I've been pondering lately what's likely to be the next big trend or trends in the industry. I thought I might see them at SHOT in about ten days, but then I saw the schedule for working the booth, and I'm not sure there'll be much opportunity to see any significant amount of the show. Must be nice to work for a big ol' company that spends a million dollars on SHOT and the reps don't have to spend all their time in the booth. Some of 'em, I kinda wonder if they brought their reps to the show. The marketing department folks who try very hard but can't answer any product questions seem to make up most of the booth people.
But I egress, or something. This year's trends will probably continue. The economy is growing by a tiny percentage, unemployment is still way high, and prices are up. That'll probably mean there will be very little truly new this year. Companies just aren't gonna sink a bunch of development money in uncertain times.
We'll see more AR's. That wouldn't be a bad thing if there were more duty-quality AR's, but there aren't; commercial junk still rules the overall market. We'll also see the "carry" market expanding. I'm of two minds on that point. On the one hand, I'd prefer that law abiding citizens carry than not, and little guns make that happen since so few people will change anything about their lives to accommodate the carriage of a gun that's easier to fight with. Those that know me know that I despise the trend in pocket guns. Can't manipulate 'em, their sights are practically nonexistent and they have crappy capacity. Unfortunately, this trend is alive and well and will continue with more crappy guns that are seven round straight blowback .380's and clunky, small-yet-ungainly 9mm's. They're a money maker, so they'll keep being made. Note that SnW is making their version of that ultimate bad idea The Judge, calling it the Governor or something. Yeah, those damn things are here to stay, too.
What'll we see in tactical gear? The trend toward lightweight continues. Lite Lok fabric will make some inroads, but until the price comes down, 500D will still be the standard. We're gonna do some stuff with it, but a RAID II in Lite Lok is gonna be quite a bit more expensive. With budgets shrinking, there's gonna be a cap on how much this stuff gets used; don't expect to see big dollar items like armor carriers being sold in really big numbers. Even the SOF side of the house is going to see significant reductions in what they can spend. Why pay a premium if there's a similar, nearly-as-good solution?
The next big change will be whatever the Army decides to do with their next pattern. What should happen and what will happen will probably be different. I gotta admit to being surprised that Multicam was chosen as the Afghanistan pattern. But since ACU-Delta wasn't chosen there doesn't mean it's dead. It's what makes the most sense: the pattern isn't the problem with ACU, it's the coloration. All they have to do is take the pattern that they already own and change the colors. That may not be what happens, though. Regardless of what they choose, there's gonna be a lot of ACU gear and clothing that nobody will buy unless it's at sub-giveaway prices (and not even then) once the new pattern comes out. Police departments will use it because they'll get it free through the DRMO system. They won't pay anything for the gear in ACU because cops are notoriously cheap. It figures; they don't make a lot of money.
So, I guess the summation of all this is that the trends for this year will just be the trends of last year. Stand pat and see what happens will be the rule of the day. Kind of a bummer, really.
Showing posts with label SHOT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SHOT. Show all posts
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Back from SHOT '10. Mostly alive and mostly well
Wow, what a week! I left for SHOT in Vegas on Monday afternoon, arriving around 8, and left yesterday around three. I spent a whole lot of the intervening hours awake when I probably should have been asleep. I didn't get sick, which is a huge plus.
I don't want this post to end up being a book in length, so I'll just make some notes and comments, and do some more of my not-at-all-famous stream of unconsciousness style of writing. That may prove to be more interesting in the end. I won't go a whole lot into the social gatherings because I don't think more than two of my three readers will care.
The good comes first, I think, because it's more gooder. Our lodgings were pretty sweet. We got hooked up with a suite at The Wyndham Grand Desert resort. One of the moderators at LF has a family member that has a time share there, so we had it for the week. I got the master bedroom, which meant I had a giant king sized bed, my own TV, my own bathroom and a jacuzzi tub. I never did get to use the tub, which was a bummer. I meant to do that on Friday night, but we ended up staying out outrageously late and not getting much sleep before leaving. There were a few other guys staying in the suite, but I definitely got the best room. I should have taken photos. Matter of fact, I didn't take any photos at all. That may or may not have proven to be a good thing. lol!
First and foremost, I met a LOT of LF forum members this year, both old timers and new guys. The scheduled parties were cool, and fun. The amount of people that were asking where I was kind of blew me away; I didn't think there were that many that cared. Just goes to show that military people and some of the people in the Military Industrial Complex are good folks.
