SIN CITY (LAS VEGAS) WITH ENOLA GAYE USA

Hey everyone!

On April 12th, myself and Leah drove to Las Vegas, NV to spend a day with our sponsors Enola Gaye and to pop my Vegas cherry!

EG USA HQ is located in Pahrumpf in the Nevada Desert, which is only a couple of miles from Death Valley. We arrived at around 11.45am (middle of the day heat AND sun yay!) and had a quick catch up with Kris who I had the pleasure to meet at IWA 2017. I also finally got the chance to meet Omar and Dan Castro who I've been chatting to on social media for the last year or so. 


After a hearty lunch of BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, BBQ Smoke Beans and Potato salad, we set about getting our photoshoot under way! First up were some lifestyle shots for the EG Apparel for the website and then we got geared up for our smoke shots in full LBX MultiCam Black! I've worn BMC combat trousers for my Police MilSim loadout with a black top and tac gear but I am loving full Black MultiCam kit! We also did a Post-Apocalyptic loadout with gas masks which made for some cool shots!

Check out some of the shots from our shoot with Dan Castro for EG USA!







After our photoshoot we made our way to the Las Vegas Strip and parked up our hotel, The LINQ. Vegas is unlike anywhere or anything I have ever seen. The strip is alive with bright lights, people having a good time, show girls and club reps handing out free shot vouchers to punters to entice them into their establishments. The hotels on the strip, along with their 4,000 rooms have casinos on their bottom floors along with designer shops, bars and restaurants. It really is a whole other world!


Vegas nights!


Leah and myself.


Vegas Strip from the Bellagio


The Bellagio


The Strip


Dinner on the Strip (Leah's head disappeared)


The Bellagio water show and Caesar's Palace.

We had an amazing time in Sin City, thanks to Enola Gaye for making my first Vegas trip an unforgettable one!

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5 MISTAKES MOST AIRSOFTERS MAKE!

Hey everyone!

Let's discuss 5 mistakes that most Airsofters make or have made in the past! Now I am no exception to these, in the past I have been lazy with my kit and these mistakes have cost me either time or money. These are all common mistakes that can have a long term effect on kit and getting into good kit habits prolongs both the lifespan of your kit and also makes prepping for game days a more pleasant experience. These are in no particular order.

Not emptying Mid Cap magazines after game days! 

Up until I started attending MilSim Ops I was a high cap warrior and as we all know, high caps require a lot less maintenance than mid cap magazines. When I got my first set of mid-cap mags I treated them pretty much like high caps. Game day done? Shove them in my kit bag and forget about them until the next skirmish. After a few months of the springs constantly being compressed from being loaded I noticed a serious dip in performance of the mags including misfeeds and this was due to the springs slacking off. Leaving me with 3 mid-caps that needed new springs. Save yourself the time and money! Remember to unload them after every skirmish if you can to prolong the lifespan of the mag. 

Leaving Airsoft kit in your kit bags/Planos/Pelis after a game day! 

I am a culprit for this one! After a MilSim, you're tired, hungry, in dire need of a shower and a good sleep but resist the urge to go sleep straight away! Get that kit out of the car, put your BDU's in the wash and be sure to let your Plate Carrier/Chest Rig air out because I guarantee you've been running around and really pushing yourself which means your kit is dirty and sweaty! And there is nothing worse than leaving your kit in a Plano, forgetting about it for a week and then opening it up to prep for another game day to discover the foul smell of fermenting body odour! Prevent this by airing that kit out as soon as possible after a game day!

Buying cheap!

 Hear me out with this one, I'm not saying spend LOADS on everything, but there are a few staple pieces of kit that I recommend spending a little bit more on so you don't have to buy twice due to cheap kit falling apart or not performing. The first thing I would recommend you don't skimp on is eye pro - for the simple reason you only get one pair of eyes and protecting them is your top priority! £3 mesh eye pro from China is not suitable eye pro - instead opt for ballistic shooting glasses or full seal ballistic goggles, yes they cost a little more but your eyes will thank you. 

