How to be the best Airsoft player in 2020 Part 1
January 28, 2020
You Want To Be The Very Best, Like No One Ever Was
We understand.
Here at Airsoft GI, we all strive to be better airsofters. We believe that to be the best airsoft player, you have to work hard, learn new skills, and keep your gear in tip top shape.
We’re going to focus today’s article on the ways to improve your outdoor game. From playing at killer airsoft fields like D14 Airsoft or Wildlands, you can find outdoor fields all across the country. These fields are as unique as the cities they call home, and require you to flex a variety of different skills to succeed. Let’s dive into some of the tips and tricks to crush the outdoor playing field and become the best airsoft player in 2020.
Gear Check: Do You Have The Right Stuff?
While having a quality gun is obvious, and we’ve covered many ways to pick the best gun for you in the past, a lot of players overlook their gear. This crucial component of the airsoft hobby is a much bigger aspect of outdoor play than many give it credit for.
This does not mean that you have to have the best high end gear, or even any specific gear. The secret is to make sure you have the gear to carry what you need, and access it easily.
Take a good long look at what you typically need when you are playing outdoors. You’ll want a way to carry water for sure, so invest in a quality hydration system. You need magazines, so take count of how many you typically shoot in a game, add one or two, and make sure you have enough pouches. Make note of any supplemental gear you use regularly. Cans of green gas, speed loaders, radios, holsters and grenades are all items you want to take stock of. Make sure you have the pouches to carry and access that gear well.
From here, make sure your vest can accommodate all of these pouches in places where you can reach. If you haven’t considered offloading some of that load to a battle belt or leg platform, that can be a great alternative as well. The name of the game here is weight distribution and ease of access. From here, make sure all of your gear is fitted properly. Plate carriers, chest rigs and belts should be snug to your body, and not loose and flopping around. This will wreak havoc on your spine and make it harder to access your gear quickly through muscle memory. Seconds count, and those extra seconds you spend sifting through your vest for a fresh mag can get you shot.
Tactics: How To Work The Battlefield
Playing outdoor airsoft is as much a game of maneuver warfare as it is about gun fighting skill.
Being able to take aim and hit your opponents is important, but knowing when and where to push for better field position is key. This is no different from indoor play, but instead of pushing and holding lanes, you want to be much more aware of your surroundings, or taking the road less traveled.
There is a theory in outdoor combat that speaks about taking the path of most resistance to get to an objective if you want to avoid a fight. Enemy combatants (or in this case, the opposite team) is most likely to traverse the easiest or fastest route to a position, which means you are most likely to encounter enemy fire. Taking fights on your terms is the secret sauce to winning outdoor games, so this is very bad. If you can take an open road to a building you need to hold, or trek through the underbrush and take a wider berth, you are less likely to get caught out in the open with no cover in the latter situation.
Utilizing squad tactics is imperative here as well. Knowing how to handle things like bounding movements, patrol formations, and suppressing fire is huge in outdoor play. Often you can’t win a gunfight on twitch skill alone, and have to rely on your teammates to create opportunities to flank the enemy, or to create those opportunities yourself. Familiarize yourself with some basic squad level tactics, and understand how to teach players these skills on the fly with simple directions like “Go Here and Shoot There” or “Run there when we start shooting” to succeed.
The Magic of Hop Up
One of the biggest ways outdoor airsoft differs from playing indoor is the necessity for hop up. While hop up can and definitely is used for indoor play, the importance of a quality well tuned system in outdoor play is much higher.
Since outdoor games typically revolve around shooting at way farther distances than you get accustomed to at indoor arenas, you need to spend some time tuning and adjusting the hop up in your airsoft gun. We have some other articles on the blog detailing this process, but here are the main takeaways.
- Actually adjust the thing. So many players ignore this.
- Use heavy BB’s. This makes your hop up work better.
- If your gun needs a new bucking, consider replacing it for better performance.
Make sure you are using a heavy weight BB, a .28g round is the lightest you want to try for outdoor play. It will punch through brush better, fly straighter, and utilize the rotational force of your hop up for maximum effect. If your stock gun has a hop up you find lacking, consider an upgrade part.
Put It All Together, And Pay Attention.
Getting better at playing airsoft is a cumulative activity. No one blog article or youtube video is going to give you all the answers.
Take what you learned here, and keep it in mind every time you hit the field.
Every time you get shot, analyze why you failed, and do better when you respawn. If you aren’t having success in your current role, consider adapting a new play style, and switch to sniper gameplay or try a Light Machine Gun. The important thing is that success starts before you even hit the field. Stay prepared, stay ready, and be okay with failing as long as you learned something from it.
If you need to pick up any new kit, hit up the Airsoft GI WOMBO COMBO right HERE to load up on new kit to perfect your load out and save money!
Outdoor gameplay not your style? Keep an eye out for Part 2, where we cover how to become the ultimate indoor airsoft player.
