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Heres the deal. There is an Airsoft Arena by my house. My 12 year old son wants to go play this. Its $20 to play & $20 gun rental. What is this like? I guess if he likes it, I will buy him his own gun. Lots of cheap guns on Ebay. They even have a Shotgun. (how does that work?) I guess you need goggles. And it probably stings, lol.

Any help would be great.

are you familiar with BB guns? theyre the same thing except the pellets are plastic. yes it hurts and will definitely put an eye out, chip a tooth, leave a welt.
the shotgun is just like a normal gun, you pump it to fire a single shot, mine has a clip.
there are fully automatic, single shot per pump and co2 guns. accuracy and pain are measured in FPS... the higher the number the more powerful accurate. i buried a pellet in someone with a 450 FPS gun at a good distance... 450 is pretty strong. i shot myself in my bare foot at point blank range with a 200 something gun and it stung but didnt break skin.

at 12 id get a full face mask and not just goggles.

Lol. Jeez sounds like fun. I appreciate the info.

Moved to the discussion forum.

Eric

Full facemask, and get one that covers the ears. I've heard stories of kids getting shot in the ear and having partial hearing loss.

Had some friends, who damaged their big screen tv playing in the house

I used to play a while ago, and if you where a jacket you really can't even feel the shots hit you, no pain that is. (Might have just been me and my friends FPS though) A full mask is very nice as getting hit in the face is painful. The other thing I would suggest is gloves. I have been shot in the fingernails several times, and it hurts like crazy. Just my thoughts. Hope your son has a great time! Thanks!

Chris

Any Indoor Arena worth going to will limit the speed of the weapon to 300-350 fps, so the shots will not be anywhere near as painful. A good vest with place to store ammo, a nice helmet, and for indoor I would go with probably a paintball mask as opposed to just goggles. There is some pain involved, but it's minimal. Most indoor places also make you play semi auto so 1 pull 1 shot, so less overfiring on a target. Also Headshots happen, but are considered a No No.

It's a lot different to play at an established field/arena than just horsing around with your friends who don't have any idea if they are shooting a gun at 500fps and knocking out teeth or burying them into skin.

This mask is http://www.ebay.com/itm/JT-Elite-HeadSh ... _500wt_894 really popular and I use it and like it a lot.

Airsoft is a blast, especially inside. I would talk to the people who run the course before buying a gun. There are a lot of crap guns out there, which will make you hate playing. Ideally you will want to spend $300-$400 on a good gun,

Airsoft is a really fun hobby as long as it is played safely. A good mask is important, and you can get a great starter airsoft gun for under $100 on craigslist.
You should check at your local arena to find out what the maximum FPS (feet per second) limit is. You should then get a gun that is slightly under or equal to that limit. The airsoft gun certainly doesn't have to break the bank, but it should be nice quality and preferably electric.

Thank you everyone!

There is a Laser Tag place up the street. I think we will try that. Its a lot cheaper & safer! LOL.