When you play the game of airsoft, there is a specific honor system that everyone is expected to know about and abide by. This honor system means you have to admit you’ve been beaten when you are, without playing possum or being a mummy. There are specific things you need to do when you get legally beaten in the game.
The most common airsoft game is survival. This game is played by the last man standing wins the game. If you get hit, you’re out. Many of the airsoft games eliminate a player once they are hit. However, during night play or when opponents are far away, it’s often hard to tell if you hit your opponent. Usually a player can tell if he has been hit by an airsoft pellet. However, a player may not feel a pellet if he is running fast, rolling on the ground, or something else. Circumstances like this are usually determined by the quarterbacks or umpires watching the game.
A person who shoots another player is not responsible for yelling ‘I got you’. It depends on the game officials or the player who was hit. If you get hit while playing airsoft, you should shout out loud that you have been hit or raise your hands and gun and display the hit indicator lights while walking back to a safe zone. Impact indicators can be a bright flag during the day or a small flashing light at night.
Another part of the airsoft honor system is to not play possum. This is when someone cheats by pretending to hit another player to avoid being shot. Some players can turn on their flashing lights signifying that they have been hit so they can move around the terrain and then turn off the lights and return to combat. The lights can only be used if you have been hit and if someone is in range and turns them on to avoid being shot at, then this is cheating.
Another thing that is not allowed during an airsoft game is to reactivate your game after being eliminated. You must get permission from a referee to rejoin the game. Rejoining a game without permission is called being a ‘mummy’.
Other codes of the honor system include killing your opponent. This means when a player shoots at an opponent and then continues to shoot at them. You are not allowed to repeatedly shoot your opponent. One shot is enough if you hit them. Also, you can touch an opponent with the tip of your weapon, which is called a “knife kill”, which saves ammunition when you are at close range. A courtesy kill allows the player to surrender if he is close to his opponent.
When you play airsoft, you are expected to be honest and abide by the honor system. If you get hit during the game, you must admit it and leave the game or go to the safety zone and wait until you are told to rejoin the game.
