Very few of us, No matter our pastimes have simply what we need, We buy to excess… Adding more and more to our collection and justifying it with a reason that outside of our peers just wouldn’t hold water…

Do I need a dozen pistols? 6 Pairs of Combat Pants in various cuts and colours? Half a dozen sets of Eyepro?Certainly not… But it does allow me to choose the best tool for the job and you know what, I don’t smoke, Rarely drink, Take care of all my bills and put a little aside each month before I spend anything on Airsoft.

The other side to this is that it’s easy to keep buying and buying without a realistic idea of when to stop, And… Why stop? Well for one simple reason. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I go through regular buying and purging phases, The pursuit of a load-out that I find useful, comfortable and has that uniqueness means that I’ll probably never stop. Only in the last 7 days I’ve sold £130 worth of gear I didn’t use (at a reasonable loss) to partially fund £250 of AVS and accessories… How much of this will be on the groups for sale next year? Undoubtedly some if not all of it.

I think what I’m trying to say is… Shop smart. I’m an advocate of buying the right tool for the job, Real Cryes are better than fake ones… Real Peltors are better than Z Tac ones, But never push yourself further than your budget allows… No ones really going to be that impressed by your new purchase, Certainly not enough to justify leaving other areas of your life short.

Alongside the nice “High End” gear I own there’s a fair amount of cheap stuff, Simply because it’s the right tool and the right price… I’d love to buy a Wild Things Low Loft Jacket But will it actually do anything my cheap £30 snugpak doesnt? No. Sure, I can review it and draw closer to a SEAL Team loadout but that’s actually not enough to sway me to buying it… Well, I am actually considering it but it’s on a shortlist… So we’ll just have to wait and see if this beats out the Crye Soft Shell and Arc’Teryx Atom jackets on my list.

So what’s the point of this post? Well you might have noticed that I’m not smashing out 4/5 articles a week like I was in spring. I’m pacing myself for a number of reasons… I have a full time job, wife and other commitments that take a fair amount of my time and money, I also use everything I review… Which might mean that eventually I run out of stuff to write about! I do have a couple of retailers that are willing to lend/give me things to review, A possibly mutually beneficial arrangement but one I’ve yet to agree to except in the case of GBLS.

I like knowing that I’m giving a genuinely honest appraisal of an item from a buyers perspective, However if there is something that piques my interest from one of those retailers I’ll be fully upfront and let you know what the deal is.

I’ve also had a significant clear out over the last few weeks, This might either mean a leaner profile of gear or more likely it’ll make room for another, newer mountain of stuff to mess around with.

If there was a message to to with this, It’d be simply to make sure there’s balance in your life. Work pays your bills and hopefully allows you to afford those little luxuries that make life bearable, but make time for the occasional game. At the same time, And this should be obvious is that family comes first… If you have to choose between family or Airsoft, Airsoft has to take the hit. There’s a lot of lonely Airsofters out there who focus on that Sunday skirmish or weekender when things at home are slipping… I’ve genuinely seen Airsoft as a legitimate reason for separation… Troubling at best and shocking if there’s children involved. Take care of your family and take care of yourself.