RIFTSHIFTING UP ANOTHER GEAR!

AT THE BACK END OF MAY 2024 THE UK SAW AGAIN ONE OF ITS BIGGEST, AND STILL-GROWING, AIRSOFT EVENTS, ONE THAT IS CONTINUING TO DELIGHT THE PLAYER COMMUNITY AS IT FLOURISHES! SO, WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU ADD VEHICLES, JUST OVER 70 ACRES OF VARIED GAME SITE AND AN EXTREMELY FRIENDLY AND WELCOMING FAMILY TYPE ATMOSPHERE? YOU GET RIFT AIRSOFT’S “SHIFT YOUR RIFTS” (SYR), AND OUR NEWEST UK-BASED “LEGIONNAIRE”, RICH P, WAS THERE TO EXPERIENCE IT FIRST-HAND!

RIFT Airsoft was created by Tony Whitmarsh in 2012 with Coms-3 near Banbury; they then went on to run games at The Ridge, The Bombdump, The Battery and Redcon-2. RIFT Airsoft is very much a family-run business with Tony’s wife Hazel and their children all making sure the game days run smoothly.

Redcon-2 near Abingdon is situated at the MoD airfield Dalton Barracks and comprises of over 70 acres of varying types of terrain from open grass to woods with features such as a Lynx helicopter, derelict tanks known as the Tank Graveyard, Container City and Echo Base which is set up as a CQB area. Redcon-2 is also the home of the two-day “Shift Your Rifts” event that’s grown in popularity and size in the four years it’s been run, with this year being the largest to date with 588 players on the Saturday who were joined by another 66 on the Sunday.

The weekend is a combination of airsoft games and car-boot sale where you can sell your unwanted airsoft gear. In addition to the car-boot there were a number of retailers present including Viper Tactical, Empire Airsoft, Flash bang smoke, twofourdeltasurplus and others. White Sphere Tactical, ably run by Steve and Jake, were onsite too and you could find a plethora of different RIFS and other essential supplies there. BBs, pyro and battery charging were supplied by Tony and the team in the onsite shop.

We arrived at the site on the Friday evening and were met by a marshal who directed us to the payment tent after giving us a quick safety talk. We then went to the desks set up for filling out the waivers, which we took to Hazel who took payment for the weekend and handed us a bag that included safety brief sheet and various goodies from some of the traders attending. After obtaining our weekend wristband we were then directed to the camping area. There were some car-boot sellers already set up so we had a stroll around those and some of the traders that were open.

There was no food available on site Friday evening and due to the MOD rules there were no flames of any kind allowed unless you were in a campervan or caravan, so no BBQ! But you could order takeaway that was delivered to the gate… with regards to drinking at “Shift Your Rifts”, it’s not discouraged once the games are over but you are asked to be sensible in your partaking and keep noise to sensible levels!

SATURDAY – GAME ON!

Saturday morning saw us up bright and breezy and walking down to the main Safezone for breakfast; there were bacon rolls on offer as well as various offerings from Greggs (bakers for our non-UK readers!) and hot drinks in the form of tea and coffee. The chrono opened promptly, and this is where getting in on the Friday comes into its own; we weren’t rushing around trying to get tents set up and sort our gear in a short space of time!

Once our AEGs and GBBs were chrono’d and tagged with a coloured cable tie, it was on to the Safety Brief. Now I’m sure Tony will admit his safety briefs are famous for being, shall we say, thorough, and there are even patches on sale that say “I Survived Tony’s Brief”… and quite a few people even brought chairs to sit on for the brief! Tony was kind to us on this event though, with the a sheet that was included in the goodie bag that you were encouraged to read, and Tony’s spoken part was more along the lines of the non-standard elements of the event such as the Juggernaut and safety around the vehicles.

