New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

[True spec op]

Ok so I've been to see my first airsoft site and had a good chat with a load of really nice people and marshals and tried out some of the other players weapons, which I have to say, we're awesome!

I can't wait til the site holds another game and want to get some of my own gear (not weapons just clothing) for when I start, but what do I get?

I know I would need:
Boots, trousers, top, gloves, glasses, hat etc, assault vest/chest rig and knee pads, but what else would I need?

Ok, so I dont need the assault vest/chest rig right away and the boots, trousers and top I could find easily enough, but where would I go about getting gloves and glasses/goggles?

So my question to every one is, where would I go about finding this stuff too and whats everyones personal opinion/experence. And I like thinking of the long term, so what would be the best assault vest/chest rig to get for skirmish games or is it best to make one with own pouches you can add too it? I would'nt buy the vest/chest rig yet as I'd want to be a full member and have my own gun before I buy that, but its always good to get an idea

Hope someone can help as I'm really excited to get some kit and get started but have no idea where to look,
Thanks!

[Ancisace]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

Army surplus stores are a decent place to find pretty much everything you need bar the eye defence, if you have one in your local area. If I were you, that's where I'd start.

Failing that, you can find plenty of gear on zero one's official store or here on the forums, and other places I'm not allowed to mention may have similar products for sale too. A little google magic will work wonders.

[Black Templar]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

I agree with the above fellow, any military surplus will be just the ticket, you should be ok for glasses also as a lot are carrying the Army issue ESS glasses that the chaps are selling on as they sell their kit.
Also the forums are damned good for picking up everything you need, you can find some good bargins - depends what type of stuff your looking at of course.

[True spec op]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

Ok thanks, I'll check out and see if theres any local stores near me, never even considered them

[loki7491]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

Make sure you spend your money wisely... a BB in the chest or on the arm can sting a little. one in the face can remove teeth or eyesight. PLEASE, no matter what you get, ensure high quality eye / face protection is given priority.

Clothing and gear wise, i wouldn't bother buying anything just yet. As you said you only played on game i have to assume you are renting a gun and gear from the site.

Play a few more times, decide if you want to do an impression of a period or unit or if you just want to use what feels best for you and how you play. If you plan running about with 2 x 600 round hi capacity magazines, then a full blown rig is not what you should be spending your money on. A magazine clamp is what you need.

When the time comes to get kit, trawl the classifieds! Bargains a plenty to be had here.

[Gadge Europa]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

To echo the above spend any real money on this point on eye protection (pref full face til you have the experience to know how and when you shield your lower face with your gun stock, pull up a smemagh scarf etc) and REALLY good boots.

People always forget about good boots. At the very least buy some sturdy army surplus ones. Pref 'new' surplus ones ( i know that sounds like an oxymoron but often stuff is army surplus because they have too much of it in stock, it's not always used). If you break or twist your ankle you'll be off site for months and a bad break can ruin your game for life. Too many people play in trainers or footwear with no real ankle support. Try and avoid second hand boots if pos as they will have been 'broken in' and moulded to the foot shape of the original owner.. at best they will be less comfortable at worst they can give you foot problems in their own right.

So boots and face protection. After that , as recomended you could do worse than buy some cheap surplus DPM or Flectarn jacket and trousers, you can get these for as little as £10 a set.

Another vital is some form of hydration, at the very least an army water bottle in a pouch, a reasonable camelback can be more convenient and as little as £15.

Over the last few months I wrote a series of articles for a magazine about airsoft with 'action' in the title about getting your first set of kit and gun... PM me and i'll email you a copy of the articles if you like.

with regards to kit to carry your ammo/food/batteries etc, for starting out a great buy is the SAAV type vests (south african assault vests), these can be as little as £20 S/h and come in just about every camo pattern available. They are not to everyones taste but i used one for years, loads of pouches and quite hardwearing!

[bobthebuilder]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

depending on where you go, I would say the vitals are:
clothing - army surplus cammo gear is perfect, but anything that's reasonably tough, comfortable and has good freedom of movement will work fine. genarally I'd say stick with army surplus, there's not a lot cheaper that's any better.

boots - a good pair of boots are essential. army/police style boots are best, although decent hiking boots or work boots will also work. Steel/composite toe caps are something I might consider for urban, but generally I would avoid them. Everyones feet are different, so I won't suggest makes/models, becuase what works for me, might be hidiously uncomfortable for you, and vice-versa. again, army surplus places usually do a variety, as do camping shops, depending on which style you want.

eye/face protection - if you are renting a gun anyway, most sites rent eye protection along with it. but getting your own lets you make sure you get something that is good quality, and comfortable for you. Ebay has some good deals on the army issue ESS v12 goggles, which are pretty good, but you might also need lower face protection

Water- depending on how often you go back to the safezone, you could just use a standard waterbottle and keep it in the safezone, or carry a millitary canteen or hydration pack. Army surplus is best for canteens, army surplus or outdoors shops do hydration packs.

