Why airsoft players don’t call their hits?

Deception or uncertainty? Airsoft hits

Only when another player signals that he has been hit, we are sure that our shot was on target. Often, however, it seems to us that we are sure of a hit, even though there is no such signal from our opponent. There are many reasons for this situation. Not every person who doesn't claim to be hit is acting in bad faith. I would even venture to say that in most situations this is what it looks like. Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I wouldn't assume that most people are cheaters.

It's worth considering how it works the other way around. Let a person who has never been accused of hiding a hit by another player pick up the stone and hit first. Have you ever had a situation where someone accused you of being hit, even though you didn't feel it at all? After all, we are not cheaters ourselves. After all, others act in bad faith, they prefer to cheat, because they do not have enough skills to hit us on their own.

Let's stop this negative thinking. I don't think it's useful to anyone. Real cheaters, so-called terminators, will not change anyway. It is the referee on the field who can at most point out to the players that they have been hit, if they did not feel it. Let's stop making judgments, because as it turns out, there can be many reasons why someone didn't feel the hit. In this article, we will focus on a situation where someone actually got shot, but had the right not to feel it. Quite another thing is that very often we can seemingly hit someone but in reality, miss them. This is, however a topic for another time.

Nonregistered hits in gear

Currently, it is very easy to get yourself quite a lot of effective tactical airsoft equipment. It is slowly not even a matter of money, because it is quite easy to buy plate carrier vests and matching pouches in the MOLLE system. In addition, a backpack for a hydration bladder, dummy ballistic plates and we are enclosed on each side. Let's also assume that our target also wears a helmet on his head, it turns out that most of their body is covered with quite strong shields. It is therefore not surprising that sometimes someone will not feel the BBs hitting them. You can also not hear it when the airsoft gun performs a cycle right next to our ear or we are behind cover with other players shouting messages at us. One can argue that the limbs are not covered like that. Maybe not, but most hits land at the centre of mass. I don't remember seeing anyone who got hit in the hand and didn't confess. Often, however, there are hits to the chest or back that no one felt.

The more gear we have on ourselves the harder it is to register a hit

The same applies to clothing, especially in winter. When looking at camera footage from skirmishes, I often see two types of situations. The first one is quite thick clothes such as winter jackets or warm sweatshirts and their users who will not feel the shot. Another type of hit that is not registered because of clothing that is loose and absorb the energy of the projectile. I'll explain to be sure. If our poor BB flies through these 60 meters and hits someone in a thick jacket or a loose leg of an oversized uniform, unfortunately it does not have enough energy to be felt. It is no coincidence that as the temperature deteriorates, the number of hits admitted by our opponents decreases.

The situation makes us not feel the hit

There are situations that increase the likelihood that we will not feel the hit. First of all, adrenaline can work on us. For example, when we have an accident. We will fall off the bike or even slip and fall. In the first place, we basically feel no pain. Only after some time the effects of the injury will become apparent. It's similar in airsoft, but here it's mainly the excitement that makes us not feel the BBs hitting us. Maybe some players with more experience will find it funny. It is enough to observe people who appear on the skirmish for the first time to understand that this can be a real factor. And in fact, it's hard to blame someone for not admitting to hitting, because he was having so much fun that he didn't feel the BBs hitting them.

It's harder to register a hit by BB when we run

Sometimes what we do affects our perception of hits. If we are active and move a lot, we may not notice or feel the hit. The best example is running. I don't remember ever seeing a sprinter stop and raise his hand to signal a hit. And I'm not even talking about the fact that it's harder to shoot a moving target. The point is that while moving, our opponent may simply not register that they were hit by a BB. Any manoeuvres such as changing the shooting position, reloading or actions related to the game mode, such as catching the flag, can work in the same way.

Fair play in airsoft - summary

Paintball solved this problem many years ago. It's harder to hide a hit there. When we see a new stain of coloured paint on ourselves, we know that it was not without accident. Of course, I'm simplifying things. However, there is no doubt that at its core, airsoft requires players to admit hits first. And this is actually one of the very constructive factors determining the nature of this hobby. Where else would so many people base the core of the game on the principles of fair play and the good will of the players?

The airsoft world is changing. More and more often we are dealing with the activity of referees who will catch hits with a keen eye. In my opinion, this is a very big and important change. We can rely on the pros to point out other players who don't recognize hits. On the other hand, more and more people run with sports cameras. Users of these devices can trace the circumstances of the event more closely and may be able to verify better that it might actually be difficult to feel a hit in a hard pouch.

The most important thing we should remember is not to attribute bad intentions to other players in advance. Surely most players who don't raise their hand after a hit don't do it in bad faith, they just didn't feel they were hit. We can then talk to such a person on the spawn and try to find their point of view or rely on the help of a judge or a game master. However, the worst thing we can do is get into a fight and ruin the day for ourselves and others.

Author: Boreq

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