Bill's at The Flamingo is a pretty good steak house. 22 ounces of prime rib is kind of a lot, and the baked potatoes are ginormous, too. I managed to finish it all, and some of the bread, too. All that because Ellis Island failed us and was not doing barbecue due to the weather. Pansies.
For being in such a serious business, the guys at American Snipers are a seriously funny bunch of guys. I spent some time with them at Kifaru's party in their suite, pretty much laughing my ass off the whole time. Send them some money, they're worth the investment.
Best piece of gear I saw in the whole show was, by a wide margin, the panda balaclava-with ears-that was for display only and not for sale. The not for sale part was pretty sad. Sad panda.
Ben Simonson of Boresight Solutions does the best work on polymer guns I've seen. Ever. His attention to detail is truly amazing, and he does quite a few things that nobody else does. He's not cheap, but for the quality of work he does, his work ethic, and overall coolness make up the difference. For what you get, his prices are excessively reasonable. Send him at least one gun, and several more would be better. His work kicks major ass.
The LaRue OSR Light was cool. I could definitely use one.
Blue Force Gear had their new DAP stuff in force, as well as the Basicload Chest Harness. They're doing some very innovative stuff, and since it's BFG, they're making it with attention to detail and quality.
Safariland introduced a new belt and a new line of their MLS-type stuff, in miniature for ammo pouches and the like. 'Course, I knew about that a few weeks ago.
Supply Captain has new technology for their IR flags. The new finish is as much a step forward from their previous versions were to what was on the market at the time to their previous ones will be to the new stuff. It's pretty amazing; I'm still geeked about it.
Beyond that, there wasn't a whole lot that I hadn't already seen-some of our reps are really damn good-or didn't know was coming. Good show, but there was no product that really blew me away as the "Gotta Have It" (GHI) product of the show.
Here's the less gooder stuff. The venue was a PITA. Being on three separate floors and in hallways and halls wasn't the problem, its that the grouping of stuff was retarded. There was Tactical and Law Enforcement stuff on all three floors, and not all together. I ended up on the second floor "general firearms" area to find the Remington Military booth to check out that as-yet vaporware ACR and their new sniper stock, and figured if I hung two rights I'd be doing a "u"ie out of the booth, and would be headed back to the stuff I care about. About five yards out of their booth, though, I'm surrounded by a triple canopy of Realtree. Look to the right: cheap Chinese hats! To the left, deer piss and fish lures! I would have panicked if I was prepared for that. Eventually I made my way back to the Surefire booth, but it was touch and go for a while there.
There were booths in an underground parking lot. Seriously? A parking lot? That's lame, Reed Exhibitions. Several of those vendors were PISSED at their locations.
I could deal with it if I knew where things were. The floor numbers weren't running consecutively. Matt and I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out where the Chris Reeve Knives booth was, and we knew we were in the area. It was worth the time, though, as they make a fantastic product and have wonderful people there. Anne Reeve remembered my home boy Jeromy a year after meeting him once at the show. She remembered me, too, and has no real reason to do so. She's a great American and Chris has done very well with his selection of his wife.
Vegas has gotten expensive! It used to be cheap to eat and drink there. Not this time! Ten bucks for a croissant breakfast sammich and a bottle of water? Nein, danke.
Overall, it was worth going, and my employer is going to benefit from us having attended. We made some new contacts, renewed some older ones, and in general had a very productive trip.
It was a lot of fun, too.
I don't want this post to end up being a book in length, so I'll just make some notes and comments, and do some more of my not-at-all-famous stream of unconsciousness style of writing. That may prove to be more interesting in the end. I won't go a whole lot into the social gatherings because I don't think more than two of my three readers will care.
The good comes first, I think, because it's more gooder. Our lodgings were pretty sweet. We got hooked up with a suite at The Wyndham Grand Desert resort. One of the moderators at LF has a family member that has a time share there, so we had it for the week. I got the master bedroom, which meant I had a giant king sized bed, my own TV, my own bathroom and a jacuzzi tub. I never did get to use the tub, which was a bummer. I meant to do that on Friday night, but we ended up staying out outrageously late and not getting much sleep before leaving. There were a few other guys staying in the suite, but I definitely got the best room. I should have taken photos. Matter of fact, I didn't take any photos at all. That may or may not have proven to be a good thing. lol!
First and foremost, I met a LOT of LF forum members this year, both old timers and new guys. The scheduled parties were cool, and fun. The amount of people that were asking where I was kind of blew me away; I didn't think there were that many that cared. Just goes to show that military people and some of the people in the Military Industrial Complex are good folks.
