Verbal communication for airsoft

Once you have used your hand signals to get up close to the opposing teams base the time to open up and let fly is at hand! And no, not just slinging plastic, open your mouth and communicate with your team mates too!

Your team mates also should be verbal after the contact begins. Taking the names of the hand signals as a good basis, start letting each other know what is going on. Things like “Eyes on three!” let your team mates know how many people you can see from your position, and if you only have a few people on the other team they pretty much know to focus their firepower in the direction you are looking.

Communication is critical to a successful skirmish, and in larger events the teams with the best communication can often overcome a numerically superior force (tactics and training certainly help as well). Obviously useless chatter won't help, so try to stay on topic, and lots of people casually chatting away makes it hard to hear critical information like “hey, they are flanking us! Eyes on sixteen! Guys! Eyes on sixteen!!”

So let's just go back over some of the basic communications as a refresher. Some groups echo what was said (repeat it) or reply “confirm” then the statement so the person up front knows the team heard them. Example; “confirm eyes on three, right”.

“Contact!” - This means you have taken fire from someone on the opposing team. Usually you also add where it came from, such as “contact left!” Yell this one, let your guys all know you are taking fire!

“Eyes on!” - Another one to yell out, this means you can see at least one confirmed opponent. Adding a number and direction after eyes on lets your team mates know how many you can see and where they are, such as “Eyes on three, right!”

“Hear something” - this one often is said quieter, so only guys close to you can hear it. This alerts them that they should be checking in the direction you indicate. Example; hear something left.

“Take cover!” - means just that, get low and behind something the will help to protect you from incoming bbs.

“Rally on me!” - This means your team mates should gather close to your position, and is usually used by your team leader to regroup your unit. This is especially useful after just escaping an ambush, for example. “Rally at ...” is the command to regroup at a certain point, such as “Rally at the bridge!”.

There are dozens of other things to pass along, and your team may well come up with code words to mean something special that your opponents may not understand. These code words could be anything from “Code red!” which would mean bring up the heavy weapons or what ever, or it could mean nothing and just be a distraction tactic.

In closing, we need to cover one more thing that is often missed in verbal communication, and that is pass phrases. When you have a position established, you need to be able to tell if someone coming up on you is a foe or friend coming to reinforce you. If you have a pass phrase in place, you call out your challenge phrase and if they are friendly they respond with the pass phrase or word.

An example here might be “marco!” and the person coming up on the position replies “polo” to let you know he is on your team. Of course you do not want a challenge phrase that is easy to guess the answer to, so try something that is harder to guess and could have a number of correct answers. An example here could be “red”. There is no immediately obvious answer so they have to take a guess in the dark. The pass word could be “green”, “asphalt” or “rover”. Or even several dozen other things.

Of course, it is possible the opposing team will guess or overhear your pass phrase, so you might want to change it midway through the game or at certain intervals through out the day.

So get out there, and open your mouth and let each other know where the enemy is hiding so you can sling some plastic!

Move out!

Hand signals for airsoft players

Much like most modern military forces, your airsoft group can benefit from hand signals to communicate relevant information quickly. Hand signals are a code you and your team all understand and work well. They are silent, so you can communicate with team mates without revealing your position. If you have similar hand signals to other players in your area, you can easily integrate with other players you meet at events and immediately be able to communicate effectively.

So what hand signals are common? Let's go over a few of the ones we use;

“Silent” or going silent - The team leader holds up a single finger in front of their lips to indicate silence, and that hand signals will be used until the situation dictates a change.

“Stop” - The non trigger hand is raised in a fist, usually even with the side of the head. This lets the people following you know to stop moving forward. At that point, each person should also raise their fist in the stop hand signal to pass it down the line, then take up a defensive position, spaced out far enough apart to prevent someone from the other team from catching all of you in a cluster and eliminating you all at once.

“Move out” - Open handed, sometimes with one or two fingers up, motioning from over your shoulder forward in the direction to move. Sometimes the squad leader will point at someone and indicate that they should move in a given direction by pointing to that person, then making the move out hand signal.

