AirsoftPope

I am a gear whore and proud of it. I own more “gucci”, real-world gear than any airsofter should and am perfectly OK with that. When I first started playing, there was very little knock-off gear being made, so the majority of us had no choice but to get the pricey operator-grade gear. Granted this is back when airsoft was a $1000 USD club and paying $250-400 for gear was the norm. I started out with a Tactical Tailor 1-piece MAV with X-Harness which served me well for many years. Over time, I picked up random Tactical Tailor pouches that I still use to this day, my favorites being:  Zipper Utility, Large GP, Small Radio, 3L Hydration Carrier, Quad 40mm, and the list goes on. In fact, I can’t think of one purchase I regret from TT!

Now, I have family in Seattle, WA and just few minutes south is Lynnwood… Tactical Tailor HQ! Once I learned they were so close, I giggled like a little girl. Arriving at the shop was pretty uneventful and from the outside, you would be hard pressed to know it was even there.

Once inside, the smell of new gear was overwhelming! To the left were rigs, clothing and bags and to the right, pouch-mecca. All the pouches were organized by color, then separated into bins by type. All the pouches I lusted after online were at my fingertips. To the right of the shop was a sewing room behind a large glass window. Juki sewing machines and massive rolls of fabric, but I didn’t see anything being made. After an hour plus of fondling gear, I picked up:

• 12rd 40MM Belt in CB
• 3-Liter Source Hydration Bladder
• Zipper Pulls
• Operator Cap “I’d rather be waterboarding” in FG

 
Going in, all I had in mind to walk out with was the 40MM Belt.. see how well that worked out? Overall I had a great experience. The courteous staff and large selection was far more than I had anticipated and will be sure to stop back in the next time I am in town. If you are in the Seattle area and have the means, I highly recommend stopping by for some serious gear pr0n.

I leave you with photos of my little girl Lucy modeling the new cap:

Let me start with an insult; if you’re not using a radio when you play airsoft, you’re doing it wrong. We all know that communication on the field is vital to success and a big part of how well you communicate is the quality of your headset. I have both a cheap solution as well as a quasi-pricey solution, both of which have and still serve me well whenever I take the field. I’m going to preface this by saying that I am a die-hard Motorola Talk-About GMRS fan. I have seen teammates with Midlands, Cobras and even the uber-l33t ICOMs… all with various levels of fail all the while my Motorola’s just keep on trucking. I have probably used 5-7 headsets over the years, but the below two are by far the best bang for your buck as they just plain work and are durable to boot.

Headsets for the Motorola Talk-Abouts use the x63 jack, so be mindful when you are buying online. First up is my cheap solution, the Motorola 53743 headset. This is an extremely basic behind the head setup with no push-to-talk (PTT) button (There are 3rd party add-ons if you require a PTT). I personally never needed a PTT and turned VOX off (common radio etiquette) so to make a call, you need to push the talk button on the radio itself. I know, sounds like a hassle but I promise you it’s not as odd as you think. Calls come in and go out crystal clear and the headset is so comfortable you forget that you’re even wearing it. The best part… the headset is dirt cheap at $20! Mine has been rocking for near 9 years now… but I think I paid $50 for it way back when.

On to the l33t solution.. the Pryme Trooper SPM-2163 handset. This is basically a law-enforcement style handset but has the ability to accept a 3.5mm listen-only ear piece. I was turned-on to this rig by a fellow SoCal Airsofter and was amazed at how simple, sleek and how it just plain worked. I ended up paring the handset with a Pryme EH-1389SC listen-only ear piece and a Pryme P-EMLL large molded ear insert for the left ear. The molded insert replaces the small nub on the ear piece to better secure the ear piece to your ear. Think of it as a hearing aid insert. The best part about this setup is that while the molded insert is in your ear, you really don’t feel it and it doesn’t block outside game noise/conversation. This is by far my most favorite rig to run, but most complicated to setup and manage. Now the down side… when I run this rig, I usually put my radio on my back and rely on teammates to adjust volume and channel selection when needed. On top of that, this rig will set you back around $100 even before you select a radio.

How’s that for a slice of fried gold?

One item of kit that is often overlooked is quality hand protection. When I first started playing, I thought gloves were more part of an impression than essential kit, but man was I proved wrong. I think I played maybe 3 games before I realized how wrong I was. From cuts, to bb-hits, to burrs and even a bent back finger nail… I paid the price for my ignorance. The great glove search was on, and after reading many reviews and looking at pricing, I got no where. Only after I started talking to the local ‘vets’ did I discover the joy of the Hatch Operator series gloves.

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I have been using this trick for a few years now, ever since I put my wife in charge of caring for my BDUs post-game day. Normally, I am very particular about my gear and how I gear-down from a game but when it came to my BDUs, I just tossed them into the laundry machine and called it a day. I noticed that after 3 or so washes, the color was fading, significantly changing the effectiveness of the pattern on the field. At roughly $70 USD a set, I can’t afford to replace my BDUs on a regular basis, but what choice did I have?

Now, my wife has a BA in textiles and a graduate degree from FIDM. Needless to say, she knows a whole lot more than I do when it comes to fabric. When I presented the fading problem to her, she went into action. Apparently when working with denim, the factory dye bleeds each wash, which is why your jeans break in and fade with each wear. She used a trick of the trade on my BDUs that have, so far, locked in the color of my new BDUs. There is mild fading, but far from the 3-wash-fade that I was experiencing. The following works best on new BDUs but can be applied to old ones as well.

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