Airsoft Replicas are NOT toys! They are NOT intended or designed for children. There is a real potential for danger with these products because they are so realistic, effective and inexpensive not to mention the fact that they are in deed a real pellet gun.

Even though they aren't real firearms, they look very much like a real gun. Any "look a like" or toy/BB gun used in a crime carries the same full circumstances as that of a real weapon. These products should be considered as dangerous as real loaded firearms.

For anyone purchasing an AirSoft BB gun, take note that most State Laws require that you must be over 18 years of age to make a purchase. If not over 18, the seller MUST have the written consent of an adult BEFORE they can ship the product and an adult over the age of 18 MUST be available to sign for the product when it arrives at your location.

For your safety, ALWAYS wear eye protection when operating an AirSoft Pellet / BB gun and allways treat them with the same respect as with a real firearm. They are to be purchased and used by adults 18 years of age or older. Minors MUST have parental supervision when operating these BB guns.

NEVER transport your AirSoft Replica in open view, keep in its protective case. The neighbor lady doesn't know you have a pellet gun that looks a lot like your dad's AK47 and she might call law inforcement out to check on you. Therefore, NEVER brandish or use the AirSoft guns in public areas.

Which brings me to another important point: If you are EVER approached by law enforcement officers, DO EXACTLY what they say and PAY ATTENTION, your life might be on the line! NEVER point or shoot at other people or animals. Check with your local ordinance on ownership and usage before making a purchase. It is the user and/or buyer's responsibility to use common sense and safe Airsoft handeling practices. Neither Airsoftforum.com, it's members, it's operators nor it's contributors can be held responsible or liable for your actions. By viewing and/or contributing to this website, you agree to all of these terms and conditions.

I know this is in the wrong section but its here for a reason, Its here to save lives. Please read this manual carefully it is an Airsoft safety manual. It's basically an airsoft 101 guide to safe airsoft I strongly advise every one to read through it. I feel that it covers every thing that ASF, stresses and is a good source of information for you and your pals, it would not be a bad idea to print out, and hand out to your friends you play airsoft with, If you are part of an airsoft organization I would also print it out and give it to your organizations leader, or president or what have you.

Airsoft Training and Advisory Command SAFETY MANUAL, Please read carefully

This is a new article at Airsoft Specialists

http://airsoftspecialists.com/articles/backyard/backyard.htm

Apparantly.... SOME people still don't get it.

If your one of those "odd are" kinda people.... who thinks "what are the odds that anything BP said will happen" all I can say is this.

If there are in fact "odds" that something wont happen, well then, that means there are odds that it will happen too. Care to gamble with your life? Or gamble with getting airsoft banned in your area, or your state? or the country?

There will be no more arguing about this subject.

"backyard airsoft" as defined in the article above is irresponsible and wrong. That is the last word, and this forum's policy. We do NOT talk about irresponsible airsoft practices.

Anyone who try's to argue that its ok, isn't a serious airsofter, and should switch to NERF.

Any posts following this one, that tries to argue this point will be deleted. Because as it says in my signature:

My bit of wisdom to add to BP's article is this:

Would you run around, where the public can possibly see you, with a real gun?

The only correct answer to that is "no". My reply is: "then why do you think it's OK to do it with an Airsoft gun?". People start spouting things like "orange tip", "they don't make noise", "it's just a toy gun", "they'll see me shooting my friend and know it's not real", "I told all the neighbors I'm playing Airsoft", etc. Those are all invalid excuses. If you wouldn't do it with a real gun DO NOT do it with an Airsoft gun; plain and simple.

The public doesn't know the difference between a real gun and a fake gun. They don't care. They'll call the police. People can get hurt, as well as getting Airsoft banned.

I wrote this article, and I want to share it with ASF. I'm not looking for errors, or looking to make it better. I just want to let members here read this.






Introduction:
Many airsofters throw their guns and gear in the back of their car and head out to the field, then when they show up at the field, and start pulling guns out of the back seat, off the floor, and out of seat pockets. I'm not sure whether it's lack of knowledge, if people are in a hurry, or just don't care. I can tell you that it's carelessness. No reason or excuse will justify just throwing your replicas in the car without taking the necessary precautions.



Walking into the unknown:
Above is a picture of my SUV at night. This is a picture to show what a police officer can see at night. There are 3 guns planted right in the open, and I bet you can't find them. A police officer walking up to a car; is like a bomb squad member opening up a suitcase left in a park. It could be empty, or it could explode. They are going to be nervous, especially at night. I am going to stress the "night" situation a lot in this article. When your airsoft game ends, it's always harder to put everything back where it belongs. You're tired and you may look at the car, see it's dark and then figure no one will see the guns if you leave them in the open. Now, you get pulled over.... You have assault rifles and pistols laying in the car. You are not allowed to step out of your vehicle, the police shine their flashlight through the windows, and see those weapons. Most likely, they will not walk up and casually talk. They will then ask you to step out of your vehicle at gunpoint, and it becomes a big thing. Something so little, can become life threatening.

