Boy's Games

Boys love to compete. Whether it is a board game, sporting event, wrestling... whatever can be a competition, boys will do it with all their might. Boys also love things like... guns and battle and playing war. Even grown boys like me.

My oldest son, Ben, got an airsoft pistol awhile back. Just a cheap springer that doesn't shoot very fast or very accurately. He and his buddies run around and shoot each other, competing of course. Well, his birthday came this summer and he wanted a better airsoft gun, and being the "boy" that I am, I was all into trying to make that happen. So I bought him an electric powered, fully-automated MP5 tactical rifle. It's what is called a Mid-level gun. Entry level are the springers that you cock and shoot one plastic BB at a time and mid-level are the next step up in both quality and price. Mid level guns run anywhere from $60 or so up to $200. A high-end gun runs from about $200 up to $1000, which is insane and rare. Most of the high-end are around $300 to $350. After he got his, my birthday was coming up and he wanted me to have one, too, so we could battle each other, I guess. I was kind of having fun with the whole thing so I got one just like his.

This past Saturday I took Ben and Jack, my next youngest son, out to a gathering of boys in a home school association to battle in a field set with barricades and barrels and trees and things to crouch behind and try to eliminate their opponents with a well placed plastic BB shot before being eliminated themselves. Even the dads got out there and involved in the battle. I took turns with Jack, sharing my gun with him, so he could get some battle time. It was hot, being August in Texas usually is, but we all had a pretty good time. There were a wide range of guns and some were the cheap ones and some were very fast and accurate. Those are the guys you wanted on your own team.

Well, now I am hooked, much to the jubilation of Ben who is thouroughly enjoying a common interest with his dad. This group gets together once a month and I am pretty sure we will be there ready for battle.

I love the fact that it is a common interest and we boys can share this and enjoy it together. I am a noob to the airsoft world and have been sort of reading and gathering info online about caring for the guns to keep them in good condition and what guns are good and what are not and the ins and outs of upgrading parts in the guns to make them shoot faster and straighter. There's a whole bunch of people out there completely into this stuff. To the point that they put on full combat gear when they go battle. We're not quite there yet but we are enjoying learning this together and I cherish the boy time with my boys as we can compete and play war and be boys. I hope it will be memories they will have their entire lives and can tell their grandkids about how they used to go out with their dad and shoot each other on the battlefield in the hot Texas summer.