Thanks for a great time, meeting familiar faces in some years and new people from Thailand.
Props to Patric Chan for arranging a purposeful 3-day session, and Seree Woradechjamroen for nice choice on venue, spacious villa rooms and generous food. The rainy days didn’t dampen the fun!
Okay, so I did get my own Foam Dart Blaster after all. Meet my first blaster, the Zius BK1S AEB (Air Electric Blaster).
I strongly considered the springer type, for its ease of use, operation and maintenance with less moving parts. But after 3 games, I find that most engagements are very close i.e. CQB, so the AEB will most likely dominate such scenarios.
I purchased the AEB along with the essentials like battery, magazines, a box of 1.1g foam darts, and the jailbreak hand guard style for cosmetic. This comes up to slightly more than RM1,1xx. A bit pricey IMO, for a foam dart sport. The attachments are my own.
And earlier today, I took out the BK1S for its first run. It was a casual 3 vs 3 game at Sireh Park, Iskandar Puteri.
Here’s a video of me running an obstacle course with this AEB – done in 29 seconds (best record for the day):
While not as accurate and far ranged as its springer counterpart, the ROF makes up for it. But also because of that, it eats up darts real fast; I need more magazines and boxes of darts after this!
After talking about it for so long, finally I’ve decided to drive over to Desaru – to be exact, Bayu Balau Beach Resort for a day’s stay. It’s about 50 minutes from home.
Hard to believe, the last time I visit this part of Johor was more than 15 years ago!
Last time I was here was in 2017-2018.
Usually, I prefer to take the public transport in Singapore due to convenience. But this one exception, I drove us in.
My second time playing foam darts, and first big game already!
The game is joined by players from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Australia, and United States!
Some photos here:
First, how did I know this sport and get into this game?
After my last Airsoft MILSIM game in Thailand, I was connected to Amin Khairuddin, a mutual friend of Foo that accompanied me to the Thailand game.
Amin also stays in Johor, and told me of this NERF Foam Dart sport that’s been around for at least a few years in Malaysia and Singapore.
How is NERF Foam Darts different from Airsoft, Paintball and Gel Blaster?
Unlike the NERF Blasters that are seen in Toys R Us, these Blasters are a notch above, in that there are AEB (Air Electric Blaster) and Springer variants that can be tuned up.
These NERF Blasters also look a bit realistic to modern firearms i.e. can sport picatinny rails to mount optics. Though I think a red dot suffices; anything above 3x scope is excessive and adds needless weight to what is meant to be a light blaster.
Does it hurt? Nah, not at all compared to the above mentioned sports. Wearing a basic eye pro is good enough, and no need for full face concealment.
To give an idea, I’d rank the level of pain as follows:
Paintball > Airsoft > Gel Blaster > NERF
Will I buy my own Foam Dart Blaster?
I borrowed an M20 Loaner and 4 mags for the game, which is sufficiently good for nicking human targets.
However, I’m most likely NOT going to buy one. At least, right now. I don’t mind playing if I’m invited, but I’m not passionate to the point that I’d get a NERF Blaster.
Besides, for a foam dart shooter, these things are not exactly ‘cheap’. In Singapore, a well-modded Blaster can go for SGD6xx. Not to be penny wise, pound foolish, but I can think of more fulfilling purchases with that amount. But that’s just me. I might change my mind next time, who knows.