Tactical to Practical

[Cpl.Hicks]

Yesterday on the History channels show Tactical to Practical they included a little blurb abou airsoft. It was very good as it portrayed airsoft as an actual sport, and not as nothing more than a group of crazy, war obsesed, idiots shooting at each other. The only thing I dont like is that he said they use millitary grade gear and replica M4s. This made me kind of mad because they didnt show anyone with guns other than M4s.
I dont realy like that because, it may make people think that airsoft is all about immitating the U.S army.
I know of many different custom guns and their owners, like foxtrot and his RPK

[ArmyHummer]

Saw that. It was just to use the last 2 minutes of the show ;)

[M733Gat]

That is still pretty cool though. Atleast they showed some positive footage for airsoft.

[Jedigreedo]

R. Lee needs to go after it on Mail Call, I'd like to see him take on some watermelons with a vulcan! :D

[Goober]

While I understand your point, you're not understanding their position. As a company trying to show something to, relatively, the general public, they have to use something as an example that the common day couch potato will recognize. If someone has seen the news, they'll recognize a colt rifle. About the only place a "regular" person might have seen a Stery AUG, FN P90, SIG, or even a G3 would be in a movie, and the chances are they're response was "Hey, its a gun" Now, if the entire show were about airsoft, and they only showed m4's, then yes, that's quite a wrong indeed.

[Grease Man]

Can anybody get a clip of this, I couldent locate one online, i'm interested in seeing it.

[stargate6]

I had it recorded on my computer via my tv tuner card; unfortunately, I overwrote the file with the "The Real J.A.G." on the History Channel today. :(

But it wasn't all that great...

[Crossfire]

At least we can look at it as a start to letting the public know that airsoft is a interesting sport, not just a bunch of holigans running around in the forest;)

[Agent 47]

id prefer the public not know airsoft exists period :P

[jmac1025]

Yea...if they find out, it may turn into....PAINTBALL! Well, maybe a variant of paintball. And people would wear colorful jumpsuits and play, and try to use the 6mm paintballs in their AEGs. And then it would be ruined. pretty much. because the public is stupid. Is that why you said you'd rather have the public not know, Agent47?

[necronomicon]

There are many reasons the general public should not know about airsoft. First, the immature: kids who should never even lay their hands on a gun in the first place will get an airsoft gun, then do some really stupid stuff like the kid who shot at a school bus, thus making us all look bad in the eyes of the media, since the media is for the most part, negatory on these case-by-case basises.

Second the mainstreamers: Do we really want everyone and their mom out there playing airsoft? More players would be nice, but imagine if it did go mainstream? Colorful logos, speedball courses and 6mm paintballs. Sure, we can still play however we want, but mainstream ruins something that makes us unique.

Third, the liberals: You know if wind got to a whiny left-wing senator, you would have contraversy in the legal aspect of that sport as well. They have already said some really dumb things about violent video games and violent movies, whats to stop them about saying something about violent sports?

Some may disagree, but I believe that airsoft is best left where it stands right now. If someone is really interested in a sport such as airsoft, they can look and find it for themselves. TV informs the wrong people, and the wrong people ruin the sport.

[grunt]

Bravo, Nicely put Necro, I'd have to say the same.

[M733Gat]

One question.... why, if airsoft goes mainstream, will everyone use 6mm paintballs?? It seems a little odd since 6mm paintballs are horrible, and shouldnt be used in AEGs... and I doubt speedball fields will be used. Maybe CQB will become more mainstream for a type of play, but no one will be using inflatable airball bunkers, considering a BB could pass right through one given the right weight and velocity... especially in the seems. Just my thoughts I guess.

[jmac1025]

Its just a theory....like the theory that everything is actually 2 dimensional, and 3 dimensions are actually an elaborate illusion our mind makes...hehe...imagine playing airsoft in 2d....

[M733Gat]

lol it would be like Contra on NES... PRAISE THAT GAME I SAY!

[jmac1025]

Yea, probably...ive never played that game tho

[M733Gat]

hmm... you are 16 and you havent played that game?? It was a classic.

[jmac1025]

Yea, i heard it was really good, i just never had an nes/super nes, and am too lazy to get an emulator of it (can i say emulator in
here?) First game system was a genesis, since then ive moved of all consoles, onto pc gaming.

[necronomicon]

NES Contra ownz j00

Not all speedball fields are inflatable, the one here in town has a bunch of 55 gallon drums for all the wusses to hide behind and put their guns over the top and spray. If airsoft were to become mainstream, some BB manufactuers might get wind of it, and start producing 6mm paintballs that actually function how they are supposed to.

