airsofter.world

Unencumbered by any knowledge of the facts, Airsoft is regularly dismissed by outsiders as an activity that glorifies violence and warfare. Fortunately, we in the airsoft world know much better because there is a side to airsoft and airsofters that outsiders do not see.

Just to get straight to the point. Yes, we are engaged in a sport that simulates warfare. We dress accordingly, our equipment and weapons (we prefer to talk about replicas) are mostly one-to-one copies of the real steel versions and we conduct "fights". In short, playing soldier for adults.

Okay, so we play soldier for adults. You can think what you want, but I want to make one thing very clear right away. Violence has nothing to do with our sport, absolutely nothing, in any way. We call our sport a gentlemen's sport for good reason. To start with, we have to adhere to fairly strict rules. I'm not going to list them all here, but let's put it this way, we are in no way comparable to idiots who, at least here in the Netherlands, regularly make the news because they walk around in the street with a "toy gun" bought on holliday.

So we're not aggressive, "toy guns" waving and war-glorifying idiots. But what are we then?

The airsoft community in the Netherlands, but also in most other countries where airsoft is a thing, is very diverse  and players come from all walks of life and professions ranging from construction workers, doctors and defense personnel to truck drivers, bakers and just about everything you can imagine. The only thing we might fall short of are the ladies, at least here in the Netherlands. There aren't that many, but they are always welcome players. But what we all have in common is that we have a heart for the sport. On the field we face each other very hard and can be quite fanatical but always with respect for each other. We are friendly to each other and say sorry when things go wrong and congratulate each other regularly when we have been knocked out by an opponent in a very skillful way. And after the game it is generally laughing till we drop and telling tough stories in the safe zone.

And, of course, it's not always rose scent and moonshine. Also in airsoft there are sporadic irritations because someone does not take his hit after being hit or does things that are not appropriate. But often this is not the result of intent, but because someone in the heat of battle, for example, simply does not realize that he has been hit. And then there are the Marshalls who manage things in the right direction if a situation still threatens to get out of hand.

The airsoft community is quite a bit different. I think Mark Stakenburg organizer and chief officer of Critical Hit in Valburg the Netherlands ( https://critical-hit.nl/ ) has a perfect description of what airsoft is to most of us:

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WHAT IS AIRSOFT..

here we go again, do you know paintball, well it's something like that but completely different. We shoot with those 6mm balls, and replicas of real weapons. Airsoft is just much more fun, more exciting etc etc...

Only my vision has changed after last weekend in Gasselte how to explain Airsoft.
And how did that happen. †

After we sat by the campfire last Saturday evening. After finishing a wonderful Skirm day with a BBQ for almost 100 people. there were about 40/50 Airsofters left at the campfire.
The same Airsofters who had shot each other with BBs on that day.
Hunted, crawled through the bushes, Sneaky knife kills, lie waiting for the "Enemy",
Forgot to pan, Standard Skirm shit

And then when you look around the campfire,
Field owner, Players, Organizers, Marshalls everyone is sitting together and mixed up.
Stories to tell about that day, or nice cool stories from previous Skirm. All while enjoying a nice juice, snacks. and some music.

Just a really nice picture.

a picture that tells everything that Airsoft is.

Airsoft is a shooting sport. But a sporty recreational shooting sport

Team sport with a very high level of Brotherhood.

That's what Airsoft is.

Greeting,
Grey Wolf
(Mark Stakenburg)