Does it hurt?

One of the first things people want to know about airsoft is how much it hurts.

The amount of pain you receive from a hit is totally dependent on your distance to the firer and where the BB hits you. If hit on exposed skin at close range it won’t penetrate your skin but it can draw blood, leave a red mark or really sting! At longer ranges you can be hard pressed to even tell you have been hit so must become aware of what a light hit sounds and feels like. Most of the time a hit to a vulnerable area feels like getting whacked on the skin by a rubber band; quite a sharp pain that can make you jump, but fades almost instantly, certainly a hit which you are still aware of a minute later is unusual. Unlike paintball, airsoft will not leave huge sore bruises. You will find that having to “take the initiative” and charge into an enemy position in the face of potentially painful return fire is what makes airsoft feel a thousand times more real than playing a computer game!

It’s not unheard of for people to suffer broken bones or impact injuries from falls but this is only to be expected in a high intensity game played over sometimes arduous terrain. Injuries are far less common than in mountain biking or football, for example. Airsoft game organisers do make every effort to mitigate risk, as such injuries are rare but when it comes down to it airsoft is an arduous outdoors sport that favours tough people!