Haul(s) March 2013

And so I spent over my budget for Airsoft this month again…

-juicy

Flyye Yote Backpack in AOR1 Overview and Review

Along with my Flyye 6094k, I picked up a Flyye Yote backpack in AOR1 in a recent Ehobby order to form the basis of the 2010 SEALs kit that the rest of the team is putting together. Backpacks aren’t traditionally something I’ve had a lot of interest in, but having gamed my MAP pack on its own and having purchased a Tasmanian Tiger Essentials Pack (review here), I’ve come to appreciate the utility of a good backpack, especially during milsims but even on regular game days. After finding out that the Eagle Yote is the go-to patrol backpack for SEALs, I jumped at the opportunity to pick one of these Flyye replicas up.

More pics, including a general overview of the pack’s features and my impressions/review, after the break.

Geargasm: Raven Concealment Systems Moduloader Frames

How the hell did I miss this?

(Above picture from Soldier Systems Blog)

Drop and offset/subload polymer frame designed for mounting HSGI Taco pouches.

More pics from Soldier Systems and RCS and some of my thoughts on the Frames after the break.

Airsoft Innovations and Tactical Crusader Propane Adapters

Why propane? Its cheaper. For those who run lots of gas guns and/or GBBR’s, its just easier and cheaper to have a larger tank of the same pressure gas that costs less. Yeah, I have to add silicone oil on a regular basis or else I dry out my seals and end up with leaks and/or anemic GBB performance. Yeah, I have to open up my gun and do regular maintenance on the rubber seals. Yeah, propane smells terrible. Its all about finding that balance that works for you.

In my opinion, the best propane adapter currently available on the market and my personal choice is the Airsoft Innovations Propane Adapter V5 (picture used without permissions from Airsoft-Innovations.com).  These are produced by a Canadian company, and the current generation of AI Propane Adapters are built from plastic. Plastic means that this design won’t wear out your soft brass fill valves, as I’ve seen the Madbull metal ones do to WE and KJW mag countless times. The AI Propane Adapter is actually sold as a kit that includes a duster adapter (for duster gas cans that have lower pressure gas inside or replacement nozzle tip) and a bottle of silicone oil that I find lasts part or most of the AI adapter’s lifetime.

I do own a few of the Airsoft Innovations Propane Adapter Kits, and I have owned/used the previous versions.

Now, the major problem comes in when you have mags with tall base plates. Charging these magazines require a longer nozzle tip in order to actually reach and function with your magazine’s fill valve. AI’s included “duster adapter” sort of fixes this, though it does add a significant amount of length to a nozzle tip that is already made from plastic that is soft and flexible. These nozzles do break eventually, and having that extra length on the AI adapter makes me paranoid about breakages even more.

But what would happen if someone were to release a propane adapter that actually is designed with a longer nozzle tip to reach those deeply-inset fill valves? Yeah… this is the biggest selling point of the new kid on the block, the Tactical Crusader Propane Adapter. Pretty exciting if you need a longer nozzle tip.

The above YouTube video is NOT mine. Its from a retail store in the USA called 321Airsoft – I’ve recently stumbled upon their game play video footage with a number of Polarstar-equipped guns. I’m impressed with how those P* guns seem to be working thus far. Anyway, that’s besides the point. Cool YouTube channel that doesn’t try to sell you something in every video, produced by/for an actual retail store – you don’t see a lot of those. I like that.

I don’t own a Tactical Crusader Propane Adapter.

Note that I still don’t like metal propane adaptors as it will eventually wear out your brass fill valves – I have more than enough WE magazines with shit-metal fill valves, I need to take care of those as best I can. One solution to this that requires more money invested into your already expensive GBB would be the Madbull steel “grenade” fill valves – these fit and function just fine in most WE and KJW mags as upgrade/replacement parts.

-juicy

P.S. I don’t actually require a longer propane adapter tip myself. Its not something necessary for any of the magazines I currently own. I personally prefer to wear out my AI plastic propane adapters instead of my fill valves.

P.P.S. I usually don’t follow the AI recommendation on this to prevent injecting too much oil into my GBB’s hop up rubber, rather I just lube my piston head o-ring/seal, and mag o-rings and seals on a regular basis.

Building Fire KAC M4 Sliding Buttstock Mount

I love the look of a LMT SOPMOD stock. The sloping cheek rest is very comfortable, especially when I shoot through optics that are lower 1/3 cowitness on AR flat-top receivers. I just don’t find them quite as practical as some other stocks out there with sloping chest welds due to a lack of features.

One of these features I like on most of my stocks is a QD sling swivel mount, as I run most of my 2-point slings with a QD swivel on the rear and a snap/hook on the front. This allows me compatibility with all my slings with my AR platform carbines, as well as quick-detach, swapping, and re-installation of my sling systems, if I so choose. But what if you could mount QD swivels to your Gen 1 LMT SOPMOD (often referred to as “Crane”) stock?

