(First off, let me state that I have no dog in this fight. Just something that came to mind earlier today...)

Why is it that Airsoft is constantly slammed as "toy BS", while Simunitions and the like are used in training by several Military and Law Enforcement organizations? I have to plead ignorance in this subject, as I have no experience with Airsoft and very little with Simunitions.

I realize that there are a lot of geeks that take Airsoft to the extreme and consider it second only to "real steel", and consider themselves hardened operators just because they run around shooting each other with plastic BBs. I don't really think that is valid, but from a professional training standpoint, what is the difference between the two for non-lethal training between live individuals?

Quoted: (First off, let me state that I have no dog in this fight. Just something that came to mind earlier today...) Why is it that Airsoft is constantly slammed as "toy BS", while Simunitions and the like are used in training by several Military and Law Enforcement organizations? I have to plead ignorance in this subject, as I have no experience with Airsoft and very little with Simunitions. I realize that there are a lot of geeks that take Airsoft to the extreme and consider it second only to "real steel", and consider themselves hardened operators just because they run around shooting each other with plastic BBs. I don't really think that is valid, but from a professional training standpoint, what is the difference between the two for non-lethal training between live individuals?

The difference is probably that of "training" and "playing games."