Author: Dave

Have you ever tried playing airsoft in 105 degree summer heat? It adds to the MILSIM experience, for sure, but oh boy is it unpleasant. Sometimes you just need to get your airsoft fix though, and that means you’re going to go out and play no matter what! Here’s a few tips to stay cool in the summer during your BB Wars games!

1. Start Drinking Water Early

The secret to staying out of the Urgent Care facility during some summer airsoft fun is to start your hydration regimen a few days ahead of your game day. This means you need to quit drinking soda, energy drinks, sweet tea, and all of the other unhealthy beverages we put in our bodies (yes… even the adult ones.) What you are sweating out on the day of the game is the contents of what you have been drinking for a few days prior, so it’s best to flush all of that out of your system early. We recommend starting a minimum of three days out for a small weekend pick up game, but if it’s going to be a longer event, or the heat index is going to be especially high, add a few extra days to that just to be on the safe side.

2. Make sure you’re stocked up on water for game day

Whether you have to stop at the local gas station by the field, or you prep ahead of time at a big box store, make sure you have a few extra gallons of water with you for a hot day over what you’d usually bring. the few liters in your hydration pouch will simply not be enough to stay in the fight all day long. The additional upside is that having a few extra water bottles or a spare gallon bottle around will help you make a few new friends with the people who didn’t prepare as well as you have!

3. Get your Kit right!

Unless you have some excessive kit requirements for a hardcore MILSIM game, consider lightening up your load out for the day. Some things to consider are the following:

• Weight
• Breathability
• Hydration Load Bearing

If your kit is too heavy, you’re going to expend more energy getting around the field. This is solid advice all year-round but it helps immensely more during the summer months. On top of that, light weight kit like a chest rig or battle belt will allow for more airflow to help carry heat away from your body as you sweat. Lastly, make sure that kit has a way to carry additional water. Whether you prefer a water bottle or canteen, or a a hydration pouch attached to the rear of your vest, carrying water is a necessity, as is making sure you drink that water constantly during the day. As a good rule of thumb, if you aren’t actively engaging the enemy team, you should be drinking water to keep replenishing the precious nutrients you are sweating out.

4. Recognize the signs of heat exhaustion (and how to handle them)

Make sure you are able to recognize the signs of heat exhaustion when you’re playing airsoft in both yourself, and your fellow players. The CDC defines heat exhaustion with the following symptoms:

• Heavy Sweating
• Cold, Pale, Clammy Skin
• Fast, Weak Pulse
• Nausea or Vomiting
• Muscle Cramps
• Tiredness or Weakness
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Fainting or Passing Out

If you begin to experience these symptoms, or see another player experiencing them, take a second out of your gameplay and do something about it. These are not the kind of things that just go away without treatment of some kind. You can start with the following steps:

• Move to a cool place
• Loosen your clothing (remove your gear)
• Put cool wet cloths on your body
• Sip (don’t chug) Water

The CDC also recommends seeking medical attention immediately if you experience the following:

• Throwing Up
• Symptoms get worse
• Symptoms last longer than an hour

Heat Exhaustion is no joke, and Heat Stroke is a serious medical emergency. It’s also a very real risk with playing airsoft in the heat, but can be avoided with the advice in this article. The important thing is to remember that we’re all a community, and we need to look out for each other. The adrenaline rush of airsoft can make you ignore your symptoms in the name of airsoft glory, but it’s never worth ending up in the ER over it.

Hopefully with these tips, you will be able to enjoy safe, fun, and action packed airsoft game play during the summer months. Just remember to follow the advice above, and be extra careful to look out for the symptoms of heat exhaustion in you and your fellow airsofters!

In a sea of guns, it may seem like an impossible task to pick the right gun for you. There’s too many brands, models, price points, accessories, features, blah blah blah. There are a few key points in choosing the right gun for you. Sticking to these points will help you pick the best gun and minimize buyer’s remorse. How much are you looking to spend on the gun? What role do you play on the field? What features does the gun offer?

What are the reviews on the gun? Sticking to these 4 questions can keep you focused on making the best purchase for you.

The primary thing that often causes buyer remorse is their budget. Obviously everyone’s financial situation is different and cheap for you might be a lot of money for someone else. Whether you want to spend $100 or $1000 be sure to maximize your budget space and look at the options that are within your price range. If you tell yourself, “I will not spend over my budget” live by it. Just because you can be $20 under your budget because you want to save that, think about the quality you will be getting if you did spend that full budget amount rather than saving a few bucks.

One thing that most people seem to think is the most important but often don’t go in this direction is the role they play on the airsoft field. I’ve seen countless times working in the store where somebody who plays primarily at an indoor field wants a full 16 inch rifle just because it looked cool in the store. If you are a longer range player than get the longer barreled M16, if you play indoors and need maneuverability get the MP5, if you’re the guy that keeps people’s heads down and is always on the trigger get the 249. If you know how you play equip yourself in the best way possible so you can be as effective as possible on the field.

Something that is often the main point of people’s decision to buy one gun over the other are features the gun comes with. You have several different companies that offer a micro-switch trigger, a programmable trigger unit, ambidextrous controls, a fancy rail, etc. The primary thing to consider is how often will you use those features. What’s the point of having a gun that can switch between full auto and burst fire modes if your field only allows semi automatic. Now that’s not to say they don’t have their place but it’s something to consider when you purchase a gun specifically to fulfill a particular role. You should be looking at features that you know you will be utilizing and making your decision based on that.

Lastly, what is the general consensus on the particular product in question. If you’re looking to buy a gun then suddenly someone comes in to return the exact gun you were looking at and it makes you think what happened there? It’s never a bad idea to ask around to get multiple opinions on products. Keep in mind when gathering opinions to get the insight that they have. If it was one time and they absolutely hated the gun because they just happened to get the one bad apple of the bunch. Does the product perform up to their expectations? If they expect a stock $150 gun to be on par with their several hundred dollar build then they’re outright crazy.

Deciding what specific gun to go with for you might be a very hard choice. If you stay on task and pay attention to what people who actually own the product and you’ll be ok. Finding a gun is not impossible and you shouldn’t be intimidated by it.

The time has come for another top guns article to reflect the ever changing market that is the Airsoft hobby. These top eight guns define the standard for what high end means with their performance, style and features. After a ton of deliberation (and the occasional gentleman’s duel) we’ve settled on what we think are the best guns you can spend your hard earned duckets on.

Before we get into the list, we’d like to remind you that this is the order we settled on, and you’re more than welcome to have your own opinion. We’re going based off of cold hard performance and utility, with bonus points for style here. With that said, let’s get into the list, starting with the number one pick!

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Dave from The Texas store has the last of this trio of painting videos for our uncut channel covering how to artificially wear and tear your guns! This gives you the ultimate “battle worn” look for your blaster! Check out the video below and see just how easy this can be for yourself!

Airsoft GI