VALKEN SIERRA II GLOVES!

Hey everyone!

Last month you saw my review of the Valken Zulu Gloves, well today I’m back with a review on the Zulu’s sister glove, the Sierra II Utility Glove!


Let’s jump into the review with the specs of the gloves first of all! The Sierra II gloves are a lightweight, breathable utility glove which has properties that make it a versatile choice for shooting activities including airsoft. It has a synthetic leather palm for durability and grip – the palm also has a few crosshatched silicon grip areas to give you more tactility.

It features a reinforced trigger finger for durability and it has a band of neoprene-like fabric at the cuff. I found the cuff covered my watch face so it lent a little extra protection to my watch during the game day which is a pretty nifty bonus.   


How do they fit? Unfortunately for me, they’re too big even in the smallest size which I was pretty disappointed with as the Zulu Gloves fit really well. It’s a shame as I do prefer utility gloves over anything armoured or padded because of how much tactility and dexterity they offer the user. Whilst there isn’t too much extra space on the end of the fingers, on the back of the hand/palm they are quite baggy which doesn’t lend itself well to dexterity. I wouldn't recommend these for women and players with small hands but if you don't struggle to find gloves, these would be a good fit. I however would love to see Valken produce these gloves in an extra small size! I think these gloves would be better suited to someone who doesn’t have such dainty hands.


What I like about the gloves is that they are lightweight and relatively thin without being flimsy. I feel like if the gloves fitted my hands better they would have offered me a good range of movement and dexterity but as the gloves were a too big, my hands moved around in them and the extra space on the end of the fingers made it difficult for me to do fiddly tasks such as prime my blank-firing grenades.

They are available in 3 colours: Black, Tan, and Green. I opted for the black pair as they are more likely to go with more of my loadouts. The size range includes size small all the way up to an Extra Large. 



The gloves are available from the Valken website for $14.95 (which is £11.42 at the exchange rate at the moment). I am really impressed with the price point, at just over £11 they are super affordable compared to other utility gloves on the market. Overall, putting the size issue aside, objectively I think Valken have done a good job with the Sierra II gloves but I would love to see them produce these in a smaller size for those of us who have tiny hands and re-evaluate them in another review!


Post sponsored by Valken Tactical
Photography thanks to Pewpewpatriot
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PAINTFEST 2017!

As an airsofter, when you get a call saying ‘Would you like to attend Paintfest 2017?’ I think we all can agree that you’d be a little bit hesitant but when I was told that this was the first year they would also be running a series of airsoft games I decided to keep an open mind and accept the invite. Now admittedly, I’ve never played paintball and being a fair weather airsofter I don’t fancy the thought of washing out paint from my kit – shudders – but as they have teamed up with Fireball Squadron to bridge the gap between the airsoft and paintball communities I definitely thought this would be an event worth going to! Although not many like to admit it, our sports are not worlds apart like we sometimes like to believe, especially the magfed aspect to paintball.




Paintfest is held annually at NPF Bassetts Pole in the West Midlands, one of the most well-known paintball sites in the UK and is a huge festival where teams and players from around the world attend to sling some paint, compete in competition tournaments, enjoy a huge players party and get the chance to check out all the new paintball kit from some of the biggest names in the paintball industry. The event is centred around a huge festival arena area that holds the trade stands, food vendors, the bar area and the player party arena with the Fireball Squadron and NPF paintball fields (both tournament and magfed) in the surrounding areas that are a short walk away. On-site there was an abundance of retailers that appealed to both airsofters and paintballers alike including Enola Gaye, Action Sport Games, JD Airsoft, magfedpb.co.uk, Pro Shar, Dye, Warped Gear, Valken and many others where players could purchase new kit. Onsite this year there was also a large selection of food vendors including Indian cuisine, Caribbean cuisine, Italian cuisine, burgers and even a coffee shop so attendees are well looked after during the event – a perfect option if you don’t want the hassle of bringing food and cooking it yourself over the weekend or you just want a snack on the way back to your tent!




The ticket price of £90 includes camping for the duration of Paintfest (Friday to Sunday) and the facilities are actually very good. The camping area for players is a huge field adjacent to the festival area where attendees can set up tents, caravans and motorhomes and have their cars parked next to their camp if they wish (something I really like because it means you can keep all your expensive kit safe in the car!) If you choose so, there is the option to purchase bands that enable you to use the shower block on site and they have plenty of portaloos dotted around the camping and main arena areas. My only pet peeve regarding the facilities were men using the women’s portaloos (when their own portaloos were vacant), which is no fault of the organisers, but I do believe players should be more considerate regarding the portaloos given the significantly higher male to female ratio on site.

