In this trying times when everything we took for granted is being questioned and assessed for safety airsoft is showing it’s strengths.
For keeping ourselves and loved ones safe we need to follow only these 4 rules:
1 – If you are feeling sick stay at home and if you are showing COVID-19 symptoms seek medical advice or help.
2 – When out and about wear a mask preferably something with FPP2 or FPP3 rating if you have access to, if not, surgical mask and even T-shirt cloth mask will do the trick.
3 – Wash your hands regularly with soap or with alcohol hand-rub.
4 – Social distancing of at least 1,5m.
And now you are asking how can airsoft check all four without a problem.
1 – the players I know and play with are staying at home even when there is a small inconvenience like a light drizzle or last nights hungover. So if the symptoms appear they will stay home. If not game organizers can check their temperature with some nifty IR thermometers that are appearing around in stores now.
2 – wearing masks is what we do, as we wish that a bb and a tooth would never met. And as I have seen a lot of milsim players with gas mask or even with only bandannas we have the mask covered. I do recommend that you upgrade your airsoft masks with something like 3M 7500 series and paired with 6035 P3R filters you are all set. They look bad-ass and you will be comfortable all day. And please don’t start with I CANT BREATHE nonsense. If that would be the case half of the military would be dead.
You can even go DEVTAC JAPAN route and get yourself a truly legit piece of kit.
3 – having a small bottle of hand disinfectant on yourself is now already an norm so I do believe some airsoft manufacturers will start making pouches for them if they have not already.
4 – social distancing is easily achieved, as people are usually arriving with their own cars alone or in small groups of four (depending of the gear that can be shoved successfully or unsuccessfully in the trunk). So of we keep those groups during preparation for the game separated or on safe distance we are all set. In this times I would recommend abandoning CQB games and organizing modified outdoor games.
Some tips for the organizers of outdoor games.
1 – beefing should be done through the megaphone or through PMR radios with channels stated in invitation beforehand.
2 – J measurements should be done out in the open with one member of group bringing all the friends replicas for testing. I would recommend using one of the best chronographs for this role the Xcortech X3500 . In this series the display can be mounted away from the body so the referee can still check the guns power without going against social distancing rules.
3 – abandon the silent kills rules.
4 – abandon the spawn points and implement the medic rules (1 medic from a group of 4), solo players can have remote healing with medic players kneeling near them but still apart (and not engaging the enemy for 30 seconds).
4 – organize some new game modes where players are not playing in groups bigger than 4 or 5. With this you can have some really nice flanking maneuver engagements. Or you can cater to the solitary sniper game-play where players are trying to find or protect vital but scattered points against the dreaded sniper teams.
5 – strict compliance to the rules above. If player is not following you have all the right to kick them out of the game and add them to the blacklist for future events.
6 – try to have your player databases of attendees saved somewhere for at least a month, so if health officials do contact you with the news, that one of the player was infected, but didn’t show the symptoms, you can inform the others to be attentive to their health.
All in all your imagination is the limit and you can easily organize safe and fun events.
Everything depends on the current situation in your country and if gatherings are still forbidden then don’t push your luck. Stay at home and do some maintenance or finally tweak your replica to perfection. Or start a new load-out, get the new optic you wanted or chat with your friends that are stuck in the same position as you. End of the world is not jet here so take care of yourself and your loved ones.
Hopefully we shall see each other through the sights soon.
Take care.