What Camo is best? Part 3 - review and unusual patterns

Hey all, here we go on the third part in our "What camo is best" series. Let's start with a quick review. If you haven't read the earlier posts, you can find them here:

http://roadcrewreview.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-camo-is-best.html

http://roadcrewreview.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-camo-is-best-part-2-patterns.html

As we said in previous posts, your first load out should be standard woodland M81, as this is used on almost every airsoft field, and is acceptable at most MilSims as well. (A note on MilSims here; most milsims have fairly strict camo and load-out requirements as most military forces field with the same uniform. This adds to the military simulation feel of the event.) Your second load-out probably should be tan DCU (Tri color desert) or "chocolate chip" bdu's for the same reason. Both of these patterns are usually available surplus or at goodwill stores, so you can get into these load-outs for a fairly low investment.

But what if you want to stand out from the pack at your local skirmish fields?

Well, that's fairly easy! There is a world of camo beyond those patterns we covered in our second post, and this article will cover a few more of those.

Camo started as a means for hunters to get closer to their prey, and one of the classic hunters outfits that has been adapted to military use is the ghillie suit. This is a camo base layer with loose grass and brush from the local area added to help blend effectively with the background. Ghillie suits are generally used in modern combat by snipers, and each is unique and hand made by the sniper that will wear it. Since they are unique, and the methods to make one are fairly extensive, we will have to come back and cover this in more detail in a later post. For now, if you want more info on these suits, either hit the link below or jump to your favorite search engine and see what you can find.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghillie_suit

While the ghillie suit is extremely effective camouflage, it can be hot and hard to move in, so early on various militaries developed disruptive patterns to camouflage their troops in the field. Patterns from the second world war are still in use today in some parts of the world, and are the basis of many modern camo patterns.

The German Flecktarn (spotted) camo is the basis for many camouflages in the modern era, and works to some extent like modern digital camo. At a distance the smaller spots blend together and form larger blocks of color with soft edges that blend well with backgrounds in the same color palette. Flecktarn can occasionally be found at surplus stores and can be easily found at online retailers. Again, as with many camo patterns there are different patterns for woodland areas and deserts, as well as snow camo. It is reasonably to very effective and works for an OpFor load-out well.

The British developed a camo pattern similar to Multicam, called MTP (multi terrain pattern). This pattern is relatively new, so it can be hard to find at surplus stores, but this pattern has been proven to be as effective as multicam with a slightly different look based more on tiger stripe (see below). As with multicam, it can be hard to determine if the wearer is on the green or tan team. We mention it here for those who might be interested in a variant on multicam.

Tigerstripe is a family of camouflage that was used primarily in close up jungle situations. Most camo is designed for longer range use, with larger patterns that may not be as effective within 50 feet (this is why flecktarn and modern digital camos have patterns that are designed for both close up and far viewing). The US ABU is a variant of tigerstripe and can occasionally be found in surplus stores. While never officially issued to US forces, many special forces units in Vietnam used the locally produced tigerstripe camo uniforms based on the French patterns. It is more effective close up (at airsoft ranges) than woodland, though may not be allowed at some MilSims.

In our next installment we will look at some civilian commercial camo designed for hunters, and discuss their use in airsoft.

So... We're Arms Dealers...wierd...

we here at the Roadcrew are putting together our team of Merry Misfits for the upcoming airsoft season. we've brought in many new players to train from the ground up. Needless to say, we need to get everyone equipped. the thing that made sense was to make recommendations, and place one big order. the order comes in, and it's like a big boy's Christmas. let me set the scene...

On one table, we've got a case of AK replicas sitting open. hand guns sitting next to it. sniper rifle and shotgun leaning in the corner. BB's everywhere. and our main table set up with two shotguns (pistol grip spas 12 and full stock combat), an tactical AK-47, three MP-5s (one dissasembled (we we're curious)), and a myriad of other gear. it was quite a sight!

two of our player's, wizard and kitten (until they get new call signs) picked up their shotguns and fell in love! it should be noted that wizard ordered the same tri-shot I had... he got an upgrade! ordered D.E., got U.T.G. they're the exact same damn gun! identical! same molds! only difference is the box art, and he got one more shell... that is not worth the typical $20 price difference. just noting...

we're having some of the troops over for a shooting and scheming day tomorrow. more terrible things to come.

Event: Op: Fueling the Fire

Hey all, just a quick post to let you know our trailer for OP: Fueling the Fire is up on youtube. This is going to be a great event, so stay tuned for more updates! The link below is for the video, just in case it did not load above for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VKvzMIFRvY&feature=player_embedded

A Reminder About Eye Protection

I was out the other day with my new Y&P NBB M9, taking some potshots at our old shooting tree. Getting data for a review. I was standing 30 feet (+-9 meters) taking shots at the old oak. I was running my second mag, about 10 shots in, when a round ricocheted and struck my glasses right over my eye. This was the only significant bounce back I've had with the gun. all others hit the target and fell. This one shot, not only went flying off, it came right at my eye, as far as bb's are concerned, we are an end level boss fight with one weak spot. bb's are a suicide diving Mario, and we are Bowzer, and it takes 10,000,000 dead Marios to get one that makes bowzer cry, and that one shot that costs someone an eye makes the news and makes airsoft look bad, note that the 4,876,392 shots that didn't maim you are not mentioned. you only get two eyes, keep them covered!
always where at minimum, safety glasses while target shooting. always wear full seal goggles while someone is shooting at you.

More hyjinks ensue and site traffic info

We have a large number of new items at the Roadcrew "office" to test and report on for you all out there, so there will be a number of new reviews added in coming days.

In totally unrelated news, we have been looking at the stats to see what people are searching for and found a couple interesting things. Lots of folks coming to the site aren't from our geographic region (not surprising, it's the internet) but there are a few locations that seem to be really into our little weblog. So here is a shout out to Belize! Who ever you folks are, thanks for reading! That goes for you folks in Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Denmark, Canada and Japan! And of course all our neighbors here in the US!

