As of 8-20-16 I played Both airsoft and nerf. And I can now safely say that Airsoft is far more tame.
Months ago when I mentioned nerf to an airsoft player, they simply said “You’re just afraid of pain” Now that I have played airsoft, NO. Airsoft hurts less than nerf. Like in my other post, nerf rules are very relax. And as such the amount of brutality in it is ridiculous. With your hand, you can push away enemy guns in close quarters, then nail them a dart. Foam shields are permitted to shield bash. You can make full swings of foam swords, and swings to the head happen. Nerf darts with mods can travel up to 270 fps with standard munitions which means there is 3.39 joules of kinetic energy. And this is legal at point blank range.
Where I went one Saturday. It is a real popular place used for several movie productions too. You may have seen this place in RocketJump.com's VGHS.
Airsoft close quarters are generally reduced to people shouting “Bang Bang.” Shields are required to open up their guard to fire their gun, and the gun has to be a pistol. Airsoft knifes or swords are only permitted to be tapped with. And only in the shoulder. The standard ammo velocity is at 400 fps and 1.49 joules. And you are not supposed to shoot someone if they are within 10 feet.
A Table that shows what is considered a "Safe" amount of kinetic energy. Nerf rounds can get very high in this chart.
Airsoft is very tame. If you want, to teach your kids gun safety, Airsoft in best. But If you want your kids to understand the march of technology and how it affects war, play nerf.
Nerf can hit 2.28 times harder than airsoft.Paintball at 10.38 joules