As winter - slowly - turns to spring, and I complete my very first season of airsoft, its probably fitting I take stock of my initial round of airsoft kit purchases.

There are two factors that decided my first season's choice of uniform kit; the great British weather and the availability of comparatively cheap garb to get me started in airsoft. Like airsofters across the world, I made use of the surplus military gear of my nation's armed forces to get me into my new hobby on a shoestring (knowing that I would probably decide on a more specific and exotic uniform later, if I really got into airsoft - which is exactly what, eventually, happened).

However, I'd like to think myself lucky that buying surplus British Army gear wasn't a compromise, as British uniform gear and camouflage are among the best available in the world. DPM is probably the first recourse for the vast majority of airsoft initiates in the UK, it's very cheap and easy to find as practically every high street has an Army & Navy store.

'Soldier 95' is the British Army's latest uniform system, and takes advantage of modern 'layering' techniques for high stress activities. The idea is simple, that you build up your uniform in a sequence of thin layers that you can add to or remove depending on the climate.

Starting in winter, the initial layer seemed to be ideally a good set of 'thermals', however these sport orientated 'long Johns' not only provided overall warmth and wicking properties, but a basic level of BB protection (BBs seem to sting more in cold weather!).

After this, the standard Soldier 95 DPM shirt and trousers make up the primary camo uniform layer onto which I could add more cold or wet weather items. Socks were good old '1000 Mile' brand in OD, as - after trying walking/hiking socks - I found sports socks better suited to airsoft activities (I always pack a spare set of socks just in case my initial pair get wet, either because of the weather or sweat).

Cold or wet, there are several types of clothing items that I could have added from the standard army inventory, but I strayed from the military to commercial wet weather items for my first purchases.

The standard wet weather jacket I could have chosen is the army Gortex jacket, but that was a little thicker garment than I wanted to wear. Because of the active nature of airsoft, I preferred a thinner wet weather jacket that I could easily pack and unpack, and fold down into a pouch.

Autumn and winter showers in the UK start and end very quickly, British weather being so changeable, so having a something I could easily put on and take off as the rain started and stopped seemed more practical than a heavy jacket.

I also bought a pair of Peter Storm wet weather trousers, should the rain persist. These could be worn as an over-layer, or if my DPM trousers got wet in a morning session, I could easily wear these on their own - as they are lined - as shower proof trousers, allowing me to dispense with my wet trousers. The standard British Army Gortex over-trousers being - once again - too thick, and their thinner nylon shower-proof trousers being unlined and too 'plasticy'.

As with the wet weather items, I didn't want to go overboard and buy something that was designed to full military specifications. The reason why this is is that a soldier's gear is designed to be worn for relatively long periods of sustained action. Luckily, we airsofters have plenty of breaks between action - so can change in and out of clothing more conveniently. So, I concluded, that uniform gear designed to be worn for extended periods were not necessary.

I also relied on the fact that the exertions of airsoft would keep me warm enough until the game ended, and I could then change into something warmer and dryer if needs be (there is nothing worse than sweat cooling down on your skin during the journey home).

Finally, there is the fact that - unlike real soldiers - if the weather gets too bad, we could just simply retire to a nice warm car or hut. So putting up with being cold or wet for a little while isn't too much of a hardship. You know you will eventually get warm and dry.

Because of this I went with a simple commercial DPM body warmer, gloves and woolen watch cap. The body warmer has a multitude of capacious pockets, so also doubles as a load carrying vest, negating the need for webbing. It may not be exactly 'authentic', but it's practical and looks pretty nice (resembling, as it does, a military flak jacket).

About half way through my first 'season', my friends and I started to formulate our idea that we would like to be a Russian Army themed team. Obviously, this meant that it would be nice to have the appropriate wet and cold weather items for any loadout we bought for this.

However, getting authentic uniform gear - at that time - was still a bit of a problem for us (having not figured out exactly what period we were interested in, or what camo we liked or, indeed, what was the best supplier), so we initially 'cheated'. Our local Army & Navy surplus store  just happened to get in a load of ex-Czech Army surplus stock, including some very nice cold weather parkas with Russian looking fur collars.

This 'faux' Russian cold weather outfit - of OD parka, OD trousers, Telnyashka T-shirts and either woolen caps or fur hats - gave the sort of impression that we were after, and we were pleased when other players got the gist and recognized us as 'Russians'.

Lately, though, I have found several authentic items or Russian origin that are exactly what I want, and although the winter season is nearly over I will be buying these in anticipation of next winter.

The one thing I have concluded so far about playing airsoft in wet or cold weather situations, is that it is far better to wear a few lighter, thinner layers that to wrap yourself up like an Eskimo!

Left: The key to any good Winter/Autumn loadout, a good quality base layer. This is the Webtex thermal layer, excellent protection against the cold and BBs too! Thinner layers are then applied to this to build up a system of clothing which can be added to or detracted from to control the temperature of the body.

Bear in mind that you might start out being cold and miserable, but as you get more and more active you really begin to warm up naturally - regretting that you put on two jumpers and a parker!

Go for types of cold/wet clothing that you can easily take off and pack away during play.

But most of all, it's better to bring a change of dry warm clothing, and change into them at the lunch break than to try and go all day with military spec cold/wet weather clothing on. So, you get a bit cold or wet - so what? It's a small hardship to endure until the next break, and simply means you probably aren't running about as much as you should!

I have been in the situation where I have been so warm that a nice rain shower was very welcome. Having said that, don't be one of those 'macho' nutters that defies the elements and runs about all day in a thin t-shirt, revelling in how soaking he gets...

Having to take a few days off work because you caught a cold or flu doesn't impress the boss.