Two replicas are head and shoulders above the others in number of people reading about them; The Cmya 028 and the Crosman p36 pistol. This is interesting in a few ways; Both are fairly common replicas, but reasonably priced for their usefulness. The Cyma 028 has been reviewed in dozens, if not hundreds of places on the net and yet a lot of people seem to like our review for reasons unknown. Tell us about it in the comments section! What makes you read the Roadcrew Review? Let us know!

Over and out for now!

Snipers and sniper rifles

If you attend any big mil sims, you're going to see some sniper rifles... and you will see people use them wrong. I can't stand the guys with $600 semi-auto sniper rifles running full speed while firing as many shots as they can. this is not sniper behavior. playing a sniper takes a special mentality that is hard to fit into most airsoft scenarios.
real snipers take days to move undetected into the perfect position to take one shot... you don't have that kind of time in an eight hour event. and not many people have the patience to wait for the right shot. I understand sniping in video games is really cool. Airsoft is not a video game. if you don't have the mentality to wait, to move into position, or you cant figure out how far 50 feet is. sniping probably isn't for you. stick to your AEG.
If it is. we here at the road crew review have some suggestions.
1. Know your weapon. if you get a sniper rifle, decide on a weight and even manufacturer of bb's and stick to it. understand how your bb's fly at what ranges (it's not a strait line)
2. learn to use stealth and subtlty. I never thought i'd have to explain this (but I did), you're much quieter if you don't stomp on every twig in your path as hard as you can. move slowly, use misdirection (follow a group of your guys to draw enemy fire for you, taking them out when they give away their positions. throw something (not heavy or hard enough to hurt anyone) to make a distraction). the name of the game is find them before they find you, and find them 50+ feet away.
3. carry a backup pistol. not all enemies will conveniently stay outside of your engagement limit. even a cheap spring pistol is more useful to you at close range.
4. use camo wisely. All black is not an effective load-out. we have and are continuing to add articles about camo and concealment, don't need to cover that here.

There are two major roles to fill as a sniper, solo, and squad.

Solo: you, or you and a spotter, set out to accomplish an objective using stealth and descretion. Ambush is the name of the game. move into a position where you are concealed and have clear view of a spot enemies are expected to move through. when enemies are in sight, know when to take a shot. shooting the first person you see, as soon as you see him/her is a short sighted plan. he may be a point man (bait) with 15 other's behind him. your spotter is there to provide cover fire and watch your back. this method can make you very a very effective team, but it requires stealth and patience.

Squad: a squad sniperis part of a larger unit in field exercises. he is long range fire support. keep tward the back of the group (but not rear-guard) and help your unit in fire-fights. your point-man (forward scout, whatever you want to call it) can call you up to take a long shot when he sees one (anyone at the front should be observant). where you really shine is (still) in ambushes and squad support. shoot the guys, shooting at your guys.

I feel that the squad approach is better for airsoft, it makes better use of time and manpower, and is probably more fun, when you think about it. however works for you.

One closing note about sniper rifles. the upper FPS limit. is not a goal. if your gun is up to 450... you don't need more.

see you in the cross hairs,
Bishop

What Camo is the best? Part 2 - patterns

In our last installment of "What Camo is the best?" we covered a little about how to hide more effectively and how camo helps to break up your body outline and make you harder to see. In this installment, we will cover a few of the common patterns of camo used in airsoft, and weigh out their benefits and drawbacks.

If you like, you can see the last article here: What camo is best, part one.

In our last article, we suggested getting either OD green or woodland as your first camo outfit. OD green stands for Olive Drab Green (often called "Army Green"), and was used for most US military uniforms up through the 1960's. Some US military equipment is still painted OD green, and the color blends into the woods quite well. A person, crouched and still in OD green is reasonably hard to see as long as they use shadow and environment to conceal their outline. In open fields in later Autumn and early spring, it can stand out plainly (as most green based camo will).

In 1981, Woodland was put into use for many US military forces, and many of their allies as well. It was one of the most popular camo patterns ever, and is still widely used by military forces the world over, as well as some fashion designers. Woodland is made up of large splotches of green, brown and tan with black "branches". The only real drawback to it, is that Woodland was really designed for a longer range engagement, and as such it is not quite as good at the close ranges that airsoft is played. (If you get lucky, you might find some ERDL pattern gear in surplus stores, which is what woodland was based on, and is a smaller print.)

Link to the full Wikipedia article on the history of M81 Woodland camo.

Image of a typical section of Woodland Camo:

This is probably a pretty familiar looking camo pattern, and is what a lot of people think of when someone says "camouflage" to them. Since is has been phased out of much of the military, it is relatively easy to find as surplus and can be had for fairly little money. We have seen woodland pattern BDU's at surplus stores ranging in price from 15 dollars to about 30 dollars each for the pants and shirt. Most BDU's are made of a poly cotton blend, and will last for many years of hard wear with just a quick wash now and then to maintain them. You may also be able to find woodland or a close variant at stores like WalMart in their clothing section, though these may not be as ruggedly made as army surplus gear tends to be.

For your tan loadout, "sand" tan or khaki tan work well. A number of companies make tactical pants in khaki that can be found at clothing stores or goodwill. If you want a camo pattern, you might want to look into surplus DCU's (the desert equivalent to woodland BDUs, DCU stands for Desert Combat Uniform, and is a three color pattern). There is also a lot of Desert Storm "chocolate chip" DBDU six color desert camo available on the surplus market these days, and it can be had for similar prices to woodland. For more info on the history of DBDU, see the Wikipedia article here.