“Eyes On” - This is an important one! You point to your eyes, then to where you see an enemy to indicate you can see them. Some times you will point to your eyes, to where they are and then hold up the number of fingers you see (example: you see two enemy team mates up ahead. You do the “eyes on” signal, point to where you see them, then hold up two fingers to let your team mates know you can see two people).

“Hear (from direction)” - Also known as “Ears on”. This is similar to eyes on above, you tap your ear to indicate you heard something, then point in that direction to let your team mates know where to keep an eye on.

“Get Down” - Everyone crouches or drops prone. Useful in situations where you are moving up on a fortified position. The hand gesture is open handed, palm down motioning downward.

“Rally on me” - This hand signal means for the squad to gather together on the person making the gesture. The gesture is one finger up, marking a swirl over head, then pulling the hand down into a fist.

“Rally point” - As above, but the group rallies at a given point. The gesture is a swirl overhead, then pointing to a point.

“Scrolling the road” - The hand signal is to tap the shoulder open palmed then rub the shoulder up and down. Scrolling the road is a movement we did not cover in the previous article on movement. This is a tactic when the unit comes up to cross a road. The point man crosses the road, and takes up a position facing down the road in one direction. The next person across takes up a position facing the opposite direction and so on alternating the directions that the crossing personnel take up until the whole group is across, then the unit again moves out.

Once there is contact and your postilion is revealed, hand signals are out the window. At that point you switch to verbal communication, which will be our next article! Hope these hand signals help your team move quietly and communicate better! Now move out!

Airsoft tactics – movement

The tactics of many airsoft players are similar to many modern and recent history military tactics. Since airsoft is often played as a military simulation of sorts, this makes sense. Other than the ranges involved, many airsoft games are similar to small military skirmishes not involving air support or artillery/armor support, so their tactics will work well quite well.

In this installment we will cover some of the basics of movement and using cover and concealment in movement. In future articles we will cover other tactical considerations such as communication with hand signals, code words and pass phrases, tactical gear choices, and strategic considerations.

Movement might seem like a pretty basic, boring topic. I need to get from here to there, so I walk. But in airsoft, it isn't always quite that easy. Often you are taking incoming fire from enemies, possibly from hidden positions. You may have to overtake these positions, skirt them or get someone past them safely. It is times like these and others that movement becomes a bit more, shall we say, interesting.

Let's start at basic movement concepts. First, stay low! A lot of guys will get excited once the action starts and stand bolt upright before breaking into a run. Try not to do that! Once you know you are in hostile areas, move in a crouch as much as you can. The less target you present, the less chance you have of being hit. There are times that a prone crawl is even better, though it can be tough through thorns, soupy ground or snow and ice. And crawling is pretty slow too. A low, crouched walk allows you to move over low obstacles reasonably easily, is stable to fire from and lets you drop flat if needed without having to land hard. Sure, it takes some getting used to, practice it for a while before you go out and try it in the field first so you don't find out the hard way your pants are too tight and you crotch em out.

A crouched run presents less target, gets you there faster and is useful for crossing open spaces, but overall, a steady walking pace is more useful. It allows any of your team mates to match your pace, allows you to stop suddenly or change direction in a hurry if you happen to move into an ambush and is safer since you can more easily see things like sticks or gopher holes in the path you are on. A steady walking pace is also less tiring, so you have that burst of energy when you really need it. Many people aren't used to the weight of their airsoft load out, so saving energy will be a much larger concern for them than someone who is used to carrying a full load. Lastly, moving slower makes a lot less noise and may allow you to move up on the other teams position without being noticed.

Now that you are moving low and sneaky, how do you get from here to there? Well, lots of guys go right down the trail. Sometimes you have to, but if you have an option, travel parallel to it, 30 feet or so back into the wood-line. This gives you some cover, and lets you go around many ambushes and any tripwires that may be on the trail. A well laid ambush is usually manned on only one side of the trail, and if you are lucky you will come up behind the guys waiting for you. If you are not lucky, you will be that much further from them, with more cover between you and them. Now is probably that time for the saved up burst of speed to hard cover!

And speaking of cover, it is a part of movement as well. If you can move through between trees, it provides some cover to you from hidden opponents, though it also effects your ability to return fire. If you have a choice to get hit while you take out someone else versus taking cover and having a good chances at taking out a half dozed opponents, it seems like cover might just be your friend, eh? If you choose your movement route carefully, you will always be near cover or concealment.

