How I Prep for a Gel Blaster Milsim
Part 1 was the 3-hour game - the short version of my prep. A milsim is the same system, just turned up. The day's far longer, the objectives actually matter, and there's no nipping home for the battery you forgot. Whatever you walk in with is what you've got for the next eight to twelve hours.
So the routine doesn't change much - but what it's about does. A milsim isn't won by how many people you tag. For me it's almost all semi-auto, and it's all about the objective and the overall win. That changes what you actually prep for: not more ammo, but power, comms, your own body, and gear that won't quit on you halfway through. Here's how I get ready.
The short version: Same three-box system as Part 1, set up for a long day - one grown pack of my usual gels (mostly semi-auto, so it's objectives over volume), every battery charged, my main comms and navigation sorted and tested before I leave, a carb-loaded breakfast, and 6 to 8 litres of water. And because anything can fail over a full day, the things I genuinely can't do without ride on my body - not in a box back at the safe zone.
Same system, longer day
The foundation is exactly what I laid out in Part 1 - three labelled hard cases that hold my safety gear, sidearm, comms, tools and first aid, permanently packed so I'm topping up rather than packing from scratch. For a milsim those boxes come as they are. I'm not rebuilding anything.
What changes is what the day tests. A 3-hour game is over before much can go wrong. A full day goes after four things instead: your power, your comms, your body, and whether any of your gear quietly fails when you're nowhere near the safe zone. So that's what I prep for - not a bigger ammo load.
Gels and power: it's not about volume
This is where people assume a milsim means hauling a massive ammo load. Not for me. I still grow a single pack of gels - the same as any game - because I shoot mostly semi-auto and I'm not there to rack up a frag count. I'm there to take the objective and win the day. One sorted pack of my usual SummerCat gels, grown and sorted the night before exactly like Part 1, covers the whole thing.
Power is the one I won't gamble on. Every battery goes on charge - all of them - because there's no charger plan at the field, and a dead battery mid-objective isn't a quick fix, it's your day done. I also keep a charged spare on my body, not in a box. More on why that matters further down.
Comms and navigation: sorted before I leave
Comms is primary kit on a milsim - a team that can't talk loses objectives no amount of accuracy wins back. My main setup is a Baofeng UV-17 Pro GPS with the PTT mounted on my plate carrier, running into a helmet-mounted EARMOR M32 headset - so I can hear the field and talk without taking a hand off the blaster. My old two-radio setup, two Baofengs and a one-ear headset, comes along as the backup - because comms is exactly the kind of thing you want a fallback for.
Either way it's all done the night before: channels programmed, everything charged, a radio check before I leave the house, then the net and my callsign confirmed with the team before kickoff.
Navigation gets the same treatment. I run a Garmin Fenix 8 with every waypoint - bases, objectives and fixed structures - pre-programmed before the day. When I'm crawling through dense bushland toward an enemy base, that's the difference between moving with intent and just wandering. Set it the night before and it does its job exactly when you need it.
Endurance: fuel, water and not fading at hour four
This is the half people underrate, and it's the half that decides whether you're still effective in the afternoon. It starts the night before: I carb-load with a big feed of pasta or rice, because the fuel for a long day goes in well before the day does.
Milsim morning I'm up at 4:45 - shower, coffee, then a proper breakfast: 150g of oats, 70g of protein powder, 30g of walnuts and 400ml of full-cream milk. That keeps me full for hours and loads the carbs I'll burn through the morning. The bloke running on a servo pie and an energy drink is always the one fading on the afternoon push - and the afternoon push is usually the half that decides it.
Water I take seriously. Between 6 and 8 litres depending on the season - at least 6 in winter, at least 8 in a hot Queensland summer. Three litres of that rides on me in a bladder at all times, in a MOLLE pack on the back of my plate carrier. Is it heavier? Yes. Does it leave the back of my carrier a bit more exposed? Also yes - so I watch my six that much harder. But it's worth it, and the same pack carries wipes too, because nothing's worse than needing the toilet while you're crawling through bushland a long way from the nearest proper one.
