As we write this, we should be in the air departing the beautiful Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC to you status fliers) en route to Music City USA for the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits.
Obviously, that’s not gonna happen. Eighty thousand freedom-loving folks in one big Nashville convention center seems like a bad idea during a pandemic.
So instead of regaling you with the wild tales of the Nashville nightlife, all the cool celebrities we thought we saw and the massive amounts of heart-stopping meat we consumed, we’re stuck here sitting in our Approach bathrobes (not coming soon) and working from home.
But are we gonna let a little lockdown stop us from getting you all the lowdown on the latest gear? Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Not then and not now!
We go into the NRA show the same way most of you do… Chomping at the bit to see all the new guns, ammo, gear and whatnot. Especially the whatnot. We love some good whatnot.
This is OUR show to shop… er… do market research. We don’t want you to be deprived of our hard-gained knowledge here, so we picked up the phone and rattled a few cages around the industry to find the cool gear that WOULD HAVE been seen at the NRA Show.
Primos
With turkey season up and running, we were immediately interested when our pals at Primos mentioned a new, super realistic turkey decoy. We’re pretty wary of fake things pretending to be real animals ever since that horrible tofu bacon experience at the Food N’ Stuff. We still struggle to talk about it.
Primos is on to something with these new Photoform Jake and Hen Decoys. They start with a 3D molded, lightweight foam body, then print a photo-realistic image of the bird directly on the decoy. These things are stupid light, look like the real thing and deploy in seconds. If toms are as attracted to these as we are, these things will sell.
Leupold
We’re not ashamed to admit it, we love good glass. Especially when said glass makes us look cool. To that end, our pals at Leupold have launched their line of performance eyewear.
OK, OK… We actually saw these at SHOT Show, but the big NRA news is that they are now available to buy!
Tough, stylish and crystal clear, which you would expect from someone who’s been making some of the best optics since the 1950s.
There are way too many different styles and options for us to go into here, but we will say the Switchbacks make us look gooooooood.
Hornady
When you hear the name Hornady, you think of ammunition, and with good reason. For three generations, the Hornady family has been making some of the best ammo out there. But, did you know that more than a few folks around that factory can get it done with a stick and string too? We promised not to out anyone, but any company that has bow and rifle hunters living in peace is OK with us.
So what would they have had at the NRA Show, you ask? If you know Hornady, then you know that would be a blog or two all by itself. But the thing we were most interested in (hint, hint guys), is the new Subsonic line of ammunition.
We are big fans of our fellow Utah neighbors SilencerCo, so having a premium, factory subsonic load makes us giddy with the possibilities. You might remember the tricked out .45-70 lever gun we showcased in our SHOT Show blog. Now we’ve got the perfect load to feed it.
OK, we could go on and on and on, but to be honest, all this is making us a bit sad. We love going out to the Great American Outdoor Show and the NRA Annual Meeting to see our friends and all the wonderful new stuff they’re bringing to market.
For now, we’re going to have to be content with reading about all the new stuff… And trying to figure out how to explain to Mrs. Badlands all the mystery deliveries we keep getting. Honest, these are my really old sunglasses!