Bill's at The Flamingo is a pretty good steak house. 22 ounces of prime rib is kind of a lot, and the baked potatoes are ginormous, too. I managed to finish it all, and some of the bread, too. All that because Ellis Island failed us and was not doing barbecue due to the weather. Pansies.
For being in such a serious business, the guys at American Snipers are a seriously funny bunch of guys. I spent some time with them at Kifaru's party in their suite, pretty much laughing my ass off the whole time. Send them some money, they're worth the investment.
Best piece of gear I saw in the whole show was, by a wide margin, the panda balaclava-with ears-that was for display only and not for sale. The not for sale part was pretty sad. Sad panda.
Ben Simonson of Boresight Solutions does the best work on polymer guns I've seen. Ever. His attention to detail is truly amazing, and he does quite a few things that nobody else does. He's not cheap, but for the quality of work he does, his work ethic, and overall coolness make up the difference. For what you get, his prices are excessively reasonable. Send him at least one gun, and several more would be better. His work kicks major ass.
The LaRue OSR Light was cool. I could definitely use one.
Blue Force Gear had their new DAP stuff in force, as well as the Basicload Chest Harness. They're doing some very innovative stuff, and since it's BFG, they're making it with attention to detail and quality.
Safariland introduced a new belt and a new line of their MLS-type stuff, in miniature for ammo pouches and the like. 'Course, I knew about that a few weeks ago.
Supply Captain has new technology for their IR flags. The new finish is as much a step forward from their previous versions were to what was on the market at the time to their previous ones will be to the new stuff. It's pretty amazing; I'm still geeked about it.
Beyond that, there wasn't a whole lot that I hadn't already seen-some of our reps are really damn good-or didn't know was coming. Good show, but there was no product that really blew me away as the "Gotta Have It" (GHI) product of the show.
Here's the less gooder stuff. The venue was a PITA. Being on three separate floors and in hallways and halls wasn't the problem, its that the grouping of stuff was retarded. There was Tactical and Law Enforcement stuff on all three floors, and not all together. I ended up on the second floor "general firearms" area to find the Remington Military booth to check out that as-yet vaporware ACR and their new sniper stock, and figured if I hung two rights I'd be doing a "u"ie out of the booth, and would be headed back to the stuff I care about. About five yards out of their booth, though, I'm surrounded by a triple canopy of Realtree. Look to the right: cheap Chinese hats! To the left, deer piss and fish lures! I would have panicked if I was prepared for that. Eventually I made my way back to the Surefire booth, but it was touch and go for a while there.
There were booths in an underground parking lot. Seriously? A parking lot? That's lame, Reed Exhibitions. Several of those vendors were PISSED at their locations.
I could deal with it if I knew where things were. The floor numbers weren't running consecutively. Matt and I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out where the Chris Reeve Knives booth was, and we knew we were in the area. It was worth the time, though, as they make a fantastic product and have wonderful people there. Anne Reeve remembered my home boy Jeromy a year after meeting him once at the show. She remembered me, too, and has no real reason to do so. She's a great American and Chris has done very well with his selection of his wife.
Vegas has gotten expensive! It used to be cheap to eat and drink there. Not this time! Ten bucks for a croissant breakfast sammich and a bottle of water? Nein, danke.
Overall, it was worth going, and my employer is going to benefit from us having attended. We made some new contacts, renewed some older ones, and in general had a very productive trip.
It was a lot of fun, too.
Monday, January 04, 2010
TWO WEEKS! Its killin' me.
Two weeks from today, I'll be in Las Vegas, meeting up with fellow Lightfighters at The Freakin' Frog, for five days of sore feet, good food and meeting old friends for the first time. Incidentally, all of those evenings have already been planned out, and I've been told that a birthday celebration for me has been planned as well. For that, I think I should be at least mildly afraid.
This is ostensibly a business trip, since it's an industry trade show that I'm going to. SHOT show is the first big trade show of the year, and it draws a lot of My People. It draws a lot of yahoos and idiots, too, but those people aren't mine. They're probably some other low rent cheesy forum's people, or troglodytes that aren't online at all. See the beauty of that? They can't get offended at being called trogs because they're not online to see this. HA!
The reality of SHOT is that, while it's for business, its for fun, too. I'm going to see what's coming and what's gonna get ordered, but the SHOT specials are always extended, so we don't have to write orders at the show like crazy. That eases the pressure some, and just makes the time more enjoyable. If I miss something, oh, well. Our rep will be contacting us about it soon enough.