Here we should probably explain the difference. Cover is hard; airsoft bbs will bounce off cover. Concealment simply hides where you are. A tree trunk is cover, a branch covered in thick leaves is concealment. The bbs might rip through the leaves and hit you, they just have to guess where you are (and you are low, right?).

Now that we have covered cover, let's go back to walking down that trail again. Let's say there are a couple guys with you. A lot of people will just bunch up and walk down the center of the trail. This can end badly in a few ways. You are all close to each other, a single burst from an opponent could hit you all if he got lucky. Your buddies might accidentally shoot you and each other trying to get rounds back at the guy shooting at you all. Here is a better way to do this:

One guy takes point (front). He keeps his gun aimed to the front. He may be in the center of the trail, or against either side. The next guy in line is back a good 20 feet, and along the opposite side of the trail from the guy in front of him. He keeps his airsoft replica aimed out to his side, so there is no friendly fire, and he covers the flank side of the point man. The next guy back in line holds to the other side of the trail, and covers the other flank. If you have any extra guys, they are out as outriggers along side the main group in the tree line, hopefully not in the line of fire of their own guys. All in all, the best way to deal with this would be to move in a staggered, spread out line off the trail, for reasons mentioned above. The article that comes later in this series on hand signals will help a whole lot in this situation.

Before we go, let's cover a few more things on movement. Obstacles require some special movement considerations. Things like low walls or fences, for example, are an obstacle. You could go over them, but you will expose yourself pretty badly, and probably will not be able to fire back if you are noticed by an opponent. Your best bet on a solid obstacle is to move up on it at an angle, using it as cover, but not getting too close to it. This allows you to see over it, if it is low enough, and see what is around the end before you are there. If you have to get up close to it, look around an end, not over the top. This provides you with more cover than if you just popped your head up over the top. It is usually best to move back away from it, and move past the end of it back a ways so you don't get ambushed as you come around the end. It also might allow you to surprise someone who is waiting to ambush you who is up tight to the other side of a wall. The only issue is you are more out in the open in this situation. Be aware of your surroundings as you do this, take quick glances around before you move and move cautiously, keeping your replica at the ready.

If you can, a leapfrog (or buddy rush) movement can really help in some situations. One person moves up for 3 to 5 seconds while the other lays down suppressive fire, then takes up a covered position and lays suppressive fire while the other moves up. Repeat until you have taken your objective! This one really needs to be practiced a few times to get the timing right though, and you have to be careful to not move too far in one leap. 30 feet or so in a single leap is probably a good idea, given the limited range of an airsoft replica. Leapfrog rushes are good for approaching a place you suspect enemies or are taking fire from, but can't get a good shot on. If you do them diagonally, around the opponents strong side, you can often flank them as well.

Well, that about covers the basics for now, I'm sure just as soon as this gets posted I will remember a dozen other things that should have been included, so keep checking for more updates!

Stay low, have fun!

Ice and AEG's

Ok, I jokingly posted about shooting icicles with your AEG in reference to the film A Christmas Story in our last post.  Then I thought about it.  Not long enough to realize it was a bad idea mind you, but I thought about it.

Then I went and grabbed my goggles, my AEG and a half full mag and tried it.  What do you know? It works!  It's good target practice, but a bad idea.  Here's why:

When you shoot from the front any miss will hit your house, and if the siding is cold the bbs may damage it (vinyl in particular does not like cold).  A ricochet is also quite possible, even if you hit the ice (wear your goggles if you are playing with your AEG!).  If you are shooting from the side, the bbs are moving in an upward arc, and may be deflected in dangerous directions.  Particularly thick ice will take many rounds to crack enough to break and fall.  And that is a lot of bbs going in random directions.

So, in parting;  It's a bad idea that works.  We tried it out for you, don't go do it!  It's like mythbusters - don't try this at home.

Happy Holidays!

We here at the roadcrew review hope you and yours have a very happy holiday, and that you get a lot of new airsoft gear to go out and play with!  With everyone busy with the family and what not, we are fairly slow at producing new articles for the RR site, but never fear, more is on the way!  Hopefully, some of our members will be getting some new gear to review too!

