About Airsoft

Just starting out?  Here’s some of the basics you need to know!

What is airsoft?

Think of it as paintball but without the paint, or grown up lasertag, or even nerf wars on steroids!  Attendees are split into teams and engage in close quarter combat at each other using rifles, shotguns, SMGs, pistols and grenades whilst trying to meet game objectives.

How do the guns work?

There are different set ups (gas, electric and spring being the basic concepts) but they all do the same thing – which is fire 6mm hard plastic BBs at your opponents at ranges of up to 75 metres!

How do you know you are hit?

You will feel it, hear it, or both! 

What do you do when you are hit?

You stick your hand up and shout hit, there will then be rules in the game that will tell you what to do – usually either wait for a medic (who will tag you back in) or go back to a re-gen point (where you are allowed to come back into play from.)

Whats so cool about airsoft?

The weapons don’t look like paintball guns – they are full replicas – so they look and feel the part – in fact several armed forces and police forces around the world use airsoft guns as a cheap and safe way to train!

How do I get involved?

Well first things first – you can’t just go out an buy an airsoft gun – plus you need to aware – there are very cheap options on the marketplace that the seller’s will try to make sound good – but they will likely not be competitive or usable in an airsoft game at a site like ours due to poor range and quality.

So can I hire equipment?

Yes!  If you are just starting out you probably want to try the sport out and make sure its for you.  Secondly, sale of realistic airsoft guns is restricted in this country, so if you are under 18 you can’t buy them.  If you are older you will probably want to obtain site membership to make sure you stay on the right side of the law.

For all of these reasons we offer hire equipment.  With this you get the hire of a capable AEG (Airsoft Electric Gun) with a high capacity magazine, we’ll sort out the batteries for it – and keep you in the game should there be any breakdowns or issues.  We also give you a bottle of 3000 rounds (usually plenty for a day – you get to keep any you have left at the end!) and full face protection to keep your eyes and of course your good looks intact!

It costs an extra £20 to hire kit – but with an airsoft rifle alone easily costing over £200 – before you’ve added batteries, magazines, chargers, and face protection – it really is great value for your money – think of it as a risk free way of seeing if airsoft is for you!

When booking simply select “Hire” to ensure you reserve full equipment!

Is it expensive?

It can be as expensive as you want to let it become.  You can buy a pump action spring shotgun and run around in a t-shirt and barely spend any cash.  Or you can go out and buy the most expensive rifle you can find, and buy special forces armour and uniforms (you can easily wave goodbye to thousands of pounds if you go to this extreme!)

The joy of airsoft – particularly CQB – is you can have all the gear and no idea – its a heady mix of skill, nerve and luck that separates the winners and the losers.

Are there any Age Restrictions?

Its important you understand these.  You can read full details on our age restrictions page. Basically if you are 12 or under you can’t play.  If you are between 13 and 17 there are certain restrictions and you need to be accompanied on site, if you are 18 there are no pre-requirements.

How do the guns work?

Like the real thing.  You load ammunition into the magazine, then put the magazine in the gun.  Don’t worry – if you are hiring from us we’ll talk you through everything before we get started – but the basics are you see someone on the other team, you point the gun at them, and you get stuck in!  Once you are hit there will be different rules – either you will go back to a respawn point or someone will need to “medic” you – don’t worry we’ll explain it all at the briefing at the start of the day.

What about tactics?

Its not too difficult – the objectives will vary but we’ll tell you before every game what they are.  Listen carefully as rules will vary so you will be faced with different challenges every time!  

Teamwork is key and should not be underestimated.  Communication and co-ordination will beat brute force everytime!

Everyone was new once so if you are not sure what you should do ask the marshals or other players on your team!  The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask!

Does it hurt?  

We say that roughly 80% of time it doesn’t.  Quite a cryptic answer but let us explain.  If a BB hits you on a chest when you are wearing a jumper or body armour then you will just hear it – it will rarely hurt.  If it pings off your safety specs – it will give you a fright but it won’t hurt.  However, if it hits bare skin, a finger, your nether regions, back of the thigh etc – it can nip quite a bit – especially at the sort of close range you will experience in CQB.

For these reasons we recommend full face protection – as a shot to the mouth can result in you requiring some painful and expensive dentistry work!  We also recommend covering up with long sleeves, gloves etc as the typical engagement distances tend to be sub 10 metres, rather than upward of the 50 metres you would normally experience in woodland games.

If you have experienced woodland airsoft before we’d warn that CQB is faster, and tougher – the tempo is high and you will go home exhausted (if you don’t you haven’t been doing it right!)

What do I need to wear?

Its entirely up to you, you can literally wear anything you want (although its just a flat no to mankinis – we  just aren’t ready to see that!)  We recommend you wear something that you don’t mind getting dirty – and not too warm as you will heat up fast as you start running around!

The only thing we strongly recommend is boots that give ankle support – this is to protect you if you take a tumble – as a broken ankle really would ruin your day!

Gloves are also not a bad idea, and some people like to bring some sort of beanie hat or baseball cap for added protection.

Can I hire additional items?

At the moment this isn’t a service we offer – but if you have elements of your own kit – be it camouflage uniform, assault vest or chest rig, optics (sights) etc you are more than welcome to use them – just make sure you take them all home with you at the end of the day!

Whats the best way to learn more?

We’ve included some awesome resources that can help the normal questions – check out the rest of our site which goes into further detail.  You can watch videos online on popular sites like You Tube and Vimeo (not just of games at The Depot but throughout the country.)  These give you a better idea of how the game is played and what other players use and wear.

I still have more questions about starting out!

That’s okay – we were all new to this once too so we understand there is loads to understand!  Have you checked out the rest of our site?  There’s a good section that breaks down some of the terminology and acronyms that you will hear floating around.  We’ve also linked to some really good stuff!  Get yourself on Google and search for airsoft forums – there are loads – which can give you further insight – lastly – drop us a message via the Contact Us form.  We always aim to get back to you as quickly as possible!