The real beauty of SHOT, other than the guns, accessories I care about,the deer piss and fish lures enough to fill a lake that I don't, is hanging out with Lightfighters. I'll be meeting people I've known online since 2002 in some cases, and feel like I already know, for the first time. I'll be seeing friends again that I haven't seen since last year's SHOT. I really can't wait.
This is ostensibly a business trip, since it's an industry trade show that I'm going to. SHOT show is the first big trade show of the year, and it draws a lot of My People. It draws a lot of yahoos and idiots, too, but those people aren't mine. They're probably some other low rent cheesy forum's people, or troglodytes that aren't online at all. See the beauty of that? They can't get offended at being called trogs because they're not online to see this. HA!
The reality of SHOT is that, while it's for business, its for fun, too. I'm going to see what's coming and what's gonna get ordered, but the SHOT specials are always extended, so we don't have to write orders at the show like crazy. That eases the pressure some, and just makes the time more enjoyable. If I miss something, oh, well. Our rep will be contacting us about it soon enough.
The real beauty of SHOT, other than the guns, accessories I care about,the deer piss and fish lures enough to fill a lake that I don't, is hanging out with Lightfighters. I'll be meeting people I've known online since 2002 in some cases, and feel like I already know, for the first time. I'll be seeing friends again that I haven't seen since last year's SHOT. I really can't wait.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
I Promised DirtCrashr
My bro DZ Hitshard took these at SHOT, amongst some other great pics. Its the new DD A1.5 rear sight, that will be standard on the new Daniel Defense carbine. I think I mentioned in the previous SHOT post that ATS will be seeing the first of our sizable order towards the end of February. They're gonna sell like hot cakes...or cold cakes, if that's your preference...or whatever type of cakes means "selling really fast" to you.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Some thoughts on SHOT
As I have done many times before, I attended the SHOT show last weekend. This time it was back in Orlando, Florida, which I didn't mind. I wasn't really planning to go to SHOT, but then I looked at it from a different perspective: it was in Florida this year, in early January. Five days to get out of Kentucky's windy, cold winter to warmer climes. I decided I had to attend. Turned out to be fine timing, too, as on Wednesday as I was flying out, it was somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees. When I checked the Weather Channel on Thursday morning, it showed that Nashville was at 9 degrees. That's good timing.
I decided not to bother with taking pics this year. There are tens of thousands of shutter monkeys taking better photos than I am capable of. There's great photos of stuff I missed every year. Luckily, there are some pics of some of the shenanigans I was a part of. In the end, that was what SHOT was for me: shenanigans punctuated by a small amount of business, a large amount of playing with guns and knives, and an even larger amount of meeting people (customers, vendors, old friends, and what I call La Familia: the members of LF) and seeing some of my favorite people.
This show was about what I expected in terms of product. So many companies are cash strapped this year that they either downsized their booths or didn't attend with one. It appeared to me that TAG, for instance, only brought their new stuff to prominently display. They make great gear, and have some killer new MTV carriers. There were some cool new guns, most notably Daniel Defense's new in-house carbine. They're making just about everything with this gun, with the possible (I don't know for sure) exception of small parts like springs and detents. Its an awesome value, even moreso considering the parts that are on it. More on this rifle later when ours show up; we ordered a hundred of them. Due in end of February.
Overall, though, this show was more about the people than stuff. One of our moderators, and a friend of mine, is a Jacksonville SWAT cop who got in touch with a couple of shooters from the Austrian SOF. These two men proved that being a professional doesn't have to do with the size of a country's armed forces, it has to do with the quality of the individuals. These two were very, very professional, and were fanstastic ambassadors of their country. They were also incredibly good sports, putting up with the Americans in the bunch making "shrimp on the barby" jokes.
The Baconforce/MCLMM Representative from Scotland picked me up at the airport and then went to dinner with Jeromy and myself on Wednesday night. If all Scots are as cool as Brother Murray is, that's a country I have to visit. If they're not, I'll still go, as Murray is one of my favorite people in the world. I wish there was more time to spend together. Sometimes SHOT gets in the way of the very thing it helps to bring about.
I met some straight up shoot you in the face warriors, too. I was introduced to a number of Sergeants Major, some active, some retired, all amazing. One of the guys I met online that I met at the show works for LaRue Tactical. I met his dad through my friend Bill Harsey, who was at the Chris Reeve Knives again this year. The father is a former SOG RT guy from the Viet Nam era. The amount of information he has at his fingertips is pretty amazing. What a great man. That's to be expected, though, as all of Bill's friends seem to be pretty damn awesome people.
