“That would never happen to me”.  Have you ever said that to yourself?  Yup it’s called denial and it’s not uncommon.  Lessons are learnt, usually the hard way, and in the case of airsoft, bb’s, teeth and masks, the lesson usually involves a very expensive trip to the dentist. 

Since I absolutely hate going to the dentist, this topic is near and dear to my heart, and If you want the brief summary to avoid having to read the rest of the article, here its.

If you don’t wear a face mask at airsoft, you are at extreme high risk of getting your teeth shot out!

I’ve seen it, more than once, in fact in the 25 years I’ve been slinging bb’s, I’ve seen about a dozen chips, breaks and full on removals of teeth on players who were not wearing face protection.  I’ve even been responsible for one chip recently and it made me feel so bad I went to my car, grabbed my spare mask and threw it at him with defiant Ox growl of “wear a damn facemask”!

Eye protection is mandatory, but face protection is just common sense.  Your teeth don’t grow back.  Sure welts and bruises are cool, but missing teeth just make it look like you fell of the hay wagon and landed on your cousins banjo with your face. 

Still not convinced, lets outline some things we do at airsoft.
1. We launch hard plastic projectiles at high velocity at each other.

2. We peek around, over and under cover exposing our head and faces first.

3. We have our mouths open, usually communicating with teammates or trying to catch our breath.

All of that increases risk of a random bb hitting us square in chompers.

New, inexperience and younger players are even higher at risk. They haven’t learnt how to move as fast or recognize the sound and threat of enemy players.  They tend to stand taller and expose their bodies and faces even more than veteran and experienced players.

Of course there is the survivor bias mentality.  “I’ve played for years and never had an issue”.  Denail!  Just because something hasn’t happened to you doesn’t mean it never will.

There’s the “I just pull up my balacalava when I get in an engagement” argument.  Sure, right up until some newbie jumps out from behind a tree and full autos you in the face leaving you only enough time to squeeze out a small shart because he scared you so bad.  Plus it’s a balaclava! If fabric doesn’t stop the bb from giving you a welt so its sure not going to stop it from taking out your tooth.

There are lots of great options out there for facemasks, and none of them are expensive.  In fact they are extremely less expensive than a new grill and doctor McDrill and Grind.  Try out some different options, ask around you local veterans and see what they like, use and why the like it.

I will leave you with one last thought before I end my attempt to convince you to wear a face mask.

Every player who lost a tooth thought it wouldn’t happen to them, before they lost their tooth.

Stay safe out there.