"Wat time u here bro?" was the text message that my phone just chirped about. It was a message from Danny of the Swiss Invaders. The time was already 1334H of 24 of August and we're slowly making our way through motorway traffic when everybody's driving out of the cities and into vacation spots to make the most of the UK's last long weekend before the Christmas Season.

I texted back, "We're about 14 miles away. Are you at the same place as last year?" And I got a reply within two minutes, "Yes bro as always."  Danny and I have been texting each other in the days leading to the Ground Zero National Weekender 2012 and that we'll be setting up at their camp area. It has been fun playing with Swiss Invaders, ever since we first met each other in 2010. Even if they're a funny group, they are still a disciplined bunch.

We approached Ringwood getting off the A31 as we headed off to the Somerley Estate, the site for Ground Zero Woodland, and the site for the biggest annual airsoft event in the UK. We've been a little bit worried about the rains, since it has been the wettest British Summer in a hundred years, and we hoped that the rains won't dampen the spirits of the players. But knowing the British, rains are not enough good reason to skip the Ground Zero National Weekender.

We almost forgot our ammo and gas and we were grateful that Rules of Engagement Airsoft supplied us quickly with what we needed, including a gun bag.

Arriving at the site, the usual entrance for everyone was blocked, saved for pedestrians and staff vehicles. We were redirected further down the road turn and turned right where we were greeted by an assortment of tents already setup. We understood the change of vehicle entrance, last year, the usual path of vehicles was rendered impassable by a combination of mud, rain, and the throngs of vehicles passing through it. We liked the new arrangement, this means that vehicle noise going through the old path was minimised. Another thing, players get to choose where to setup camp: "Normal Camp" which basically is further down from the main tent, and the "Louder Camp" where most of the old timers setup and much nearer to the main tent. We headed for the "Louder Camp" where we found the Swiss Invaders just idling by. They have been there since Wednesday, the usual early birds.

Getting off the car, we immediately had to setup our tent before it started raining again. Good thing that the tent was quickly setup. The Swiss Invaders had to go to the big tent, whilst we decided to rest our old backs as it was already half past 1500H. It was drizzling a bit, so in the cramped space of our tent, we catnapped.

Feeling a little bit rested, we Masterchief and I headed off to the registration area to find out if we can get our tags. There was a queue when we got there but saw some old faces and said hi. We went instead to the main tent to see what goodies Zero One Airsoft had stocked there.

The main tent was even bigger than last year, and with more airsoft guns, gear, and what have you displayed. Good thing inside was dry as compared last year, when it was really muddy and just going from one section to another was a chore as your boots sunk in the mood. There are more choices too, given your needs and at the same time, the bar also had tables and chairs inside the tent for those who didn't want to get wet outside when it rained.

With all the stuff inside, I wasn't able to find the holster that I wanted, but Masterchief got a few bits and bobs he needed to put into his rifle and got a nicely-priced clear ballistic glasses to use when taking photos, as he wasn't comfortable wearing goggles whilst using the camera. It was almost 1800H when we were done inside the main tent, so we went back to the registration area as the queue was gone, perhaps the people were driven away by the rain. The H was still very busy at his booth, so we had a chit-chat with the friendly staff at the registration table and they had our kit quick, complete with new patches, number tags, and wrist tags.

We went back again into the main tent to find out if we missed anything interesting. There were some, but then our airsoft guns already have the accessories they can bear. I was almost tempted to buy the Raytheon ELCAN SpecterDR replica that was on display, but decided not to as I would have to find a very plausible explanation to my wife why I bought it. It would look good on the Tokyo Marui SCAR-H or the SCAR-L that I brought along, but I already had an old ELCAN 4x Zoom and the EOTech holosights already mounted on these.

Having spent enough time inside the main tent, we realised that it was futile to do some cooking under the wet weather so we went to the Snack Bar to grab our dinner. There were two setup this time, as in the previous years, there was only one and the queues were long. It was quicker to get a meal this year and the burgers and hotdogs were not bad all. After the quick dinner, we checked the car boot sale area to check if there were some interesting used stuff there. Opposite the car boot sale area, there were empty booth spaces for companies and organisations which promised to setup their booths but were unable to.

It was almost 2000H when we decided to stroll around the camp sites. Apart from the usual registration, shopping and greeting Weekender veterans, the "Louder Camp" was usually a very lively area where you get to see some camps setup rather as fun areas, bedecked with disco lights and loud music. One, or rather two, things caught our attention, two sentry guns in front of the tents of Team Talon. Masterchief and I had a short argument if they're props or custom airsoft guns before we decided to get inside ask Team Talon about the guns.

Made of wood and created by Toby Abbott, the sentry guns actually work. They opened-up the guns and showed to us a cheap Thompson AEG inside, albeit its front area removed and a long barrel installed. We were not able to do some test firing as these were pointed at the tents opposite Team Talon. We thanked Team Talon for the assistance and we headed back to our tent. I forgot to ask Team Talon about the MP7A1 that they were selling as I might have gotten one as it's hard to find the TM version these days.

Back at our camp site, the Swiss Invaders and the Branagans were having gathered around having some light talk. We took out our folding chairs to join them and were offered some beer, which we gladly took, though Danny's Jack Daniels was the one I was after. It was still before 2200H when it started raining again that we had to retreat into the Swiss Invaders' tent, which was massive enough to accommodate us, and they even had a couch inside. We still talked a little bit more until almost 2300H when we all decided to call it night. It was going to be a long day tomorrow, so we need all the rest that we can.

It took me a while to really get to sleep and good thing that my wife bundled the Kindle reader so I've got something to read before going to sleep. I think it was a little bit past 0000H when I was able to sleep, joining Masterchief off to dreamland and having a snoring competition.

Photos of the Ground Zero National Weekender 2012 Day 1 can be found here.

Click here for the Day 2 Report. Click here for Day 3 Report.