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Maybe off-topic and patronizing .. sorry about that. "Running around in the woods, firing small plastic pellets at other people, in pursuit of a contrived-to-b

Maybe off-topic and patronizing .. sorry about that. "Running around in the woods, firing small plastic pellets at other people, in pursuit of a contrived-to-be-fun mission, turns out to be, well, fun." I was wondering if there are no biodegradable bullets for Airsoft and found out that they exist. Maybe a better solution than plastic in the woods.

piqufoh 1y ago
Not patronising, this was exactly my first (and off-topic) thought as well. We have lived in our house for +15 years and we still regularly find small fluorescent yellow ball bearings in the garden soil from the previous owners family. These things are here to stay
noeltock 1y ago
Most of them usually are.
lm28469 1y ago
They make PLA ones, advertised as biodegradable, but AFAIK the settings for them to biodegrade never happen in nature, it's ever so slightly better than the alternatives but far from perfect, or even good. https://www.filamentive.com/the-truth-about-the-biodegradability-of-pla-filament/ https://www.filamentive.com/the-truth-about-the-biodegradabi... > PLA is only biodegradable under industrial composting conditions and anaerobic digestion – there is no evidence of PLA being biodegradable in soil, home compost or landfill environment.
- Gigachad 1y ago
  PLA is also commonly mixed with mystery additives which likely aren’t biodegradable at all.
- ofrzeta 1y ago
  Yeah, that's a bit of a sham. I was thinking like compressed paper or something.
- mcv 1y ago
  I read up on PLA when I got my 3D printer because it's popular material for that. From what I understand, it's biodegradable above 50° C. Not something you'll find outside Death Valley. Still better than most other options, but it would be nice if we had something that was stable for weeks and then degrades nicely.
  - latexr 1y ago
    > From what I understand, it's biodegradable above 50° C. Not something you'll find outside Death Valley. We’re not that far off in Europe. Give it a couple of years more and climate change will make sure we get there. https://jakubmarian.com/highest-recorded-temperature-by-country-in-europe/ https://jakubmarian.com/highest-recorded-temperature-by-coun...
    - inavida 1y ago
      [dead]
  - lm28469 1y ago
    Not all PLA are created equal though. Raw PLA pellets won't behave the same way a 3d printer filament choke full of dyes, additives to make them more UV resistance, &c. There are plenty of posts of people putting 3d prints in compost piles, for months or years, and visually not much happens. Even stuff advertiser as bio don't fare that well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tavrkWrazWI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tavrkWrazWI
    - hedora 1y ago
      If you dig up a sufficiently old landfill you’ll find pristine newspapers. The idea that you can coat much more resilient stuff in PFAS and label it “biodegradable” is at least as big a scam as California’s $0.10 “reusable” bags, or mixed stream recycling. I’m for taking each use of plastic, by global volume, and then banning them, in order. We should probably start with fishing nets. Alternatively, the industry should need to produce 200% as much post-consumer recycled plastic made from the same grade as they’re manufacturing. This would act as a tax, strongly encouraging investment in more sustainable materials. Maybe drop that to 150% if the plastic in the product is 100% recycled.
chamomeal 1y ago
I haven’t played with airsoft since I was a kid, but I remember the biodegradable ones back then had issues. They would fall apart when you shot em, sometimes deteriorate inside the gun and muck it up. I’m sure they’re better now, but I have no idea!
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
LtdJorge 1y ago
Most of the brands use PLA. Most of the fields (all the ones I’ve been too) require the use of biodegradable (PLA). PLA is plastic. Edit: forgot to say. In every field I’ve been too, there’s millions of leftover BBs, and I’ve never seen one with signs of degradation.

piqufoh 1y ago

Not patronising, this was exactly my first (and off-topic) thought as well. We have lived in our house for +15 years and we still regularly find small fluorescent yellow ball bearings in the garden soil from the previous owners family. These things are here to stay

noeltock 1y ago

Most of them usually are.

lm28469 1y ago

They make PLA ones, advertised as biodegradable, but AFAIK the settings for them to biodegrade never happen in nature, it's ever so slightly better than the alternatives but far from perfect, or even good. https://www.filamentive.com/the-truth-about-the-biodegradability-of-pla-filament/ https://www.filamentive.com/the-truth-about-the-biodegradabi... > PLA is only biodegradable under industrial composting conditions and anaerobic digestion – there is no evidence of PLA being biodegradable in soil, home compost or landfill environment.

Gigachad 1y ago
PLA is also commonly mixed with mystery additives which likely aren’t biodegradable at all.
ofrzeta 1y ago
Yeah, that's a bit of a sham. I was thinking like compressed paper or something.
mcv 1y ago
I read up on PLA when I got my 3D printer because it's popular material for that. From what I understand, it's biodegradable above 50° C. Not something you'll find outside Death Valley. Still better than most other options, but it would be nice if we had something that was stable for weeks and then degrades nicely.
- latexr 1y ago
  > From what I understand, it's biodegradable above 50° C. Not something you'll find outside Death Valley. We’re not that far off in Europe. Give it a couple of years more and climate change will make sure we get there. https://jakubmarian.com/highest-recorded-temperature-by-country-in-europe/ https://jakubmarian.com/highest-recorded-temperature-by-coun...
  - inavida 1y ago
    [dead]
- lm28469 1y ago
  Not all PLA are created equal though. Raw PLA pellets won't behave the same way a 3d printer filament choke full of dyes, additives to make them more UV resistance, &c. There are plenty of posts of people putting 3d prints in compost piles, for months or years, and visually not much happens. Even stuff advertiser as bio don't fare that well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tavrkWrazWI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tavrkWrazWI
  - hedora 1y ago
    If you dig up a sufficiently old landfill you’ll find pristine newspapers. The idea that you can coat much more resilient stuff in PFAS and label it “biodegradable” is at least as big a scam as California’s $0.10 “reusable” bags, or mixed stream recycling. I’m for taking each use of plastic, by global volume, and then banning them, in order. We should probably start with fishing nets. Alternatively, the industry should need to produce 200% as much post-consumer recycled plastic made from the same grade as they’re manufacturing. This would act as a tax, strongly encouraging investment in more sustainable materials. Maybe drop that to 150% if the plastic in the product is 100% recycled.

chamomeal 1y ago

I haven’t played with airsoft since I was a kid, but I remember the biodegradable ones back then had issues. They would fall apart when you shot em, sometimes deteriorate inside the gun and muck it up. I’m sure they’re better now, but I have no idea!

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

LtdJorge 1y ago

Most of the brands use PLA. Most of the fields (all the ones I’ve been too) require the use of biodegradable (PLA). PLA is plastic. Edit: forgot to say. In every field I’ve been too, there’s millions of leftover BBs, and I’ve never seen one with signs of degradation.