Mud, mud, and more mud. Southern California has seen more than it's usual share of rain this winter (and, believe me, I'm not complaining, we need it) and this past weekend was no exception. The rainy weather has played havoc with our lacrosse schedule and forced us to endure several very wet high school soccer matches, but it had virtually no lasting effect on airsoft. In fact, the 2010 Dust Wars, sponsored by Airsoft Extreme, went forward as planned at Mr. Paintball near Escondido, California.
Mud and flowing water were surprising elements of the day's events and virtually everyone brought home their fair share of the brown muck (on boots, BDU's, gun butts, and even the occasional dropped mag). Still, with running water a very rare thing on most of our battle grounds, it was fun to have to ford a stream or two and use the filled ponds and levees as battle features. The only "scary" thing was the sudden abundance of poison oak and poison ivy, the bright, shiny leaves sprouting out of the moist earth and looking for an unwary (or uneducated) victim.
Fun was the main rule of the day and we brought home some nice memories, in addition to the mud, but there were some reminders of how to keep a large airsoft event running smoothly. For example,
1. Start the event on time. Nobody likes to drive 2 hours only to wait another 2 for the fun to begin.
2. Never forget the safety briefing. Games always involve players of varied backgrounds and experience levels so it's important to know that everyone understands gun safety.
3. Don't scrimp on the pre-battle briefing. We waited around for hours for the battle to begin and then had a scant 5 minutes to fashion an impromptu unit structure and plan (which immediately fell to pieces).
4. Dead rags. Use them or risk being hit repeatedly even after you're "dead."
5. Call your hits. The shooter and the shootee both know when you've been hit. Call it, regen, and get back in the action.
David Baker
The Airsoft Lawyer
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