How I Prep for a 3-Hour Gel Blaster Game

I used to forget something every single game. Eye pro one week, a charged battery the next, spare gels the time after. Nothing ruins a session faster than realising in the car park that your mags are empty and the gels are still sitting on the kitchen bench. So I built a system - and now prepping for a 3-hour skirmish is basically effortless, which matters a lot when I'm doing it before my first coffee.

This is exactly how I get ready for a half-day game. None of it is complicated, and that's the point. The less thinking I have to do on the morning of, the less I get wrong - especially before that coffee kicks in.

The night before (so morning-me has to make zero decisions)

Anything that can be done the night before, I do the night before. Morning-me, standing in the kitchen pre-coffee, is not to be trusted with decisions. So I get it all out of the way:

• Charge every battery. I run two identical MK18s, so that's five batteries - a main and a spare for each, plus one extra for whatever the day throws at me (or for the mate who always forgets one). All of them go on charge overnight.
• Soak and sort the gels. Soak time depends on the gel. My first pick is always SummerCat's Frost SV - the smaller version, grows to around 7.15–7.35mm - with his hard milkies or the AKA Ultra Hards in rotation when I want to test something in the field. Once they're grown I drain them, run them through the sorter for consistent size, then they go into one of my 3D-printed parts boxes in the fridge overnight. In the morning I run them through the sorter one more time. Sorted gels feed cleaner and shoot straighter - a few extra minutes that pays off every game. The gels and sorter I run for this are the Game Day Bundle — a sorter plus five packs, as above, sorted twice the night before.
• Quick FPS check. While everything's out, I fire a few rounds to confirm I'm under the limit for the field I'm heading to. Doing it the night before means that if something's reading hot, I've got time to sort a spring - not a nasty surprise at the chrono station.
• Load the car. Last job before bed: the boxes go in the car. By the time I'm asleep, the only things between me and the field are getting up, a shower and a coffee.

All up it's maybe an hour if I'm testing new gels, but usually closer to 30 minutes (not counting grow time) - because everything's already sorted. That's the whole return on the system.

The three-box system: everything has a home

This is the part that actually changed things for me. I don't pack a bag before each game - I keep everything permanently sorted across three hard cases. They're ToolPro cases from Supercheap - nothing fancy, just solid and stackable. I've kitted each one out myself: foam cut to fit the gear and glued onto plastic sheets, with zip ties through two sides as handles so I can lift a whole layer straight out. Every layer gets a colour-coded 3D-printed label, so a glance tells me if anything's missing or out of place. Nothing gets unpacked or raided between games.

The cases and foam are nothing special - what makes the system click is the labelling. Every case wears one of my own 3D-printed equipment tags so I know what's in it without opening it, a name-and-number tag (because yes, I've left a case behind before), and a QR code that points to my site. Inside, every item has its own foam slot - so an empty slot is impossible to miss. You don't need any of it to start - a cheap case and some cut foam does the job - but that's the whole trick.

The blaster check before I leave

The blasters get a quick once-over before I head off - not a strip-down, just a confidence check:

• Test fire the main MK18 for accuracy, feeding and trigger response.
• Chrono check to confirm I'm under the field cap. I checked the night before too, but I'd rather be certain than turned away at the gate.

I always run my main MK18 and my Glock 19 as a sidearm - and because I run two identical MK18s, I bring the spare to the field as well. If the main goes down mid-game, the backup takes the same mags and the same batteries and I don't miss a beat. Running identical platforms is the cheat code here: the spare isn't a compromise, it's a seamless swap.

That's the game-day check. Longer term, every 25,000 rounds or so I drop both MK18s at CyberTrigger for a proper service by their tech - a trusted store and a trusted tech beats me poking at a worn gearbox myself.

What I bring (and what stays home)

Even for a 3-hour game my kit's fairly complete - but it's all sorted, so "complete" doesn't mean "faffing about." What comes with me:

• Both MK18s (main + identical spare), the Glock sidearm, pre-filled mags and sorted gels
• Eye protection - on the whole time, no exceptions
• My plate carrier, always. It carries my spare mags, and just as importantly it saves my chest and back from a session's worth of welts. Close-range hits add up, and I'd rather not get home looking like I lost a fight with a hailstorm.
• My multicam-black uniform and black Salomon boots
• 4L of water - Queensland heat is no joke
• The three boxes, which already have everything else covered

What stays home: the camp chair, the esky, and a charger. All five batteries are already charged, so there's nothing to plug in at the field. The comfort gear is for the big milsim days - and that's the next post.

Pack-down: future-me's job starts now

The game's done, you're cooked, and this is exactly when people throw everything in the boot and "deal with it later." Later is how gear goes missing and blasters get neglected. My pack-down is short on purpose:

• Quick barrel wipe before anything goes back - 30 seconds now saves a clean later.
• Empty mags back in their slot. A dud or damaged mag comes out of rotation so I don't pack a known problem.
• Everything back in its labelled box, lids on. The boxes are now packed for next time - which is the whole point.

Because I pack down properly, my prep for the next game is really just the night-before list again. The system pays you back every single time.

If you take one thing from this

• Do the night-before jobs: charge every battery, soak and sort your gels, quick FPS check, load the car.
• Keep everything in labelled boxes with a slot for each item. Empty slot = fix it before you leave.
• Run identical platforms if you can - your spare becomes a seamless backup, not a compromise.
• Wear the plate carrier even for short games - mags up front, welts off your back.
• Pack down properly so the boxes are ready for next time. Prep and pack-down are the same system on a loop.

That's the 3-hour version. Next up: how I prep for a full milsim (Part 2) - the same system scaled up, with a much bigger ammo and power load, comms set up properly, and a lot more water. New to the bigger games? Start with our QLD milsim guide and the milsim loadout checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to prep for a gel blaster game?

Once you've got a system, around 30 minutes the night before - charging batteries, soaking and sorting gels, a quick FPS check and loading the car (not counting the gels' grow time). The morning of is just a quick blaster check. Setting up labelled boxes takes longer the first time, but after that prep is fast every single game.

What do I actually need for a 3-hour gel blaster game?

A blaster you trust (a spare if you have one), pre-filled mags, soaked and sorted gels, full-seal eye protection, old dark clothes, closed-toe shoes, and plenty of water. A plate carrier is worth it even for short games - it carries spare mags and saves you a back full of welts. For a full first-timer breakdown, see our first-game loadout guide.

Should I soak and sort my gel balls the night before?

Yes. Soaking the evening before lets the gels grow to a consistent, full size, and running them through a sorter removes the under- and over-sized ones so they feed cleaner and shoot straighter. Drain them, sort them, and keep them in a sealed container in the fridge overnight, then give them a final sort in the morning.

How do I stop forgetting gear on game day?

Stop packing from scratch. Keep your safety gear, tools, sidearm, comms and spares permanently in labelled boxes, so the only things you add on game day are sorted gels and charged batteries. When every item has a slot, an empty slot is impossible to miss.

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