Reliability: nothing can fail mid-op
On a short game a fault is a frustrating afternoon. On a milsim it can sideline you for the back half of the day while everyone else plays on. So reliability gets prepped, not hoped for:
- Service when due, before the event. If either MK18 is anywhere near its service window, both go to CyberTrigger beforehand - never the week after. A trusted tech ahead of time beats a gearbox letting go at lunch.
- Bring the identical spare. I run two identical MK18s, so the spare takes the same mags and the same batteries. If the main goes down, the swap is seamless and I don't miss the next objective. I test-fire it too, not just the main.
- The white-box tool kit earns its keep over a long day - the field fix for a rattle or a loose optic is the difference between playing on and packing up.
🟣 The Rule I Brought to Milsim From Technical Diving
This is the part of the post most people screenshot and share.
I used to do a lot of technical diving - trimix, the deep stuff. There's one rule down there that never leaves you: if you have a problem underwater, you solve it underwater. You can't bolt for the surface to fix it - with trimix and decompression, shooting up doesn't save you, it kills you. So you stay down, stay calm, and solve it where you are. The only way that works is redundancy - a backup for anything that, if it fails, ends the dive or worse.
A milsim is the same logic in the bush. You can't pause the day and drive home for the thing that just died. So the kit I genuinely can't do without doesn't live in a box at the safe zone - it rides on my body. A charged spare battery is the obvious one. I'm not really worried a battery will go flat - I manage that. I'm worried about the one that just dies for no reason, at the worst possible moment. Redundancy turns that into a five-second swap instead of the end of my game.
The practical upshot: for every piece of kit, ask one question - "if this fails mid-op, is my day over?" If the answer's yes, carry a backup, and carry it on you, not somewhere you'd have to retreat to reach. Solve the problem where you are.
If you take one thing from this
- It's not an ammo run - one sorted pack of gels does a semi-auto, objective-focused day. Don't over-pack the thing that isn't the point.
- Comms and nav are primary kit - main and backup comms, plus your waypoints, all programmed, charged and checked the night before.
- Fuel and water like it matters - carb-load the night before, eat a real breakfast, and carry 6 to 8 litres on the day with 3 on your back.
- Build in redundancy - carry a backup for anything that would end your day, and carry it on you. Solve the problem where you are.
- The boxes still do the remembering - a milsim is the same system, just prepped for what a long day actually tests.
Want your kit this sorted?
The 3D-printed bits that hold my system together - the custom parts boxes and equipment tags - are gear I make and sell through RedSpear, built to keep gel blaster kit organised, labelled and ready to grab. Pair them with a consistent gel like SummerCat and the night-before routine almost runs itself.
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That's the milsim version - the same system from the 3-hour game, prepped for the long day. Haven't read the short version? Start with Part 1. New to the bigger games? Our QLD milsim guide and the milsim loadout checklist will get you to the start line.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is prepping for a milsim different from a normal gel blaster game?
It's the same labelled-box system, scaled for a longer day - but it isn't about more ammo. I still grow a single pack of gels, because I play mostly semi-auto and it's about taking objectives, not frag count. What you prep harder is power, comms and navigation, your own fuel and hydration, and redundancy - so that nothing failing mid-game ever ends your day.
How much water should I bring to a full-day gel blaster milsim?
Between 6 and 8 litres depending on the season - at least 6 in winter and at least 8 in a hot Queensland summer. I keep 3 litres on me in a hydration bladder at all times, in a MOLLE pack on the back of my plate carrier. Just as important is fuel: carb-load the night before with pasta or rice, and eat a real breakfast, so you're not fading by the afternoon.
How should I set up comms for a gel blaster milsim?
Sort it the night before, not in the safe zone. My main setup is a Baofeng UV-17 Pro GPS with a plate-carrier PTT into a helmet-mounted EARMOR M32 headset, with two Baofengs and a one-ear headset as backup. Program the channels, charge everything, do a radio check before you leave, and confirm the net and your callsign with your team. I also pre-program navigation waypoints on a Garmin Fenix 8.
How do I make sure my gear doesn't fail during a milsim?
Service it before the event rather than after, and build in redundancy. Bring an identical spare blaster that shares your mags and batteries, and carry a backup for anything that would end your day - like a spare battery - on your body, not in a box at the safe zone. The rule I borrowed from technical diving: if it fails mid-op, you solve it where you are, so the backup has to be on you.
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