IWA 2018. Or officially, IWA OutdoorClassics 2018, the European (possibly global) king of firearms and equipment trade-shows. What an event. People say the US is the land of opportunity, however we would like correct them by introducing them to Nuremburg in Germany.

As per the official site, www.iwa.info,the event describes itself as:

"The national product show for the retail gun trade and gunsmiths opened its doors in Nuremberg for the first time in 1974 with just under 100 exhibitors. The international name IWA OutdoorClassics is due to the rapidly increased importance beyond the borders of Germany and the multi-theme range of products, which covers the spectrum between traditional craftsmanship and innovative ideas for outdoor equipment, functional clothing, hunting sports and shooting sports." In hindsight, we would totally agree with this summary.

After a late arrival on the Friday, we checked ourselves in and rushed over to the Messe (Exhibtion Hall) directly from the airport to meet our hosts for the event, Modify Tech, in Hall 7A just before closing time. This was no easy feat as we had to pass oodles of big name stalls and rows and rows of eye candy on our way there. But we would have time to come back to these later!

Arriving at the stall, we greeted Jane, our host and made further face to face introductions with the rest of the Modify team. Not to waste time, we even scooped up a quick interview with Airsoft Daddies to help demonstrate Modify's new prototype MOD 93 gas shotgun! You can check out the interview below!

After a quick wrap up and planning session for the next day, I left Jane and the others and made way to check in to my AirBNB for the night. Note to future self: Book somewhere central. My AirBNB, a single bed in a spare room did the job and the host was great but it was located on the outskirts of the city center and trains ran infrequently! From our AirBNB, we headed back in to the town center to meet up with the members of the airsoft community for a quick social with some friendly faces. The place to be: Finnigans Harp.

Rolling on to our "official" first day, Saturday, we got to the exhibition early and met Matt Furey King on the way in. Matt is a big name in the fight for Airsoft legalization and defense in the EU and now in Australia, so it was great to have a chat with him on the train there.

We checked in with Modify again first thing, and after spending a couple of hours with them, helping to further promote their exhibition products we took a chance to go out and explore what the rest of the exhibition had to offer. As we strolled through hall to hall, tit was clear to see just how incredibly strong a presence from the Airsoft Industry there was, with all the big home brands and manufacturers in attendance such as KWA, UMAREX, ICS, ASG, King Arm, G&G and more, with smaller yet well loved stalls still representing the market. We had the pleasure of meeting community figureheads like Airsoftology, Femme Fatale Airsoft and Kicking Mustang throughout the day.

We discovered some very exciting news and details especially relevant to the MK23 community, with a new officially licensed GBB MK23 due to be released from VFC Airsoft, although specifics on the final product very fairly limited, the guess here is that we can expect improvements over the previous GBB offerings from KWA and KSC. From Silverback Airsoft, we are expecting a release later next month for their MK23 specific version of the DTSS suppressor, which claims to share the same materials and suppression qualities of its SRS applicable big brother. We are hoping for the suppressor to have the means to swap between the SRS and the MK23 by changing out the thread cap for dual kit possibilities! Watch this space for more details on that and more news on additional Silverback MK23 releases (rumor has it that they will not stop at the suppressor!).

We discovered some very exciting news and details especially relevant to the MK23 community, with a new officially licensed GBB MK23 due to be released from VFC Airsoft, although specifics on the final product very fairly limited, the guess here is that we can expect improvements over the previous GBB offerings from KWA and KSC. From Silverback Airsoft, we are expecting a release later next month for their MK23 specific version of the DTSS suppressor, which claims to share the same materials and suppression qualities of its SRS applicable big brother. We are hoping for the suppressor to have the means to swap between the SRS and the MK23 by changing out the thread cap for dual kit possibilities! Watch this space for more details on that and more news on additional Silverback MK23 releases (rumor has it that they will not stop at the suppressor!).

On the Saturday evening, the Modify team invited us to join them for a dinner at an authentic Wursthaus (sausage house), a restaurant that prides it self on traditional Bavarian dress and cuisine. The food and drink did not disappoint, nor did the company. Following our meal with Modify, we headed back over to Finnigan's Harp to meet up with the rest of the core Airsoft community to catch some of the premier Mealsim event. This was a perfect opportunity to spend some time with the folks from Skirmshop, Popular Airsoft, Airsoft Obsessed, Redwolf and many of the other faces we met throughout the day (Including the one and only Polenar Tactical!). This sort of networking was a crucial part of the event, naturally.

Lastly, after a bit of a rough start to Sunday, we spent the day catching up on missed sections of the exhibition and spending more quality time with the Modify team. The highlight of the day clearly being when Brad got his hands on the real steel 23 for the first time. This is was a moment which could only be described as a "life goals" accomplishment. I think we spent way longer than we should have with this thing, just to soak it all in and build up a mental comparison for our own replicas.

Sunday wrapped up with a farewell meal with the Modify team, going over the feedback we had received on their product line and discussing future plans,including an upcoming project for the MK23 (which we'll hear about in the near future). Having gotten to know the Modify Tech team well over the 3 days, it really gave more depth in to their products and the enthusiasm and passion behind their development - something which is hard to portray over internet conversations.

On Monday morning, we took the chance to look around Nuremburg itself, appreciating it as a tourist to the city for the first time (and in daylight). The view from the top of the Imperial Castle is worth seeing! After our tour, we headed back to the airport and made our way home, with plenty of hours to consider the events of the last 3 days!

On a final note, we would like to thank Modify for providing us with the opportunity to attend IWA 2018. Without their kind invitation to the event, it's unlikely that we would have attended this year as a fledgling blog. They were truly excellent hosts with a seriously competitive and promising lineup this year.

Thanks to everyone for making the experience what it was!

See you (hopefully) in 2019!