As a side note, an AEG is not to be used to remove icicles from high eves!  You might shoot your eye out kid!

Face and neck protection for airsoft players

When playing airsoft, nothing cuts your day short like a close shot from a hot gun to the lip. It stings! And some people are concerned about getting a chipped tooth or shot up the nose, so they wear a full face mask (covered in the earlier goggles and face-masks section). But what if you don't want a full face mask, but do want something to slow down that bb zinging toward your earlobe or throat?

Well, you can wrap a camouflage veil, scarf, shemagh (scarf) or something like that wrapped around your neck and over the bottom part of your face. It won't stop a bb, but it will slow it down some, and it also won't make it hard to talk to your team mates or hear. Another option if you are playing the OpFor (opposition force, the bad guys) is to wrap a long length of material around your head as a turban and put the end under your chin to protect your neck and ears. Just be aware that the wrapped part around your brow may cause your goggle vents to not work as well, and your goggles may fog more. Also, a thick turban may not let you feel a hit on the wrapped part, so be careful about that. If you think the bb hit you, take it! Better to take a walk back to the res point than be though a jerk.

Another option, and one snipers particularly seem to like, is a loose drape of camo netting that covers your entire head, with a hole cut for your goggles (some guys even wear this over the goggles, so it mutes the glint of sun on your lenses). Others wear a balaclava; a type of ski mask that has one large hole for both eyes instead of single eye holes on each side. This is nice because you can make it fit tightly to the outside edge of your goggles, but again watch for vent coverage to prevent fogging.

Any of these solutions should cover the sides and back of your neck as well, if at all possible, just so you don't take a shot there. If you aren't worried about an occasional stray bb though, partial coverage is a lot cooler, as your body sheds a lot of heat through your neck and head.

Update:  One thing that was missed was a type of half face mask offered from several different manufacturers.  These are usually molded out of a flexable rubber like material or made of metal wire mesh.  The molded masks can be smooth or shaped into images like skulls or smiling faces.  These work great for stopping a bb, but may limit how easily you can communicate.  The wire mesh half face masks allow easy breathing, and are a bit easier to talk through, though they don't look as cool.  Your call here.

A couple of the guys we play with have half masks of neoprene printed with skull faces or joker faces, and those certainly also add a cool factor.  Just be aware that masks with white on them can reveal your position if you are hiding in foliage.  If you like to run and gun and don't mind being seen, have at it!

That about covers neck coverage for now, if we find some kind of cool new item you need to know about, we will update this section, so check back once in a while.

Overview of airsoft gun systems.

Ok all, this is a post for those just coming into the game that is intended to explain how an airsoft replica gun works.  And if you have been playing with friends for a while using a spring gun, this might help you get a bit of understanding on AEG's before you decide on which one to buy.

For the most part, all airsoft guns work in very similar ways.  A piston is pulled back by some mechanism (the users muscles cocking a spring, an electric motor moves the piston and compresses the spring or a pressurized gas system compresses the spring).  Once it's released by the trigger, it is pushed forward quickly by a strong spring, and the air it compresses is pushed through a nozzle.  This stream of fast moving air is blown down a barrel with the bb inside it, and carries the bb out of the barrel toward the target.  Most replica guns have a "hop up" mechanism in the top of the barrel to just catch the bb and make it backspin in flight.  This backspin will help the bb travel further on its way to the target, but more on that later.

The biggest difference between most guns is how the piston is pulled back.  Let's look at these mechanisms in more depth.

The least complicated replica airsoft guns are powered by human muscle.  While all airsoft guns use a spring, these are defined by this part.  They are usually called spring guns, or "springers" for short.  They mostly fall into a few categories; pump action, bolt action or slide action.

Pump action is most commonly though of on hunting shotguns.  The user holds the fore-grip under the barrel in their non trigger hand, and moves it back firmly to cock the spring and ready the replica to shoot. Most shotgun replicas are pump action, and a few spring rifle replicas are also bolt action.

The bolt action is much like a normal hunting rifle; a lever on the side of the piston is moved up and back to cock the spring (this moving section on a hunting rifle is called the bolt, thus bolt action, since the bolt moves to charge the rifle).  Most sniper rifle replicas are bolt actions.

