Airsoft Equipment: What you need to start playing
If one thing can be said about airsofting, at times it isn't cheap. The initial investment on a rifle battery and a couple high caps isn't cheap depending on were you buy your kit or what you are buying. Its probably best to come out and rent a gun first before making the initial investment, as then you can decide wether airsofting is for you and also get to meet and see what other players are using and possibly test out some different rifles. CIA Johnny handles all Vancouver Island Airsoft gun rentals.
Goggles
The first thing your going to need, is proper face protection. I reccomend JT goggles, they can be picked up fairly cheap and replacement lens are easy to find. Bastion Paintball just off of Bowen Rd has plenty of sets for sale. How-ever I do reccomend making sure your len's are "thermal" lens. This way they should be slightly more resistant to fogging during wet weather and winter skirmishing. I also reccomend changing len's once a year, as they do take a fair bit of punishment over time. In lieu of this, if you are a renting a gun you can rent a set of goggles from Midway, or you may get lucky as a few of us bring extra sets.
CIA Rick with paintball goggles and a Russian ghillie suit.
Camoflauge
There is a few places you can aquire your basic bog standard "Western" camoflauge, Spy vs Spy on Commercial Street in Nanaimo does carry the odd set of woodland pattern or OD kit. Also A+ surplus (if thats what it's still called) in Coombs (under the bong shop...) offers a bit more of a selection, how-ever tactical equipment there is fairly non-existant. Daves Army Surplus does have more in stock then anything on the island and lots of new military gear (although pricey). For those seeking more rare patterns, check out Red Soldier or Flecktarn.co.uk as its easy to spot certain patterns in the field, so dont try to look like everyone else! Check our new OpFor gear section for pictures and information on what we are currently using!
AEG's
At the moment we are limited to a few places to find airsoft guns in Canada. If you are looking for a new AEG your best bet would be 007 airsoft as Ken seems to be the only one importing at the moment. This will likely change in the future though as the money for importers is just too hard to resist. There is also Shootsoft that deals in Chinese and knock off airsoft guns. 
If you cannot find what you are looking for there, you may want to try our CIA Buy and Sell section. If that fails you can try AirSoftCanada but you have to be age verified that you are over 18 years old to own one. CIA Rick does all of our Vancouver Island Age Verification and you can reach him on our forums. Also while finding a gun, you should make sure you get yourself a quality battery charger and discharger, also make sure not to cheap out on your batteries as thats whats going to keep you playing!
BB's
CIA Johnny loves his bb's and has been buying them wholesale to re-sell to us at game days. $20 per bag of .20's (3000 rounds IIRC) and $20 per bag of .25's (2,500 IIRC). With that much ammo, it usually takes 2-3 months for me to use it
So whats the difference between .20's and .25's? Well obviously with .20's they fly faster, how-ever at a distance .25's will fly straight and stable. It is basically a trade off between stability and FPS, I use .25's. For a more technical read in bb weight, check out Airsoft Retreat's articles on BB weights.