Although the site is only around 40 minutes from my home in Derbyshire I arrived on the Friday evening around 6.30pm thanks to good ol’ Friday traffic and unfortunately multiple accidents on the M42. After meeting with the organisers we set about setting up our tent for the weekend and taking a walk around the festival area with a few beers to see what would be going on over the weekend. There is SO much to see and do over the weekend, from the vendors to all the food to try and even an assault course brought to the festival by the Army (which I had a crack at, and yes, completed but was absolutely shattered afterward!)


On Saturday morning the game brief for Fireball Squadron was bright and early at 9.30am with a game on time of 10 am – the game brief was comprehensive and explained the rules of the site clearly so players knew what to expect at game on. The games ran at Fireball Squadron over the weekend were more MilSim orientated than skirmish, with two teams and objectives to carry out over the weekend. Each team was given a set of envelopes that contained missions, for every mission completed in the time allowed points were gained and kept track of by the sites marshals then players would move on to their next objective. I was placed with the USDE team with a squad of great players – everyone was really welcoming, friendly and played hard during the weekend. My favourite missions over the weekend included retrieving intel from the other teams spawn undetected and taking photographic evidence of it – with extra points to be had if we could do so undetected. The regular players on our squad led us through the maze of undergrowth slowly, making steady progress to their spawn, once we arrived I whipped my phone out to capture pictures of their maps. As we had done this undetected we felt awesome – up until we took a wrong turn and met some enemy players! It was a mad dash in a flurry of BBs to get the intel safely back to our own spawn (of course we didn’t get the extra points for being super sneaky!) 


We also had a mission to defend the towers where our team had to make their way from our respawn to the towers located on the other side of the side, again we crawled through the undergrowth to make our way through the trenches to avoid being seen by the other team, once we had made our way to the towers undetected we set up a defensive perimeter around them and waited for the clock to count down the allocated time, however about 7 minutes in we were bombarded with enemy players and it was an intense firefight. One thing about the site is that the forest is so dense that you can’t see much, meaning fire can come from any direction and you can have no idea where it’s coming from which is both unnerving and exhilarating. There was smoke and pyro going off in all directions which only added to the overall atmosphere.



The Fireball Squadron site took me pleasantly by surprise, many of you will know that my usual poison of choice is intense, hard hitting CQB and as a result of that, I don’t play a lot of outdoors sites unless it is an urban game or a MilSim. However, the Fireball Squadron site is a dense, thick woodland that is so close in areas that you can have a member of the opposite team standing next to you in the brush and not notice! It is a maze of shrubbery with some large open spaces filled with wooden buildings, jeeps and other structures that make excellent cover and as we were pretty lucky with the weather during the day, the site was really pleasant to play. Coupled with the cool missions we embarked on this made for some really awesome gameplay. The marshals ran the games really well and to my knowledge, there were no issues over the weekend! The team ran a really tight ship!

After we had finished playing for the day we went out into the festival area to check out the retailers, enjoy a bevvie and socialise with the other players. On Saturday evening is the absolute highlight of the weekend - the Paintfest Players Party! A huge celebration with live entertainment. From 8 pm on Saturday, players enjoy free drinks including beer, wine, cider and spirits (players ticket fees and sponsorships from companies such as Enola Gaye enable Paintfest to provide complimentary drinks) and live entertainment including DJs and the annual Miss and Mr. Paintfest competition which sees attendees compete for the title. It is honestly a night full of laughter and utter hilarity. Although it rained pretty hard during the player's party the NPF staff were handing out ponchos and their energy on stage kept everyone going. The atmosphere at the player's party was absolutely insane and really enjoyable to be around.







On Sunday, despite a few fuzzy heads, the carnage continued on both sides of the field. Sunday is the last day of the festival for both the paintball and airsoft players to score points for their sides and the last day of the tournament paintball games. All the points gained by the teams over the weekend go towards the final score for the weekender, and these, in turn, are added to each side ongoing yearly battle to beat the other side!

Overall I had an amazing time at Paintfest 2017 and I urge airsofters to give it a go if they are able to! The bigger the demand for airsoft at the festival means more airsoft at Paintfest and how cool would it be to have not 1 but 2 awesome festivals for airsoft every year?! The festival side of the event was my favourite part of the event and is a great experience - it has an almost electric atmosphere. The gameplay from an airsoft perspective is really top notch, the team at Fireball Squadron did a fantastic job organising the games and I will be sure to visit the site in future! I am glad that I had the chance to experience this event and also get to speak to so many airsofters and paintballers alike. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll give paintball a go and see how different it really is!

