Equipment load for Battle Grounds 5th June 2021

 With the machine out of action again, I spent a bit more time looking at my load for Saturday's game and changed up a few things. The longer term goals with my high FPS load out have been altered slightly.

Full fighting load for Battle Grounds, 5th June 2021

 

I have resigned myself to hate manual action blasters and opted to leave the Caliburn at home this time around. The Gryphon is there while I'm working on a dual stage brushed Tempus printed in PETG. The major addition this month is the Skirmish Belt which allows me lighter carry of equipment lower down. It contains a loose dart pouch, a side-arm holster and first aid kit pouch. Future plans for that include a friction fit Talon pouch to give me two magzines in the skirmish order and a bunch of loose for lighter engagements. With the Tempus in the pipeline, too, I'm going to need something for up close shots because 220FPS+ under 40ft is just impolite.

It's 2021 and terrain can still make stock springers relevant

I have this little guy left over in my kit from the GC event last year. 3 shots on board ought to do most of the jobs it'll be needed for. Honestly, however, I think this is where I could justify getting a Gecko. Gryphon/Gecko combination is hard to justify since 150FPS at close quarters isn't too bad. However, if you're clearing buildings then something magazine fed backed up by pyro for room clearance starts to make a lot of sense. Bonus points if you settle it on a belt holster that works with the skirmish order and you can clear buildings without dragging the full bulk of a day load.

A simple radio for a more civilised age

Elsewhere, I've opted to simplify comms. The Baofeng 888 is a simple little radio that does everything that's needed for a combat radio. If I was running events, I'd probably switch up to my UV5R so I could listen and speak on both team's channels or switch to a moderator channel while listening in. However, for line infantry work at the size of games we play at, a single combat net is all you need. 888s are robust, cheap and simple to use. I'm not sure if the chipsets have fixed the programming bug we encountered back in 2019 but getting back into the field will give us oppurtunity to research that in more depth.

Some old faithfuls still remain. Knee pads are a must, gloves are ideal and hydration is critical. I should also point out that I remembered to fill my 3L back pack hydration bladder this time so I won't be running short on water this time.

Not pictured but I've added a 4xWP40 smoke grenade holder to the battle belt in order to be able to carry some amount of pyro. I'm also looking at options for carrying thunderflashes since they have rules for building clearances in our power games. Dynamic urban clearance is an area that's in early development on the British scene so I'm starting to work out the best way to manage it.

Finally, I've got my helmet camera primed and ready to go this time. I've got a bunch of SD cards, spare batteries and tools to make sure it's fitted and ready to use during games. I still need to sew a power bank pouch and generally expand filming capacity but I'm adding little bits at a time to the rig as games start back up again.

It should be a good event. The site is more akin to Foam Flinging Skirmish in Warminster than Splatoon. The weather promises to be good and with my birthday on the Sunday, it'll be a good way to celebration compared to last year when we were under lock down.