But if it ever should happen that airsoft hits the big time in public, we should form a huge army divided into respective teams for different areas, and give the neon-uniform clad n00bs a taste of pure skill and pwnage.

I guess airsoft being mainstream would have both good and bad results.

[Agent 47]

Contra has to be one of the HARDEST videogames i have ever played. Only game that is harder, has to be any of the Super Starwars series on super nintendo.

Brief synopsis of first mission: Kill lots of stormtroopers, do a flip, kill wampa; Run up hill while being shot at by homing lasers, and chased by a scout trooper on a speederbike while darth vader chokes you and hurls you towards spikes. Avoid pitfalls, spikes, rabid gerbils, rolling rocks, thermal detanators, and for that matter, dont even turn the SNES on. you will die 5 times before you know what the next level is. Run up this hill, shoot the stormtroope...........oh ****, that falling planet crushed you.....too bad, *****. Now we set your corpse on fire, as well as the cartlidge and launch it forth from the SNES at such a high velocity it will penetrate your skull. Then a monkey will throw poop on your scorched remains. And small starved children from infomercials with unusually large eyes will feast upon your extremeties. That is all. Press A button to continue.

[grunt]

WOW.........amazing:confused:

[Legend]

Even if the public did "Find out" about airsoft, who cares? Aren't they going to see some newB in his front yard with an airsoft Glock anyway? They sell airsoft guns everywhere, online and at walmart ...

[Grey Fox]

Yea!! Foxtrot and his RPK!!!!


lol my walmart doesn't sell airsoft stuff PERIOD. no clue as to the change, but I'm sure it was pressure from parents... the daisy crap-air pistol was waaaaay too realistic. they carry paintball stuff tho.

most likely... some kid that has listened to too many 50 cent albums (nothin wrong wit dat!) would buy a tm glock (good gun!) and try to be gangsta up in his 'hood' . The cops would be called and somehow they would shoot the kid . new Airsoft laws would be drafted in washington.
we'd all pay the price.

or something like that.

[Hobbles]

Contra was great...I got to the point where I could beat it 3-4 times in a row without dying...ahh I miss that game.:( ;)

[Crossfire]

When i said it would be a way of letting the public know about airsoft, i didnt mean so all the stupid people in the world try and play it. i meant it is a good way of letting people know that airsoft is not for everyone, i.e. pychos, stupid kids, etc.

I know a bunch of paintballers at my school, and they all know about airsoft, but none of them are really interested in it because the only thing that is advertised in the paintball magazines is that MP5 springer. They have no idea about AEGs, GBBs, etc.


But if it ever should happen that airsoft hits the big time in public, we should form a huge army divided into respective teams for different areas, and give the neon-uniform clad n00bs a taste of pure skill and pwnage.

I like that idea necronomicon:)

[M4A1gunner]

There is nothing like bringing out the old NES and playing some great classics.

[Grey Fox]

my nes broke long ago, I I relive the classics through... emulation, and well I bought anouther nes on EBay lol.

I liked Super mario 3 myself, and metal gear was interesting (I never mastered it! ) and I remember playing contra MANY times at my cousins house. memories... lol...
anyway!

the fact that people I know 'know' of airsoft says alot... I live in one of those small towns which is like 2 years behind everywhere else... and people I know that I never introduced to airsoft know a little about it, or have some experiance with springers... they don't know the terminology, and tend to shoot at your face (!) but they know about, and are experimenting in their own small way with it.

[Cpl.Hicks]

Originally posted by M4A1gunner
There is nothing like bringing out the old NES and playing some great classics.

how did the topic change from airsoft to nintendo, and now I am changing it to spam

spaspamspamspamspamspam

ssssssssspppppppppaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmm

[XSidewinderX]

I have to totaly agree with Crossfire on the paintball thing. People who play paintball see airsoft as a little game with cock action spring rifles. Once they find that there are AEGs, they start to get interested. Although i would have to say that if you play paintball you shouldnt play airsoft. Some people say that they are nearly the same, but they really are not. And most of the people i know that play paintball want to play paintball and think airsoft is "gay". I had one kid play with my team who used to play paintball all the time and he cheated like a whore

