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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 21, 2001

Recreation
Air Soft offers a paintball alternative

By Seabrook Mow
Special to The Advertiser

The ammunition isn't real, there are no boats, and there's not even a beach.

Air Soft offers guns that are often hard to differentiate from the real items. "I wouldn't bring these guns outside my house to play with," Jeff Hoe says. "I have a friend who's a cop, and even he can't tell the difference with some of these guns."

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Air Soft Normandy Beach, however, is a game that can bring out the competitive zeal in everyone who has seen World War II movies, such as "Saving Private Ryan."

The game is played on a private field on the Leeward Coast. The goal is to overtake a hill and eliminate the opposition before it eliminates you by using battery-powered guns that fire BBs.

For this invasion, the invaders were mashed together at a staging area to simulate being dropped off by boat.

Just like the movies, the ones in the front were shot first. I was in the front row.

As the whistle blew signaling the start of the attack, a hail of enemy bullets ricocheted around us.

Fellow invaders were shot left and right.

Still, with adrenaline surging, I continued to charge up the hill with reckless abandon as BBs were flying around me.

I unloaded both handguns that I was carrying, hitting trees and rocks — everything, it seemed, but the enemy.

When I collected my bearings, I realized I was standing in the open.

 •  AIR SOFT FACTS

• Cost: $20 includes mask, field fee, and gun. Additional $20 for 3,000 rounds of BBs.

• Information: Eric Inouye at 554-3319 or Air Soft Hawaii at 582-0729.

• When: Every other Saturday.

Seconds later, I was cut down by a barrage of BBs, becoming a casualty of war.

At least my effort wasn't in vain as we overtook the hill.

The concept of Air Soft is similar to paintball, basically tagging the opposition by shooting others on a different team. Both games are played outdoors and have variations that range from capture the flag to elimination.

However, "playing Air Soft is way cheaper then paintball (because of the ammo prices)," Makaha resident Lyle Bonilla, 28, said. "Also, in paintball you have nothing to compare the bulky guns to (real life guns). But with Air Soft guns you can."

That's because Air Soft guns are toys made to look, weigh, feel and behave like real guns, right down to the ammo clip, making them frighteningly deceiving.

"It's one of the primary appeals (of Air Soft), that you're shooting an exact replica of a real gun," said Eric Inoue, 44, of Wai'alae.

According to Inoue, a 10-year veteran of Air Soft, the battery-powered guns cost around $300 and there is a wide selection available.

"If there's a real gun out there, most likely Air Soft will have the replica of them," he said.

Enthusiasts displayed and fired toy guns modeled after popular assault rifles like the AK-47 with banana clip, the MP-5 (the Swat Team gun), to handguns.

"I wouldn't bring these guns outside my house to play with," said Jeff Hoe, 29, of Kahalu'u, who has been playing for about a year. "I have a friend who's a cop, and even he can't tell the difference with some of these guns."

The only significant difference between Air Soft guns and real guns is what comes out of them. Instead of bullets, these toy guns shoot plastic BBs accompanied by a faint whooshing sound.

The tiny plastic pebbles soar at speeds of around 250-300 feet per second, strong enough to dent a soda can. "When they hit you, they can leave tiny welts," Inoue said.

He added that most of the injuries incurred while playing are not from getting shot but ankle sprains from running over rocks and brush and other accidental injuries.

According to Blake Abe, 27, of Honolulu, Air Soft was started in Japan as an alternative to paintball. Because paintball guns were too powerful to play with, and owning real firearms are illegal, Air Soft was created.

Because BBs don't leave a mark like paintball, the honor system must be followed at all times.

"If you're hit, you're hit," Inoue said.