Boots with good ankle support are another staple kit that I would spend a little extra on especially if like me you have delicate ankles! Fortunately when I started Airsofting I opted for a pair of Viper Combat Boots that set me back around £50 and these lasted me 2 years until I upgraded to a pair of Salomons (for outdoor and MilSims) and a pair of Pentagon boots for indoor CQB. Although I see a lot of people wearing trainers and 'fashion' military style boots, these won't protect your ankles very well if you fall or lose your footing.

Plate Carriers are another piece of kit I recommend spending the money on, purely because I made the mistake of buying not one but TWO cheap PCs that I look back on and just think 'Whyyyy?' because they fell apart so quickly and looked terrible. Find something from a reputable brand that you like and save up for it.

Not cleaning guns/getting them serviced regularly!

I expect to hear the cries of 'Well I've never cleaned my guns and they all perform perfectly!' with this one but trust me on this, to keep your kit in tip top condition they need to be cared for, and this is especially relevant to MilSim players and outdoor players because of the nature of the environment where games are played. Even if you don't know much about internals of AEGs etc, an occasional barrel clean is a great way to start. Once a year I send all my RIFs to my local stores gun tech for a service and this includes a good clean and general maintenance.

Hoarding kit!

I make this mistake on the regular. I buy kit or get sent kit to review for the blog, use it for a few months then replace it and the old kit gets relegated to the Airsoft Armoury never to be seen again. With sales of second hand Airsoft kit becoming more and more popular, the old kit you're hoarding is literally cash waiting. That new Plate Carrier you're saving up for? Sell the old kit to fund it or get you closer to the goal! Although I will say that selling free of charge sample kit you've been sent is shady AF if you don't have the companies permission - to be on the safe side, send the company a message asking whether they would like it back, or if they would mind you giving it away on social media, or selling it, they appreciate it!

Are there any mistakes you've made and learned from? Write them in the comments below!
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UPRISING 3 AT HILL 559!

On the 8th of April 2017, myself, Leah and Jet made the 4 hour drive from Victorville, CA to Clovis, CA for Uprising 3, an event ran by Airsoft Obsessed Dave and Robbie. The Uprising series of events are a super fun and popular series of MilSims that take place at Hill 559. Hill 559 is a 1 mile squared AO (Area of Operation) that features TONNES of hills (as it's name suggests), a stream, open plains and a shanty town. For the most part of the site the cover is whatever you can find - trees, rock formations and the hills themselves. The site is absolutely gorgeous in the warm weather but it is a super tough AO due to the heat and hills. For this Op there was around 150 players on site that weekend!

On the morning of the event we turned up at Hill 559, parked our car and loaded all of our gear into a nearby 4x4 to transport it from the car park to the camping area (due to the rain that had fell the night before the stream in the AO was bursting and only 4x4's could access the camping area, womp womp). We got to the camping area and started to set up our tent and get all our kit ready for the Op.

 What I love about the period of time before the Op officially starts is meeting the other players,  I finally got to meet my good friends Airsoft Hasmeen, Undeadfred12 and Scarmelita who I've only spoken to on social media for the last couple of years, it was great to finally meet them in person. We also got to catch up with Dickbutt Airsoft, thebrainexploder and meet Dutch, the YouTuber behind the YouTube channel Dutch the Hooligan. After a quick catch up, we set up our campsite and got kitted up we had our comprehensive game brief from Dave and off the sections went. The Militia side definitely attracted some awesome loadouts - from cowboys to hillbillys and traditional middle Eastern gear.


After the game brief, our section, Haji Max went out as civilians with no tac kit or weapons to interact with the other players (to add to the immersion of the event), walking the hills of Hill 559 monitoring the movement of FSC troops and playing loud music to distract whilst we worked out where their FOB was located ready for our assaults later. The only issue was that the FSC fighters were too cautious to interact with us. The firefights between the two sides kicked off a lot sooner than we expected. We sat on the hills cheering on our militia fighters whilst they engaged the enemy. After an hour or so we decided to kit up and join the fight.