[Kendodude]

ya sidewinder i know what you mean. Me and the other kendodude had the same problem with this other kid who use to play paintball. Its just that he had played paintball for awhile so he thought he was better than us to begin with so when we did actually see our bb's hit his chest he wouldn't even call out. Also most paintballers tend to learn a method called wiping the paint off so they could pretend their the best. That guy is so fricking annoying to play airsoft with because he thinks you don't see the bb's hit him and if there's no visible mark to declare him out then he's still in. That's why i bought an AEG to f up his gay super 9 and his cheating methods so there'd be marks across his chest and face until he couldn't take it any more and finally call out (and why I used my hicap :) )

[Texx]

Originally posted by Kendodude
Also most paintballers tend to learn a method called wiping the paint off so they could pretend their the best. That guy is so fricking annoying to play airsoft with because he thinks you don't see the bb's hit him and if there's no visible mark to declare him out then he's still in. That's why i bought an AEG to f up his gay super 9 and his cheating methods so there'd be marks across his chest and face until he couldn't take it any more and finally call out (and why I used my hicap :) )

I'm afraid that's just outright wrong. Airsoft has cheaters and whiners just like paintball. The guys I used to play against during the five years of playing paintball were honorable, hardcore mil-sim, players who always followed the rules. When we ran across players who cheated or whined incessantly, we excluded them from future events.

This airsoft is superior to paintball and vice versa attitude is very immature and only helps to prevent good players from wishing to try out the other hobby. In all my years playing paintball, the only time I did not enjoy it was when players acted immaturely. I did not see to it to "punish" them or make them see the error of their ways. If they did not wish to play on our level, they were simply excluded from playing at all.

There is no sense in allowing this arrogant attitude of which is better to exist on these boards any longer. Both airsoft and paintball have their bonuses and drawbacks in much the same way football and basketball have their advantages and drawbacks.

When you begin to see the combination of the concepts of airsoft and paintball, you can get wonderful innovations in design such as the Real Action Marker, and other traditional Classic Airsoft Designs and concepts being revisited. Shiny Uniforms and cheating is not what paintball is about. Paintball is a combat simluation game. How close that simulation is to real combat is left up to those who interpret it.

Finally, every game can be ruined by immature behavior. Instead of labelling an entire sport and hobby as immature, perhaps you should limit the label to the individual. I left paintball because of individuals and a growing interest in airsoft. In the end, airsoft has just become another outlet for my joy of shooting realsteel both target and hunting.

I have seen my share of immature behavior in every hobby I have participated. I have even returned such with my own immature behavior. But I am not the definition of airsoft, nor would I ever wish to be. If you want to enjoy a hobby, let it be based on you and your enjoyment, not the ravings of some retard.

[XSidewinderX]

Well, all i can say is if you play airsoft your probably not gonna like paintball and vise versa. I dont know why but Paintball players are hostile to airsoft players and airsoft players are hostile to paintball players. Thats just the way it is...

[jmac1025]

Just like BMXers don't like skateboarders....One thing they agree on though...They both hate people on uni-cycles.

[grunt]

........its always going to be like that, a lot of people are discrimitive to something that is different, because of ignorance.

[M733Gat]

Well XSidewinderX, I happen to enjoy both of them...

Since I have played paintball for close to 7 years, most of them being tournament years, I can say that I enjoy both paintball and airsoft. Paintball, although more expensive, can be just as fun as airsoft. Tournament level paintball is incredibley fast paced, and the amount of competition is insane. My team played at the International Amateur Open twice, Skyball twice, and many other local high end tournaments. The second time we played at the International Amateur Open, we took 6th in the 7 man Novice category out of 42 teams across the world. I just happen to like airsoft a little more since it is easier on my wallet, and with college coming up, airsoft is the way to go right now.

And as Texx said, there are a lot of respectable noble paintballers out there, and there are cheaters. It will be the same in either sport, and practically all sports for that matter.

necronomicon - I would just like to say that airball is the only way to go for speedball. There are local fields and such that use those steel drums you spoke about and pallets too, but I am talking MAINTSTREAM. The mainstream way to go for speedball is airball, and airsoft can not be used for that style of play, since as stated before, high-end guns could poke holes right through the dense fabric that are used for the bunkers.

I just dont know why some of you guys are saying that if airsoft goes mainstream, it will automatically be made into paintball... I dont understand everyones logic on this one...

