Airsoft better than Paintball.... (Airsoft Skirmishing in General)

Member Name: Lush Walrus

Product:	Airsoft Skirmishing in General
Date:	02/01/05 (1381 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheaper than Paintball, Less painfull than paintball, Longer games than paintball

Disadvantages: Down to honesty to say when your hit

Airsoft is often compared with Paintball, or the lesser however I think it is a very different sport. A cross between a role play game and staring in your own action film. The pace is fast, the value outstanding (varies between £20 for a day and £60 for hiring the whole kit) and each site varies hugely in scope, games and the people that attend (even SO19 training days at the London site !).

Airsoft, was first introduced to the UK more than 20 years ago, with the first UK site starting just outside Reading, by a company formed soley for putting on airsoft games. The company evolved as a result of a young teen, his father and friends shooting each other with guns brought in Japan in gardens, forests and fields.

Following 20 years of playing on their own land, they felt it was time to bring the game to the wider public, and thus the company began (www.firefight.co.uk ). It is now 20 years after this initial company was set up, and although everyone I know who has every tried it has become an avid supporter of the game, still many do not know of its existence.

This is widely the reason for me writing this review, to bring awareness to people of a game Im sure many would enjoy.

So what else might you want to know:

Firstly, I know I have mentioned guns, which are somewhat a menacing word in todays society. But the guns I refer to which are used in airsoft are in actual fact classed as toys. Most are plastic and very ornate replicas of real guns you might recognise.

Secondly, the guns used are heavily governed and are restricted by the airsoft governing body, and are safe to use, and inflict less pain than that of a paintball gun. The guns shoot tiny balls, which can be likened to plastic ball bariums. When you are shot at of course you feel them, but as I said its not a pain as much as a sharp feeling and acts as an indicator that you have been shot.

Thirdly, the best place to try it out is at a site running airsoft, there you will find people who play all the time and new people such as yourself and once me, who are trying it for the first time. I have always found the people on the sites to be helpful, enthusiastic and welcoming of new people. A lot of the sites also organise days especially for corporate days out, groups of friends and bachelor/hen parties. All of the sites have hire equipment available especially for this purpose, and equally will hire guns, masks and protective clothing on any of the days they play.

Fourthly a lot of the games are played on the weekend (particularly Sunday), but it is possible to find sites for weekdays and evenings. I know that I have played with friends at request on any day of the week.

I could talk on and on about this, as I personally am eager to see more people trying out this sport. But perhaps the most useful thing I can do is direct you to a website of my idols the people who first started Airsoft in the UK.

Have a look at www.firefight.co.uk

On the site they have films of people playing so this will give you a good idea. They have sites in London, Reading (the original site), Kent and Glasgow. So try them out and let them take you on the road to a new sport.

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