               Hardwick, K. (2017). Paintfest 2017!. Airsoft Action. 80 (November), 42-45.


In game photography thanks to Pedro of The Airsoft Project
Out of game photography thanks to Henry Nicholson
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VALKEN KILO COMBAT UNIFORM!

Hey everyone!

So a few months back I reviewed the Valken Tango Combat uniform (which you can read for the pants here and shirt here), and today I’m back to review its sister uniform, the Kilo Combat uniform. The main difference between the two is that the Kilo Combat uniform isn’t padded like the Tango which makes it a great option for a casual/lightweight loadout.





The Kilo Combat shirt is a hybrid combat shirt made of both ripstop fabric and full camo sublimated breathable moisture wicking fabric that is similar to the material used for paintball jerseys. One thing I cannot stress enough about the Valken uniforms is just how soft the material is. It’s my favourite thing about them.

Even though this camo shirt doesn’t have padding like its Tango counterpart it still has a lot of the features found on it, including sleeve pockets on both arms (perfect size for keeping intel etc) and Velcro panels on the pockets for those tacticool patches. This shirt, however, has rib knit cuffs and a rib knit collar which promotes comfort and a laid-back feel but it still has ripstop reinforced shoulders, elbows, and forearms to give you ample protection on the field.



How does the shirt fit? It has a longline body that we see on paintball jerseys which is easily tucked into trousers and it fits well along the shoulders but the arms are a little long. Overall I think the fit is good and the only improvement I think Valken could make on the shirt would be to swap the rib knit cuffs for an adjustable Velcro closure which would mean a more customised fit on the arms.

The Kilo Combat pants, however, are simply made of the tough ripstop fabric. In regards to features, the pants are a pretty simple design but do allow for adjustment and have a good selection of pockets. To adjust the fit, the pants have a drawstring inner waist that comes in pretty tight and drawstrings on the boot cuffs. For the pockets, they have low profile cargo pockets, deep front hand pockets, concealed zippered front pockets also and rear pockets, giving the users loads of storage on the field.




How do the pants fit? Thanks to the inner waist drawstring the waist pulls in tight which is my main issue I have with combat pants, the leg length is good and they are loose overall without being baggy around the thighs/buttocks/knees. They definitely give you the movement you need on the field.

Both the combat shirt and pants are available in 3 camo options: Woodland, Tiger Stripe and V-Cam and the size range is super inclusive too, with both available in small to 4XL.

As for pricing the shirt retails at $34.95 (£27) and pants $49.95 (£38) from the Valken website.

You can find the combat shirt here
You can find the combat pants here



Post sponsored by Valken Tactical
Photography thanks to Pewpewpatriot
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FEMME FATALE AIRSOFT'S TOP 5 UK AIRSOFT SITES 2017!

Hey everyone!

So it’s that time of the year again! With Christmas and New Year just around the corner, it’s time for me to choose my top 5 UK Airsoft sites that I have played this year. I will preface this blog post with, I have been out of the UK for around 4 months of 2017 on international trips including Germany, USA, Taiwan, and France for various airsoft games and trade events so I haven’t played as many sites in the UK as I would have liked to this year, but I’ve still managed to play a fair few! So here are the 5 UK sites that impressed me most this year! There are lots of factors that go into choosing my Top 5 – how well the site is laid out, quality of the games played, friendliness of staff, lunch (not even kidding!), price and facilities! The only thing that doesn’t come into it, is distance.

Number 5 – Skirmish Airsoft: The Stan

A firm favourite that featured in my top 5 in 2015! Skirmish Airsoft: The Stan is the old Stanley tools factory in the heart of Sheffield that is an intense CQB site with 3 floors to fight through which range from room to room clearing in offices to large open factory floors to battle through. It also has an outdoor space to utilise so it is a really diverse site to play. The staff are fantastic and always run a great day. Photos credited to Snoopy's Snaps.



Number 4 - Halo Mill: The Proving Grounds

Next up on our list is a new entry and an unusual choice for a CQB player - Halo Mill: The Proving Grounds! This year I attended the Proving Grounds for the ASG Scorpion Evo Owners Event! As most of you know I almost exclusively play CQB/urban but the Proving Grounds at the YPC has something really special that I haven’t seen at other woodland sites – amongst the ferns, structures and shrubbery is a large bridge structure that dominates the field. My review of the Scorpion Evo Owners Event for Airsoft Action will be live on the blog towards the end of December/Early January so be sure to keep an eye out for that! The site itself and safe zone/facilities are fantastic, I can’t wait to visit the Proving Grounds again! Photos credited to Pewpewpatriot.