Below, you can see where the 3 guns are. That's what the police officer would see when he shines his light in the car, or when you turn your lights on to find your vehicle insurance.





Scare Factor:
Storing things such as a pistol in your glove compartment might seem like a good idea if you don't have a case, right? WRONG. Now, you're pulled over, he's going to ask to see your insurance, you open the glove box, and he then sees this:



If you tell him that you have a gun in your glove compartment, that's sure going to scare him. If you reach at your glove box, he's now going to think you are reaching for the weapon. Either way, you better hope the officer has some mercy on you.


This on the seat? Looks pretty intimidating to me. That's asking to get in trouble.


Hiding it is no better. This is my replica 1911. It's an airsoft gun, but can you honestly tell the difference? I had the camera flash on to show what it would look like even during the day. Looks very real doesn't it?




You NEED to buy cases for your rifles. You should put the safety's on, take the magazines out of the mag well, make sure there aren't any bb's or gas/batteries left in them, and they should be out of reach if possible. A lock would even be a great investment. A police officer is going to see that you spent the time to take the proper precautions, and that is going to make both the officer's day, and your day much easier.




Orange Tips:
Is it the law? That's answer varies country to country, state to state, county to county, and even city to city. This is something you need to look up for yourself. The state of Illinois states that during transportation of air rifles, orange tips must be present. It goes into details, but even if it's not the law, give the officers on the street a break. Several people have been shot by police officers, because they did not have orange tips on the guns. I'm not going to say you are going to get shot if you don't, but why not take every precaution you can. It may just save your life.

Eye Protection
What are your best options? by Logarithm

Above all other types of protection, face protection should be the utmost priority of any Airsoft player. Most importantly within that safety category, your eyes require the best protection. This leads into the purpose of this article: to showcase a variety of examples, standards, and qualities of adequate eye protection. Your choice of eye protection is extremely important, as not all types of glasses, goggles, or masks offer sufficient protection for Airsoft.

Qualities of Good Eye Protection
Let me begin by introducing two common specifications of impact resistance standards which apply to many safety lenses on the market.

ANSI Z87.1
This standard was set forth by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and is intended to ensure that a lens which complies with this standard can resist impact. Many types of eye protection which are readily available on the market do comply with Z87.1 standards. Although ANSI didn’t have Airsoft in mind when creating this standard, Z87.1-complient lenses can resist the impact of an Airsoft BB. Am I sure? To prove that this is true, I shall reveal the impact test that is performed on lenses and compare them to the impact of an Airsoft BB.

For basic Z87.1 compliance (Z87.1-1989, the first and minimal specification), a lens must be able to stand up to a one-fourth-inch diameter steel ball accelerated to 250 feet per second at the lens, which may not shatter or fragment any part of the lens or cause the lens to come into contact with the wearer’s eyes in any way [3]. When compared to an Airsoft BB:

• A one-fourth-inch diameter steel ball (0.635 centimeters, with an estimated density of 7.85 grams per cubic centimeter [4], weighs about 1.05 grams), and when accelerated at the lens traveling 250 feet per second, it makes contact with approximately 3.05 Joules of energy [1].
• A 0.2 gram BB shot from the barrel of an Airsoft gun at 400 feet per second (a standard field limit) will deliver 1.49 Joules of energy [1].

Through this data, it is shown that the ANSI Z87.1 standard impact test delivers a little over twice as much force to a lens than Airsoft does, meaning that if a lens can stand up to the ANSI Z87.1 standards, they can definitely stand up to Airsoft. The ANSI Z87.1-2003 standards are even stricter and will also resist the impact of an Airsoft BB.

ASTM F1776
This standard was developed by ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) specifically for paintball. This standard is more suitable for Airsoft, as these lenses are qualified to resist much more impact than the ANSI standard for impact. I couldn’t find the ASTM F1776 specifications anywhere (for free), but here’s the math:

• As shown above, a 0.2 gram BB shot from the barrel of an Airsoft gun at 400 feet per second will deliver 1.49 Joules of energy [1].
• A paintball weighs, on average, approximately 3.201 grams [2]. A 3.201 gram paintball shot at 280 feet per second will deliver 11.6 Joules of energy [1].

This data alone confirms that ASTM F1776 lenses are quite sufficient for Airsoft. In conclusion, it is shown here that either standard will do, and while the ASTM lenses are specifically made for paintball and can take more abuse, the ANSI lenses are put through sufficient tests which show their usability in Airsoft as well.

Other Qualities of Good Eye Protection
Impact-resistant lenses alone aren’t enough to qualify eye protection as a good choice for Airsoft. Another important factor is a full face seal, which means that your eye protection forms a seal against your face and protects your eyes from all angles. This immediately disqualifies any kind of glasses, such as shooting glasses or shop glasses, as a good choice for eye protection. After all, it is important that your eyes are protected in the event that a BB comes at you from any angle other than straight ahead. It would be naïve to think that this could never happen, as it certainly could.