[necronomicon]

I was being a bit sarcastic on that note, it was the most extreme thing I could come up with. I am not saying that airsoft would turn into paintball exactly. I have played both, paintball actually longer. I still go to the local fields, even though some of them are tards and bash airsoft whenever it comes up between any of us, its still a fun sport. I cant let the bushmaster sit on the shelf and collect dust now can I? :)

I know that doesnt define paintball at all. I played paintball back when I didn't consider it mainstream, and only 9 kids in our school played 9th grade. By 11th grade, the total players in the same school almost quadrupled in population. We gained a lot of really cool players to go against, but at the same time a lot of the whiny, pathetic idiots that got attitudes quite often. Paintball has more active players around the country than airsoft, so it is given that more of them are gonna be 'tards, bust there are that many good people to compare them to. Both sports are fun to get into, but you will always have tard's, whether its paintball or airsoft.

You will have to excuse how I make fun of the mainstream paintball, I have been ever since I saw it happen. I just laugh when I see those colorful jumpsuits and flashy logos. Just in my view, I cant picture airsoft becoming that, but crazier things have happened, like the hindenburg coming back from the past only to crash into the NASA visitor center, but thats another story...

I wish to see that neither side, being airsoft or paintball, gets a bad opinion of the other, because of a few players that need smacked a good one. If you like paintball, go for it! If airsoft suits your play style better, then rock on!

[jmac1025]

In my school (350 people or so) im the only one that i know plays airsoft or paintball. If i ever mention it to any of my friends there, i get ridiculed about how "gay" it is.

[Grey Fox]

I've never played paintball... It never appealed to me, but that doesn't make it a bad thing... my cousin plays paintball and loves it, but his parents would NEVER let him have an airsoft gun... so its unlikely he'll ever try it. Of course I would never play paintball with him.. because something in the water here makes peeps want to shoot you in the face! I seriously don't know what it is.

As for 'friends' calling your hobby gay... thats whack.
to quote texx... 'If you want to enjoy a hobby, let it be based on you and your enjoyment, not the ravings of some retard.'

[jmac1025]

Yes, it is very whack. Although they really dont have an open mind, and wont try anything new, like airsoft.:mad:

[MiCkLe]

Well... in my life I went from laser trek to paintball and from there to airsoft!
I think both are fun (not including laser trek!!! LOL), but in a different way. Paintball is more of a run like hell and shoot like hell game, unlike airsoft which is based on a more realistic concept!

[Cpl.Hicks]

Originally posted by Kendodude
ya sidewinder i know what you mean. Me and the other kendodude had the same problem with this other kid who use to play paintball. Its just that he had played paintball for awhile so he thought he was better than us to begin with so when we did actually see our bb's hit his chest he wouldn't even call out. Also most paintballers tend to learn a method called wiping the paint off so they could pretend their the best. That guy is so fricking annoying to play airsoft with because he thinks you don't see the bb's hit him and if there's no visible mark to declare him out then he's still in. That's why i bought an AEG to f up his gay super 9 and his cheating methods so there'd be marks across his chest and face until he couldn't take it any more and finally call out (and why I used my hicap :) )

I also used to play paintball, but I would only play it in the woods. Mainly because I liked the feel of not knowing were your enemy is, I switched to airsoft after reading something in a paintball website.

Also I never once wiped out of like 50 or 60 games I had played

[XSidewinderX]

What else was on the show? Theres a bunch of T to P on thursday and i want to tape the one wit the airsoft crap in it...

[Cpl.Hicks]

All I remember is that it is the one devoted to wargames, and other military training,

[^cRYpTic^]

one of my friends thought airsoft was "gay" until i lit him up with an AEG mp5k. ( I had kindly let him borrow the ' cool looking ' springer beretta m9 ) he never said anything about airsoft being gay after that, and I think he still has some of those welts :)

By the way, yah I DID use a hicap mag lol

[grunt]

hahaa, That's what I do.....:p

They gotta learn somehow

[Dougrich]

Can I borrow your mp5 there's a kid who needs to meet any aeg.:D

[Code3 From Co.C]

I was working when that particular Tactical to Practical episode came out but it's nice to see that airsoft is getting positive publicity.

And, as much as I believe that there are many people who need to be aquatinted with the working end of an aeg, I would just like to remind some folks that for the 5 minutes of good publicity in Tactical to Practical (or that nice article in SWAT magazine), there are many hours of news footage and many pages of newspaper articles high-lighting the negative aspects of airsoft.

Please don't let us read about you or see you on the news!

[M4A1gunner]

Sorr to bring this a little off topic again but there is a guy that beat Super Mario Bros. 3 in 11min. YOU GOT TO SEE THIS !

Super Mario bros 3 in 11 min (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/smb3beat-r.html)

[necronomicon]

Holy crap...awesome video.

[Violator]

i saw the tactical to practical vid on history. it was pretty shweet