Tan stands out somewhat in the woods, but not as badly as it might seem at first, as long as you use the methods we mentioned above to help hide yourself. In tall, dry grasses and areas of dead leaves, tan can blend in quite well. You may also find areas of semi bare ground where tan will blend nicely (like a gravel pit on the event site). If you are playing tan team, try to choose locations that you can best blend with to set up ambushes. In forest, stay low, still and in shadow as much as possible.

As you start looking at camo, you will find a bewildering array of other patterns. Many of these are older patterns or civilian, so be sure to do some research if you want to try to keep your gear close to MilSim standards. Also be aware of the overall color tone of the camo. A good example of "what side is this guy on?" is MultiCam (which is also called scorpion camo). This is the camo pattern that the US military is now switching to (replacing ACU with the Universal Camouflage Pattern or UCP). Multicam is designed to blend in with many environments, and as such it contains a fairly even mix of green and tan colors. For airsoft, this makes it hard to tell which team you are on. And that can lead to everyone on both teams shooting at you.

That said, Multicam works pretty well for many environments like the edges of forest areas, brush and tall grasses.

Image of Multicam:

As you can see in the image, it is hard to say for certain if a player wearing this camo is on the green or tan team. It is partly for that reason that the US military is moving to MultiCam; it blends in reasonably well with a lot of environments like the forest and desert (though perhaps not as effectively as theater specific camo does).

MultiCam is replacing the current Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP), and a lot of guys are using ACU's in UCP. (ACU stands for Army Combat Uniform by the way).

For your reference, here is an image of UCP:

The big problem that the army ran into with UCP was the slate grey base of the pattern; it does tend to stand out against a woodland environment, though it does work somewhat in the current theater of operations according to some accounts we have read. Obviously not well enough though, as it is being replaced. So, with UCP being phased out, it will be available as surplus soon and there will likely be a lot more of it on airsoft fields. It stands out as being neither green or tan.

Other folks prefer MARPAT, shown at left. This is the US marine digital camo in woodland colors, and it is quite effective in our local woods. MARPAT also has the advantage of being clearly on the green team in larger skirmishes.

There is also desert MARPAT, which is clearly on the tan side of things, and works very well in Autumn here as well as early spring.

This article should have given you a bit of an overview on different camouflages used in airsoft commonly, and hopefully has helped you in deciding on what will work for you and your playing fields.

In future articles, we will cover some of the less common camos, how to apply face-paint and more on concealment and movement. Til then, stay low!

Young's Surplus Grand Rapids Michigan

The weather has been good, so we loaded up the Roadcrew and headed to Young's in Grand Rapids to check a few things in our gear for the upcoming season and get some of the replicas chronographed. I gotta say, many of the 'Crews road trips end as "adventures". And "adventures" lead to "experience" and I can tell you from what I have learned, experience points hurt to get. This was a great experience, we learned a lot and no pain what so ever!

TJ is a great guy to work with, and he is very straight up with you about everything. He knows quite a bit about airsoft equipment, and has an extensive stock of replicas, tac gear and accessories, as well as lots of other fun stuff in the store. He always has a smile, usually has an answer and often has a great story too.

We checked in first to make sure he had time to do some work on a few of the replicas, and went back out to get the gear. I have to admit, there was a point it felt like being in a movie... carrying a case full of replicas into the store was a little surreal in spots, but hey, TJ is used to it. Many people bring in their gear for repairs or upgrades. When we take our gear our like this, we are very careful about transporting our replicas, making sure all are in locked cases, and it is wise for every airsoft player to do the same. You don't want a surprise visit from the local authorities wondering about calls they got about "a bunch of people with machine guns" (and yes, the public is under educated, on what a machine gun actually is, and what airsoft actually is. These calls really do happen). So we loaded in the gear and got to work.

TJ quickly chrono'd the replicas for us, fixed an electrical problem in the JG folding stock AK (info on that will be added to the review there) and checked the seal in one of our grenade shells for us. Most of the crew wandered around and found some great buys on boots and other gear as well. Of course, while we were there it got busy, so we kept telling TJ to help out other folk, as we were in no real hurry that day. He was very gracious and gave everyone else the same great service we got, and we got to look around the store even more than we would have been able to otherwise.

We got all of our gear sorted out, learned a number of clever tricks and information and picked up some new gear for the upcoming season. The we loaded everything in the car and headed back home, better equipped and not all that cash strapped for the adventure. Many thanks to TJ at Young's for a great time, good deals and expert, courteous service! Highly recommended!

Young's Surplus is located at:
2955 Division Avenue South
Grand Rapids, MI 49548-1151
(616) 452-4900
www.youngsarmy.com/

What Camo is the best?

We are going to open up a huge can of worms here, and this topic will be one we will cover in a number of later posts as well. The title says it all, and the short answer is "it depends". Sure, that doesn't really seem like an answer, but let's dig a little deeper.

First, lets quickly cover what camouflage is. Camo is a disruptive pattern to make the wearer blend in with their surroundings visually. This is why "it depends" is the best answer to our title question. Where are you? A rocky desert will have different colors and shapes needed to blend in than a deep forest would, for example. In the desert, tans would be the primary color of camouflage clothing, while in the forest greens and darker browns would work well to hide you. But camo alone is not the answer, it is only a part of how we see things.

Humans are more able to see movement than pattern. We can see pattern, but we will notice movement first. Surprisingly, in many cases, a person wearing no camo at all and choosing to sit still against a tree is often far more hidden than another person in the best camo for the environment walking past them. The tree helps to break up the human shape, and our eyes and brains notice the movement before anything else. Little quick story for you; Bishop and I were sitting in white shirts on a hill side, many people approaching did not notice us until they got within AEG range, while they did notice the people moving at the top of the hill 125 feet behind us. Yep, plain sight in white. Had we been in camo they probably would have walked right up on us quite often. (We were the OpForce for this event.)

