Airsoft equipment

Airsoft equipment encompasses many types of equipment used in the sport of airsoft, including the airsoft gun used to shoot airsoft pellets at opponents, safety goggles, and all sorts of tactical gear including vests, equipment holders, and gun accessories.

Cost

To a new player choosing between airsoft and paintball, a beginning package for airsoft is much cheaper in terms of hardware, but for apparel they can be roughly equivalent. They both can range from $20 for a vest, to $180 (expensive version) for a ghillie suit. One major difference, however, can be seen in the cost of ammunition and upkeep of the packages - due to the type of ammunition used, airsoft guns are less prone to "jamming", and airsoft BBs (6mm) are considerably cheaper to purchase than paintballs.

Airsoft rifles and pistols are usually the most expensive piece of equipment. Low-quality electric guns, commonly called LPEGs (low priced/powered electric guns) can cost from $15-$90 USD depending on the quality, the MPEGs (medium priced/powered electric guns) can cost in the range of $80-$180 USD and are usually a clone of an AEG with lower quality materials (e.g. recent CYMA guns, A&K, etc. which are made of pot metal which is weaker than high end plastic.), while a higher quality AEG is usually more than $200 USD. A paintball gun of equal level usually costs between $250-$350. The overall average for a high quality electric gun is around $200-$500 USD (or much higher, if the user decides to purchase a pre-upgraded gun or a specialized gun, such as a sniper rifle or an LMG replica) depending on the model. Some can cost upwards of $1000 and are sold mainly to collectors and those looking for the closest possible replicas for law enforcement weapons and law enforcement training. Some custom guns can cost more than $2,000 USD. Gas rifles start at around $150 but most high quality gas guns start at about $500.

In Mil-Sim games, where the main aspect of the play is realism, equipment is usually much more expensive. Many Mil-Sim players choose to wear real gear (not an airsoft replica) and in some cases, real ballistic protective armor. This can raise the price of the game considerably, with guns and gear sometimes totaling in excess of $1,000 USD.

Airsoft guns

The guns used in airsoft are typically replicas of real firearms, except that they have a mechanism for pushing out projectiles 6 mm or 8 mm in diameter. An example would be the Classic Army M15A4, which is a replica of the M16 assault rifle. Airsoft guns are considered replicas of real firearms but not all replicas are Airsoft guns; some replicas don't have a firing mechanism while others, such as the Real Action Markers, may have a different mechanism and shoot non-Airsoft types of projectiles.

Airsoft guns are classified according to their operating principle which can be either: spring, electric, or gas-powered. An airsoft gun is selected according to the level of performance (battery life, range, rate of fire, magazine capacity, size, and weight) or realism the player requires. Early-generation airsoft guns were mostly "springers." Single action airsoft guns are almost never semi-auto and never auto. Second-generation airsoft guns had gas-powered mechanisms that required either an internal "Flon" (CFC) gas reservoir or an external a high-pressure CO2 chamber. AEGs (automatic electric guns, such as assault rifles) are the most commonly produced type now used and have high-capacity rechargeable batteries to operate plastic or metal gearboxes that displace air to propel the BBs.

Most airsoft pistols which are gas-powered use environmentally safe "green gas" and produce a realistic blowback recoil effect when fired. Each pistol magazine contains a small storage gas cylinder with enough power to propel the 30+ BB projectiles also housed in the magazine. Thus a player can realistically load, fire, and unload an airsoft pistol with similar realism as a "real steel" semi-automatic pistol. A few early-production AEPs (Airsoft Electric Pistols) have been released but these suffer from weaker BB velocities because of the difficulty of fitting a small-enough motor in the housing of a pistol, although the range is sometimes greater than a gas pistol because FPS can equal drag. AEP's often have a higher rate of fire than their gas counterparts.

Most early airsoft guns were often completely made of A.B.S plastic except for some internal moving parts. Newer guns, especially those made in China, have metal barrels, receivers, gearboxes, gun sights, and other external parts. A typical airsoft gun is noticeably lighter than its "real steel" counterpart due to the use of aluminium, alloy, and plastic components. Thus, airsoft guns tend to get scratched, damaged, or broken easily from rough handling. When fired, most airsoft guns have a weak vibration and a much softer whirring sound, without any strong recoil, bright muzzle flash, concussive noise, or smell of burnt propellant as those produced by real firearms, although there are smoke caps available for certain airsoft guns for added realism.

