I guess putting "Kaboom" in the title of this story is more of an exaggeration to get your attention. But I sure hope you get the point of the story just by the title. Whilst we talk about airsoft protection in terms of eyewear, joints, teeth, ears, and FPS limits, we tend to rarely discuss other potential dangers to our bodies from airsoft power sources such as batteries and gas.

In this case, we talk about careful transport and storage of gas. We should always take note that gas expands due to heat, and since it's summer, we should always take double caution with airsoft gas. We have seen some videos before of gas cans exploding due to heat, and just like the PSAs about not leaving children or pets inside cars in hot weather, we should not leave the airsoft gas canisters inside hot cars too.

Just take the story of our friend from the Filipino Practical Shooters (FPS) based in Thailand, Francesco Navarro.  He shared some photos and his story about his own oversight of leaving airsoft gas canisters inside his car whilst he attended a session for junior shooters (and birthday shooting party too, I think) at the Thailand Airsoft Shooting Association (THASA) range in Bangkok.

As you can see in the photos, a gas canister got lodged to the car's ceiling in the upper door lining of the backdoor of the car, a result of it being propelled upward as the gas inside expanded due to hot weather, causing it to explode.

"I forgot to mention that there were two canisters inside a bag filled with several packs of airsoft BBs. The second canister did not explode and nothing happened to the airsoft pellets, but the bag was completely destroyed.

Damage to the car is about 10,200 THB [around US$320.00 at prevailing exchange rates as of this writing], but we got really lucky there. I will start moving gas canisters in a chilled drink cooler."

Luckily, no one was inside the car or else there would have been potential injuries. Please do take note that this happens to the best of us and there are lessons learned. Always store gas cans in a cool place, and it's always a good idea to store them in a drink cooler when transporting these to the airsoft field in hot weather. Drink coolers are also built like tanks nowadays that in case a gas can explodes, it can be contained by the cooler's inner walls. That's also added protection for the car and its passengers.

Also, if you're camping out for a long airsoft weekend event, don't throw empty gas canisters into a camp bonfire, these may still have some gas left inside and can hurt other people as they can turn into projectiles.

With more and more airsoft gas blowback guns being released in the market these days, there's a demand for more gas propellants. For airsoft players, they should always check the warning labels of the gas cans and airsoft game site owners should always remind their players to take their gas cans out of cars when the weather's hot and store in them in the cool areas in the safe zone.

Better be safe than sorry.