Being still is only part of the magic formula to being invisible in plain sight though. Humans also easily recognize familiar shapes and outlines. A persons head and shoulders or the outline of your AEG are both easily recognized. If you can stay still with something that breaks up your outline between you and your opponents, you will be much more effective at staying hidden. Brush, grass and small trees all work well. Granted, they impede your vision some, and block your fire lanes, but if you can stay still and unseen it is much easier to ambush your opposition.

Now that we have discussed being still and concealing your outline with your environment a bit, lets get into the actual meat of this article; camo patterns.

Any disruptive pattern will help, especially if it matches the local color scheme and pattern. Some civilian hunting camouflage is made for specific areas, and can be incredibly effective. But most airsoft players will want a more MilSim feel to their games, so they will usually adopt military camo clothing.

For your first airsoft outfit, we strongly recommend either simple OD green or woodland. OD green blends in to most environments very well, and woodland is available as surplus for very low prices compared to more modern/current camo patterns. We have seen woodland BDU pants and coats for 10 to 15 bucks each at gun shows and some surplus places, so shop around a bit and see what you can find. And for OD green, you can often find old OD green coats at goodwill for a few bucks.

For your second outfit, get tan. Most games are green vs tan, so be able to play both sides. Again, goodwill can be a great place to find tan shirts and pants. Once you have a basic kit in two colors, you can start chasing other camo patterns, and that will be the topic of our next post on camo - what camo patterns work for what environments and so forth.

Til then, stay low and stay still out there. Take time, squeeze that trigger and win the game!

More soon!

dkabcustoms shop notes rolls out

The RPG 7 prototype we have been working on is done, and as soon as eVike gets the green gas to us, we are out in the field testing! Granted, we will not be reviewing our own stuff but hey, shameless self promotion.

And on that note... check out our new build blog at http://dkabcustoms.blogspot.com! We will be cross posting some things here and there, but from now on most of our build info will be found there along with some how to articles that will also be posted here. Hope to see you all there!

Airsoft Mine Tests, part... a lot

It was a beautiful day out, warm and sunny and the snow is finally less than three feet deep, so we hauled the mines out for some longer range testing along with the tape measures. Here's the quick skinny:

The mini mine - This little CQB oriented mine is throwing a decent handful of bbs out to about a 25 foot effective range. (About 20 bbs, .12gram). The maximum we found a bb was out at 53 feet. The mass of shot was still knee high at 25 feet and could be felt through heavy pants.

The ... other mine, codename "radio" - This mine is throwing .12gram bbs mixed with .20 bbs out to 88 feet max, with the cluster of bbs mostly hitting out to about 80 feet. The mine has an effective range of about 65 to 70 feet and a spread at that distance of about 20 feet. We loaded this one with about 50 bbs on each shot and fired over clean snow so it was fairly easy to find the hit locations.

All in all... they are operating right about where we designed them to run, and are testing well. If you would like one, the mini cqb mines are available, just click the "for sale" tab on the upper bar! Help fund the Roadcrew's horrible ideas! Er... bb fund...

Airsoft "IED's" prototypes are in the works

In related news to our new line of mini mines, we are working on prototypes for airsoft "IED's" for airsoft opfor's and as challenges/objectives for airsoft forces.

What is an airsoft IED? Well, it's a spring powered "claymore" or mine disguised as some everyday object that you might find on the airsoft field, or other improvised munitions. For example, we have a "wing bomb" from a plane, about 3 feet long complete with fins and a nose cone that has to be "disarmed" as part of an objective for airsoft scenarios or wars. How do you disarm it? It is pretty much like playing the old game "operation", while taking fire from your opponents. And if you screw up taking out the funny bone? Instead of a light and a buzzer, the mine pops open throwing a large number of bbs in all directions.

These airsoft "IED's" are intended to give players more options in their scenarios, and increase the level of intensity on the field. Of course, we are striving for safety first, so there will be a long testing process to make sure these are as safe or safer than many other commercially available devices on the market today. As with any airsoft device, goggles will be required and we recommend you wear goggles while loading any airsoft mine or even grenade shells, just in case.

Stay safe, keep your eyes open out there!

Airsoft mines are done and ready to go!

Our airsoft "mini" mines are complete and ready to roll out!

They are spring powered, 7 1/2" long by 3 1/2" wide by 2 1/4" deep, hand painted in green based camo (tan coming soon!) and are ready to ship. They are built of sturdy 3/4" wood with a metal trigger and come with a length of clear mono-filament line to use as a trip wire.

These little guys will throw airsoft bbs out at least 25 feet, with some well loaded throws reaching 40 feet.

Cost per mine is $25 postage paid (Continental US orders only at this time please). If you want one or more, just shoot us an email at roadcrewreview@gmail.com to place an order. We can take check, money order or paypal payments and ship via USPS priority mail. Order 4 mines and get one free (limited time offer)! Contact us for payment details.

Buy a few and support the Roadcrew Review! Sling color may vary, and you can request specific colors.

These durable little spring powered mines are the first in a series of roadcrew products, with fully disguised "IED" mines just around the corner. These mini mines will be available for the foreseeable future, but double check with us to make sure we have em in stock if you need them in a hurry!

Cold Steel rubber training knives

Ok, let's start by saying that you really do not "need" a training knife for airsoft. Most fields use "touch kill" knife kill rules (ie, place your hand on your opponents shoulder and say "knife kill" or something along these lines instead of chasing each other around with silly foam Q tips). However...

Dang, these are cool.

Made of Santoprene, a flexible rubber, the look and feel on these training knives is exceptional. And they should be, these are made by Cold Steel. Cold Steel is a company who makes some mighty fine steel field tools like knives, machetes, and hatchets for outdoorsmen. All of these training knives feel good in the hand, are quite accurate in blade shape and are reasonably safe. The classic Peace Keeper 1 model is our favorite for a number of reasons that we will explain below, but all are well above average for a non-essential accessory.

