously.

 
So, heres my take on it. I am one of those people you describe. The attached pic is about 80% of my kit (have a Taginn pouch and a Battlebelt with my holster, dump pouch, and pistol mag pouches that im not wearing). The reason I run it like that is that its what I usually wear. I work in military & Law Enforcement training, as we match whatever gear they are using. So, if we have a SWAT team or whoever in full kit, we wear full kit. As I am used to that, its what I use in airsoft. Most people think its odd to wear a $1000 PC and a full uniform set up, but its just what Im used to. Kinda a unique viewpoint, I know (wont apply to most of the people OP's talking about), but its why I do it. (Note, some things do change. For instance I dont wear a C02 pouch nor the Taginn pouch when working, and other things move around. But excluding armor (tried wearing my real armor for a MilSim, lasted about 3 hours before I took that out haha), my overall kit is very similiar to what I have for work.)

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Adolf Hamster said:
I dislike plate carriers, they're bulky and uncomfortable and the only reason i'd go out of my way to wear one would be if i actually needed to protect myself from bullets, in which case you might as well hang some pouches off it. But seeing as being mortally wounded isnt a problem in airsoft i'll go for the comfort of a belt type rig.

what i love about this sport is that for every squad of co-ordinated multicam wearing marui m4 toting "special" forces, there's some joker bailing around in a pimp hat with a pink tommy gun to remind us not to take it too seriously.
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Now I think if you’ve a well fitted and well laid out PC then you should almost not notice you’ve got it on at all . Take the Osprey as an example , it’s big and bulky AND it’s bloody heavy before you even start but once it’s fully loaded and properly fitted you do almost forget your wearing one .

I'm not the most ‘athletic’ (read not at all !) anymore due to the life I’ve lead (some burned there candle at both ends ? I took a blowtorch to the middle of mine!) but when I've got a PROPERLY fitted PC on it has zero effect on how I’m playing , yes I’m still slow as a  ‘wallowing rhino’ like but no more than with out one on . 

Spot on bud , it’s just a bit of fun after all ?

just as a general observation of what I’ve seen or heard , but more often than not the players who seam to have the biggest hang ups about how others are dressed to head out on to the field (and are the most vocal about it) appear to be more from the “oh look at those geardo’s ! I just wear what I want , i’m not wearing all that ‘operator/speshalfarces’ kit “ group than from the actual geardo’s them selves ! 

 
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Quite right. Geardo's are more worried about their stitch number and Cordura dernier count than what anyone else is wearing...

 
Druid799 said:
Now I think if you’ve a well fitted and well laid out PC then you should almost not notice you’ve got it on at all . Take the Osprey as an example , it’s big and bulky AND it’s bloody heavy before you even start but once it’s fully loaded and properly fitted you do almost forget your wearing one .

I'm not the most ‘athletic’ (read not at all !) anymore due to the life I’ve lead (some burned there candle at both ends ? I took a blowtorch to the middle of mine!) but when I've got a PROPERLY fitted PC on it has zero effect on how I’m playing , yes I’m still slow as a  ‘wallowing rhino’ like but no more than with out one on . 
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i think my problem is it's just too much overhang, it's possible i've just not had a good pc, but then it's just as possible i never will given how comfy the smersh is.

Druid799 said:
Spot on bud , it’s just a bit of fun after all ?

just as a general observation of what I’ve seen or heard , but more often than not the players who seam to have the biggest hang ups about how others are dressed to head out on to the field (and are the most vocal about it) appear to be more from the “oh look at those geardo’s ! I just wear what I want , i’m not wearing all that ‘operator/speshalfarces’ kit “ group than from the actual geardo’s them selves ! 
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true, can't say i've ever paid enough attention to distinguish a true geardo, we're too busy slav squatting in the corner with our fellow ruski's  :P

 
I run a plate carrier with 6 80 round mid caps, tool pouch and hydro carrier and belt with pistol, 4 mags dump pouch and extra pouch for whatever else. I could lose the belt and everything on it but ever time I do without fail my primary fails and I'm left with no backup. I carry my pistol more as a good luck charm to appease the AEG gods at this point.

 
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