Carrying additional backup firearms is a habit during long-duration scenarios that would prevent the player from going back to the safe zone to replace a defective gun. Each gun would need its supply of magazines and batteries or gas canisters. In the case of AEG rifles magazines come in either low-capacity (low caps: 40-80 BBs), medium-capacity (mid caps: 80-150 BBs), or high-capacity (high caps: 200-500+ BBs). These magazines are spring loaded; the high-cap magazines often have a ratchet wheel that can be wound up periodically to force BBs up the magazine feed chute, but these magazines make a rattling noise when running or walking. Some airsoft guns have electric-powered box or drum magazines that hold thousands of BBs (sometimes up to 5000). Also, many pistols and rifles have metal weights in them for a more realistic feel, effect, and balance.

Grenades and launchers

Players can use grenades, grenade launchers,smoke grenades, mines, and claymores that utilize very minor or no explosives (pyrotechnics). Most of these "pyro" devices are powered by a compressed gas. As with many aspects of airsoft equipment, each item is designed as a playful analogy to the real thing, and many times lack the violence of such.

The hand grenades have many faults and therefore not as popular or common as grenade launchers like the M203 which launches a large shower of pellets, NERF or foam slug rounds using compressed gas. And while most players, if they do at all use grenade launchers, will simply use an underbarrel launcher such as the M203, some players purchase heavier support weapons such as replicas of the Heckler & Koch 69 40mm grenade launcher, or a CAW revolving launcher, which can hold up to 6 40mm gas powered pellet grenades, (the pellet capacity of each grenade varies by its producer, and specified use, though grenades by MadBull Airsoft have been known to be able to fire over 200 pellets in a single shot), and shoot them in a semi-automatic mode.

By using the Caw launcher, support gunners can get off up to 1224 rounds of 6 mm ammunition in about 3 seconds. Mines are not particularly popular because whilst some mines do fire 6 mm pellets in large amounts, similar to an M203 launcher, others only produce a mushroom cloud when activated without actually firing any pellets. The airsoft claymore mine is more expensive in some cases, but popular due to their effectiveness. Anti-tank weapons exist such as the M72, but they are not common or popular due to their weight and greater expense.

These are rarely used in casual play, but can be implemented (with special rules for it in place) when playing on an official airsoft field.

Airsoft projectiles

Most airsoft guns fire spherical plastic pellets ranging from 0.12 to 0.88 grams in weight, though the most popular weights for AEGs are between .20 and .28 grams, depending on the range that the gun is typically used at. Heavier rounds are typically used for sniping, as they are more stable in flight and thus, more accurate at long range. While BBs may be heavier, it is not necessary to have the gun upgraded to a very high FPS level.

One way to increase the accuracy of a rifle is to adjust the "hop-up" to make the rounds fly as straight and as far as possible without curving upwards or downwards at short distances. The hop-up effect is caused by back spin on the BB, which minimizes the drop experienced by the BB (increases the straight flying distance) by increasing its lift according to the bernoulli principle.

Pellets are typically 6 mm in diameter, though 8 mm varieties exist for specialty weapons. Pellet quality is important, as malformed ones could easily damage the barrel of the airsoft weapon and/or the hop up system. In addition to damaging the barrel, malformed, soiled, or low-grade pellets with seams will be much more inaccurate. Because of the hop up mechanism that puts a spin on the pellet, even a small deformity will be accentuated and throw the pellet off course.

Paintball pellets are also available for airsoft guns but are unpopular due to the incompatibility with hop up systems as well as the potential damage they could cause if a pellet were to burst inside the gun, which frequently happens. While airsoft pellets are often called BBs, the BB gun is so named because it originally fired BB-sized shotgun shot or metric ball bearings of .177 caliber (steel BBs are actually between .172 and .173 inches (4.5 mm) in diameter). The price of low grade pellets range from $3.50, for a container of about 5000 to around $10 USD for a large tub of about 10,000. Higher grade pellets can cost as much as $10 USD for 2000 BBs. Most middle to high grade pellets come slightly lubricated with a silicone spray.

Clothing

Some players, especially those participating in MilSims, wear military battle dress uniforms (BDUs) consisting of separate pants and shirts or jackets, because it – just as with real soldiers – aids concealment from adversaries. Some players will go as far as to use a ghillie suit, which breaks up the human outline by having sticks, leafs, and items like that in the fabric/netting.

