Frequently Asked Questions

First time players are recommended to wear long sleeves, pants and footwear with some level of grip as they are likely to be walking on uneven ground or up and down bushy slopes. We also recommend wearing a beanie, hat or hoody if you are concerned about head shots. It’s better to come over prepared and choose to remove items if you wish than to come under prepared and wish you’d covered up more.

Your Apocalypse Airsoft hire gear includes a full face mask and goggles.

Other items to bring would be food and drink to last the day.  It can get very hot in the park over summer, so ensure you bring enough water to stay well hydrated.  There is no drinking water available onsite although there are facilities at the TECT Information Centre at the entry of the park.

Some cash is also a good idea, just in case you want to buy more BB’s. ATM’s and Eftpos are not available in the bush

Like any sport, there is a risk of injury. We police very strict rules to maximise player safety.

Even though we use firearms, a player is more likely to injure themselves by tripping over or walking into a branch rather than from being shot or shooting themselves.

Paintball is considered a fun sport and has been played by young people for years. When asked if Airsoft is safe we like to respond with “Would you let your kids play paintball?” Generally the answer is yes. Airsoft BB’s hit with about 10-20% of the energy of a paintball, ergo, Airsoft is just as safe if not safer (and less painful) than paintball.

MasterCard says, “In all my years of playing Airsoft against high powered snipers and in close quarters with no minimum engagement distance, I have never suffered an injury that I would rate as bad as the injuries I suffered playing Primary School Hockey.
The realism of the Airsoft firearms falsely coveys a sense of danger or injury. In fact Airsoft is far safer than the sports we throw our kiwi kids into playing every day.
Airsoft also requires mandatory eye and/or face protection and we have a lot of additional safety gear options like helmets, vests, gloves and pads. If it’s perfectly OK for a kid to face a cricket ball at school with none of this equipment then there is no need to be concerned about a 6mm plastic BB while your face is safely behind a mask.”

It can do in some cases, depending on where you are hit and the power and proximity of the gun. Generally, if you are hit on the bare skin you will feel a sting. This is more noticeable on skin over bone and less so on fleshy areas.

NOTE: If you have played paintball, a comparison would be that BB’s hit with approximately 10% of the force of a paintball.

BB’s will leave a mark like an itchy-bite which fades after a few days. We advise players to cover up when they first start playing Airsoft until they are used to being hit. Many veterans will play open field events in shorts, tee’s and safety goggles as they are used to the hits or don’t get hit very often. If you don’t want to look like you had a wrestle with a hornets nest, cover up and wear full face protection!

Apocalypse Airsoft limits the power of their hire guns and also engagement distances to try to minimise discomfort.

MED stands for “Minimum Engagement Distance”. This is the closest you are permitted to be to another player and still be allowed to pull the trigger. As the BB’s are quite light weight they decelerate quickly. By allowing a certain distance between the shooter and the target we allow time for the BB to lose energy so it hits the target with less force. The more powerful the gun, the greater the MED. This works well with gaming as high powered guns are favoured by snipers who are trying to hit targets further away anyway.

As MED’s are in place to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all players, any player who engages too close is usually reprimanded and may be asked to leave the field.

In CQB (Close Quarters Battles) there are no MED’s. For this reason the guns tend to be low powered and the players are fully covered with head protection, vest and other safety gear.

Some BB’s are and some aren’t. Non-Bio BB’s are a plastic like compound. Bio BB’s are made of either PLA, a corn based material the same as the new shopping bags, or other materials that are closely guarded secrets of the manufacturers.

Not all field owners are fussed on whether players use Bio BB’s or not but as a rule Apocalypse Airsoft recommends the use of Bio BB’s whenever playing outdoors.

Two important rules to pay attention to in any game are:

Your Minimum Engagement Distance (MED). This is a safety rule and determines how close you can be to another player and still be allowed to fire.

The Hit Rules – What happens when you are shot. You must be aware of what you need to do once you are shot. It may be as simple as walking back to base to re-spawn or there my be more complicated medic rules with limited lives involved.

Failing to correctly follow MED’s or Hit Rules are the top reasons for disagreements during game play or forfeiting a win.

The rest of the rules for a game usually relate to the objectives that the game is specifically designed around. These might include:

The boundary of the playing area
How many players can be in a certain position at any one time
Where bases can be set up
Rules for transporting props/flags during game play
In game trading with mercenaries or special players
How much ammo or health you can carry in the game
The securing of pops or special sites

If you are ever unsure of a rule, please check with a game organiser, marshal or your squad leader if you have one. It is better to ask than do something wrong and compromise your ability to win the game or negatively affect the flow of the game for other players.

Airsoft guns fire a 6mm spherical BB. The BB can be made from a variety of plastic or biodegradable materials depending on the manufacturer. BB’s are most commonly white, but are also available in other colours. There are many different grades of quality and weight, with the better quality BB’s being recommended to avoid gun issues. The most commonly used weight would be 0.20g and 0.25g. As a rule, the higher the weight, the more accurate the BB (outside) but the less distance it will travel.

Some guns shoot 8mm BB’s but these are scarce and generally not accepted for club games.

The most common configuration involves a battery powered motor turning a gearbox which in turn uses a piston to compress air. These guns are called AEG’s (Automatic Electric Gun). SEG’s are also available, these use the same system but only fire once per trigger pull, (Semi-Automatic Electric Gun). The batteries used are rechargeable NiMH or Li-Poly packs, not your torch-like battery.

Gas is the next most popular option and is commonly used in pistols and sniper rifles. Gas is stored in the magazine or an internal cartridge along with the BB’s. The BB loads into the barrel and the gas ejects it from the gun. High end shotguns and grenade options also use gas.

Spring powered guns are usually entry-level quality and are slow to fire as they require a cocking action for each shot. Two styles of guns that benefit from the simple spring action is the pump-action shotgun or the single-shot sniper rifle.

Eye protection is mandatory at any event for both players and spectators. The eye protection must be solid lens protection, high impact rated, well fitted and offer a good area of eye coverage – no large gaps for stray BB’s to get through.

Full face masks are mandatory for any player under the age of 18.

On the open field adult players can choose how much or how little safety gear they wish to wear in addition to their eye protection. If you like to be in the “thick of the fight” then a helmet, mask and vest are recommended, as are long sleeves and pants. If you prefer to hide like a sniper then you are less likely to need this level of protection.

Close Quarters Battles (CQB) requires players to wear full face protection as the risk for being shot at very close range is extremely high. For this reason most players will dress in full coverage clothing, adopt additional head and chest protection and occasionally additional padding.