My Militia loadout for Uprising 3:
LBX Tactical Ranger Green combat pants
Pentagon Archilles 6" boots in Tan
LBX Ranger Green Chest Rig
Wiley X Sabre Shooting Glasses
Plaid shirt from Goodwill
Bandana and Shemagh borrowed from the lovely Airsoft Hasmeen
ASG Scorpion Evo 3A1 with a Strike Systems RDS and B&T Tracer Unit
Tactical Pringles.

Our first outing as a squad of fighters took us right up to their FOB which we had scouted out from our recce patrol earlier in the day. We made our way over the hills searching for enemy platoons to engage with. Eventually we heard voices over a crest of a hill close to their FOB, once we had sight on the fighters and identified them as hostile we moved up the hill slowly ready to engage.

As all our platoon reached the lip of the hill, we descended on their position, with the sounds of blank fire and war cries echoing amongst the hills. We quickly took the unsuspecting squad of 19 in a matter of minutes. Once they were down and the area secured, we searched them and confiscated their kill cards. With 17 kill cards in hand, we made our way up the next hill to search for more enemy platoons.

As we were closing the gap between ourselves and our own fighters as we started walking back towards our FOB searching for FSC fighters we had missed, we came across another large group of enemy fighters who we engaged alongside another platoon of CVM fighters, attacking from both sides the FSC were quickly killed.




On Saturday evening after a hearty MRE, we bombed back up ready to go out before the night games. We walked (as you can tell there was a LOT of walking!) over the hills on the North side of the AO along the fence lines until we saw a group of enemies over the crest of the hill. As it was sunset, we had the sun working against us but as we were emboldened by the days successes, we set about making our way up the hill. We engaged the fighters, throwing grenades and smoke to cover our movements, after a long 10 minutes most of our squad had been hit.

After our squad was taken out, we slowly started the long walk to our FOB. One thing that took me by surprise is that the FSC squad that took us out then followed us as we walked back to our FOB (presumably to attempt to get the drop on the rest of our side) however as they crossed the road to make their way, a hoard of our fighters came from out of the trees and started engaging them as they were crossing open ground. Their fighters fell like dominoes and the stragglers were taken out when the CVM technical vehicle happened to drive on by and a group of cowboys in 10 gallon hats jumped out with sniper rifles. (Instant karma, don't be shady and follow people to their spawn :P)


Sunday ended in a dog fight for the shanty town in the AO. Our section left the FOB in full force, we moved slowly over the hills until we spotted an FSC platoon walking along the road that led to the CVM FOB. We watched them from the safety of a hill crest that overlooked the road, other CVM sections started to form lines on the adjacent hill top, all of which waiting for the enemy platoon to pass our position so we could flank them in a fierce attack.

As soon as the enemy platoon was past the Haji Max position, everyone erupted into action, troops moved forward over the crest of the hill, descending and opening fire on the unsuspecting FSC troops position. The air was filled with smoke that concealed the movement of our troops, edging us closer and closer to their positions. Eventually due to the sheer amount of CVM fighters moving in on their position, the FSC troops retreated whilst taking heavy casualties. We crossed the road and descended on their injured fighters, searching them for intel and kill cards.

After this engagement, we made our way over the hills to the west of the FSC's position in order to go undetected to the stream, which we crossed by the stepping stones. Once across the river with no resistance we moved over the hills behind the shanty town to take the enemy fighters by surprise and plant the explosive device that would destroy their stronghold and win the engagement. We were met with heavy resistance when we entered the town. The sky was alive with BBs flying past from machine guns and the sound of blank fire. Our machine gunners moved in on the FSC's position whilst our riflemen stormed the buildings.

As our fighters moved in, we were flanked by another FSC platoon who wiped out most of our rear defence. The FSC emboldened by their determination fragged our riflemen inside the complex.







Unfortunately due to the enemy resistance whilst we got the explosive device inside the complex we were unable to arm it in order to destroy the town. Endex was called just before 11am on the Sunday morning after the battle for the Shanty town had concluded. Shortly after a raffle was held for all the ticket holders including some awesome prizes from Evike.com.

Thank you to Airsoft Obsessed for having us and putting on such an awesome event. Also a big shoutout to all the players that attended, the level of play over the weekend was great and it was a super fun event!