Hands down, the Peace Keeper models are our favorite; they feel great in the hand, will fit in many different places in your vest or web system and throw better than any of the other models. Oh yeah, we throw em! (Aim for the body). Sometimes you need a quick distraction, and pulling and throwing one of these rubber training knives at someone will really get their attention, even if you miss. The 7" blade gives good reach and balance and the textured handle makes keeping a good grip with sweaty hands easy enough. The blade is a double edged, spear point style in the flavor of classic historical combat knives like the fairbain-sykes and many others.

The Military Classic model is our second favorite, being similar in shape and size to many modern military issue combat knives. While not a direct copy of the classic Ka-Bar, it will feel similar in shape. It has a slight drop handle and throws reasonably easily (the drop in the handle makes it easier to use in it's real steel cousin, and helps throwing slightly).

A lot of guys will like the slightly longer Black Bear model, with a roughly 8 1/2" long blade and a sub hilt "fighting knife" style handle, and it handles well once you get used to the small sub hilt projection that lays between the index and middle finger when holding the knife. However, it can make some inverted grips tricky (ie, for the "cool factor" in "knife combat"). It does not throw as well as the Peace Keeper either.

A lot of guys will also go for the Tanto training knife model, and it is comfortable in the hand, though the most difficult for many of our people to throw accurately and effectively (ie, hitting the target with the blade first, not the handle or side of the replica). The deeper curve in the spine of the blade may make it harder for some users to use effectively in inverted grips and some other maneuvers.

A little reminder on safety from Cold Steel, taken from their descriptions on these training knives:

"Each has been carefully fashioned to look as realistic as possible so they can be effectively used in solo practice, training drills, disarm drills, and demonstrations and any other activity where you want a reasonably close approximation of realism but not the extreme danger and risk associated with an actual knife. The Santoprene rubber blades are soft enough to prevent the likelihood of most bodily injury. They do however, have a level of firmness that might cause injury to the face or the eyes, so it is recommended that appropriate eye protection or a fencing mask is utilized at all times when using a Cold Steel rubber training knife. "

All in all, these knives have been used safely by many groups, and with a little care and good goggles (which you are wearing, right?!!) should be a safe addition to your local airsoft events. And hey, it looks cool to have a knife in your boot too, right? Or several shoved into a shotgun shell bandoleer across your chest while toting a SAW like an action movie hero!

Overall:

Usefulness - 2 out of 5. You really don't need these, as most fields use "touch kill" rules. They will work in a pinch if your AEG is out, your spring pistol mag is empty and you still have a few opponents to deal with.

If you want to add one to your kit just for the complete look and cool factor:

5 out of 5 shot burst for the Peace Keeper and Classic Military
4 out of 5 shot burst for the Black Bear and Tanto (as they are harder to throw and use in some positions)

D.I.Y. Airsoft

save some money, score some points, Do it Yourself!

we here at the review are all about making due. we make the best of what we have...it helps that we can turn what we have into a huge steaming pile of awesome!
I've stated before that i'd like to lower the cost of airsoft. make it an easier sport to get into, ect.
costs add up in short order. Gun's, magazines, goggles, camo, tactical vests, helmets, canteens, gun cases, bags, bbs, it gets expensive fast. anything you can do lower cost of accessories should be worth it to you.
I'm not advocating D.I.Y. A.E.G.'s (yet ;) (yes, i used an emoticon, get over it)) but there are parts of your load out that you can make with a little skill and know-how.
paint and dye can go a long way, and are relatively inexpensive.
a sewing machine can be gold for an innovative player. think about it, how much do old clothes cost? nothing, to very little at a thrift store. don't know how to sew? spend a little quality time with loved one who knows how, break out the old sewing machine, and learn a new skill (yes, I'm encouraging family time here).

dye your own camo (it'll bleed, be prepared) make a bag for your mags out of scrap. build a six gun case for your team out of scrap plywood you probably keep in your shed paint it green and go.

how cool is a denim tactical vest? it's use is limited in a milsim, unless you're opfor, then you are set. outfit six guys in this fashion and call yourselves the "Denim Avengers". now you look like a team, so you act like a team. you play better. organizers see you and think "we need to do a sim with a street gang, and I need their numbers"

possibilities are endless. i'm deliberately being vague with details because i want you to be creative, so go for it, we want to here your ideas. so give em too us.

Review For DE Tri-shot Shotgun Fullstock

This is bishop's review of the D.E. full stock shotgun. Angel will change this as he sees fit.

I picked this gun up on sale (impulse buy!) I've been curious about the tri-shots, and i need a good CQB weapon.

First impressions: the gun came in the same box they all seem to come in. so I'll skip that.

This gun looks sexy! you hold it in your hands, and there are no doubts. you are not holding a toy! plastic frame... that's not great. but this is a $40-$60 gun so we can't complain. it looks and handles like a shotgun should. this airsoft replica use shot shell shaped magazines that are fed into the gun. they hold about 30 rounds (mag springs need to be broken in a bit. the gun comes with one shell (buy more (+-$15 for 6))

a big thing that i noticed when i picked up the gun was it's ambidexterity. everything except the mag release is fully ambidextrous. the safety, sling mounts, and pump-action are just as good for a right or left handed shooter. the feel of the gun is right. the pump shotgun is a very intuitive design, but form is nothing without function. so it's time to shoot it

I loaded up a few shell mags with the included speed loader (they are hard to load by hand), hit the mag release, put in the shell, and was ready to go. i'm shooting at a big oak tree about forty feet away. the oak tree is a big target and I can see the white bbs hit it against the snowy backdrop of Michigan in the winter. I pump the first shot, it takes some oomph, but i pull the trigger and the gun goes off with a very impressive bark and three bbs hit in a four inch cluster right where i aimed them. lets break that last sentence down...

pumping takes some force. this gun does have a strength requirement. for any dungeons and Dragons players, I would call the requirement to fire it 10 (totally average) and you should be at a 12-13 (above average, but not a body builder) to fire it all day. the spring in this gun is very strong (like a standard spring shotgun times three... or something) and you will have to be strong enough to pull it back. this is my biggest problem with the gun, but it's not a problem for me, so consider it before purchase

