The SHOT Show (Shooting Hunting Outdoors Trade Show) is held every January in Las Vegas and is the largest outdoor event in the world.
This year there were over 60,000 attendees.
It kicks off on Monday with the Media Day at The Range. The first half of the day is open to invited only media and that afternoon is for buyers/media.
This a great opportunity for manufacturers to display all of their new guns/ammo. You have a chance to check out the new 2023 offerings.
The show opens at 8:30 Tuesday-Friday. I’m running/gunning trying to have a meeting every 30 minutes. Then there will be dinners and multiple Happy Hours every night.
I try to hit 2-3 of them because they’re more laid back and I work a lot of deals at them.
This year I had a new cameraman-Jack Kissel which is from Genoa, CO. Being of the younger generation he has knowledge of all the trackers etc. Tuesday we walked 15.4 miles and Thursday 20.3 miles, so we hit it hard. But you can’t excel by slacking, right? Let’s move into some of the cool items we saw.
MONDAY
RANGE DAY
1. Umarex airguns came out with a .50 cal. PCP carbine, which is the little brother to their .50 cal. Hammer which I used a couple of years ago to hunt axis deer and hogs.
2. Henry’s came out with two new guns. The new .360 Buckhammer reminds me of my old 95-year-old bear hunting buddy’s Roy Snethen’s .350 Remington. I guess I want to test one because of memories of him.
They partnered with Remington who is making the ammo. The second Henry’s rifle that intrigued me was their new 9mm Homesteader that uses a Glock mag.
3. Wee-1 is a unique little AR .22 which will be an awesome training gun for kids as well as for grouse hunting when backpacking.
TUESDAY
1. Smith’s Consumer Products is the most creative out company out there. I’ve used their products for over 20 years.
They make the best knife sharpening gear on the market and a few years ago came out with a knife line. When they do something, they jump in with both feet.
2.Trulock is the leader in the choke world. They’re my resource center for any choke questions that I have.
3.Mantis came out with The Blackbeard X for training with your AR.
4.If you’re an airgunner, then you have to check out JSB pellets. They’re the most accurate pellets on the market-hands down.
5.Met with Howard Communications to discuss Versa Carry holsters.
WEDNESDAY
1. Met with Caracal and will be testing more of their guns this year.
2. Met with Kristen who is the marketing guru for 5.11 gear. They make awesome pants that are nice enough to wear to Church.
They have multiple pockets plus some have a slot to hold your folder. This year I’m going to be testing out their knives. They also make boots that are super comfortable
3. Met with Umarex which is my go-to airgun company. They offer a plethora of airguns. I shoot Umarex airguns.
4. I never have found the perfect glove so I stopped by the Seirus booth and checked them out. Going to test some of their gloves this year. As I’m typing this article it is -5 outside. I may have them overnight me a pair!!!!
5. Met with the SPG crew that is my go-to company for hiking socks but they also make a line of dog gear, Browning clothing, and took over the Carhart bag line.
Think I’ll have my girls test out their sunglasses for fishing.
THURSDAY
1. Ditale is a new women’s outdoor clothing line. A big complaint my girls had-there’s no women outdoors clothing.
2. Met with Joyce that is the marketing guru for Spyderco. Justin was with her and has just developed a new folder which I’ll soon be testing.
3. Met with Heather at Otis who is my go-to girl on all gun cleaning needs.
4. Met with Buck Knives. I used to do a lot with them but haven’t the last few years. They reinstituted their Pak Lite line.
5. Stopped by the Plano booth and was impressed with their hard sided gun cases and soft sided bow cases.
6. SABRE makes self-defense pepper spray products, here is one item that caught my eye. It’s a plastic pistol called the SABRE Pepper Spray Launcher that shoots a pepper spray ball that blows up on contact.
You could shoot at the ground in front of an advancing mean dog or hit the bad guy in the chest to stop things from escalating further and defuse the situation.
FRIDAY
1. Met Keli that developed a knife for S&W. Can’t wait to test it out.
2. Met with the Alps Mountaineering crew. I use their backpacks, pads, sleeping bags and tents when backpacking. They came out with a new backpack that my daughter and I are going to test.
3. Clamtainer makes plastic ammo containers that are nice for reloaders, shooters, backpackers and for flying with ammo.
4. Met with Anderson Manufacturing. I tested out one of their lower-level AR’s and got an 11/16-inch group. I plan on testing more of their guns.
5. Met with Benchmade and will soon be testing out their Tag-out, Flyway and Bug-out knife.
6. Real Avid has a new Master Gun Work Station that looks nice.
7. Hogue has a new replaceable blade knife.
Well, there’s a few items that stood out to me at the 2023 SHOT Show. Look for them to be hitting the market this year.
Tom Claycomb is a hunting enthusiast and writes a bi-monthly column for Great Basin Sun.
