Finally, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and although we’re not sure in the UK how far off it is, thoughts can move to a return to airsoft. Across social media, players have been buying an impressive amount of new kit realising that sitting at home saves them a lot of money on takeaways.

It’s been a frustrating situation for a lot of people though. A great deal of spare time, but with limitations enough to render it almost wasted time. I’ve been as cautious as possible during lockdown because the bigger aim is to come out of it alive, and as a result have only left the house at all to go for short walks to make sure my legs still work. A lot of airsoft projects are on hold. I have a VSR that could do with some good maintenance and a couple of upgrades, but there’s nowhere to test (I live in an urban area). I still have my Haloscreen suit to continue, but can’t get out to the right environment to analyse the composition of it, so no progress there. Without being able to check it, I’m not going to try and make it in case it’s wrong.

The seasons have changed too. When Covid19 first crept up, it was winter. It looks likely that the next game will be in the middle of summer. The aim with the suit was to make an autumn/winter/spring suit, having seen pictures on site that showed remarkably little change outside of summer. So I guess that’s on hold for a little while longer.

Summer doesn’t favour the sniper, which is something I’ve touched on before. The extra vegetation hides targets and noise, reducing the range and increasing the chances of the bb hitting something inbetween. Instead, I’ll be out with an assault rifle first.

More than anything right now I think most players will be grateful to see friends and teammates in person. To enjoy some nice weather, have a laugh together and simply to enjoy being on an airsoft field, being allowed to go out and have fun. Of course, this pandemic is not even half way through yet so it will be a greatly changed experience for us all. Probably wise to take food, drink and supplies, and to make sure you’re stocked up on batteries and ammo in advance so as to not have to share with others. I imagine it will be nowhere near as casual and carefree as before.

Back indoors, it’s been nice to speak to so many new people and trade ideas. In a time of limited social interaction, I’m very thankful for conversations on discord, Instagram and Facebook which have helped keep the mind occupied. Sniperworks Live show is becoming a solid weekly feature and although it’s billed as a “Sniperworks Lockdown Special”, we’ve had a few people asking if we’ll continue it after this is all over, and I think as long as people want to come and listen in, we’ll keep it going. Ultimately, we’re quite a small community and it’s vitally important to support each other during these times. That goes for all the businesses involved in airsoft too – we need them to give us the kit to play, and they need us too. I’m not saying to go out and buy random stuff, but if you do need something please support the sniper specific businesses to help keep them going and so they can continue developing new things for us.

Finally, with a lot of big weekend events cancelled and uncertainty over sites who usually attract large numbers, we’ll be looking to try and get some smaller number (but bigger site) Sniperworks games set up as an alternative.

Stay safe, keep up the discipline on social distancing and hopefully we’ll get out of this sooner.

Stip