This gun makes a distinctive sound when fired. just like the weapon it emulates. this replica makes an impressive bark, that makes for an intimidating experience. let me clarify, loud by airsoft standards, not by gun standards.

the gun has a spread pattern much like a shotgun should, that is, not nearly as big a video games have you believe. this gun will not take out three zombies standing shoulder to shoulder at five feet. it could take out clustered up opponents from about 70 feet on (another reason not to cluster up) there is a beautiful exception. slam firing (holding the trigger while pumping the gun) increases spread. i don't know why. that same tree has a +- 16 inch spread when slam fired. this can be used to your advantage at close ranges.

the guns accuracy drops off dramatically at about eighty feet at seventy five feet, you can aim at a stationary torso center of mass and expect to hit it every time. the spread goes wild shortly thereafter. the bbs do carry quite a ways 150+ feet, but it's the middle of winter, so its hard to get accurate data. this, like it's namesake, is not a distance weapon.

story time. we're organizing a new airsoft group, and i had some friends over to pitch airsoft to them. they took an immediate interest the gun, because it's cool and in the right price range. I handed it too...I'll temporally codename them the Wizard, and Kitten. anyway, I handed it to Wizard. he had never handled an airsoft replica before. he intuitively knew how to use it, and loved it so much, he's ordered one. Kitten, tried to use it, but wasn't strong enough to work the pump. I handed her one of our single shot springers... her spas 12 is now in the mail. we broke out my JG AK. they loved that as well, but thought of that as an investment down the road.

this is a great entry level gun! the price is right, it's useful, it emulates what it's supposed to be well. it's good for CQB at any skill level. for milsims, shotguns are employed by all armies on earth, so it will fit with whatever team your on.

conclusion. I have a hard on for this gun. if your strong enough to work it. add it to your collection. tri shots go on sale from time to time, so watch the sites. this makes a great starter gun, loaner for when you've got a newbie, if you're playing in a springer only game (I recommend them from time to time) your sitting pretty with this. if you're into CQB, this is a must have for somebody on the team (breach man) and is a good conversation piece. I have some doubts on it's overall durability, but you shouldn't expect it to last forever, and you only spent $50 on it. I wish they made a "full metal" version of the gun, but i think that the manufacturers view this as "just a springer".

overall
4 out of 5. the plastic frame weakens the gun. it's my only real problem with it. it does what it's supposed to do, the price is right. I can't give a point value to a strength requirement, you should know if you're borderline, and most guns can be returned if it's not for you.

Airsoft Football

Duck and take cover all, a new training game for you is incoming!

After the Big Game, we realized that we should have posted our airsoft football game ideas, so you all out there can run this as well. We have run this a couple times and it is a lot of fun and doesn't take many props to play.

This game is intended as a team building exercise, and encourages moving in a unit to protect the football. Good communication and staying spread out but close enough to cover each other helps a lot. Feel free to use any weird way to choose sides so people are playing with new folks as much as possible (like everyone with facial hair on one team, or everyone wearing white socks... what ever works). This will help people get used to dropping into a new team quickly and that is a very handy skill to have at larger events. (Ever loose your guys at a big event? If you can grab 5 other guys at a res point in a large skirmish, head out and operate as a team right away you spend far more trigger time, have more fun and meet new friends a whole lot faster than if you spent half the day wandering around in the woods trying to refind your buddies, right?)

Here are the basic rules of it all:

You need a "football". We usually use a large ammo can filled with sand. Any decent sized container with some weight will work; coolers, foot lockers, what have you. The game works better if the football is large enough that two people are needed to carry it effectively, since this is a team building exercise.

A field to play on. We like to play this in mixed woods; pines, open hardwoods and scrub. This forces some tactical decisions like do you take it down the scrubby side of the field and possibly get caught up closer. Or do you move through the open trees and possibly get taken by snipers at a distance? A fairly large field makes for a longer game, and you might want to time the game on a bigger field.

End zones. These should be the same size, one at each end of the field. A couple tall sticks with flags attached or spray paint on the grass works. You need a clear line at each endzone, if the football crosses it, its a score.

Benches. Well, not physical benches, but each team has a res area along side the field. When you get hit, you go back to your team's sideline, wait a minute or do 10 pushups then come back in. (We allow players to choose between a minute or 10 pushups so they have the option to take a rest or hit the ground and come back in fast but more worn).

Players. Shirts vs skins is probably out, but some way to differentiate teams helps here.

The rules are pretty simple beyond that. The football starts in the center of the field, each team starts in their end zone. The first team to grab the football and move it into their opponents endzone scores. If you want, time the game and at half time the teams switch ends. We have variants for real football scoring, but you will probably want to run it simply at first; one point for each time a team crosses the goal line with the football.

If you want a real meat grinder version, put the res points in the end zones. This game is much more difficult to score in; as the ball gets closer your opponents res faster and are right where you need to go. Be careful about engagement limits in these games, as there will be some very close up firefights in this version.

Another variant is played more true to football; everyone has spring pistols and rubber training knives, the plays start on a line of scrimmage, and when the football hits the ground or the person/people carrying it are hit, the play stops. You then reset the line and make another play. On this version, we have run four plays per side only, no first downs at all to make the play move faster. A two man run over the line is 7 points (touchdown) and a one man run over the line is a 3 point field goal. Usually this variant is played with a smaller "ball" like a 50 caliber ammo can or the like.

So grab your gear, find a football and have at it!

Oh, and here is a little secret... The ammo can has to cross the line, the contents may or may not have to. In our games, we specify that the can must cross the line, but we have never said that the contents have to. No one has realized this little semantic principal yet, and no one has yet dumped out the sand... I'm betting they will after this post though.