I'm going to have to continue this later, as I have to get ready for work now. I don't know if I'll edit this one, or start anew. I think I may continue the rambling in another post. The Meat Dot deserves a post all of it's own.
I decided not to bother with taking pics this year. There are tens of thousands of shutter monkeys taking better photos than I am capable of. There's great photos of stuff I missed every year. Luckily, there are some pics of some of the shenanigans I was a part of. In the end, that was what SHOT was for me: shenanigans punctuated by a small amount of business, a large amount of playing with guns and knives, and an even larger amount of meeting people (customers, vendors, old friends, and what I call La Familia: the members of LF) and seeing some of my favorite people.
This show was about what I expected in terms of product. So many companies are cash strapped this year that they either downsized their booths or didn't attend with one. It appeared to me that TAG, for instance, only brought their new stuff to prominently display. They make great gear, and have some killer new MTV carriers. There were some cool new guns, most notably Daniel Defense's new in-house carbine. They're making just about everything with this gun, with the possible (I don't know for sure) exception of small parts like springs and detents. Its an awesome value, even moreso considering the parts that are on it. More on this rifle later when ours show up; we ordered a hundred of them. Due in end of February.
Overall, though, this show was more about the people than stuff. One of our moderators, and a friend of mine, is a Jacksonville SWAT cop who got in touch with a couple of shooters from the Austrian SOF. These two men proved that being a professional doesn't have to do with the size of a country's armed forces, it has to do with the quality of the individuals. These two were very, very professional, and were fanstastic ambassadors of their country. They were also incredibly good sports, putting up with the Americans in the bunch making "shrimp on the barby" jokes.
The Baconforce/MCLMM Representative from Scotland picked me up at the airport and then went to dinner with Jeromy and myself on Wednesday night. If all Scots are as cool as Brother Murray is, that's a country I have to visit. If they're not, I'll still go, as Murray is one of my favorite people in the world. I wish there was more time to spend together. Sometimes SHOT gets in the way of the very thing it helps to bring about.
I met some straight up shoot you in the face warriors, too. I was introduced to a number of Sergeants Major, some active, some retired, all amazing. One of the guys I met online that I met at the show works for LaRue Tactical. I met his dad through my friend Bill Harsey, who was at the Chris Reeve Knives again this year. The father is a former SOG RT guy from the Viet Nam era. The amount of information he has at his fingertips is pretty amazing. What a great man. That's to be expected, though, as all of Bill's friends seem to be pretty damn awesome people.
I'm going to have to continue this later, as I have to get ready for work now. I don't know if I'll edit this one, or start anew. I think I may continue the rambling in another post. The Meat Dot deserves a post all of it's own.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
I wish I could afford to spend every weekend in Vegas
I'm not gonna bother running down what I saw at SHOT. Better info than I could share is all over the Intardweb already, so there's no point in rehashing it here. I can't really delve into details of what we did, either. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Here's the broad strokes, I guess.
My flight was delayed about an hour, so I got to Vegas a full hour and a half later than I was supposed to. That wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that my friend Mark was waiting to pick me up. I owe that man greatly. I stayed at his house that night with a couple other friends, and we rolled to SHOT the next morning. We stopped at one of the Station casinos for the breakfast buffet. Tons of sausage and bacon later, we rolled to the show.
The show...meh. Cool stuff, but no real break out products this year. Gemtech has a whole bunch of new suppressors, and Magpul has some cool new stuff, as you'd expect from Magpul. ATS had a booth at the show for the first time, and by all accounts did very well.
After kickin' it at the show all day, we went to our luxury condo suite at Wyndam Suites Resort. That was our base of operations for the rest of the weekend. Mark, Mike, Darren, myself, and Jeromy went to meet the rest of the Lightfighter mods at Hoffbrau House, which was excellent. Two liters of dark German beer and jaegershnitzel later, I was a happy guy. The only drawback was that it was louder than loud in there, and we were unable to really talk. Jeromy got progressively more drunk and increasingly funny. After dinner, we met up with more LF'ers at BJ's, who has Newcastle on tap. Nice! Saw some friends from Cali that I haven't seen in quite a while, which was great. Met some new folks, saw some people I'd met before, and had a great time. Got to bed late.
After SHOT on Sunday, back to the Suite for the Super Bowl and a gathering of about 20 for my birthday. Great time! After the Super Bowl and some other shenanigans, it was off to The Stratosphere for the Gemtech/LaRue party. Again, very successful operations at draining the open bar were undertaken. Great times again! After that party was closed down, it was off to the Hooters casino to continue the shenanigans. Got back late. Loved every minute of it.
