What Did I Learn from Game Day #1

Ok so maybe I got a little side tracked on yesterdays blog post but I just wanted to get across that Airsoft isn't just a hobby where you pick up a cheap gun and head out.  There is a real sense of safety, responsibility and honesty associated with Airsoft.

So .... where was I?  We've signed up for an annual membership, I've filled out all the forms and as part of my membership I will receive (when they're back in stock) a patch, a wristband and a mug (which I actually do have! yeah for mugs!)  I go pick up my hire kit which consists of a bottle of 2800 BB's, a paintball style full face mask and a G36 AEG with mag.  I grip that gun like Private Pyle (if you don't know go watch Full Metal Jacket!) and stride off to fill up the mag. 

It's actually scary how much this could be me

Ok so it seems that Airsoft to me anyway is very cinematic.  I'm a huge movie lover, big fan of online gaming and whilst I have a senior job day to day I like to let my hair down (ahem, what hair?) when I'm not in the office.  Airsoft seems to bring the best bits of all of these together for me.  The action of Black Hawk Down, the thrill of Call Of Duty and camaraderie of playing 5-a-side footy with my mates....happy days!

We played a morning of CQB fighting where I really got up close and personal with little plastic balls flying at my face.  I managed to take a massive (well it felt massive to me!) hit to the shoulder during an early game.  Imagine the scene... I'm snaking around a kill house building like something from Rainbow Six, I get to the doorway and our eyes (well masks) meet.  I have no idea if he's on my team or not.  I see him reloading a gas cartridge into his hand gun. I ask him "are you red?".  He hold s up his hand as if to signal "your ok mate, we're in this war together" so I turn to my right to look the other way.  It's precisely at this moment that I feel the thud of a BB hit my left shoulder and I turn to see my Brother in Arms pointing his handgun towards me.  I wont lie ..... it f***ing hurt!.  I still have the bruise on my shoulder 2 1/2 weeks later.  Next time I'll shoot and ask questions later.

Tis but a flesh wound!

So the million dollar question I had before I started playing.... does it hurt and will I cry like a 4 year old girl whose lost her teddy.  Well the answer is yes and no.  Can you feel it - definitely.  Does it leave a mark - usually.  Does it stop you playing - no.  It hurts enough that you don't want to get hit but not so much that you think "bugger this" and walk off home.

Into the afternoon and we played out in the woodland and this felt a very different game of soldiers.  Much more hiding in woodland, much more spread out and much more reliant on how far your hire gun could shoot vs their £300 Krytac..... or something like that.  I felt here that my aging eyesight coupled with lack of range really went against me, where as in CQB I felt I got shot cos I was crap at stealthing around.  I'll get better at both over time no doubt however, I came away that first day with a smile, a few bruises, a passion to buy everything I could lay my hands on and two very happy sons.  It was the first time in a long time we'd spent the whole day together, not picked up an Xbox controller and had stories to tell each other on the journey home.

So what did I learn from that first day of Airsoft. 

• Trust no-one - If you're not sure just shoot them!
• Paintball masks are a very sweaty affair - I need to invest in some goggles and face mask.
• Finger shots sting like hell - I need to invest in some gloves.
• Old work boots are shit - I need to invest in some decent boots.
• Not everyone calls there hits - you know what, so what.  You get cheaters in life too but they always get found out eventually.
• I had a the best day of fun with my kids - best day I've had in a very long time.

And so begins my journey to bankruptcy as I eye up and put into my virtual basket every last item known to man that has any link to Airsoft.

I'm quite fortunate that I have a good job that will support this hobby, an understanding wife who encourages me to enjoy my free time and time with my sons and that I have weekends free to actually get out and play and that brings me on to this blog.  

I'm writing it, along with my twitter and facebook page (shamless plug www.facebook.com/BlackjackAirsoftUK and https://twitter.com/blackjack_Air) to document my journey, the highs and the lows, to share my experiences around it and to meet other Airsofters.  I plan to eventually launch my YouTube channel with game day footage and product reviews from someone who hasn't been tainted by £2000 sniper rifles and £300 camo trousers.

Airsoft or this .... Airsoft or this??

Sometimes in life its the little things that make you happy ...... and other times its the really expensive all consuming things :)