A quick guide to converting feet per second to miles per hour or meters per second

Most airsoft replicas are measured in the feet per second (fps) that they propel a projectile, but a lot of people may not know exactly how fast that really is. We are pretty used to being in cars moving at miles per hour, so this article will give you a quick and dirty way to get rough conversions from one to the other, along with a “gustimate” on meters per second as well.

For some the math might be a little hairy, so a table of common fps numbers are listed below and you can guess the in between numbers as needed or dump the conversion into a search engine to get an exact number.

For converting MPH to FPS, take half the number and add it in. For example, 200 mph plus half, 100 mph gives you 300 fps. This is not quite exact, but is close. Just a bit under half (40 to 45%ish) gives you a guesstimate number of 90 meters per second (this is very not exact but is easy to remember on the fly in the field).

Feet per second to MPH is a little trickier, being about 2/3. So if you can do the math in your head, if you have fps, multiply it by 0.66 to get your MPH numbers. The same sort of iffy math works for meters per second too... just multiply by .3 to get a pretty close approximation.

Meters per second are where things get useful; some springs are rated as “Mxxx” (example M120 springs). This is how many meters per second the given spring would push a .20 gram bb from an otherwise stock TM replica. Multiplying the mps by .33 will give you a ball park fps, but if you are aiming for a specific fps do the real math and take into consideration other factors like your cylinder, piston, barrel bore and any other mods you may have made to the power system. Of course, do your research and educate yourself on any possible mods you might want to undertake well before you attempt them!

That about covers our quick and dirty conversion formulas, and the chart below can be used as a reference if needed. We may post a more extensive chart for use here in the future in 5 fps increments that can be printed out and kept in your gear case.

The chart below is rounded to the nearest whole number, with the exception of 330 fps, which is exactly 225 mph.

Feet/second Miles/hour Meters/second

100 68 30
150 102 46
200 136 61
250 170 76
300 205 91
330 225* 101
350 239 107
400 273 122

Hmm. Post posting it seems the table did not post in quite as planned, so you will have to eyeball it and see if you can figure it out until we re-update with the extended table. Sorry guys!

Dug out and back at it!

Now that "Snowmageddon 2011" is behind us, and our testing area is again dug out, we are back to testing products for the R'crew and we will have a number of new posts in the next few days. Stay tuned folks, the fun is just starting!

In the works; fun with gas pistol replicas, more on airsoft mines and a few surprises.

Stay safe!

pre-emptive apology

It's bishop again,
i get called a self-righteous, arrogant prick sometimes...and it's not completely unjustified. I am not always right, and I rarely mean the things i say as set in stone. when i say things, I'm not out to offend, I'm out to inspire. don't take up arms to smite me if you disagree. (but feel free to disagree)

our target audience is newbies and intermediate players. the hardcore among you, are welcome to read, contribute and benifit from our writings and reviews, but when i say "most players...whatever" (most players get destracted contemplating how Pete Best's removal as drummer from the beatles affected pop-culture (I did say i can be wrong)) I'm saying most new players.

in conclusion,
I am to be taken with a grain of salt...and a shot of scotch.
peace

why train?

we run into a lot of players who love to play, and hate to train. this is just an observation, but it seems that the more money someone spends on their gear, the more they hate it (just a generalization based on my observations, don't lose your minds now)
this comes down to a basic problem I'm seeing with the sport. so many people ARE their equipment, I'm not saying they lean on it, it's all they are. I probably just lost any reader who needed to hear this, but I'm gonna type it anyway.
ask yourself some questions. How good an airsoft player am I? how much effectiveness do I lose without high cap magazines? mid caps (real cap only)? take away the A.E.G. how good are you now? I'm getting at an old saying, "If you are not good enough without it, are you ever enough with it?"
most players hate to train, because it forces them to realize that they can be better, and boy do they hate acknowledging they might not be god's gift to airsoft. many players hit that "pretty good" level of play and believe that it's the best it can get, then their abilities slip. how many times in the world of sports, has a number one draft pick been a disappointment because of his own laziness or complacency with his abilities (Oakland, anybody?)
Airsoft is a hobby, and a sport. either way you approach it, it takes work. I've played with guys who take a "train as you play" approach, and it doesn't work. imagine a military where you signed up, they handed you gear, and just dropped you into a combat zone, your C.O. mumbling something about "you'll figure it out" as he closes the door. how effective a military is that? or a sports team that played games, but didn't practice... at all.

and when atheletes train, they work the basics. and that's what needs to be done in airsoft.
so don't gripe about limited ammunition for an event. (if the rules are the same for all sides, nobody has an unfair advantage. the only advantage is the ability to make shots count...and if you're the one bitching. i have to assume you can't)
I recommend tuning low-tec games, springer only, springers and gas guns, games to hammer fundamentals, you can play and train, you just have to play the right games.
i get out there, and I see players who are good no matter what they bring on to the field. I am not one of those player's yet, but i'm working on it. Bjorn is. Bjorn will walk out with nothing but knives and leave a squad of four with A.E.G's shaking in their booties (because he'll kill them. He'll kill them dead)
on this note, i have to give a nod to K-zoo air. they train... almost too much. and it shows! at Nine Hammers, they were out numbered 10 to 1, and handed everyone their asses!
that day I heard a lot of people give their "if only's" to explain why they weren't performing. "if only I could use more high caps" "if only i had an ares" "If only i could find (insert team name here), we'd go kick some ass." nobody in K-zoo air had these problems. and if they did, they dealt with it. because they trained for it.
Now we here at the Road Crew Review have been, and will continue to harp on training. we are going to be training some rookies as soon as spring breaks, so it's on our minds. stay sharp.
Bishop out.