Monday, we were pretty whiped out, so we went back to the suite, decided we were hungry, and headed off to the casino who's name I can't recall; I think it was the Monte Carlo. Good buffet, even though the prime rib was dry. Awesome little mousse cake things. I almost ate too much, but pulled back just at the right moment. Extreme Gear Labs paid for dinner. Go buy gear from them; Darren is a great dude and has some unique ideas on gear.
Tuesday was the last day of the show. I was fortunate enough to wander the show with Jeromy, who's a hell of a guy and a real American hero. He was blown up about a year ago, and is finally back on his feet. My man is healing nicely, and is really hoping to get back in the fight. We met a lot of people, because Jeromy is pretty well known. Spent a little more time with one of my favorite guys, Bill Harsey, and Jeromy bought a cool Sebenza from Chris Reeve. Chris liked my "Hadji Don't Surf" patch, so at Jeromy's prompting, I gave it to him. He gave me one of the very coveted CRK "think twice, cut once" shirts, this one written in Swahili. Hell of a trade, I thought.
Most of our crew left us Tuesday night, so that left Jeromy, myself, and Mike to hit Ellis Island for barbecue. After we successfully made a big mess of the table and got pork stuffed, we headed over to The Freakin' Frog, and proceeded to clean them out of 1554. We met up with Matrix (one of the few people in the world who's screen name is easier to use than his real name) his friend who's name I can't recall, author Erick Gelhaus, and the dudes from Ashley Outdoors sights. We were able to use the members only section upstairs because Matrix has been spending money there forever. We eventually closed the bar, and headed back to the Suite again.
The cab driver deserves special mention. First, he said he had been an executive at...some Strip casino, like the MGM or whatever. He cashed in and retired. He asked us what we were doing in Vegas, and we said "SHOT show". He asked if anybody was military, because he'd been an 18E and...something else. 91W or something. He said he spent 18 of his 20 years in Special Forces. Jeromy made a comment about hookers, so he said "Yeah, I can hook that up for you. I took care of Peyton Manning's friends while they were here. They called me to thank me for the great time they had", and he hands Jeromy a little catalog thing. Dude was a Son Tay Raider, weilder of corporate power, and now Vegas' premier cab driving pimp. We were chuckling at that guy for quite a while afterward.
Unfortunately I had to leave on Wednesday, but it was good to be home and sleeping in my own bed. The show...meh. The after show activities...hells yeah!!!
My flight was delayed about an hour, so I got to Vegas a full hour and a half later than I was supposed to. That wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that my friend Mark was waiting to pick me up. I owe that man greatly. I stayed at his house that night with a couple other friends, and we rolled to SHOT the next morning. We stopped at one of the Station casinos for the breakfast buffet. Tons of sausage and bacon later, we rolled to the show.
The show...meh. Cool stuff, but no real break out products this year. Gemtech has a whole bunch of new suppressors, and Magpul has some cool new stuff, as you'd expect from Magpul. ATS had a booth at the show for the first time, and by all accounts did very well.
After kickin' it at the show all day, we went to our luxury condo suite at Wyndam Suites Resort. That was our base of operations for the rest of the weekend. Mark, Mike, Darren, myself, and Jeromy went to meet the rest of the Lightfighter mods at Hoffbrau House, which was excellent. Two liters of dark German beer and jaegershnitzel later, I was a happy guy. The only drawback was that it was louder than loud in there, and we were unable to really talk. Jeromy got progressively more drunk and increasingly funny. After dinner, we met up with more LF'ers at BJ's, who has Newcastle on tap. Nice! Saw some friends from Cali that I haven't seen in quite a while, which was great. Met some new folks, saw some people I'd met before, and had a great time. Got to bed late.
After SHOT on Sunday, back to the Suite for the Super Bowl and a gathering of about 20 for my birthday. Great time! After the Super Bowl and some other shenanigans, it was off to The Stratosphere for the Gemtech/LaRue party. Again, very successful operations at draining the open bar were undertaken. Great times again! After that party was closed down, it was off to the Hooters casino to continue the shenanigans. Got back late. Loved every minute of it.
Monday, we were pretty whiped out, so we went back to the suite, decided we were hungry, and headed off to the casino who's name I can't recall; I think it was the Monte Carlo. Good buffet, even though the prime rib was dry. Awesome little mousse cake things. I almost ate too much, but pulled back just at the right moment. Extreme Gear Labs paid for dinner. Go buy gear from them; Darren is a great dude and has some unique ideas on gear.