Lastly, you should look for goggles that have a strap that goes around the back of your head to keep them on your face. This is another reason why glasses are not good eye protection. If your eye protection is not securely held onto your face by a strap, then you run the risk of your eye protection falling off of your face during the game, which is definitely undesirable, to say the least. Most goggles and masks do have a strap in the back, so you shouldn’t have a problem with finding this implementation at all whatsoever.

In summation of this, when you’re looking at goggles or masks that you think might work for Airsoft, ask yourself the following questions:

• Does it comply with either ANSI Z87.1 or ASTM F1776 impact standards?
• Does it form a seal against your face?
• Does it have a strap in the back to keep it in place?

If you answered “yes” to every question here, you can determine that the eye protection that you’re looking at is adequate for Airsoft (with the exception of mesh masks, which I’ll cover in the next section). If you answered “no” to any question on the list, then you can determine that the eye protection that you’re looking at is not good for Airsoft. It’s simple logic, but it is important to be able to determine what is sufficient to protect your eyes from Airsoft BBs.

Examples of Good and Bad Eye Protection
Many different types of goggles and masks are commonly used in Airsoft, and I will present a brief list here. I’ll begin with examples of good eye protection:

• Safety Goggles – This example of safety goggles complies with the newer ANSI Z87.1-2003 standards, in addition to providing a minimal seal against your face. I would consider this a bare minimum choice for eye protection during Airsoft, meaning that you should consider better, but this will suffice.
• Paintball Masks – This is among your best choices for eye protection during Airsoft. Paintball masks almost always comply with the ASTM F1776 standard, in addition to the mask protecting the rest of your face.
• ESS Goggles – These goggles may in fact be the best kind of goggles you can buy for impact. ESS Goggles exceed ANSI Z87.1 standards by a great margin. In fact, they also exceed U.S. military impact standards (MIL STD 662F)! These also have anti-fog and anti-glare coatings so they perform well in any climate.

Of course, then you have bad eye protection:

• Mesh Masks - This thread about mesh masks should explain everything. You might also want to read the reviews on the example that I linked to for further confirmation.
• Safety Glasses – As noted above, safety glasses like these may be able to sustain impact, but a BB can come through at any angle, which means you may not be protected from it and risk losing your eyesight, not to mention that these can fly off of your face from excessive movement or impact.
• Ski Goggles – Ski goggles are meant to protect your eyes from wind and snow, but definitely not Airsoft BBs. Ski goggles are not rated for impact and are therefore a poor choice for eye protection.
• Prescription Eyewear – Need I say more? These lenses are not meant to be used as protection against anything, nor do they provide any kind of side protection.
• No Eye Protection – No! What are you thinking!?

While these lists may not be all-encompassing, they do provide a broad view of both acceptable and unacceptable eye protection. I invite anyone who reads this article to expand upon either list with examples that I did not mention. Also, if any of the information presented here is incorrect, I invite you to reply with any correction that you see fit.

In Conclusion...
Hopefully, this guide will lead new Airsofters to choose adequate eye protection. Eyesight is precious, so I advise anyone who plays Airsoft to choose good eye protection. I also urge anyone who plays Airsoft to require eye protection for anyone that you play with, as it would be a shame for anyone that you play with to lose an eye over Airsoft. On that note, play safe and happy Airsofting!




Works Cited

[1] - http://www.cimmerians.org/FPS_Converter.html; this calculator helped me convert from grams and feet per second to Joules.

[2] - http://home.comcast.net/~dyrgcmn/pball/paintstats.html; this link provided statistics from which I pulled their average weight of a paintball.

[3] - http://www.ibwc.state.gov/Directives/Vol4_0702_03_Dir.pdf; page 21 for plastic goggle tests, section 10.3.1.2 specifically; this document contains the entire ANSI Z87.1-1989 specification which I referred to.

[4] - http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/KarenSutherland.shtml; this link provided an estimate for the density of steel which I used to calculate the approximate weight of a one-fourth-inch steel ball.

Beautiful. Pinned.

Excellent info. I had no idea that the ESS goggles were so good. This will help me out tons on finding some new goggles that will last me a while. Thanks and good job on the research!

Note all Oakley Ski goggles are OK though. I just got off the phone with an Oakley rep and he said that all Oakley goggles even the Ski ones have the ANSI Z87.1 rating.

are the military's impact goggles "safe" for airsoft? because I almost picked up a pair to use.

I'm wondering that myself. The googles at airsoft extreme suck and break if they get shot on a certain part so I know I will never use those. My army surplus store has a huge amout of military impact goggles that are full seal, but I don't know the ANSI because the last time I was there I didn't write it down. I'm don't want to drive all the way down there to find out that most likely they will not work.

I would assume they must be the MIL STD 662F ratings, which would mean that they are above and beyond airsoft. Just want to make sure.

This post has been edited by Avneet: Aug 10 2007, 01:23 AM

It depends on what goggles they are. If they are the old M44 sun, wind and dust goggles, those are not ballistic rated. There is however a separate ballistic lens you can buy for them. Lately the Army has been issuing ESS Land Ops which are fine for airsoft.

If in doubt, get the model name/number of the goggles in question and look it up online. The manufacturer's website should list what the product is rated for.