What followed after the Brief was “Total War”! One game up to lunchtime and then the reverse of that game after; this allowed a more relaxed type of gameplay in my opinion as you were able to play as much or as little airsoft as you wanted. You could come out of the Gamezone as you wanted to grab

“RIFT AIRSOFT WAS CREATED BY TONY WHITMARSH IN 2012 WITH COMS-3 NEAR BANBURY; THEY THEN WENT ON TO RUN GAMES AT THE RIDGE, THE BOMBDUMP, THE BATTERY AND REDCON-2. RIFT AIRSOFT IS VERY MUCH A FAMILY-RUN BUSINESS WITH TONY’S WIFE HAZEL AND THEIR CHILDREN ALL MAKING SURE THE GAME DAYS RUN SMOOTHLY” some food or browse the traders and car-booters, though if too many from one team went out to browse this became obvious with the team imbalances that occurred later in the morning.

The Juggernaut was this year played by Matt from Warhound Media; he was carrying a support gun and was of no team and both teams at the same time. If you were able to get a shot on one of the stainless steel bowls, the only shots he would acknowledge, on his front and rear he would drop to a knee for 30 seconds; you had to get to him, put your hand on his shoulder and say you’re a Blue now and send him off to shoot the Reds. If after 30 seconds no-one got to him then he’d just blast away at any team colour… it certainly added an element of fear to the game!

There were two convoys of vehicles on site that weekend and the Safety Brief around them was possibly the most important part; you were able to get a ride in the back of the vehicles but the most important rule around them was, if the engine is running you must stay 5 meters or more away. The vehicles included four armoured Snatch Land Rovers, a six-wheeled Pinzgauer Vector, as well as a CVRT Spartan and a CVRT Sultan named Ethel! There were vehicles assigned to both teams, one team’s vehicles had to drive to waypoints and set up a mortar at each point. This needed to be defended as there was a flag for the enemy to drop as a timed point as well as series of objects to steal from the backs of the vehicles.

The other teams vehicles were there as troop transport, frequently picking up people from the respawn point and ferrying them forwards. Each team had a main respawn point which couldn’t be attacked and because the site is so big there were four more capturable respawn points that could be fought over. The other team had to defend the intel in the form of laptops dotted around the site.

The morning’s game started with everyone deciding what they wanted to go for, and once game-on was called all the younger players ran ahead while us older folk preferred more of a “tactical bimble” towards the action, although at one point we Blues had pushed the Reds nearly back to their main respawn. At that point the marshals stepped in and got everyone back their main respawns and reset the game to give the

Reds a chance! In my opinion that was a good call as it gave everyone a chance of a good game. The morning was undoubtedly the Blue’s game with the strong pushes. At around 13:00 ENDEX was called and everyone went back to the Safezone for lunch, which saw hot dogs and chilli dogs added to the menu!

After lunch we gathered for the afternoon Game Brief and the marshals went about balancing the teams by swapping people around and, to be honest, this made the afternoon game much better. The roles were reversed and we Blues didn’t have it as easy in the afternoon as it was a much more

“THE WEEKEND IS A COMBINATION OF AIRSOFT GAMES AND CAR-BOOT SALE WHERE YOU CAN SELL YOUR UNWANTED AIRSOFT GEAR. IN ADDITION TO THE CAR-BOOT THERE WERE A NUMBER OF RETAILERS PRESENT INCLUDING VIPER TACTICAL, EMPIRE AIRSOFT, FLASH BANG SMOKE, TWOFOURDELTASURPLUS AND OTHERS…”

That’s one of the things I like about RIFT Airsoft, they like a good, balanced game and if that means swapping players about then fair play.

After ENDEX was called we all went back to our tents, dropped our kit off then headed back up to the Safezone for food and a couple of beverages. Food was burgers or sausages in a bun cooked by the MOD and very reasonably priced. RIFT Airsoft even laid on a licenced bar in the evening, though you were asked to be sensible once again. To that end they also asked for a 24:00 bed time, which wasn’t a bad call in my opinion…

Sunday

- RINSE, REPEAT!