Tuesday was the last day of the show. I was fortunate enough to wander the show with Jeromy, who's a hell of a guy and a real American hero. He was blown up about a year ago, and is finally back on his feet. My man is healing nicely, and is really hoping to get back in the fight. We met a lot of people, because Jeromy is pretty well known. Spent a little more time with one of my favorite guys, Bill Harsey, and Jeromy bought a cool Sebenza from Chris Reeve. Chris liked my "Hadji Don't Surf" patch, so at Jeromy's prompting, I gave it to him. He gave me one of the very coveted CRK "think twice, cut once" shirts, this one written in Swahili. Hell of a trade, I thought.
Most of our crew left us Tuesday night, so that left Jeromy, myself, and Mike to hit Ellis Island for barbecue. After we successfully made a big mess of the table and got pork stuffed, we headed over to The Freakin' Frog, and proceeded to clean them out of 1554. We met up with Matrix (one of the few people in the world who's screen name is easier to use than his real name) his friend who's name I can't recall, author Erick Gelhaus, and the dudes from Ashley Outdoors sights. We were able to use the members only section upstairs because Matrix has been spending money there forever. We eventually closed the bar, and headed back to the Suite again.
The cab driver deserves special mention. First, he said he had been an executive at...some Strip casino, like the MGM or whatever. He cashed in and retired. He asked us what we were doing in Vegas, and we said "SHOT show". He asked if anybody was military, because he'd been an 18E and...something else. 91W or something. He said he spent 18 of his 20 years in Special Forces. Jeromy made a comment about hookers, so he said "Yeah, I can hook that up for you. I took care of Peyton Manning's friends while they were here. They called me to thank me for the great time they had", and he hands Jeromy a little catalog thing. Dude was a Son Tay Raider, weilder of corporate power, and now Vegas' premier cab driving pimp. We were chuckling at that guy for quite a while afterward.
Unfortunately I had to leave on Wednesday, but it was good to be home and sleeping in my own bed. The show...meh. The after show activities...hells yeah!!!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
This is taking too long
Isn't it Friday yet? Dammit. This waiting to leave for SHOT is taking entirely too dang long.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Getting closer to getting the paper and celebrating it!!
I got an e-mail today that said my degree had been posted. I should have the actual paper shortly; hopefully within the week, but I don't know for sure. I'm fairly excited that I'm finally getting the tangible evidence of my $15,000, and I'll feel better about having it on my resume. lol! I think I have a shot at graduating Cum Laude, but I'm not sure what my final GPA is.
I leave on Friday night, heading to Vegas for SHOT show. I'm totally looking forward to getting out of Kentucky again. The Winters here are gray most of the time.
I'm gonna be celebrating my birthday with a small number of friends with the Super Bowl, then meeting up with my LF bretheren for a...sloppier get together. Pics will probably not be posted of that; I guess we'll see what happens. Its gonna be a fun, fun six days!
I leave on Friday night, heading to Vegas for SHOT show. I'm totally looking forward to getting out of Kentucky again. The Winters here are gray most of the time.
I'm gonna be celebrating my birthday with a small number of friends with the Super Bowl, then meeting up with my LF bretheren for a...sloppier get together. Pics will probably not be posted of that; I guess we'll see what happens. Its gonna be a fun, fun six days!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Sumpin' gotsta give!
I'd like to apologize to both the readers of my blog for not having more to post here. School has kept me so busy that I pretty much come home from work and go right to doing school stuff...instead of vacuuming, doing my dishes and like that. I'm finishing up my Corporate Finance course, which is beating me like a Roman task master with a cat o nine tails, and I still have to get more done in my Metaphysics class. I'll hopefully finish up Metaphysics by the end of the month, at which time I'll be starting at Hopkinsville Community College to pick up my last three classes: pre-whenever American History, post-pre-whenever American History, and Writing II. Once those are done, I will have a degree in Binnis Manglement, as well as having spent almost all of 2007 in school. I'm looking forward to February, when I'll be in Vegas celebrating both my degree and my birthday at SHOT. I told some of the reg'lars at Lightfighter.net that I would be there, so the party may be epic. Ellis Island and Freakin' Frog, here I come!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
SHOT show
I was in Orlando this past week from Wednesday very late night through Sunday morning. Why would I be in Orlando? Two reasons: get the heck out of Kentucky for a little while, and to attend SHOT show.
