COW2007: Airsoft

There was a follow-up to the COW2006 Airsoft session at COW2007. We were able to use a much larger area (a field next door to the conference venue that had been previously used a grazing for cattle) that was a mixture of open grass intermixed with a few clumps of trees and the remains of a large stack of hay bales.

In the intervening period the amount and quality of 'kit' we had available had improved, and we looked a lot less like an armed rabble.


The tall grass proved to be an interesting challenge. Not only was it possible to lie down and not be seen unless an opponent was almost walking on top of you, it also made it almost impossible to move at any speed without falling over. Most of the participants were wearing some form of camouflage, and it was interesting to see how effective it could be.

British DPM camouflage blends in very well with the surrounding vegetation.

Another example of British DPM camouflage. In some places the grass was as tall as it looks in this photograph.

We all discovered that trying to fire lying down in grass was very inaccurate, and we all had to resort to kneeling if we wanted to stand any chance of hitting our targets.

Tall grass can provide quite good concealment ...

... but does make speedy movement difficult.

Although the land we were using was private, we did take the precaution of informing the local police that we were running the Airsoft session on that field. This proved to be a wise precaution as one dog-walker did seem to be a little surprised to be confronted by a group of apparently heavily-armed men carrying out manoeuvres when he decided to cut across the field with his dog!