For those who are interested to start playing airsoft, you might be confused or intimidated by the many types of airsoft equipment. Going into an airsoft battle requires you to be prepared gear-wise to achieve victory. To make things simple for you, let’s focus on the essentials first. This article will discuss the 7 essential airsoft gears and airsoft equipment for beginners.
Essential Airsoft Gear #1: Goggles
A high-quality set of airsoft goggles is essential to keep your eyes safe. Without eye protection gear, you greatly increase the possibility of experiencing temporary or permanent blindness.
Protecting your eyes should always be your top priority when playing. In choosing the perfect pair of goggles, you want to consider three things – durability, comfort, and fog resistance. As long as these three qualities are present, it’s usually a good choice.
Fog-resistance could determine whether you win or lose in a match. In playing airsoft, you are required to shoot at great accuracy. Having a foggy set of goggles will surely lower your shooting accuracy rate, which can be detrimental.
Essential Airsoft Gear #2: Face Masks
While protecting your eyes should be prioritized, having face protection gear won’t hurt as well. There are so many face mask variations to choose from nowadays. However, some airsoft face masks prioritize design over safety.
Some masks look good when you wear them, but you also have to ensure that they protect your face properly. The main point of wearing face protection is to keep your face safe from BB bullets.
There are two popular materials for airsoft face masks today, which are wire mesh and plastic. Each one has a certain advantage over the other. It ultimately depends on your personal preference.
Essential Airsoft Gear #3: Kneepads
During an airsoft war, you’re bound to crawl and crouch a lot. Doing these actions without the appropriate gear might cause you discomfort. Besides, getting shot on the knee may also be painful.
Finding good-fitting kneepads is also necessary. No matter how durable and great they are, they would be useless if you can’t even wear them in the first place. This would probably not be an issue since almost all kneepads today are highly adjustable.
Essential Airsoft Gear #4: Outfit
An appropriate airsoft outfit should at least consist of pants and either a jacket or long-sleeve shirt. Body protection is necessary not only to prevent welts from BBs but also to shield you from the harmful elements, such as the sun.
It is highly suggested to get camouflage BDU pants and jackets to protect your body. If these are currently not accessible, you can opt for the previous outfit suggestion temporarily.
Essential Airsoft Gear #5: Boots or Shoes
Tactical boots are ideal for playing airsoft. They provide superior ankle support and they are perfect even for wet conditions. Compared to traditional shoes such as tennis shoes, they possess better traction.
For those who don’t possess boots, regular shoes will work well for most battles. A helpful tip is to tape the shoelaces to prevent them from coming untied, which may cause you to trip.
Essential Airsoft Gear #6: Chest Rig
Chest rigs are essential to give players easy access to essential gears and accessories as they play. Since they only cover the top half of the body, you won’t find one that hard to carry.
Opting for a model that provides good ventilation is also necessary since you need to stay cool especially during the heat. Some optional things you can carry with you using the other pockets include sidearms, radios, maps, and multi-tools.
Essential Airsoft Gear #7: MOLLE-Based Gear
You can consider this an upgrade from the usual chest rig. MOLLE-based gears provide you multiple options in building your tactical loadout. However, users are usually allowed to only attach other MOLLE-associated products on it.
Since they provide better customizability compared to regular chest rigs, building a specialized loadout will be a much easier task for you. You won’t have to sort through many designs to find the one that you need.
Conclusion
While starters may find airsoft gears and equipment overwhelming, things will get much easier if you start focusing on the basics first. Getting the essential airsoft gears is enough to get you prepared for your first airsoft battle. However, it’s up to you whether to take it to the next level and get the other optional equipment to increase your chances of winning even more.