Airsoft as Personal Defense

[dubious]

Please read my WHOLE POST before responding!

EDIT: Taken from my own post #13:

Sorry, you don't have a baseball bat or any improvised weapons. This is my scenario.


Also airsoft is a perfectly legitimate training tool, so its not a "toy" in my book, though it could be used as such.

Come on guys, I can see the DISADVANTAGES plain as day. Lets think outside the box just this once. Maybe we can learn something from just chatting about it. No need to put it in such stark terms. I'm not actually advocating it... necessarily.

Frankly, I'd rather take pepper spray or a baseball bat, but that's all been covered in previous posts. THIS POST is about airsoft, folks.

OK, here's the scenario: Its dark and you awaken to the sounds of a bad guy(s) opening your backdoor. You reach over to your nightstand and pull out your surefire, your 1911with 6+1 .45acp rounds, and your 1911 gas blow back airsoft gun loaded with 20 airsoft 6mm bbs and a fresh load of green gas. How would you go about incorporating the airsoft gun as a part of your self defense system?

The main purpose of this topic is to think outside the box. That's right, I'm not (necessarily) advocating airsoft for self defense. As an owner of an airsoft gun, its hard not to wonder about the potential of it as a less than lethal weapon. I can see many advantages and possibly more disadvantages... if it was part of your kit how would you employ it? Let's be constructive here... don't bother with a quick put down.

For those of you who still can't wrap their minds around the idea, lets change the equation:

You reach into your nightstand and pull out a surfire, a single shot .45acp derringer, and a airsoft 1911 with 20 rounds of bb's.

Ok, let 'er rip!

 

[General Geoff]

I would not consider an airsoft to be a less-than-lethal weapon, as it would be difficult to even break skin with one unless you cranked up the juice on an electric gun. This means that it poses essentially zero threat to a bad guy, except as an improvised bludgeon. I can't think of any logical reason to use one in a defensive scenario unless you have NO firearms available, and the only possibility of survival is to bluff that your airsoft gun is a real gun.

 

[longdayjake]

Airsoft guns HURT especially if the gas is cranked up pretty high. Though it won't stop a badguy it is still better than nothing at all to deter an attack. Shoot for the face if you are going to use it. An eye shot is a fight stopper.

 

[bigfatdave]

its hard not to wonder about the potential of it as a less than lethal weapon.

Either you use deadly force or you don't. I wouldn't even keep a replica/airsoft/bb gun near real ones.

If you insist on including the airsoft in a defense plan, leave it as a lure for the invader, hopefully he will attempt to use it, giving you a chance to make that single derringer shot count.

 

[hso]

How would you go about incorporating the airsoft gun as a part of your self defense system?

As an owner of an airsoft gun, its hard not to wonder about the potential of it as a less than lethal weapon.

Second point first - It's a toy, not a "less than lethal weapon". It will not incapacitate. At best it's a prop that you might use to run a bluff, but bluffing can get you killed.

First point second - I wouldn't. The orange tip is a giveaway right off the bat that any BG (or teenager) would laugh at.

In the absence of a real weapon you may try to bluff with an airsoft, but the orange tip, the small exit aperture, and probable plastic appearance would tend to give it away.

If you can afford a high quality airsoft pistol you could have spent the money on a real gun that you wouldn't have to bluff with.

The only box this sort of thinking will get you is the type you get buried in.

 

[dubious]

Either you use deadly force or you don't. I wouldn't even keep a replica/airsoft/bb gun near real ones.

If you insist on including the airsoft in a defense plan, leave it as a lure for the invader, hopefully he will attempt to use it, giving you a chance to make that single derringer shot count.

Hmmm thats why I keep the orange barrel extension on my airsoft. If i WAS going to use it for defense, i would probably remove it. As it is, I'd rather keep that bright orange bling right in plainsight, so its obviously not a real gun. But we're talking Personal Defense, so yes I do "insist on including airsoft in a defense plan".

 

[dubious]

Second point first - It's a toy, not a "less than lethal weapon". It will not in

The only box this sort of thinking will get you is the type you get buried in.

OK... so you're saying that if you only had a one shot .45 acp derringer, you'd just leave the airsoft in the desk? I, for one, would TAKE THE AIRSOFT AS WELL! It does hurt and disorient from a distance.

 

[General Geoff]

How would you go about incorporating a plastic sword as part of your self defense system?

It makes about as much sense.



And yeah, I'd leave the airsoft and take just the derringer. That frees up a hand that I could probably use during a potential struggle for my life.

 

[dubious]

How would you go about incorporating a plastic sword as part of your self defense system?

It makes about as much sense.

Does a plastic sword make a 3" group at 25 yards? Also, my airsoft is all metal and weighs the same as a 1911.... it would make a decent bludgeon, god forbid it should come to that.

And yeah, I'd leave the airsoft and take just the derringer. That frees up a hand that I could probably use during a potential struggle for my life.

I assumed the airsoft would be mexican carry, no?

I don't really want to be in a game of devils advocate here, I'll try to just just let you guys roll....

 

[bigfatdave]

That frees up a hand that I could probably use during a potential struggle for my life.