Sunday saw us once again at the chrono as they test each day with a different colour tag added. The only real difference to Sundays Safety Bief was that those who attended the Saturday brief and had the weekend wristband didn’t have to sit through Sundays affair too, which meant that there was only 66 players in attendance with the other 588 turning up at 10:15. Sunday’s games were pretty much a carbon-copy of Saturday’s but given the size of the site, you could spend one day in one half of the site and the other day somewhere else and not get bored. As well as the main field games there were other activities you could participate into; there was a 4v4 team knockout tournament which was won by Discord Admins team and their name is now on a trophy for achieving first place. There was also an Attacksense room-clearance

“THE VEHICLES INCLUDED FOUR ARMOURED SNATCH LAND ROVERS, A SIX-WHEELED PINZGAUER VECTOR, AS WELL AS A CVRT SPARTAN AND A CVRT SULTAN NAMED ETHEL! THERE WERE VEHICLES ASSIGNED TO BOTH TEAMS, ONE TEAM’S VEHICLES HAD TO DRIVE TO WAYPOINTS AND SET UP A MORTAR AT EACH POINT” time-trial at which my son and I had great fun competing against each other. And there was also a Pro Shoot experience set up inside the bunker; I didn’t get to try that but by all accounts it was a fun activity.

In my opinion Tony and RIFT Airsoft have created a great event that has something for everyone, be it full on airsoft, taking part in the other activities or just chilling out socialising in “Traders Alley”. It’s an event that has a relaxed vibe about it and one that I’ll certainly be visiting again next year.

I asked a few people if they could send me their thoughts on the event and here’s what they said; the biggest and best yet, for us at WST as the lead retailer onsite this is our biggest event of the year and as expected a bigger event provides a bigger challenge though I believe all of us at RIFT made sure everyone had a smile on their face all weekend. We managed to raise £2000 for Cancer Research and NHS Blood Donation and thank you to all that donated as this is very close to our hearts. Thank you to everyone who came to see us this year at SYR. Same time next year?”

Stefano Proietti - “This year, as with other years, was a good event though it would have been good to have the car-booters nearer the traders as it would have created a really busy vibe to it, but as a whole I felt it was a well-managed event and it was good to see new traders there too and the facilities were great for all to use. I didn’t get to play this year but from previous experience it’s a good playing area and for me being a wheelchair user I could use 80% of the gaming zones.”

Jake, White Sphere Tactical - “SYR2024 has been

Ratty, Viper Tactical - “I have to say that this year was the best yet. Having been here the last three years it’s been fantastic to see how the event has grown. From a players perspective with everything there is to do its one to put in your diary. Tony and the crew know how to put on an event and this event will grow and

And the last words go to Tony Whitmarsh, RIFT Airsoft himself - “When we created Shift Your Rifts we wanted to do something a bit different where people could sell their unwanted kit at a boot-sale alongside a big event. The numbers of players we had here this weekend are about right for the event, I prefer quality over quantity. I’m humbled and proud and blown away by the whole thing and I can’t thank everyone enough, the RIFT team for all the hard work they’ve put in and the players for being awesome!”

Thanks to all who kindly contributed comments for this report, and to Josh and the team at www. kriosphotography.com for additional pictures!

If you like the sound of “Shift Your Rifts” then you can keep an eye for updates on the 2025 event by Following RIFT Airsoft Ltd on FB and the socials, as well as tuning in to the regularly-updated NEWS section at www.riftairsoft.com... It’s a great event that deserves our support, and who knows, perhaps you’ll see even more of the AA Crew there next year! AA

“IN MY OPINION TONY AND RIFT AIRSOFT HAVE CREATED A GREAT EVENT THAT HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE, BE IT FULL ON AIRSOFT, TAKING PART IN THE OTHER ACTIVITIES OR JUST CHILLING OUT SOCIALISING IN “TRADERS ALLEY”. IT’S AN EVENT THAT HAS A RELAXED VIBE ABOUT IT AND ONE THAT I’LL CERTAINLY BE VISITING AGAIN NEXT YEAR”