GOING GUCCI

LOOKING FOR NEW GEAR? SEARCHING FOR THE COOL “GUCCI GEAR”? THEN YOU ARE GOING TO WANT TO FIND YOUR WAY TO A REPUTABLE STORE THAT HAS A SUPERB RANGE OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. THIS MONTH BILL SPEAKS TO A NEW “AIRSOFT MATE” WHO OFFERS ALL THIS ...AND MORE!

Regulars that keep up with our daily news on the website may have seen that over the past few months we’ve had a banner running on www.airsoftaction.net for HIG OPERATOR (https:// higoperator.co.uk/), and we’re very pleased to have been able to work with them in order to highlight what they offer… and that’s a lot!

If you’re looking for those hard-to-find bits of gear, those “Gucci” little accessories that make any loadout sing, or just something downright cool then certainly for players in the UK, HIG OPERATOR should be high on your list of “places to go”! From helmet covers and headsets, through shooter belts and plate carriers, to NVGs and mounts then this is a one-stop-shop that has it all.

HIG OPERATOR Ltd (High Intensity Gear Operator) is a veteran owned business that’s been around since 2017 and offers specialised military equipment and unparalleled customer service. Their specialist knowledge guarantees top-of-the-line products and a money-back guarantee. They say “our customers are our top priority, we believe commitment to good customer service leads to good business”, and thus far in our own dealings with them we’ve found this to be true.

Of course we wanted to find out more about HIG OPERATOR to share with you all, as all of us like to know who we are dealing with, especially when it comes to parting with our cash for “bigger ticket items”, so I took the opportunity to speak with Mark, the man behind the store, to find out a little more, and this is what he had to tell me…

AA: Please tell us a little bit about yourself, and your airsoft experiences!

HO: I spent 30+ years in the Parachute Regiment and elements of UKSF, and my experience of airsoft has been in the capacity of safety/marshalling. Whilst still serving I was asked by a fellow military colleague to help out at a site, I was very impressed by the dedication and attention to detail by many of the players who definitely looked the part, to the point where I commented they actually looked ally-er than us! (slang for very good)

AA: Do you have connections with a particular airsoft site? What events do you attend that you enjoy?

HO: No (no time unfortunately) However I do shoot mini rifle competitions at my local gun range, mini rifle comps are shot with a .22 Semi auto rifle normally an AR Platform, each course of fire is a test of speed & accuracy and is great fun.

AA: What motivated you to set up a tactical gear shop?

HO: What motivated me? It started a long time ago whilst in the military working in equipment trials and development; when the new Gentex Helmets were first issued, a lot of my time was taken up in making the helmet specific to the operating environment. This consisted of a Krylon application, netting held into place via a section of old innertube around the rim of the helmet, and before I knew it a lot of the blokes were asking if I could do the same with their helmets. I dare say I learnt my trade making helmets look good in my military service.

After seeing the players at the site I saw a niche in the market and decided to purchase a number of FMA Maritime helmets in order to work my magic on with a view of selling them on to the airsoft players; turns out my helmets were pretty popular and we`ve sold well over a 1000 in the last 7 years!

Customers started asking me if I could get hold of other bits of kit like holsters, flashlights, etc and that’s how the business grew to the point now where we supply to TV & Film Media companies like Warner Brothers and Pinewood studios in London mostly with helmets and Night Optical Device`s (NODS)

AA: What are your key brands of gear? What makes them special to you?

HO: FMA helmets, especially the SF super high cut fast helmets are the best replica helmets I have worked with, to the point where putting a real SF super-fast helmet next to the FMA helmet you cannot visually distinguish the difference between the two (Real Steel)! It’s only when you pick them up you notice the difference. Sotac make some exceptional gear, especially their PEQ Lasers and Red dot optics such as the Aimpoint T2 or Comp 5, and also I find WADSN gear has a lot more detail in their products making them look more authentic than some other manufacturers.

AA: Which are your best-selling bits of kit, and why do you think this is?

HO: Helmets and Shooter belts; our Helmets because we custom build each helmet cover from scratch with the best fabric/materials out there. Our Omega cut heavy duty Multicam Mesh/Ripstop fabric is imported from a company in Germany, this incurs customs fee`s which is pricey but the quality is second to none. Each helmet is completely stripped down to its bare shell and the helmet pattern is hand cut, sewn together and custom fitted to the helmets entire shell, then the ARC rails, NVG shrouds and helmet harness are refitted to the helmet giving it that immaculate look that’s not going to come off anytime soon, in fact in 7 years we`ve not had a single complaint about any of our helmets quality or reliability. There is a YouTuber (Names Nicco) who has done plenty of reviews of our Custom Exfil Helmet.

Shooter belts; we take the time to put the belt rigs together for the player rather than putting all the individual items in a box for them to assemble at home. We have prebuilt, good to go Shooter belts straight out of the box, or we can Custom build and refine on request any configuration the player requires.

AA: As well as some quality gear you offer a range of electronics and accessories; what do people come to you for especially?

HO: Most of the helmets we sell (and we have a lot) are a result of a players getting in touch and requesting a custom configuration normally involving a functional headset and battery pack retention system. Once that specific setup is built we add it to our collection of helmets.

The current trend is Multicam, but as the Winter months close in with dark days and nights players adjust their setups for the conditions, hence in the winter months we get request for black helmets & Multicam black, but we do occasionally get asked for one off setups like Russian Camo to which we are happy to provide.

AA: Where do you see airsoft heading in the future (especially given the social media clamp-downs)?

HO: I don`t see airsoft disappearing anytime soon; back in the 80`s and 90`s paintball thrived and still does to this day, and those were the days well before social media existed. If anything the activity will grow and grow with airsoft venues becoming more accessible with specialist airsoft magazines, journals, forums and exhibitions, along with online sales providers.

AA: How do you think that changes in social media guidelines and “standards” will affect you?

HO: We`ve had to stop listing anything on our Facebook page (High Intesity Gear) with any images of a RIF showing any accessories we sell fitted to them, so these days many of our products we were advertising a year ago can no longer be displayed on Facebook which is frustrating and unnecessary; try to challenge it you are only dealt with via an algorithm and not a human!

AA: Are there new brands or new bits of kit that you will be adding to your store? What would you like to see being added?

HO: We are always looking/monitoring to see what kit been trialled or brought into service, and having an in-depth knowledge we are in a unique position to be ahead of the game.

We are always looking to expand our product list in all areas, more recently with Suppressor’s with the Flash Unit and helmet cams. We also take requests from players who are struggling to find a specific item; we will always go out of our way to find and supply them with the item.

My sincere thanks to Mark for talking to me, and it’s great to see small businesses flourishing within our industry, even when it’s harder for them than ever to show the great products they have on offer to those that want to buy them!

I for one will be keeping an eye on https:// higoperator.co.uk/ as I’m always looking for those little (and not so little!) bits of kit that we all want to add to our loadouts to really make them sing… in fact there’s a very nice Ranger Green Helmet Cover on the HIG OPERATOR website that looks exactly like the thing I’ve been after for a long-ass time! There may well be something there for you too, so do yourself a favour and check out what they have to offer! AA

“WE TAKE THE TIME TO PUT THE BELT RIGS TOGETHER FOR THE PLAYER RATHER THAN PUTTING ALL THE INDIVIDUAL ITEMS IN A BOX FOR THEM TO ASSEMBLE AT HOME. WE HAVE PREBUILT, GOOD TO GO SHOOTER BELTS STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX, OR WE CAN CUSTOM BUILD AND REFINE ON REQUEST ANY CONFIGURATION”