Quite a milestone. I was going to do a couple of other articles this week until I realised, so I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on the journey so far.

The idea of the blog came about thanks to Phil from Sniper Ops, who suggested writing things down and showed me his WordPress blog. I was keen to avoid becoming just another airsoft YouTuber, and blogging I think has been a much more flexible platform to play with. Sure, I have a few bits on YouTube and other channels anyway, but stipsniper.com has been the platform that has brought all my airsoft together. At around the same time, I was helping my friend Ronan get his head around a few sniper concepts and found it much easier to put pen to paper, albeit in a digital sense, to get those ideas across.

To be honest, it wasn’t a cheap way of doing it but it was enjoyable. What I hadn’t counted on was how many people would also take an interest when it went live. From one person, it’s now grown to an audience of 90,000 annually which is a huge amount. It has allowed me to meet and connect with so many people beyond my own airsoft site, which has been the primary driver behind the growth. I’m one of those people on Instagram who follows more than has followers, but that’s because I’m not trying to be popular – I’m trying to follow people that interest me, and so I can learn more. The numbers mean nothing really, I do this because I enjoy it anyway, and if it helps people then that’s great.

I get asked a lot about sponsors; the truth is, I’m not really sponsored directly by anyone but there are quite a few companies who send me things to test and review, which is great for me to try new things and I hope also highlights some really great products, but I’m not asked to do good reviews in return. I think where some YouTubers pick up sponsorships from manufacturers, you end up with very fake biased information going out to the community and that’s wrong. And I’m always happy to call that out, as much as it starts arguments with fanboys. I don’t care to pander and drool over people because they’re some sort of “celebrity” – all of them are just bog standard players once they hit the field anyway. I hope instead I’ve been able to deliver some genuine knowledge to people, whether through the blog or (late night) video calls for tech help, phone calls to discuss things, emails or messages. I’m happy to give my time freely to people that ask for it, to contrast with those who are simply looking to push sales.

There are so many people that I want to thank for their support on this project. Ronan for always being there for everything inside and outside airsoft. Hollie for pushing me all the way. Aiden/Bubba for being my wingman at every single event and game day I think I’ve ever done. Scotty, Jon and the rest of the Norvern Monkeys for all the adventures we’ve had as a team, Bravo Delta for getting me started, Point6 who has been my sniper brother and project partner for all the good stuff, AkaStaten, EvoAthena, Barry and Wes at Skirmshop and Stalker for their support, Jason at Longbow for letting me test stuff and sending me quality balls to slap in people’s faces. Le Covert Sartorialist for shipping out HaloScreen and NanoScreen, answering camouflage questions, showing us all the true meaning of camouflage and joining us for some epic Live shows. GhillieSniperGirl for helping me rediscover the joy of skirmish and showing me sniping from a very different angle. Alex and John for the travels and being great company on game days; John as well for the tech advice on AEG’s. Jon Macq for always being everywhere, especially when I needed someone. Verage Airsoft for AirsofterWorld and just being a great inspiration, Skinnybitch for all the gaming fun and being there in discord to chat to. All the staff at Dirty Dog for giving me a second home, and an endless supply of Rockstar. Cuv, Dan T, Skara, Lawrence, Darren, Andrew S, Jimmy and Lauri for laying the foundations for something special. The guys at Project 282 and Sniperworks, especially Jordan for all the years I’ve been sniping. Snake for just being an absolute legend and I love you loads, and Thijs who went to Poar Neemn for all eternity. Rich at OTARshop for just being an absolute genius and one of the nicest guys in airsoft. Paul for the offer of a coffee while I was stood in the queue. Sniper Mechanic who always has answers for tech questions. GhillieOne for the help with ghillies. Josh Kelly who has learned so much so quickly and put it all to great use – you’re an example to us all. And Callsign Hawk for the coolest merch – thank you so much and sorry for having such a difficult logo!

There are so many other people that I’ve met through airsoft and it would take pages and pages to list everyone, and I’d still miss people out. Thank you all, and this is just the beginning. You, the airsoft community, give me so much to keep pushing on with.