Number 3 – First & Only: The Barracks

Another new entry for 2017, but unfortunately its last! First & Only: The Barracks in Bordon. Since I last played the Barracks it has unfortunately closed and I didn’t get to do a review on it, but I wanted to stay true to form and give F&O credit where credit is due! The Barracks is a disused MOD barrack block that was turned into a large CQB site. On the day we got to fight through barrack block rooms, winding corridors, vast staircases and an outdoor space that comprised of paths, surrounded by archways and doorways to breach. Unfortunately I do not have any images from my time at The Barracks so I've embedded one of my gameplay videos!


Number 2 – SPEC OPS: The Rock

This is another new entry for 2017, The Rock on the Isle of Portland! As some of you will remember, I attended a weekender event in August ran by PAST at an active quarry on the South Coast. You can read my full review of the event here, it was a fantastic weekender! I’ve attended a fair few weekend events so when I say that this is one of my faves, I don’t say that lightly. The Rock is an active quarry which means it is constantly changing and evolving, the gameplay is super varied as the site is so diverse! From close quarters between large limestone blocks, intense firefights in the pit and long engagements across the hills that surround the quarry there is something that appeals to everyone.  Photos credited to Snook Snaps.




Number 1 – West Midlands Airsoft: High Command

At number one we have a new site which I reviewed for Airsoft Action earlier in the year and stumbled on a hidden gem! You can read my full review of WMA High Command here, but it is a small CQB site based in Rowley Regis (only a 50-minute drive from my home in the East Midlands) that has quickly become one of my favourite haunts. Although it is a relatively small site, it has been utilised to its’ full potential with both dark and light areas separated by archways to fight through, from kill houses with moving doors to long intense corridors to dominate, this site is great for CQB junkies! The staff are super welcoming and the onsite facilities are great, you even get a pasty for lunch – winner!



Got recommendations for me for 2018? Leave them in the comment section below so I can check them out!

Check out 2016’s Top 5 here
Check out 2015’s Top 5 here

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GERBER CRUCIAL MULTITOOL!

Hey everyone!
So in 2018 I will be doing a fair amount of MilSims and weekender games, which means I’ve had to purchase a load of new outdoors/camping gear ready for these adventures and I figured that some of you will be in the same boat, so I thought, why not throw in some reviews on this kit to shake it up!
Today we’re going to look at the MultiTool that’s been in my kit bag as my go-to for the last 12 months - the Gerber Crucial. It's a neat, compact multitool that folds away to be a fun-size toolbox of full-sized components in one rugged stainless steel package. As its name suggests, it gives you the crucial tools - it has a clip to conveniently attach it to a belt etc, a bottle opener, V-cut wire cutters/pliers, a flat head screwdriver, a knife and a Phillips head screwdriver that all lock into place with the exception of the clip.


Let’s first talk about the tools - the screwdriver heads both lock into place, the pliers have ergonomically curved handles for a better grip and more torque when needed. The liner-locking blade comprises a half fine and half serrated edge for multiple uses and it has a plastic thumb stud which makes it easier to release. As it measures in at just 3.6” closed length and weighs in at just 5 oz it can be carried as a lightweight everyday tool. It also comes with a lifetime warranty from Gerber.




What I like about the Gerber Crucial is its clean look, the two-tone stainless steel is a great colour scheme and overall it is very aesthetically pleasing. As it is compact and lightweight as well, it means I can carry it in my kit bag, backpack or on my battle belt (with or without a carabiner) just as I would a regular pocket knife and it has the essential tools. This tool mainly comes into play when I have screws on attachments that need loosening/tightening, when I struggle with opening malice clips on some of my Kydex holsters (the blade is thick enough to use to pry them open) and when I need to cut something such as loose threads, tape etc. It's really useful during weekender games and MilSims when I need to camp.

I purchased my Gerber Crucial in grey from Amazon for £54.99, which is available here, but it does also come in another colour way – the black, which is currently on sale on Amazon for £35.00 here!
This post contains affiliate links, as I am a member of the Amazon Associates Program - an affiliate advertising program that provides a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com to products I have used, tested, trust and recommend.
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AFFORDABLE MULTICAM PLATE CARRIER SET-UP!

Hey everyone!

For those of you who are regular readers of Femme Fatale Airsoft will remember that in October I did an unboxing video and review of the Flyye Swift Plate Carrier in MultiCam to build an affordable tan team plate carrier set-up and the completed set-up is now here! For this build I've teamed up with Military 1st and Viper Tactical.