Many spring pistols are slide action.  The user grasps the slide with the non trigger hand and pulls the slide back to cock the replica.  A number of spring rifle replicas are also a form of slide action, but a spring powered Colt 1911 pistol is a good example.

A lot of people start their time playing airsoft using springers.  They are often inexpensive, easy to find at your local superstore or sporting goods store, and come in a variety of sizes and shapes.  You can expect to pay as little as $10 US for a springer pistol, and up to several hundred dollars for a top end sniper rifle replica that is spring powered.  Many of the more inexpensive springers are fairly low power, so they are nice for backyard games where the ranges are not that long and play is fast and furious. In a large open field though, they will not be able to throw a bb far enough to reach distant opponents.  On the other hand, a very strong sniper rifle replica really shouldn't be fired up close; the bb will really friggin hurt and may break the skin.  Yeah, don't do that.

Something to be aware of: All springs have a "break in" period, while the works all settle in and the spring looses a little power as it adjusts to being used.  A brand new springer in particular will seem less powerful after a few hundred shots.  This is quite normal, and is the result of the spring compressing and shrinking just a small amount.  A few super high quality upgrade springs for AEG's and certain bolt action spring guns are pre shrunk so this effect does not seem to happen. In reality, it was done at the factory, but it adds several more steps to the manufacturing process, and thus makes the spring more costly.

Posted in progress... more soon!

Eyewear for Airsoft

To play the sport of airsoft, one critical piece of equipment is absolutely required. Nope, not a airsoft gun even... it's eye protection! Yeah yeah, we know, you can squint really good and duck pretty fast. It doesn't matter, you still need something between your peepers and incoming plastic bb's.

Goggles: Ok, so they don't look that sexy. We all gotta wear em, deal. Besides, while eye patches look cool for pirates, it screws up your depth perception a heck of a lot if you only have one eye, which makes hitting your target a lot harder.

Most people use full seal goggles, though others will use a full face mask of some type. Let's start with goggles since they are most common. Cheap safety goggles might work, but most players will use a goggle designed specificity to be hit repeatedly by something like a paintball or bb. These should conform to the ASTM F 1776-01, ANSI 87.1 2003 (civilian), or MIL-V-43511C (military) standards for impact resistance. These standards are usually printed on the goggle packaging, and if you are buying at a local airsoft store you can ask if they are rated for airsoft play. Most sold there will be. A lot of standard safety goggles for construction work are not rated to take a hit repeatedly in the same location game after game, so if you are going to use these, check them!

Shooting glasses do not fully seal to the face, so a bb can easily come in from the side or deflect off your cheek and strike the eye. This would suck, you don't want this. Make sure the goggles you are looking at fully contact the face all the way around your eyes. If you can, ask to try on a pair. If you are shopping online, look for “full seal” in the description. Usually, the edge of full seal goggles is soft foam rubber so it will conform to the shape of your face. Some are just rubber, the choice of which one is best for you is easiest to make after you have worn a few pairs, so if you can ask your friends to borrow theirs for a while and try em out.

The big complaint on goggles is usually fogging. There are a bunch of ways to deal with fogging that all work decently. None are perfect in every situation. Chemical anti-fog wipes are a cheap, basic way to help keep your goggles fog free. The work pretty well, even in warm humid weather. Just follow the directions on the package and go for it. When you take a break, try not to wear your goggles on top of your head too. That can easily transfer sweat from your hair to the inside of your goggle lenses. Either drop them down around your neck, or take them completely off until its game on time again.

A more advanced goggle may have specially designed vents to help air move through the goggle and carry away moisture and humidity. A good example of these are FlackJacks. These goggles work pretty well, and combined with anti-fog wipes are effective for most people. If that isn't enough though, you can get goggles with built in fans or after market add on fans to blow air through the vents on your goggles. These are usually powered with a small battery, so if you have one of these units, make sure you have extra batteries with you. Having your fan cut out when you really need it blows. Or doesn't in this case.