SHOT stands for Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade show. Basically, any company worth its salt that is at all connected to any of those fields is there. This is the first big chance for retailers and wholesalers to get a look at new stuff and place orders. I generally call it "Disneyland with Triggers". There's everything from the junk Hi Point guns to sets of four Perazzi shotguns that go for $300,000. Yeah, you read that right.
I found a couple cool new things there. The Magpul Masada rifle is cool as all get out, and when it finally becomes available I will have one. That'll probably take a couple years yet, but I can wait. I also came across a cool new cleaning kit at the KG Gunkote booth. Its made by Lanigan Performance Products and even if it only works marginally well, at least it makes cleaning the bore more fun than it is with a brush. Basically whatcha got here is a CO2 powered propellant unit that shoots a felt plug down the bore of the gun to clean fouling out. If nothing else, its just plain fun to shoot those plugs around the homestead. It only runs about $35. I couldn't find the manufacturer at the show, and I didn't wanna pay the retail price at KG, so I'm gonna look into picking one of these up through work. What can I say? I'm poor.
There were a few other cool products, but that really meant very little to me at this show. The highlights for me were the people I met. I spent about an hour with the coolest guy in the world, custom knifemaker Bill Harsey. We talked knives, guns and watches, and I couldn't have had a more enjoyable time. That man has forgotten more about knives than I will ever know. He also introduced me to some pretty high speed guys. Mr. Harsey is very well known and liked, and has earned his title of Knifemaker to the Quiet Professionals. He's also a huge, huge man.
In addition to Mr. Harsey, I also got to meet several moderators and members of the forum I am an administrator of, Lightfighter.net. I went to the Gemtech/SWAT/TR party, and within a short time, I was laughing my head off with a bunch of lifelong friends I had just met. Then a SWAT cop who goes by the screen name Hetzer busted out the artillery shell-shaped vodka bottle. Note to self: don't be so agreeable to take a shot from a glass that looks like a projectile. I only had a few, but one of my other new friends had several, and that's the kind of thing that lives with ya for a while. Overall, it was great, great fun. It wouldn't have been possible without the internet. As much as I dislike some aspects of the 'net, it has done an amazing job of bringing people together.
SHOT is in Vegas next year, and ATS should have a rather sizable booth there. I expect I'll be working the show, so stop by and introduce yourself.
SHOT stands for Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade show. Basically, any company worth its salt that is at all connected to any of those fields is there. This is the first big chance for retailers and wholesalers to get a look at new stuff and place orders. I generally call it "Disneyland with Triggers". There's everything from the junk Hi Point guns to sets of four Perazzi shotguns that go for $300,000. Yeah, you read that right.
I found a couple cool new things there. The Magpul Masada rifle is cool as all get out, and when it finally becomes available I will have one. That'll probably take a couple years yet, but I can wait. I also came across a cool new cleaning kit at the KG Gunkote booth. Its made by Lanigan Performance Products and even if it only works marginally well, at least it makes cleaning the bore more fun than it is with a brush. Basically whatcha got here is a CO2 powered propellant unit that shoots a felt plug down the bore of the gun to clean fouling out. If nothing else, its just plain fun to shoot those plugs around the homestead. It only runs about $35. I couldn't find the manufacturer at the show, and I didn't wanna pay the retail price at KG, so I'm gonna look into picking one of these up through work. What can I say? I'm poor.
There were a few other cool products, but that really meant very little to me at this show. The highlights for me were the people I met. I spent about an hour with the coolest guy in the world, custom knifemaker Bill Harsey. We talked knives, guns and watches, and I couldn't have had a more enjoyable time. That man has forgotten more about knives than I will ever know. He also introduced me to some pretty high speed guys. Mr. Harsey is very well known and liked, and has earned his title of Knifemaker to the Quiet Professionals. He's also a huge, huge man.
In addition to Mr. Harsey, I also got to meet several moderators and members of the forum I am an administrator of, Lightfighter.net. I went to the Gemtech/SWAT/TR party, and within a short time, I was laughing my head off with a bunch of lifelong friends I had just met. Then a SWAT cop who goes by the screen name Hetzer busted out the artillery shell-shaped vodka bottle. Note to self: don't be so agreeable to take a shot from a glass that looks like a projectile. I only had a few, but one of my other new friends had several, and that's the kind of thing that lives with ya for a while. Overall, it was great, great fun. It wouldn't have been possible without the internet. As much as I dislike some aspects of the 'net, it has done an amazing job of bringing people together.
SHOT is in Vegas next year, and ATS should have a rather sizable booth there. I expect I'll be working the show, so stop by and introduce yourself.
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