As each day passed by at the IWA Outdoor Classics 2015 for our friends at the exhibit booths and the airsoft media, waking up each morning is something we do dread. We have been standing on our feet for two straight days that we'd rather stay in bed longer. But then, there is work to do, clients to talk to and for us, stories to file and photos and videos to upload.

The third day of the event is more about the airsoft community in Europe gathering together to listen to various the airsoft manufacturers and vendors talk about what they do and what is new with them for this year. Some may say that what they will say is what they've been talking about at their booths and in a way they are right. However, for the Airsoft Meetup which every right thinking airsoft media group should consider a good thing, you get to listen to them in one single room with more proper slides, demos, and even better information. Just imagine all the distractions of people milling around when you do interview of an airsoft present at their exhibit booths, the Airsoft Meetup removes that distraction for the airsoft media reporter.

The line-up for the Airsoft Meetup for this year has the mainstays over the years. After Slickaxe of NLAirsoft welcomed the attendees and did the introductions, the Airsoft Meetup was opened by Paul Chu of RedWolf Airsoft who talked about the efforts of RedWolf Airsoft and the build up for the RWA brand. He also explained the difference of RedWolf Airsoft and RWA. Rob Manore who is the manager for RedWolf Airsoft USA took over from Paul to discuss about the products of RWA. Tim from RedWolf TV also briefly talked about upcoming 3rd Airsoft Surgeon European Airsoft Practical Shooting Championships which will take place in the United Kingdom in September 2015.

Airsoft Innovations came next with Chris doing the introductions about the company and its popular airsoft products such as the Tornado Impact Grenades and Propane Adaptor.  But the highlight for Airsoft Innovations is the airsoft shotgun technology that Carlton has been working. Last year, during the SHOT Show and IWA Outdoor Classics, he demonstrated the basic shotgun without it in an actual shotgun body to show that it does work. For this year, he has a working prototype that is built into a shotgun body. This shotgun shoots a 16-BB round blast at 350fps,  it is also shell ejecting and can be a very useful primary weapon airsoft skirmishes. Since it's still a prototype, it does still have bugs but Carlton was able to shoot a blast as he intended and shows the effects on the cardboard box he brought for the demo.

Gunfire has always been one of the biggest supporters of the Airsoft Meetup and they send a whole team to ensure that their presentation goes well and provide the participants something to drink as they watched the presentations. Mark started off with the GF Point 2015 which is their annual winter event and it's not the usual airsoft event. It's more of an orienteering event where contestants go to various waypoints and objectives under cold weather conditions and tough terrain. From there they talked about what is new with their Specna Arms brand emphasizing on the affordability and performance of their various airsoft gun models. They also did an on the spot quick spring change which allows anyone without any training to do spring change without any training or technical knowledge. They also introduced Rasputin Tactical which is a tactical gear brand they announced last year, bringing with them a sample vest made under the brand and mentioned other products such as the ElectroRiver Lipoly batteries that airsoft players can look forward to.

Next up was Krytac, with Tim Seargeant, the Marketing Manager, doing the presentation for the second straight year. He brought news that it is most definite that the Krytac European Sales and Distribution will finally open next month, bringing the various AEGs under the Trident family to European airsoft players. He also went over the new products that will be released this year such as the KRYTAC LMG Enhanced version.

There were two new presentors for the Airsoft Meetup this year, and both of them came all the way from USA and can be considered healthy competitors for the HPA segment of the airsoft guns market:

Dennis Tippmann Jr. himself showed up to talk about the venture of Tippmann Sports in the airsoft market.  Most of you know that Tippmann Sports is the biggest manufacturers of Paintball markers but since last year, the company has been busy promoting their Tippmann M4 Airsoft Carbine. Leveraging their expertise in making Paintball markers, what they have developed is an airsoft gun which is a gas blowback with strong recoil kick. It also has multiple power inputs such as the remote line for an external HPA tank or CO2 cartridges, adjustable ROF, anti Jam technology, and even more features which are impressive for a first airsoft offering.

Josh of Valken Tactical came up next to explain their offering for airsoft. Also known for their Paintball products, Valken Tactical released their V12 HPA engine which can be dropped on airsoft AEG bodies, giving airsoft players another way of playing with their airsoft guns with another power source and as I have mentioned about last Friday, is their AR-1 complete airsoft gun which is their first full airsoft gun offering in the market.

Thomas Mikkelsen did the presentation for Action Sport Games (ASG). Just like in my last report, he talked about the EVO 3 A1, the affordable Tac 6 airsoft sniper rifle, the CZ Bren 805, and the new Dan Wesson 715 Revolver Series.

Jane Liu of Modify puts a female face in the airsoft industry as she's the only female presenter at the Airsoft Meetup for two straight years now.  In a male-dominated industry and sport, Jane will always ba fresh face for us. She talks about their upcoming Modify XTC carbine which we hope will be definitely released in May 2015.

After Jane's presentation was the 5th Airsoft Players' Choice Awards and there were four winners present at the Airsoft Meetup: Gunfire, the Best Retailer for Europe; RedWolf Airsoft, the Best Retailer for Asia; Airsoft Innovations, the Best Airsoft Kaboom Winner; and Border War MILSIM, the Best Airsoft Event.

For this year, we opened the Airsoft Players' Choice Awards Hall Of Fame and two Hall Famers received their awards: RedWolf Airsoft as represented by Rob Manore to receive their award, the Gunfire with the whole IWA 2015 Gunfire crew led by Peter Janisuv, their CEO, accepting the award.

In a last minute update, Gearskin was allowed to briefly present their products which are camo or colour  wraps for airsoft guns and other gadgets you want to put their products on.

The Airsoft Meetup broke-up around 15 minutes before 1600H which gave me some time to rest my feet and check a few booths.
We checked the Dag Recker shooting booth in Hall 7A where they are co-exhibitors with the dealer of Wolverine Airsoft products. Dag Recker from Big Whiskey GmBH, have some interesting targets system that airsoft players can be interested in. They got paper targets with printed characters which are fun to shoot at, including playing cards which you can turn into targets if you think they are not giving you a good hand in a poker game. But what was fun for me was the shooting booth which Silke Reutershan explained has three standard themes such as Western, Military, and Zombie. You are allowed to give a custom order for a theme you want for an extra fee.  I tried the Random Shooting mode where some zombie targets pop up from different places and my job was to hit as many as possible in 30 seconds. I got lucky for hitting 24 targets. Yey!

They also have a mobile range which can be rented for festivals, parties and airsoft events. The mobile range is custom van that has a full range inside and the package comes with the targets, ammo, airsoft guns to shoot with and a staff to help customers out and fix any technical problems.

I also dropped by the iWholesales which is a UK-based company that does wholesales on Ares and Bolt Airsoft Guns.

By 1545 I went to meetup again with Ronald and Luuk at the KRISS/KRYTAC booth. Treating ourselves to some Swiss Chocolates, Cheese, and Beer, were winded down Day 3 of the IWA & Outdoor Classics. But the day wasn't over for as we still have a date with JP and Tim of Krytac for the evening. It was a fun and laughter filled night and for me the day really ended around 0200H the next day.

More photos at the Popular Airsoft Facebook Page.