airsoft vs paintball

airsoft* and paintball are two sports that should be able to coexist, but don't. The sports both serve different markets. Paintball seems to entertain the people that tend to play "extreme sports". It is characterized by fast paced, hard hitting, action. Airsoft serves the more tactical crowd, who prefer teamwork and strategy over speed of action. For some reason, the majority of paintball players with internet access find it nescessary to diss airsoft and its players. Although the debate over the internet are very heated, there are no known incidents of airsoft players and paintball players engaging in a physical confrontation, even though both groups have been at the same location at the same time. Several common misconceptions about airsoft, used by the immature people who find it nescessary to diss airsoft: 1. Myth: Airsoft doesnt hurt. Its for pussies who are afraid to get dime sized bruises. Fact: from personal experience, this is far from the truth. Airsoft guns are well capable of not only bruising, but also puncturing skin, causing blood blisters, and chipping teeth, especially in CQB. Eye protection is just as nescessary in airsoft as it is in paintball. Although the radius of damage per bb is much smaller, much more bbs are slung at a given time than paintballs. 2. Myth: Airsoft is just for kids to screw around in their back yard who cant afford/cant get their parents to buy paintball guns. Fact: The cheap 5-30 dollar spring guns or "springers" as they are known by the majority of airsofters, were once the average airsoft guns, but were replaced by much higher quality gas and electric guns. The cheap springers still appeal to the kids that cant afford more expensive paintball or airsoft guns, but these kids are NOT part of the true airsoft community, and due to their poor safety considerations, threaten the legality of both airsoft AND paintball. The majority of airsoft guns cost just as much as paintball guns. 3. Myth: Airsoft is only for people who got rejected/are too young/too fat to join the military. Fact: Not true at all. A large percentage of airsoft players are current/former military personnel, law enforcement personnel, and other people who serve our country in various ways. Citizen soldiers use airsoft as a way to hone their skills or simply relax after a hard tour of duty. The reason most airsoft players use tactical lingo such as "charlie team, flank the tangos at hill bravo" is because they actually know what they are doing, and have actual tactical training. 4. Myth: Airsoft guns all have orange tips, which makes them unrealistic. Fact: The "orange tips" are only required for shipping airsoft guns to, from, and within the united states. Any suspected firearms with an unmarked tip or firearm trademarks will be seized and destroyed by US Customs or the US Postal Service, which is why all guns sold come with orange tips. The orange tips may serve as "reassurance" for parents, that their kids will not be shot by cops because of this, but this is a false reassurance. The orange tip is NOT required to be on in most states, and will not prevent you from being shot just because you have one. Because gunmen will sometimes spraypaint their gun barrel orange or spraypaint a fake gun black, law enforcement officers will ignore the color of the tip, and concentrate on the actions of the person. If you ever have an airsoft gun when confronted with police, stand still and comply 100% with the officer's orders. The majority of airsofters remove their orange tips and TREAT THEIR AIRSOFT GUN LIKE A REAL GUN, locking it up properly, carrying it pointed in a safe direction with the fire selector on "safe" and with the magazine out. 5. Myth: Airsoft requires no physical activity. Its just for fat lazy people who want to shoot eachother and arent in shape enough for paintball. Fact: Airsoft requires a large amount of physical activity, just in a different way than paintball. Most airsoft games are exponentially longer than paintball matches, and require heavy physical stamina to remain up and running. Sprints for cover and treks over rough terain are also demanding, and Close quarters battles (CQB) are just as fast paced as your average paintball game. 6. Myth: In airsoft, you cant tell if you shot a person, and people never call themselves out. Fact: Although this is one of the major flaws of airsoft, it is not as problematic as concieved by outsiders. The primary factors to preventing this problem are honor and the airsoft community. While paintball guns do make it much more obvious as to who is hit, airsoft players often come to the field with enough honor and integrity to call themselves out. Some players even call themselves out when they hear a rain drop on their helmet (sniper rifles often loose a great amount of power over long distances). If players are not so honorable on their own, the community like environment that is airsoft prevents players from cheating. If they are caught cheating repeatedly, they will be banned from playing by most, if not all local areas, and will not be able to play unless they somehow redeem themselves or move to a new region. Sometimes players will think they are hitting the enemy, when in actuality their shots are just barely missing. Because of this, the firing player will often shout "call your hits!" to challenge the honor of the other player. Paintball is not without its cheaters either. In tournaments, some paintball players will continue firing after being hit until a referee actually calls them out. Other players carry moist towlettes in their pocket to wipe off paint when noone is looking. Now, with all of these new facts, perhaps we can all stop dissing each other's sports and get back to playing the games we all love.