I only recently stumbled upon this solution, even though the real and clone ones have been out for quite some time now – Building Fire KAC Push-Button Swivel & M4 Sliding Buttstock Mount (EP-64). More on the Building Fire KAC-clone sling mount after the break.

For all you SCAR-lovers…

Its here. In Canada.

I want a SCAR… now.

“Officially licensed by PWS for airsoft use
Features:
– Simple two piece installation
– 5” of extra Picatinny rails
– 2 QD swivel points
– No front sight interference
– Improved battle length appearance
– PWS trade marks
– High quality aluminum construction

Suitable for:
VFC SCAR-L and H
WE SCAR-L and H
DBOY SCAR-H
ECHO1 SCAR-H

Does NOT fit:
ClassArmy SCAR-L
DBOY SCAR-L
ECHO1 SCAR-L”

http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_85&products_id=2518

-juicy

Note, picture and product description are not mine. They were blatantly copied and pasted from AirsoftParts.ca.

Eddie’s Custom Kydex Holster

A buddy of mine, Eddie is an old-school Airsoft player who goes by “Eddie” on the local forums. He’s also an avid real steel shooter who is to date on trends in both the real gun and Airsoft markets. He’s definitely a gearwhore, so when it comes to holsters, Eddie knows his stuff.Eddie recently offered me a free holster for testing. Eddie is starting up his own yet-to-be-named custom holster company that will be producing low profile, custom, Kydex holsters. Expect to see these being sold sometime in April… I think.

I opted for a M&P holster, as I’m considering eventually getting a real S&W M&P9 after handling my WE M&P GBB over the past few months. In terms of options, I just specified that I wanted a slight forward cant, 1-3/4″ belt loops, and a medium-height sweatguard. I got my holster in about 2 weeks. This holster looks well done to me – especially at the projected ~$100 price tag for a custom holster made to your specs with your gun locally, as compared to some of the real holsters out there that cost upwards of $200 USD that need to be shipped out from the States with a waiting period of months.

More pictures and thoughts after running it for one game day after the break.

GTCE: Be Comfortable (In Your Kit)

More thoughts on how to bump up your kill-death-ratio in Airsoft games; this is my “Guide To (Airsoft) Combat Effectiveness” – part 4.

Don’t wear what doesn’t fit – it’ll only hinder you. Don’t carry an entire armory and then some – it’ll only weigh you down. Do practice movement, shooting, etc. in your gear – either on the field, or off the field. Do position frequently used pouches in places you can easily reach – or train to learn where to reach for mags if you have a static rig. Do position all your pouches in places you can reach on your own – if you can’t reach it, why carry it?

Be comfortable in your kit.

Comfortable boots are a must. Safe eyepro that doesn’t fog is a must. Thread MOLLE properly to allow more secure, lower-profile, flop-free attachment of pouches. Try to minimize the noise caused by your kit – squeaking droplegs or rattling BB’s are a dead giveaway.

-juicy

Toy Soldier Ranger Green 100rd Ammo Pouch

… I don’t even know what words to start with. I’m just so happy I managed to score one after staring at the all EI (RG) ones I didn’t win on Ebay (I wrote a little bit about this earlier).

Left to right, top to bottom: Toy Soldier 100rd Ammo Pouch (Ranger Green), Flyye Low Profile Operation Pouch (Ranger Green), Eagle Industries “Radio Pocket (MBITR)” (RG), HSGI TACO (Smoke Green).

I’m very satisfied with my purchase of the Toy Soldier Ranger Green 100rd Ammo Pouch. Quality of the workmanship is very nice, though the material isn’t bang on with what I’ve been seeing in the EI pouches I own. I ordered this pouch direct from Toy Soldier/Tactical Workshop for $45 USD + ship.

More photos after the break.

WE “SMG8”

Ugly? Yes. But yet… don’t those controls look just like those on a MP7?

I found this out today from my coworker/tech at work who is personal friends with James from WE:

WE will be releasing a MP7 body kit for their upcoming SMG8 GBB. The MP7  body kit will have trades and will be to 1:1 scale, unlike the slightly-smaller TM MP7 design, on which it’s internals are (loosely) based off of.

I do have to say that I’ve been actually rather impressed with the more recent WE GBB releases that I’ve seen – XDM, G18C Gen 4, M&P (with minor work required), etc. I know first gen WE is probably going to be crap as they generally are, but hey – my workplace has the full support of WE, so I can easily acquire whatever parts I may need to modify or replace. For the price of a WE… I’m very excited!

I intend to get my mitts on one of these “SMG8” and MP7 kit the moment they come in at work as I was also informed of a fairly major hiccup in one of the major GBB MP7 manufacturers production (though I’m not allowed to say any more than that)… in brief, I’m unlikely going to be able to get myself a KWA MP7 and/or mags and/or factory parts.

I guess its time to wait to see what the WE SMG8 internals have to offer with the WE MP7 conversion.

-juicy

Note: photo and video are entirely not mine; they come from the link below.

http://www.publicenemy.com.hk/?p=8072