Vests/chestrigs are a difficult call. plenty of people start off with the SAAV style, but it depends on what gun you are running, how much stuff you have to carry, what that stuff is, what style of play you prefer and so on, plus a heavy dose of personal preferance.
Personally I would suggest looking into army surplus webbing. you can get it pretty cheap, and only have to add the pouches you need. so when you are starting, maybe only a water bottle pouch and a utillity pouch for bits and peices. then you can add ammo pouches, holsters ect as and when needed.

[True spec op]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

Thanks everyone for your feedback! I think your all right and I should just stick to getting some cheap dpm style clothing and getting some brand new boots, glasses/goggles and a scarf or something
As for the assault vest I was looking at what Gadge and Bob have said and have been looking at the SAAV style vests/rigs. I would like to stick to either a G36c or m4 style weapon when I get one so would want to have a few ammo pouches for them, maybe 2 smaller pistol mag pouches for when I save up some more but it is just an extra, maybe a phone case and as youve all suggested, either a water bottle or camelback. would a camelback work with a SAAV? All this feedback is really helping! I cant wait to go shopping now, its not like me haha

[bobthebuilder]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

would a camelback work with a SAAV?

the SAAV has a couple of large back pockets, and the upper one usually has a velcroed upper flap.
So long as your camelback bladder isn't too big, it's perfectly set up for the job.

[True spec op]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

theres different size camelbacks haha .. this just gets harder and harder, too much choice haha. what size would be sufficant

[bobthebuilder]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

theres different size camelbacks haha .. this just gets harder and harder, too much choice haha. what size would be sufficant

yeah, they come in 1, 1.5 and 2 liter versions, and I think you can even get ones bigger than that. I find that 2L will last me for a whole day, but you could allways top it up when you have a chance (if the site doesn't have a tap, take some extra in a bottle, then transfer it over)
I used to pack a 2l in my SAAV, but that had been hacked about so the two pockets on the back where actually one big pocket. I think it would have fitted without that modification, but I can't say for sure.

[True spec op]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

Ok, well like you said I can always top it up in the breaks with extra water from a bottle easy

[Gadge Europa]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

Beware the G36 is the one AEG that the SAAV is pants for. The lugs used to connect the mags for quick reloads make them too big for the M4 sized mag pouches so you end up storing them in the bigger pouches and your useful front pockets are empty.

Nearly every thing else works well with a SAAV. If you can find one of the original genuine south african ones in a tab/brown colour they are much comfier than the copies but usually a bit pricier too.

The other cheap webbing options are DPM chest rigs (stores a fair few M4/sa80 size mags and two water bottle pouches) which are about £20-£25 and if you run an AK the 'chicom' viet cong style chest rigs are cheaper still and work.

While it's not great and you'll probably only ever use the front ammo pouches, old 58 pattern webbing sets frequently go for £10 to £20 and are indestructable, for a little more (say £40) you can pick up the current issue brit PLCE webbing.

Unless you're trying to go for a look of some sort or a theme you can usually get a good practical loadout for very little... a lot of guys at your regular site might have spare kit for sale. we all started out needing a basic loadout once.

[True spec op]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

Yeah I'd like to stick to a sort of british DPM theme. I have an idea but its probs the most popular idea.
Boots, DPM trousers, black top, part fingerless gloves (sniper gloves I think?), smemagh scarf, Knee pads I think are a must but I don't know, hat (I have bad hair lol :D), glasses/goggles, and then like you suggested a DPM SAAV to hold some mags and a lovely M4

To me that sounds perfect lol, only a few questions on the loadout I think would suit me. Is glasses or goggles better? How many M4 mags will a SAAV hold and DPM or Multi-cam?

[bobthebuilder]

Re: New gear and advice ... Veterans and other airsofts help!

Yeah I'd like to stick to a sort of british DPM theme. I have an idea but its probs the most popular idea.
Boots, DPM trousers, black top, part fingerless gloves (sniper gloves I think?), smemagh scarf, Knee pads I think are a must but I don't know, hat (I have bad hair lol :D), glasses/goggles, and then like you suggested a DPM SAAV to hold some mags and a lovely M4

To me that sounds perfect lol, only a few questions on the loadout I think would suit me. Is glasses or goggles better? How many M4 mags will a SAAV hold and DPM or Multi-cam?

personally, I would allways advise goggles. glasses run the risk of bb's entering through the gap between the side of the lense/frame, and your face, while goggles more or less eliminate that.
the SAAV can hold atleast 12 M4 mags. two in each chest mag pouch, two in each mag pouch on the large utility pockets, and two in each of the pouches on the lower right side (as worn).
if that's not enough, you could stash more in the side utility pouches, but should maybe consider re-assessing your tactics.