The choice of camouflage pattern of the BDUs is normally determined by suitability to the playing area or local availability. These fall into general categories such a forest (greenish), desert (tan), winter (gray-white), and urban (black or civilian-wear). Aside from the advantage of camouflage, some participants aim to faithfully replicate a specific combat unit (particularly in games such as MilSim).

Typically, military surplus stores are a good source for such items. In the U.S. the most common pattern is "Woodland" camouflage pattern, but recently MARPAT (recently adopted by the United States Marine Corps) and ACU (adopted in 2006 by the United States Army), and CADPAT (Canadian Armed Forces) have also become popular choices in North America, but most European camouflage patterns are suitable with Flecktarn (Germany) being a popular alternative, or even strictly commercial patterns such as Multicam or Real-Tree.

Similarly in Europe, local military uniforms are more readily available and probably more suitable to local conditions. Popular patterns include the German Flecktarn, Swedish M90, British DPM or Swiss Alpenflage.

In the Philippines, civilian airsofters are forced to wear mismatched, commercial or foreign military uniforms (BDUs), because laws allow only military and police personnel to wear official uniforms. It has become popular among civilians and airsoft players to wear only the upper garment or the pants, but not both. Similarly, in Sweden, it is illegal to wear both rank insignias and Swedish flags on civilian uniforms at the same time.

Aside from concealment, Military BDUs also provide protection from typical outdoor elements such as weather, flora and most importantly the impact of the BBs. When not wearing full paintball-type face masks, many players wear neck armor such as a balaclava and military-style helmets, such as the Kevlar MICH 2000 or PASGT helmet. Furthermore, players need to wear the proper field footwear such as combat or hiking boots (not just ordinary athletic shoes) in order to safely and quickly travel on foot in harsh terrain. They also wear padded gloves, elbow pads, knee pads, and protective vests for additional protection.

In some cases, rules are adopted that allow only casual clothes in an effort to encourage realism because players will more actively avoid being hit.

[edit] Tactical gear

Players wear tactical clothing and accessories not only for the added realism, but to fulfil the practical needs similar to that of a real soldier. One such example is the ability to carry spare magazines, batteries, propellant gas canisters, water, food, or other equipment in specified vests. The most common are holsters, load bearing vests, and modular rigs such as MOLLE, ALICE, and the British PLCE systems. Many players also wear a hydration system in hot conditions or when they plan on staying out for an extended amount of time.

Gun bags or gun cases that can be padlocked allow airsoft guns to be transported in private or even public vehicles without the risk of damage or careless access by non-owners. Airsoft guns need to be carried discreetly and away from the public eye and it is usually impractical to bring the guns in the original boxes. These gun cases usually have extra padding and multiple compartments to stow the gun parts, accessories, batteries, and ammunition in an organized manner.

[edit] Pyrotechnics

Some airsoft sites allow the use of pyrotechnics, which are small explosive-driven replicas of ordnance such as grenades. Unfortunately, home-made devices of this sort are often unsafe and can lead to serious injury. There are several types of pyrotechnics: pellet grenades which fire out pellets to replicate the shrapnel of a fragmentation grenade; smoke grenades which provide cover to move and fire from behind; and flashbangs/thunderflashes which emit a very bright flash of light (often accompanied by loud sound) for the purpose of disorientating and temporarily blinding/deafening the target.

The latest Airsoft grenades have much improved since their first introduction. Work has been done by various companies to produce much tougher grenades using rocket star burst shell cases, allowing them to be thrown much farther, ring pull fuses, and filling grenades with dry peas instead of paint balls or pellets, making them mostly biodegradable. The ring pull allows German stick type grenades for re-enacters and adds to the realism of ball grenades.

Some players also create home-made pellet grenades with the use of fireworks and pellets enclosed in a casing, such as 35 mm film canisters. Such items are often frowned upon, however, as they could be harmful to other players or the playing environment due to the plastic and shrapnel often used.

Smoke grenades have also been improved with cool burning and much less toxic smoke.Use of old naval rescue smokes is avoided as the smoke used was never designed for possible inhalation.

Other equipment

A large amount of equipment exists for real world soldiers which is also usable in airsoft games held by private citizens. Military surplus stores can provide many items currently issued to the player's country. Some common examples are scopes, flashlights, picatinny rails (also known as RIS/RAS rails), holsters, mock (non-operational) silencers and red dot scopes.

Equipment is generally for increasing combat efficiency, but can be used to provide enhanced realism.