IWA 2022 GEAR REPORT
GOOD GEAR TO GO AT IWA 2022
LAST MONTH THE CREW LOOKED AT ALL THE AIRSOFT GOODNESS THAT THEY SAW AT IWA 2022, AND THIS TIME OUR IN-HOUSE “GEARFREEK” BILL TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO THE CLOTHING, FOOTWEAR AND EQUIPMENT SIDE OF THE SHOW, LOOKING AT INNOVATIONS THAT HE FOUND PARTICULARLY NOTEWORTHY!
I
WA is most definitely my very favourite show of the year when it comes to airsoft and new gear; all too often airsoft is an “also ran” alongside the mass of the shooting sports industry as a whole, and all too often we airsofters are relegated to our own little area, thankfully an area that grows years on year in normal circumstances! But when it comes to the “tacticool” side of things we are made very welcome by most companies, and this also continues to grow for numerous reasons that will become apparent throughout my report, but largely down to the fact that they view the airsoft community as knowledgeable and professional these days. Each and every year IWA gets bigger and better, of that there is no doubt even if 2022 was a little more muted than usual, and both airsoft and tactical have grown with it. It’s a huge show; the Nuremberg MESSE covers 12 floors in total, some of them as big as a football stadium, and the show now covers many of them, even in a “slow year”. To put that in perspective, when I first attended IWA only six of the halls were in use, but the show just keeps on growing! I know that many of you have a good laugh at us when the topic of any show comes up, but let me assure you… it’s actually bloody hard work! Yes, we do get first look at all the new “shiny things”, but the
schedule is brutal! 0300 get-ups to catch planes and trains for some, and many hundreds of miles under the car tyres for others to and from the show are the norm. Seventeen-plus hour days are standard from start to finish, as just as much work gets done after the show as in it. One of the guys this year actually tracked their footfall in the show and it came in at over nine miles a day, and that’s just inside the show itself! When you see a picture of your favourite journo, blogger or vlogger cracking a cold brewski and tucking into a MealSim meatfest at the end of the day, believe me, they have bloody earned that, and so has everyone that’s been on stands all day long! Sadly this year due to the continued Covid Restrictions in Germany the social side was severely restricted, and actually meant that Smooth Jase and I had to endure cooking in our apartment and watching a Batman movie in German… we did however manage to find what must rank as one of the biggest steaks (with a little bit of sad salad on the side!) I’ve ever seen though, so it wasn’t all bad! Suffice to say that we pack in as much as possible to the days we are at the show, because this is our chance to be face to face (or mask to mask this year!) with all the manufacturers and distributors of tactical goodness in person, and the opportunity must be
“SADLY THIS YEAR, DUE TO THE CONTINUED COVID RESTRICTIONS IN GERMANY THE SOCIAL SIDE WAS SEVERELY RESTRICTED, AND ACTUALLY MEANT THAT SMOOTH JASE AND I HAD TO ENDURE COOKING IN OUR APARTMENT AND WATCHING A BATMAN MOVIE IN GERMAN…”
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MAY 2022
