NO COMMS, NO BOMBS - THREE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR RADIO COMMUNICATIONS

USING RADIOS IN AN AIRSOFT GAME IS SOMETHING THAT MANY ASPIRE TO DO WELL BUT IT’S A PERISHABLE SKILL LIKE ANY OTHER THAT NEEDS CONSTANT PRACTICE AND UPDATING. OUR “LEGIONNAIRE” SEAN, FROM BLACKLINE SIMULATIONS IN CANADA, GIVES US SOME POINTERS ON HOW TO ENSURE YOUR COMMS ARE EFFECTIVE AND HOW YOU CAN GET THE BEST OUT OF THEM.

- SEAN

It was probably about five minutes into your very first event when you realized how important communication was going to be in your new hobby. Organizing units over long distances, coordinating attacks, and calling for help all require a way to get in touch with your team. Those messages have to be fast, clear, and preferably not yelled into the air where the enemy can hear them! So it’s no surprise that airsoft players have turned to radios to solve that problem.

Dozens of radio solutions get deployed on the field. You can find low-cost handheld units like the Baofeng UV5R, fully functional replicas of the AN/PRC 148 MBITR, and AN/ PRC 177 radios and high-end professional Motorola models used by law enforcement. All of these serve their users well, from simple communications to high-quality impressions. Unfortunately, as more people pick up communications tools it becomes clear the problem isn’t always with the type of radio.

“Can you hear me?” “Comms check.” “Someone is hot mic-ing!” “What did you say?” *Static*

The best comms gear you can buy will only be good for Instagram photos if there isn’t a competent operator behind the microphone. We can’t cover everything in a couple of magazine pages but we can suggest three self-study areas you should focus on if you want to be an effective communicator.

1. LEARN BASIC PROCEDURES