Monthly Archives: October 2019

Yes, the title may sound like a discarded Harry Potter spin-off series, but it is, in fact, serious stuff. The story of the Millennium Challenge has flown relatively under the radar for a number of years. It was first brought into public consciousness by Malcolm Gladwell and his book ‘Blink’; A non-fiction title which looked to educate us on the idea of ‘thinking without thinking’, the decision making process and the story behind our snap decisions. The book was published in 2005 and continues to be used in classrooms and lecture halls across the country. Gladwell wrote about the Millennium Challenge in a way that made it accessible for the masses to understand, something which had not been done until that point. This accessibility was what prompted a deeper dive into the events, and General Paul Van Riper’s role within them.

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Unfortunately, like many other sports, cheating occurs in airsoft. As much as it pains us to admit, players, both new and experienced, bend, ignore, and break the rules of gameplay for their or their team’s benefit. Thankfully, and we’d like to make this clear, it is a meagre amount of people that commit these crimes, and the sport is certainly not ‘rife’ with cheating. That being said, it is a frequently talked about topic of conversation within the community. Rather than shying away from this topic, we’d like to open up the conversation and present our own opinion.

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A vital accessory that is often overlooked by many new players, a chronograph (chrono) is an essential part of every players’ arsenal. Often, when starting out, it can be easy to put off buying one of these guys as sites will often have one you can use; or your local store will have one out the back. Either way, it can be easy to neglect the need to pick one up for yourself. However, with more and more new people getting involved with the sport, and the community growing as a whole, it’s important that all players should have immediate access to a chrono, either their own or a buddy’s.

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Here at Surplus, one of the things we love about the airsoft community is the continuous barrage of new products being released from manufacturers across the world. It’s hard to pay attention to each individual release, but this one really caught our eye, for both good and bad reasons.

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During the colder months, many of us pack up our outside gear and head indoors to one of the many indoor airsoft sites around the UK. Although we are fortunate enough to have some crisp and clear days in winter, they are often few and far between, so indoor sites can offer a great alternative, whatever the weather. No matter where you are in the UK, you’ll likely not be far from your closest indoor airsoft location, with many venues available up and down the country. Most will be located closeby to larger cities, but not always. Check online and with local airsoft forums as some of our favourite sites were shared with us by word of mouth; the old fashioned way!

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Since their conception over 100 years ago, silencers have been at the forefront (quite literally) of guns and their evolution. Initially designed in 1902, with the first patent being issued in 1909, Hiram Stevens Maxim created something that would come to revolutionise weaponry. Since then, their inclusion in military operations, law enforcement and even films, TV and video games have made them an unmistakeable object, even for those with little to no gun knowledge.

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