building an airsoft field

[Rusty Lugnuts]

Hi I'm thinking of building an airsoft field, I have available miles of virgin, isolated woods. Since only 10 to 20 friends are going to play here, obviously i need to have borders. So if it were you, what shape and size do you think is best? I'm thinking of marking the border with pink surveyors marking tape tied around trees and will probably lay the lines out with a compass. Thanks

[Aquamarine]

Octagon.

No, seriously.... THE Octagon....

[Ricochet]

It depends on your play style. A good rule of thumb is two acres per person, otherwise you'll have scrims that go all day. Makeup a map (google earth snap shot), put a grid on it and put up large landmark markers in each quadrant. Make sure to scour the area for large hazards (i.e. holes, water, animal nests, etc), and mark them off.

Stick with square acres, it's easier to map and navigate.

We used to play approximately 8 - 16 people on about 8 - 10 acres, and it was too small. I've also played 25 people on 160 acres, and it was way to big.

Also heavily forested area is prime area for slips, trips, and falls; so make sure everyone has a radio in case of emergency or injury.

Anyways, it sounds like fun. Playing in large wooded areas is a blast.

[dutch13]

We used the marking tape on our old field. Found that guys were walking right past it, while trying to flank the other team. We started using yellow caution tape and ran it periodically from tree to tree. Worked well because it was easier to define the field border.

[L473ncy]

You know that orange fence they use to demarcate ski area boundaries? How about that stuff? Note that it can get prohibitively expensive depending on how much of that fence you need but at least it's a semi permanent structure.

I'm not going to harp about safety or potential bystanders around since I assume you know what you're doing being an AV rep and all.

[akko]

2 rows of yellow construction tape work well

[Rusty Lugnuts]

so if i made it 700 ft by 1200 ft (and i'm doing the math correctly) that should be ~20 acres. CTC has marker tape for $4 a roll and i think i can get caution tape free... just take it down around existing hazards ( ! kid, i kid) Mark halfway and some responds. Is there anything else that you find handy?

[akko]

forgot to add neon color spray paint,

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by akko

forgot to add neon color spray paint,

There is in fact a neon bio-friendly spray paint you can get. You could mark every tree, log, stump, whatever. The problem is this is not a permanent solution, and flagging tape ends becoming garbage. I'm sure if your just playing with friends you could think up some clever barrier.

How about a moat!

[Zack The Ripper]

Lol cheap duct tape works well for borders. It's inexpensive and lasts forever. Just wrap from tree to tree along every border and everyone who isn't retarded should know ifm you see duct tape, you've gone to far. Just my suggestion; I have seen it used on a private field and the ENTIRE border was covered. It was a 10 acre area and the guy said it cost him $80 give or take to border the whole play area. There were a couple grass area that he couldn't border along, but he simply put some tall wooden "stakes" every 5 feet along the borders and sprayed them with bring orange paint.

[BogardusFoul]

land mines have been used very effectively to define borders for over a century

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by BogardusFoul

land mines have been used very effectively to define borders for over a century

Lol