Photography thanks to Airsoft Obsessed - www.facebook.com/AirsoftObsessed
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SS AIRSOFT'S 7 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Hey everyone!

So on Thursday 30th March myself, Leah and Jet flew from Ontario, California to Atlanta, Georgia to attend SS Airsoft's 7 Year Anniversary game! We arrived at Atlanta Intl Airport at 7.55pm ET where we were met by Cliff from Elite Force, and off we went to explore Atlanta! We stopped off at Ruby Tuesdays for some wings and drinks (their wings are AMAZING btw!) By the time we had arrived in Atlanta, part of the i85 freeway had collapsed and set on fire and a storm had rolled in, after a 40 minute detour around the city we finally arrived at our hotel at 11pm. One thing I definitely didn't realise about the US is the sheer size of it - it took us almost a day of travelling (7.30am leaving Victorville to arriving at 11pm at night) and 2 flights to get from the West Coast to the East Coast! If you flew for 6 hours from the UK you'd be in Greece! The weather on the East Coast is also crazy, whilst when we arrived there was a storm and torrential downpour, the day of the anniversary and the day we left were super hot and I got sunburned on my face! 


After a decent nights sleep, we made our way to SS Airsoft in Sugar Hill on Friday morning for their media and meet and greet day! Media day is a chance for all the vendors and media people to meet and check out the site/shop. When we arrived at SS Airsoft, we were really warmly greeted by Steve, his wife Patty and his team of awesome staff! On media day I got to meet a tonne of awesome people including Andy from Tippmann, Chad from ASG USA, Rocky from Dye Precision, the speedsoft team SYG, Team Gears and Airsoft C3, Joel from Milsim Media and of course catch up with Charlie and Amanda from G&G Armament. It's always nice to meet people you follow/follow you on the internet and catch up with international friends.

SS Airsoft is an Airsoft site and shop that caters to players of all ages and gameplay styles. The shop stocks a wide range of well known brands for both indoor and outdoor players including: ECHO1, KWA, ICS, Elite Force, Voodoo Tactical, CYMA, Javelin, H&K, G&G, King Arms, WE Tech, A&K, Condor, Socom Gear, Madbull, Dye Precision and many others. The shop also offers teching and upgrade services.








The Airsoft site itself is a 24,000 square feet themed CQB battlefield and what's special about this field is that it has some of the most elaborate props and cover that I have come across. It is meant to replicate a realistic themed warfare scenario that boasts a range of buildings (including jails, banks and shops) and vehicles (including tanks, cars and others) for players to fight over, on and around. With fog machines and working lights on most of the buildings the action is awesome. The games include: capture the flag, terminator, money in the bank, team deathmatches and deactivate the bomb. Unfortunately I didn't get any images of the huge safe zone but here are some images of the briefing room and arena:










The style of play of US CQB is really different to what I'm used to in the UK - there are a lot more speedsofters and kids that play (which is surprising to me as SS Airsoft runs a limit of 400 FPS indoors) The action is fast paced and really intense.






On the anniversary day itself there was around 500 people in attendance, most of them players as well so games were limited to a fashion. There were loads of vendors present to support the day including: Wolverine Airsoft, Elite Force, ASG, Tippmann, Dye Precision, G&G Armament, SpeedQB and Airsoft C3. I got to meet so many of the people who follow me on Instagram and international friends that I'd only spoken to online. The day was a huge success with loads of interaction from the community and giveaways!











Unicorn Leah and Myself ready to slay!


Finally got to meet Dan from Legendary Airsoft!


With a couple of my #WomenOfAirsoft girls Jess aka Precious MilSim and Kate aka Starbuck.


Saturday was crazy!


#WomenOfAirsoft


Accepting a 1Legion_Superfly patch graduation style from Chris at Tactical Hostyle (Tactical Hoedown haha)


Accepting an Airsoft C3 patch for my work in the Airsoft Community from the Awesome team at Team Gears! Great to finally meet you!


With the SS Airsoft family!


After a great event everyone sat down to eat and share what they were thankful for over the weekend. A true family feel.

Thanks to SS Airsoft and Elite Force for having us and putting on a great event! It was a super fun weekend!
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