What is must have gear for airsoft noob
 

Hello people,

Brennen here, I have creeped on this site for a long long time but just decided its time to get into air soft. So my question(s) are these:

1. What gun do you recommend for a starter? I really like M4s and M16s
2. Whats the main performance difference between battery/gas?
3. With regards to gear, what should I look to get? I would be more of an assault class player.
4. How many times do people here play in Toronto? Do you have monthly meetups?
5. Overall, how much should I budget to spend on a full setup (gun, gear, goggles etc...)?
6. Do you have tournaments? (I come from an old school paintball background)

Thanks for your help in advance and I hope to see some of you on the field shortly.

1. King Arms M4 is the best entry level bang for the buck at this time.

2. AEG (Electric) all weather, Gas susceptible to low/high temperature limitations, Buy AEG as a primary, and keep as a back-up if you buy Gas later.

3. Work on the basics first. Eye-protection, boots, gloves, and hydration carrier to start. Then chest-rig/vest of your preference, BDU/camouflage.

Go to games - observe what people are using in gear, clothing, accessories, etc.. what works, what doesn't for you, and go from there.

4. There is an Ontario events forum here - there are several each weekend, within easy travel distance of Toronto.

5. This varies. Expect $600-1000.00 to start, minimum. Expect to spend another $1000.00 minimum in a short period of time if you choose to stick with the hobby/get more guns/Gucci-fy your loadout. Unlike paintball, the ammunition used is cheap, but the rest of the stuff, ain't.

6. No tournaments that i am aware of in Canada. This ain't speed-ball.

Thanks HackD for the info, its much appreciated.

No problem - Last two pieces of advice .. get age-verified to access the market-place here, and as far as the whole forum goes, read, read, read.. this forum is a huge information resource where chances are any questions that you may have, the answers lie within, in detail.

He is age verified...

Haven't heard anyone mention the airsoft thousand in a while
Costs about $1000 to get all your shit together, maybe $800 now with the price drop on guns.

Get boots. $80 minimum
And if you're going to play seriously, get serious gear. Don't get chinese repro gear if you'll be playing a lot

Didn't notice that.. and he was asking questions that someone normally age verified would have some of the answers for, by simply reading the forum - including the retailer section.

Go to some of the stores (physical) in the GTA for guns and gear and get your hands and eyes on it. Sometimes things look great online look less appealing when holding it.

Figure out what you want first before you open your wallet. A lot of people here get buyers remorse and switch stuff around a lot simply because they get excited and buy stuff before doing proper research.

I think the minimum level to look for would be condor or pantac... the acm stuff is very hit or miss from the stuff I've seen when shopping in stores. The water carrier I have doesn't even have consistently sized molle loops, one of the molle straps is longer than the other and the buttons snaps aren't lined up with the molle slots. Good thing that's the only pos thing I have.

The condor stuff is better... but not great. My m14 double pouches have a divider that was sewn in making one side too big and one side too small.

I wrote this a while ago...I think most of it still applies. Hope it helps.

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=88238

I know the "performance" differences between electric/gas guns isn't in there.
Gas Pistol vs. Electric Pistol
- no contest...gas pistols rule

Gas Rifle vs. AEG.....

Gas Rifle
+ more realistic trigger break
+ more realism
+ "action" and "feel" of a shot
+ for most...maintenance, cleaning, operation is simpler/easier to understand
- heavier mags, typically more expensive per mag too
- uses propane/CO2 (so you've got to carry those supplies around as well)
-/+ real capacity mags....realism guys like that, shoot'em up skirmisher guys may think that they're way out ammo'd vs. AEGs
- temperature dependant...CO2 mags alleviate that

AEG
+ more plug+play...add battery, add BBs and off you go
+ when they're reliable...they'll go for years
+ typically more accurate (almost too accurate if you're into realism)
- little/no sound...no action...no weapon manipulation actions
+ no weapon manipulation action = "stupid" simple operation
- you're dealing with A LOT of little bits and pieces when you're maintaining/servicing
- when they break down (and they will)...you're typically looking at bench time

Fun Factor....goes to gas guns (IMO). The noise/action greatly enhances the game play and experience.

My PTW will smoke my GBBR for range and accuracy all day long...but my GBBR is still more fun to shoot and while I'll bring the PTW as a backup/alternative, I rarely use it.

+1 to what these guys wrote and as well don't cheap out on eye protection... If you're coming from pb you may already have good eye protection, but if not don't cheap out.

Don't forget to get a decent radio and earpiece. The two-way GMRS Radios you can buy from FS/BB/CT are all great or you can snag a good UHF radio online if you don't mind waiting for it.

I'm using a Motorolla GP68 and my two back-up loaner radios are these ones: http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/.../10120533.aspx

wow thanks everyone for the tips. Ill check the classifieds and see what people have for sale. From what m102404 is saying I think Ill enjoy a Gas gun more. I like the fact there is more of a real feel to them when firing. The only thing i dont like is how the gas is effected by weather. But what can you do.

Edit: with regards to using Gas, how big of an effect is the weather on performance? are we talking a large/noticeable change?

I highly recommend going for an electric gun as your first purchase. There are a few reasons for it:

Gas guns require maintenance. Stripdown and clean/oil after every use. They also have the temperature issue as mentioned.
Gas gun magazines are around $40 EACH, and only hold 30-40 rounds usually. You will need a minimum of 5-6 magazines to play a proper game. Thats $200 in magazines.
Most gas guns have certain parts that fail quickly and need to be replaced with reinforced parts. Adds to the cost

A decent M4 AEG will have less maintenance, cheaper magazines (a box of 10 mags costs ~60 bucks) and with a decent gearbox, will last you a couple thousand rounds easily. Eventually something will break, but they are less finicky than gas guns for a new player.

As recommended, a King Arms M4 is a great starter gun. You can always switch to a gas powered M4 later if you desire.

I would say the worst thing about gas is the magazines, they hella expensive :)

PS: My GBBR was misfiring a lot at beginning but that chopped up to it being very picky on what BBs it would take, performs flawlessly with BBBastards and Madbull BBs. Failed with ICS and some BIO one i can't remember...