Muscle Memory Excercises

"I know it is wet, and the sun is not sunny. but you can still sit indoors and train to be a better airsoft player."
fun fact: you have to do something roughly 10,000 times for it to become automatic.
10,000 times!
circus performers (most of them) practice their stunts 10,000 times before it's seen by an audience.
our police and military practice basic tactical moves religiously, to make sure they have it down when it counts.
athletes do much the same, run "drills" everyday, honing their skills.
apply the same mentality to airsoft. you have to draw weapons, load magazines, swap magazines (without losing them, because they are not cheap), change weapons, acquire targets, use hand signals, and engage in many activities. you will also need to perform these tasks while standing, kneeling, crouching, prone, behind cover,on your back. while your doing all of this, adrenaline's pumping, and your being shot at. do you think maybe you should have your moves down?
let's have a pick-your-own-adventure story to follow my point.

you are in the middle of an airsoft game, everything was going well, but your team split up, and your parter's been hit, now your on your own. you enter a clearing.

WALK IN (1)

STEALTH IN (2)

1. You walk in, stomp on a twig as hard as you can. unfazed, you keep tromping. a bb comes out of nowhere and strikes you in the chest. you yell "hit" and your adventure is over.

2. You stay low and move to cover, stepping over a twig to not be heard. you survey the area ahead of you, and you see them. 3 enemy players at the edge of your guns range, it's a long shot, but you can make it. you have the element of surprise. you take aim. everything is perfect, they're never gonna know what hit them. you fire!.
your triumph turns to panic as you realize your gun has jammed and you've given away your position. your enemies turn and you hear one shout "eyes on one", and you know he isn't talking about someone else.
it's time to draw your pistol from your hip holster and save yourself. you did practice drawing while crouched, right?

UMMM, LET'S SAY I DID NOT, WHAT THEN? 1

I GOT THAT DOWN PAT 2

1. you grab the pistol, fumbling with the holster snap costs you precious time, you can't get the darn gun to break free, it's being pinched in the holster. you stand to free the weapon, forgetting your cover, and get lit up by 3 guys. You yell "hit", and your adventure is over.

2. in one fluid motion, you kick out your leg to relieve pressure on the holster, unsnapping and drawing your gas pistol. your thumb automatically clicks the safety off (because i didn't feel like making the safety another part of this example) you remember the WWI story of Sgt. Alvin York and pop the guys back to front with your pistol, proving once again that life imitates airsoft. congratulations! you've won.

silly, i know, but there's reasons to do this training.
take out your weapons and run these things. put on your tactical vest and run magazine changes. practice every aspect of weapon use. if it saves you half a second, it's worth the work, you get new toys, run the drills. make it part of maintenance on your equipment. check everything out, then run the motions.
if you're going into the military, this makes a lot of sense, and can give you a leg up in training. so get out there, work on your game.

Snowmageddon

So we are holed up at Roadcrew HQ, waiting for the impending blizzard, and got discussing winter games and all that they entail. We have talked about this here before, but hey, its too dang cold to be outside playing with stuff to review tonight. Or so says the weather man. In reality, the rest of the nation may not be used to this, but here in West Michigan 12" of blowing snow is fairly normal for a week day in mid winter (look up "lake effect snow" sometime if you want to better understand this). So while you are experiencing what we are used to, here's something to read:

When playing in snow and cold there are a few things that need to be specially addressed.

First is the cold. Wear loose layers of natural fabrics close to your skin, and something that is wind proof on the outside. The layers trap air, which your body heats up, and keep you warm. The outer layer prevents the colder air from moving all the warm air away from your body. A hat and gloves are critical, as are warm socks and good footwear. Your hat might cover the top vents on your goggles, so fogging can be as much of an issue in winter as it is in summer, and fog can ice when you take your goggles off for a break. You might even want a scarf to cover your lower face and neck, not only does it protect you from cold and wind, it keeps bbs from stinging as badly when they hit you. And cold skin is less flexible than warm skin, so you are more likely to welt from being hit in the cold too.

Second, your AEG isn't going to like the cold. The battery gets weaker as the temp drops, and the cold could also make some parts on your gun more fragile. Many plastics become brittle after the thermometer gets down to the bottom. Now, this is a great time to get out your springers. They don't get any weaker as the temp drops, and you won't have issues with your range or rate of fire dropping, at least until you accidentally freeze yourself to it. Don't lick a metal AEG when it's really cold, even if triple dog dared. Just saying.

Third, and this is one that might not be obvious right away. Many high quality airsoft bbs are white. Which completely disappear in snow. As in you can't see your own rounds going out. If snow is falling, at times you can't even tell if your replica is firing. This might be a case to run those atomic green and red .12s you have in the back of your closet from when you got your first springer. But only ONLY in lower quality springers. AEG's should never be fired with lower quality .12 bbs, and any springer with a tightbore should also never be run with these bbs. They tend to not be as perfectly round, and a few may even have mold flash that will catch inside the barrel and cause a jam.

Now on to some of the positives in playing in snow!

Deep snow shows tracks really well. This is useful if you are playing a game where you are trying to hunt down a smaller force.

Deep snow absorbs sound, making sneaking easier. On the other hand, it also mutes your teams verbal communication somewhat.

Wet packing snow can be easily made into defensible positions. Sure a snow fort won't hold against sustained AEG fire all day, but hey, their batteries are going to be worn down by the time they manage to gnaw a hole through to you, and they will probably be low on ammo as well.

Snowballs can fill in for grenades or work as distractions.

Snow on low pine limbs makes great cover and concealment. Especially if you can crawl in from the back so your tracks might not be noticed.

Once you are done, make sure to warm up your gear slowly and in a dry location to reduce condensation (water running down the inside of your AEG isn't a good thing). Hang your cloths to dry, and let your body warm up by taking off any wet layers (from snow or sweat). Be aware of frostbite, and if you think you have it, consult a better resource than an airsoft blog on dealing with it. Or better yet, be careful not to get it in the first place.

Ok, for now that about covers Snowmageddon 11. Get out there and play in the snow, but bundle up.