Or keep another round of .45acp in for a tactical reload.
Or more seriously, an aluminum tee-bat.

dubious, if you're going to leave the bright orange tip on there, then it is useless. Even with the tip, I'm not leaving a toy in with real firearms that I might be fumbling through in the dark. Seriously, bluffing with an airsoft gun will get you shot, you may as well have an unloaded gun once a home invader realizes it isn't real.
Your mere presence will send a professional burglar running ... the airsoft toy doesn't matter there.
A home invader doesn't care that you're there. Either they're there for you personally, or they're so stupid/desperate that they're going to attempt an armed robbery of a resident ... airsoft isn't going to dissuade them.

it would make a decent bludgeon

You have a better bludgeon in your bedroom than a toy pistol, walk in there and take a good look around, there's something.
I'd swing a steel-toed boot on the shoestrings before employing a toy.
I'd grab the tee-bat before reaching for the airgun or airsoft

But either way, the loaded up CC pistol is the first to the party in the unlikely event of a home invasion ... I practice with it the most frequently of all my centerfire guns.

 

[Eschaton]

When I turned 18, it became a "why own airsoft or paintball guns when i can buy real guns?"

Same thing applies here. Use the real gun you have at hand and not a toy.

 

[General Geoff]

Does a plastic sword make a 3" group at 25 yards?

No, but it can cause brain damage when swung with sufficient force and connects with a skull. Can't say the same about fired airsoft pellets at anything approaching market velocities.

I assumed the airsoft would be mexican carry, no?

I would never mexican-carry ANYTHING if I had a choice. Holsters are made for a reason.

Also, my airsoft is all metal and weighs the same as a 1911.... it would make a decent bludgeon, god forbid it should come to that.

A metal baseball bat costs less and is more effective.

 

[dubious]

A metal baseball bat costs less and is more effective.

Sorry, you don't have a baseball bat or any improvised weapons. This is my scenario.


Also airsoft is a perfectly legitimate training tool, so its not a "toy" in my book, though it could be used as such.

Come on guys, I can see the DISADVANTAGES plain as day. Lets think outside the box just this once. Maybe we can learn something from just chatting about it. No need to put it in such stark terms. I'm not actually advocating it... necessarily.

Frankly, I'd rather take pepper spray or a baseball bat, but that's all been covered in previous posts. THIS POST is about airsoft, folks.

 

[General Geoff]

Sorry, you don't have a baseball bat or any improvised weapons. This is my scenario.

That's fine, and in your scenario, I'd just leave the airsoft pistol on the desk.


If you want thinking outside the box, fine. Use the airsoft pistol, shoot outside your second story window to hit the teetering paint can you see in your neighbor's attic, which then falls, hits a neighboring shelf, tips it over, and causes a flask of acid to fall out the window, which incidentally covers a nearby power line, eats through it, and severs it, and the live power line then whips around and strikes your attacker squarely in the small of the back, frying him and thus incapacitating him.

Out-of-the-box enough for you?

 

[wrs840]

Seems to me like the best you could do with an airsoft gun is to anger an assailant... It's like going up against a copperhead with a string-trimmer: It may seem like it should be a decent weapon for the circumstances, but believe me, it isn't.

Les

 

[bigfatdave]

General Geoff, you forgot the part where you shout "TA-DA!!!"
Otherwise, I find your plan of action reasonable, prudent, and innovative. I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

[Heavy Metal Hero]

Most decent airsoft guns are no less expensive than a .22 rifle or a low quality shotgun (be it .410 or whatever).

 

[mustang_steve]

Airsoft for tactical training is A-OK, heck some of the tactical trainings availible for force-on-force and the like use airsoft due to safety reasons, while still allowing a live-fire type experience.

Airsoft for defense....NO. I've had an airsoft BB penetrate my leg, but it was point blank, and the gun was VERY heavily modified (someone brought a project gun to a game, I was rather angry to say the least). Maybe a full-auto burst in the throat would slow them down, but with adrenaline going, I doubt it.

Get rid of the derringer, get a pistol with some capacity to it. Heck, a Hi-Point in 9mm will do the job just fine.

 

[JohnKSa]

You reach over to your nightstand and pull out your surefire, your 1911with 6+1 .45acp rounds, and your 1911 gas blow back airsoft gun loaded with 20 airsoft 6mm bbs and a fresh load of green gas. How would you go about incorporating the airsoft gun as a part of your self defense system?

Anyone who stores a loaded firearm next to a very similar appearing/feeling airsoft and has plans to access them in the dark is not playing with a full deck.

 

[mustang_steve]

Well, if you want to play with this messed up scenario, you simply throw the airsoft pistol at the intruder (make sure it's unlaoded), then laugh when he grabs it and tries to shoot you with it.

That's assuming you threw the airsoft.....

 

[bigfatdave]

Anyone who stores a loaded firearm next to a very similar appearing/feeling airsoft and has plans to access them in the dark is not playing with a full deck.

Yeah, I pointed that out above ... apparently the orange tip is visible in the dark to only the owner of the toy gun.

 

[PandaBearBG]

I'd shoot the airsoft with the .45, problem solved. No more confusion. Then to address the BG's...

 

[Mp7]

get a 2 by 4. punch big nails thorugh it.

Daadaaa! you got one of the more impressive improvised weapons
to go with the derringer.

 

[Odd Job]

Well if that was me, I would fire two BBs into each of my testicles. I gurantee you, I would be able to take off down the stairs at warp 9 with increased strength and purpose and that burglar would wish he had never met me, even though I only had a derringer

 

[John Parker]

This is about the dumbest thread anyone has ever posted. If I was a home invader and someone shot me with Airsoft, they'd be in for a fine treat.