"I came for the war, not for my husband": Why do I play airsoft
When my fiance Zhenya died, it seemed to me that by dividing his hobbies, I could be closer to him. So in my life one summer appeared: yachting, diving, fencing, climbing and airsoft. Zhenya was a very athletic guy, and I, a girl, in general, not too prepared, much was beyond my powers. Something was too expensive or just did not like it, but airsoft became my constant and favorite hobby.
Airsoft is a military-sports game, the participants of which simulate military actions using realistic-looking copies of military small arms, that is, machine guns, pistols, rifles. Only these copies are shot, of course, not with real bullets, but with small plastic balls. Dressed in camouflage, airsoft players enter the field as part of military units. Simply put, in the forest, in a building or on a training ground, from ten to several thousand guys and girls in military uniform run, shoot, perform assigned tasks, capture certain points on the map, protect them, or go on the attack, under grenade explosions and creeping along field smoke. It is beautiful and interesting, it requires a person to overstep his weakness and daily needs, as if to become something more.
About Bridging and Badges
An interesting feature of airsoft is that it has several levels. Having started practicing it three years ago, I concentrated exclusively on personal growth. The first thing that every newcomer passes through - the course of a young fighter - was hard for me. I learned to take shelters correctly, to stand with a drive (this is the name of airsoft guns, so as not to be confused with the present, because the drive runs on electricity), to run where necessary and lie when necessary to hold out under enemy fire as long as possible. And the main thing that I always liked in airsoft is overcoming. Admittedly, humans are creatures rather lazy. My body tells me that the most beautiful pastime is to sit at home on the couch, with your legs tucked in, warm and comfortable, sleep sweetly and leaf through social networks. The best plan for the weekend, isn't it? But I say no to my body and I drag my carcass, which is insufficiently prepared for physical hazards, to the forest, to the attack, to the battle.
I have a lot of memories associated with airsoft, which I am proud of. I climbed through the drifts of my last strength, although I could go to warm by the fire. It was under a shower in very light clothes without the possibility of even shooting back - the battery on the machine gave up before me. She crawled in her bellies to the enemy's trench, completely unable to do this and fearing that the bullet would fall, sorry, in the ass - after that I couldn’t raise my hands for two days. Withstood the 24-hour game "War: Day on Armor" and received a concise, but very important icon with the words "survived." I have two of them, and every time they remind me of my own endurance.
Personal development, improvement of their abilities must be dealt with constantly. Now I do not walk in the forest at all as before, I can hide in such a way that not every person will find me, I can get to that goal, which I would not have noticed three years ago. But when I look at older comrades, I understand that I still have to grow and grow, and this attracts even more. These skills are not meaningless even in our seemingly safe and non-military time. I became more collected, stronger and better notice dangerous places in the city.
Team and novices
Obviously, airsoft is a team game, so there are almost no singles in it - players acting only for themselves. 99% of event participants are permanent team members. One team can always be distinguished from another by the same type of camouflage, and first of all by chevron - a badge on the clothes.
However, finding a team that will suit you in spirit and level is quite difficult. When I just decided to try airsoft, I wrote to my friends asking me to take me with me to the game. Generally, most people come that way. You heard something about airsoft, you wrote to a friend to try it once, you lent equipment, and now you rush around the field under the explosions, right tanks, your left teammates, and from the forest comes the turn of the machine gun.
But not always the people who brought you for the first time to practice, really fit you in format. I changed two teams before my friends and I created a new one, my own, which responds to our common desires and ideas - SK “Grach”. We try to gather a truly friendly team, people who will be comfortable with each other, both in battle and on holiday in a camp, and in social networks. It is quite difficult, we have a periodic set, and not everyone who comes to try remains.
Our team has a schedule: one game and one workout per month in the spring and autumn season. In winter - less often, we do not train, and only at will we participate in interesting games, if they occur. But I know the teams, and who gather for training every week, and who play once or twice a year from strength - everyone chooses for himself.
In some teams, as far as I know, there is a certain passing qualification, but, in general, almost all are open to beginners and develop with them in different directions. It is not enough just to shoot and run well - many take first aid courses, there are excellent training for the training of radio operators, after which I realized how difficult, interesting and important it is to be able to properly communicate on the radio, prepare commanders and so on. We constantly share experiences with each other, and this is also an important side of airsoft.
Handbags and body armor
The minimum set that a player needs is a uniform (camouflage and berets), goggles and weapons. All this varies in price and appearance. In addition, each team has its own approved list of permissible weapons. For example, some teams are guided by the reconstruction of some really existing military units, then the armament must correspond to them. Others prefer to use weapons that replicate Russian or Soviet designs. In our team, the Kalashnikov assault rifle is considered basic, and someone, on the contrary, uses the weapons of NATO. Camouflage, in which the team goes to the game, should be one color. Therefore, often, if a player wants to move from one team to another, he has to purchase the entire set again. It is good that the market for the resale of equipment is quite developed.
Of course, when you start to do something enthusiastically, you want to buy things that will make your game more convenient. I have several large crates in my house filled with equipment. Over time, I bought a more comfortable weapon, a quality drive and a gun in case the battery sits down. Someone buys a walkie-talkie to get in touch with them on the field, a headset for her or body armor to feel more cool.
You can buy a form for different seasons: light, blown, for the summer; warm, with a trim for winter, a camouflage to be invisible in the snow, or "gilli" - sniper's clothes, in which he looks like a big bush or a sheaf. And, of course, expensive glasses with interchangeable lenses for different weather instead of the usual for 300 rubles. And the number of handbags and pouches with which an airsoft player can weigh himself cannot be counted.