You can read my full review of the Flyye Swift Plate Carrier here

What I wanted for this set-up was a lightweight assault set-up for a tan team uniform. So I've set this Plate Carrier up to have maximum ammo carrying capacity whilst still keeping it as lightweight as possible. The Flyye Swift Plate Carrier has a very similar look to a JPC which makes it compact and as it weighs just over a kg with the plates it's a great option for longer games. It's hidden admin pouch at the top of the carrier is also a cool little bonus which can be used to keep maps, intel etc.

For this build I added the Viper Tactical Duo Treble M4 Mag Pouch which gives you the option of carrying up to 6 M4 mags - LOADS of ammo for when you know the firefights are going to be long and intense! I also added a Nuprol PMC Open Pistol Pouch which is a great little versatile pouch that can hold anything from a pistol magazine to a 40mm grenade. For the pictures I featured an Enola Gaye Flashbang 1.0 to show you the versatility of this pouch.


So altogether we're looking at £163.89 for the whole build - £137.95 for the Plate Carrier itself from Military 1st, £17.95 for the Duo Treble Mag Pouch from Viper and £7.99 for the Elasticated Pistol Mag Pouch from Nuprol.


Check out my video on the build on my YouTube channel below:



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LUMBER-TAC! FLANNEL SHIRT LOADOUT!

Hey everyone!

Welcome back to the blog! Unless you've been living under the airsoft rock the last couple of years or so, you will have noticed the growing popularity of 'Lumber-tac' - the use of lumberjack shirts in airsoft loadouts. In August I attended a weekender event ran by PAST at the Rock in Dorset called Tora Bora Raid, you can read my full review of the event here. For this event, I and my team 'Project Cerberus' decided to join the militia forces and jump on the lumber-tac bandwagon! A lot of you have been asking about the loadout since then so I've put together a post breaking down what kit I'm wearing and where you can get it from!

First, let's chat about the shirt. The flannel shirt I'm wearing is from the budget high street retailer Primark. There are a lot of outdoor/tactical clothing companies that make flannel shirts but they tend to be quite expensive. This men's green/black shirt was just £10! Bargain! This shirt also came in an XS size which was pretty spot on!


Next up, the combat pants. For the pants for this loadout I am wearing the Pentagon BDU 2.0 pants in Ranger Green from Military 1st, you can check out my review of these here. They are a lightweight and durable pair of combat trousers which have a tonne of useful pockets and external knee pad access. I love how the Ranger Green looks with this shirt! These pants retail for £28.50 so are really affordable!

In these images you can also see the Plate Carrier and back panel that I'm wearing so let's cover those next! The Plate Carrier I'm wearing for this loadout is the TMC MP94A Modular Plate Tactical Vest with the TMC Vest Pouch Zip On Panel, both in Ranger Green from Weapon 762 (You can check out my review of those here)

The Plate Carrier was lightweight with my foam plates in, has reinforced/padded shoulder straps so it's comfy to wear all day and has 3 Velcro mag pouches built in - enough ammo for a slow MilSim style of game. Although I like how it looks because it is similar to the LBT 6094 Plate Carrier, I ripped out the cummerbund sides to instead use Velcro straps to make the carrier fit a little better around my sides. The carrier retails for £42.74 so is also a really affordable piece!


The Zip On Back Panel is a pretty cool piece of kit, it has a general purpose pouch and 2 pockets that each hold 3 x 40mm grenades -  be that smoke or flash. This piece retails at £40.49!


For my belt, I wore the FRV Tailoring MultiCam Cobra Shooters Belt, which you can check out the full review here. Since Tora Bora I have loaded this up with holsters, dump pouches and grenade pouches! 


Now the main bits are out of the way, let's go through the accessories on this loadout: In this loadout I'm running the 5.11 Tactical 2017 Range Cap, Wiley X SABER Shooting Glasses, Z-Tactical Comtac II, Green Shemagh, Enola Gaye FUG Gloves in Black and the Nuprol Day Pack in Green (to keep my Tag Launcher, shells and pyro in!)


Lastly, here are the weapons I ran for Tora Bora Raid!

It's not often I get to use my Tag launcher, so obviously when the opportunity presents itself I jump at the chance. This is the Ares B&T GL06 40mm grenade launcher and over the weekend I used the TAG Innovations Reaper rounds which are impact projectiles - super useful for clearing enemy posts from a distance. I haven't reviewed this separately because I've only used it around 3 times in the last 18 months but it is super fun!


For my main rifle, I ran the ASG Scorpion EVO 3A1 with a G&G Elcan and a canted Shield SMS sight. My Scorpion EVO is typically my 'go-to' MilSim and weekender gun, because of it's out-of-the-box performance, it has great range, accuracy and can rival most AEGS out there. You can check out my full review of the Scorpion EVO here


Photography thanks to Snook Snaps
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