Goggles can cost from as little as 10 dollars up to several hundred for some really special, x-ray specs. Ok, probably not x-ray. Are the 200 dollar goggles any better than the 25 dollar ones? Probably not. They might look cooler, but they likely have very similar lenses in them. A good, basic pair will cost you about 25 bucks, and will work just fine. But, goggles only cover your eyes... what happens if you get hit in the cheek or tooth? Well, it hurts. Want to not get shot in the face? Then let's talk about....

Full face masks (including paintball masks). These masks are designed to offer both good eye protection and facial coverage, while allowing easy breathing and minimal fogging. Some are better for paintball than airsoft though, as their vent slits are big enough to allow a bb to enter the mask and hit you on skin.  Look at them carefully when buying to see if it looks like the slits or holes might be larger than 6mm.  Most paintball masks also have a slight brim over the eyes, so it can help to keep the sun out of your eyes while you are playing.  If you are playing in really bright areas, you can also often swap out the lens for one with a smoke tint, or a yellow tint for hazy days.

Some paintball masks also cover the ears, which can be nice if you do not wear a scarf or other wrap, just in case of an ear hit.  Be aware that most ear protection will also reduce your hearing somewhat though.

So in closing, decide if you want just goggles or a full face mask, do some research and wear friends gear if you can to see what works for you.  Don't wear your protection on top of your head, take care of the eyewear with chemical wipes to prevent fogging, and get out and play!

Over and out!

 

CQB season is at hand

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Our little corner of the airsoft world is under way and already getting some folks interested in writing for us.  Sadly, the weather is looking like it might be time to head indoors since the AEG batteries won't like the cold much and our soaking wet feet and hands will like it even less.  Once there is a good snow pack, it's back outdoors for some winter airsoft combat though!  Hey, I might finally be able to use those black bbs and see the danged things in the air!

Now just because the weather is nasty doesn't mean that airsoft season is over.  It's CQB time!  For those new to the sport, CQB is "Close Quarter Battle", or occasionally CQC for "close quarters combat".  This means exactly what it sounds like - up close and personal.  Inside a large barn, or other facility, a number of players work on their indoor tactics with airsoft replicas shooting under 350 feet per second.

A lot of folks bring out their springer shotguns and pistols for CQB for a couple reasons.  They tend to shoot under 350 fps, and the cold does not weaken how strong a springer replica shoots.  The cold will, however, reduce how effective the battery in an AEG airsoft replica is.  In case you didn't know, AEG means Automatic Electric Gun, and are the full auto capable electric airsoft guns.  Now back to those spring powered guns...

Spring powered guns are often the first replicas someone buys to get into airsoft and get their feet wet.  Then they buy better boots and try again.  Most springers fire a single airsoft bb, though some shot guns fire multiple bb's at once.  These work fairly well in the short ranges that a lot of CQB combat takes place at.  And hey, think about this; do you really want someone pasting you at 8 feet with a really powerful replica gun?  Yeah, not so much.

So dig out that classic arsenal and find someones mostly empty hay barn to play in.  Get permission though, breaking into the neighbors place and leaving bb's all over won't go over well.  Hey, they might be interested and join you, and next thing you know you have a whole farm to use!

And once you have a bit of a feel for CQB, there are several places to play inside in West Michigan too.  We will have an article on The Airhouse in Kalamazoo soon, so keep your goggles clean for that one.

Ok, that's it for now, briefing is over.  Move out!

We are The Roadcrew!

Welcome all to the Roadcrew Review!

First, we need to start by saying this is going to be a little different than many other airsoft review sites. We are in this for fun, and that means weird angles on things, weird stories and that kind of thing. Some stuff will be serious (mostly) but even those posts will take a strange twist in getting to the point.

Second, we are going to only post reviews on products we have in our hands. A lot of sites just repost the review they found on someone else's site or were given by the manufacturer or reseller they got the info from, without changing a word. Not us. If we don't get a chance to break it, it ain't getting reviewed!

Our rating system for airsoft equipment is based on a 0 to 5 scale.
In the form of a burst.
Yep, that's right.
If it sucks, its a Jam (0) and if we can't live without it, it's a 5 shot burst. Basic, functional gear but with nothing notable or fancy gets a 3 shot burst.

Something we have to test further probably will be listed as empty clip or something like that.

Firing Blanks will probably be a term for something that looks great but doesn't function for crap.

Got it? Great. Let's move out!