Generally, airsoft is a rather expensive hobby, but it all depends on the level of interest and opportunities. I noticed that the boys often enthusiastically take care of their appearance: my teammates discuss the properties of different camouflage, sort out different types of forms and adjust more and more new pans. Girls usually relate to this more calmly, as long as everything is comfortable and does not interfere, and we apparently satisfy our thirst for rags in regular stores.
On some landfills (for example, "Dawn on" Riga "") not so long ago, the possibility of renting. You can rent at least a complete set: from the drive to camouflage. This is very convenient for beginners who want to try their hand at business, but are not sure that they will want to play further. But more often there is a transfer from hand to hand - teams over time accumulate a supply of drives that can be issued to beginners until they acquire their own.
BTR and kebabs
On average, one or two large-scale games take place in the Central region of Russia per month and are full of small ones. Of course, it’s impossible to visit everyone, but we try to visit the most interesting ones with the team. True, with large games, things are not so simple: no organizer wants random people to get into the common cause. Therefore, in order for the team to hit the game, the other team must vouch for it. There is a second option - to pass a test event with the organizers, show yourself in battle.
Now large polygons have become very beautiful in their own right. Military equipment participates in Day-to-Day armor and many other games, players drive to the front on armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, periodically shoot tanks, and it looks like a real battlefield. Control of equipment, its distribution on the fronts, its use in combat is also a separate and rather difficult task.
For an armored troop-carrier, for example, it is very convenient to hide when you go on the attack, and the Ural truck sent to the right point, which has been hammered by the fighters, can turn the tide of battle in the right direction. For participation in the game, of course, paid a fee - somewhere from one and a half to three thousand per person for a large game.
Games usually take place outside the city, so getting there is also not easy. Here personal transportation helps a lot, we gather everyone in Moscow and drive by a merry company. It is more pleasant to come to the big games in advance, for example on Friday: so you can safely get there, sit with your friends at a kebab, get some sleep and in the morning will not be late. Many games take more than one day: “Day on armor” - in fact, two, “Front line” - three, - and this complicates things a little. You must have a camp in which you can rest and eat in order to fight again, so you have to carry even more things. But there are still small games that you can go to early on Saturday morning, and be home by night. There are also sites almost in the center of Moscow, for example, the Zarya and Partizan polygons with a small space and a lot of structures, behind which it is easy to hide even for an inexperienced person.
Bullets and injuries
Airsoft is no more dangerous than any other type of outdoor activity. Organizers, team commanders and simply responsible people constantly monitor security. During all events, players wear safety glasses - this is necessary in order to protect their eyes from plastic balls and branches. Of course, we do not have bullets, but the hit of plastic balls is noticeable. A ball from a sniper rifle released at close range can go under the skin or break a lip or eyebrow. Therefore, everyone tries not to shoot at close range, there are certain restrictions on the allowable proximity of shooting. But, in my experience, paintball, which I hit a couple of times, is more painful. There the distances are closer, the collisions are more aggressive, and the bruises from large balls are larger.
Most of the injuries on airsoft are caused by careless behavior of players in the forest. Often in the summer, people suffer from sunstroke, it happens that someone runs on a sharp branch, sometimes even bruises and fractures from unsuccessful falls occur. For such cases in all games from one hundred people there is a point of medical care, and very large, there is an ambulance. For all the time I had to use the help of doctors once: I came to the game simple and was afraid that I would lose my voice, but I, as the main radio operator of the party, needed it.
Sexism and marriage
Contrary to all the pluses, there is quite a lot of sexism in airsoft. There are very few girls in sport. Whether war is considered a traditionally masculine occupation, or physical tests, ever-broken nails and camouflage uniforms scare girls away - there is only one girl in teams of ten guys. There are three of them in our team, but we are not the typical option.
It is quite a shame that the attitude towards girls in airsoft is permeated with suspicion. It is believed that a girl comes in airsoft either for a guy (few people like it, that a young man leaves somewhere with friends every Saturday, and many girls want to accompany their guys), or in search of a guy. The girl is suspected that after marriage she will leave the airsoft and take her husband with her.
But few people understand that these are stereotypes. In recent years, many girls have come to airsoft with a completely different motivation. Many of us are looking for self-realization, as well as men. I, a middle manager, can take a weapon on a day off, put on a uniform, force myself to rush into battle — I need to prove myself that I am stronger, cooler, more capable than in everyday life. There are two other women in my team, and they came to the team for the same reason.
But it's quite difficult to explain to guys. Usually I try not to be offended - but sometimes it becomes unpleasant when strangers ask you stupid questions several times in a row. The situation is aggravated by the fact that my young man also plays airsoft. And how to explain to everyone they met that I brought him to the team? I have to laugh it off.
The Moscow teams, it seems to me, more or less reconciled with the presence of women in the toy war, although they are still secretly convinced that the woman’s place is in the radio room, but the regional teams see the woman as a “misguided Cossack woman” who will spoil the perfect male rest and kidnap from the fighter's team. I can not say that such cases do not happen, but I still want the woman in camouflage or military uniform not to cause constant chuckles.
War and Sublimation
Look at the history - mankind never lived without war. War is an opportunity to throw out aggression, which accumulates in us and is suppressed. Chance to accomplish the feat and surprise yourself.
And how good it is that you can get to a toy war, shoot plastic bullets at each other, return to the ranks after being wounded and not die. It seems to me wonderful that airsoft allows hundreds and thousands of guys to throw off their aggression, the desire for battle and the warlike mood in the form of a game.
The feeling of a team, fighting brotherhood, rapture in battle, the joy of victory, the bitterness of defeat, perseverance and the ability to go forward in spite of everything are those feelings that we cannot find in everyday life of managers, logisticians, lawyers, doctors, designers or engineers. But without these experiences, the world will become completely gray. It's good that we were able to find them in airsoft.
Photo: personal archive
