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Thread: SHOT SHOW 2018: Some overall thoughts

  1. #1
    CGN Ultra frequent flyer RL1's Avatar
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    SHOT SHOW 2018: Some overall thoughts

    Cross one of the bucket list, I have gone to SHOT show! I am very grateful to CGN for the opportunity so thanks very much to Greentips. It was definitely a great experience and I wanted to share a bit about how it went…

    Industry Day at the Range

    By way of background, the approximately 2500 people with media passes are invited to the range to try new products from 200 exhibitors. There are also other range days happening simultaneously for law enforcement and for specific brands (for example Sig hosted a range day) but those are at different locations.

    The scenery at our range was breathtaking. Seriously it was so nice that it looked “fake” in a way lol…and that really adds to the experience. The selection of guns was also breathtaking lol…we are talking belt fed full auto, suppressors, snubbies, you name it!

    Going in to the event I wondered if I would have the chance to shoot the things that I wanted to etc. but my mind was soon put at ease. Yes, there are lineups but they were usually less than 10 people deep and things move fast! There is indeed ample opportunity to take pics and YES, you are allowed to shoot more than one gun per booth (without having to wait in line again). For example, at Glock I shot the G19X, G34, and G26 and it didn’t seem like a problem at all if I would have wanted to try others. Ammo is constantly being loaded and people run back and forth with mags…it is amazing how much ammo passes through the line! A lot (if not most) booths had documentation to hand out and some had swag as well (hats, patches, stickers etc).

    I shot about 20 guns in total and my favourites were the HK SP5K, STI Costa, Kimber Super Jagare, and Flight Rite SCR. I wont tell you my least favourites lol

    My experience on range day would have been perfect had my camera not died. Yes, literally died. In preparation for this trip I had it cleaned and the software upgraded and perhaps they did something wrong as my camera crapped out after 150 pics…I ended up taking it to a camera store and it could not be fixed so I rented another camera for the remainder of the show…so sorry that I could not take more pics on range day.

    The SHOT Show

    I posted some stats in my pre-show thread but it is worth repeating some of them here. The show is big. Really big. We are talking 2000 exhibitors over 13 acres (the size of the Great Pyramid in Egypt) with 12.5 miles of aisles. Transport trucks brought in 7 million pounds of goods for display!

    On the plus side, the show is EXTREMELY well organized! The signage on the show floor is great and there are A LOT of people you can ask for directions or information (they are either sitting at desks or standing in high traffic areas holding big flags). There are plenty of places where you can sit to have a break or get a snack if you need one. The media/press room also had a huge array of computers with free net access as well as free snacks/drinks. The organizers are also very communicative with daily emails (and they respond very quickly to inquiries). This was the 40th year of the show and they clearly have their act together!

    To further help you prepare, there is an app that lets you select the booths you want to see and it plans your route etc. And prepare I did! I spent several hours going through the exhibitors and creating Excel files etc. to prioritize them. I even made calculations about how many I could visit per day assuming different lengths of time per booth.

    Believe it or not, I stuck to my plan! It is very tempting to walk around and go toward the shiny thing that catches your eye (believe me they try to get your attention!) but I had none of that…I don’t think I visited a single booth that wasn’t on my pre-planned list. I just walked around with my head down in a “what is the fastest way to my next priority booth” mode.

    In the end I visited about 50 booths, and I was happy with what I achieved. Keep in mind that I was taking pics and stopped to talk to reps or listened in on demos to get more information. I mean it is too bad I missed some booths like Colt, S&W, and Springfield Armory but again, I am pleased that I saw all my priority booths so I have no regrets.

    As in the case of Range Day, my fears about not being able to handle or photograph things were soon put at ease. The show is so big that people are spread out quite well so there is opportunity to take pics or handle guns without having to wait a long time. Sure booths like Glock are busier but still.

    So what did I like? Well, I would classify that into some categories:

    1) Guns I can own: my favourites were STI DVC Open, Ed Brown FX ZEV, ZEV Spartan, and Cabot Ultimate Bedside gun
    2) Guns I can’t own: HK 416, HK SP5K, FN M249, Silencerco suppressed 12 gauge
    3) Gear: FLIR Breach, Emerson balisong (I know, illegal here sigh), Spyderco Janisong, Danner USMC and Tachyon boots, MTM Rad watch, and pretty much every single thing at the Steiner booth lol
    4) Show experiences: handling the actual John Wick gun, photo ops with “famous” people like Royce Gracie, Doug Marcaida, and well-known custom knifemakers, photo ops with crazy guns like mini-guns and bazookas etc.
    5) the swag



    I should also mention the people. Several people “warned” me that exhibitors don’t have patience for media as they are at the show to close deals. However, out of the 50 booths that I visited only two people treated me this way. Everyone else was very welcoming and helpful. As I wrote in my reviews, I got stellar treatment from Steiner, Danner, and Ed Brown.

    Also, my fellow show-goers were very friendly. No one rushed me when looking at things, they got out of the way for pics, helped me out when I needed it (like lending me a card reader) and on and on. It was a very cordial atmosphere.

    Once again, so glad to have attended.

    RL
    Last edited by RL1; 01-28-2018 at 05:01 AM.

  2. #2
    GunNutz ArmedGinger's Avatar
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    Glad you enjoyed it! I ended up with 15lbs of Swag and some really cool things. Many of it I didn't need but it was free :D

  3. #3
    CGN Regular MikeyScuba's Avatar
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    Did the TSA go through your checked bag? They did with ours but CBSA didn’t care when we told them we were at SHOT.

    From the media/bloggers I saw at booths (Thursday afternoon they were everywhere) they were gladly received.
    ICORE/IPSC/USPSA

  4. #4
    CGN frequent flyer Tom E Gun's Avatar
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    Great post RL - thanks. Shot Show and SEMA are 2 events I would really like to experience, but probably will not get the chance. I have found all your Shot Show posts very well done. Hopefully GT sends you back next year.
    Cheers
    TEG

  5. #5
    CGN Ultra frequent flyer RL1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ArmedGinger View Post
    Glad you enjoyed it! I ended up with 15lbs of Swag and some really cool things. Many of it I didn't need but it was free :D
    Oh yeah? What did you get?

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeyScuba View Post
    Did the TSA go through your checked bag? They did with ours but CBSA didn’t care when we told them we were at SHOT.

    From the media/bloggers I saw at booths (Thursday afternoon they were everywhere) they were gladly received.
    Nope I breezed through…they asked if it was business or pleasure, I said business and they let me go through…no follow up questions on what kind of business or anything…didn’t even have to mention SHOT.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom E Gun View Post
    Great post RL - thanks. Shot Show and SEMA are 2 events I would really like to experience, but probably will not get the chance. I have found all your Shot Show posts very well done. Hopefully GT sends you back next year.
    Cheers
    TEG
    Thanks! I am not sure I can do this every year lol, I am not as young as I used to be…

  6. #6
    GunNutz ArmedGinger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RL1 View Post
    Oh yeah? What did you get?
    https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...SHOT-Show-Swag

  7. #7
    CGN frequent flyer Cpt.Flan's Avatar
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    Shot was great but sometimes overwhelming.

    I suggest to anyone attending to PLAN and take the time to list all the boot that you want to look at and stop by. Also consider checking the many events in your planning.

    Otherwise you will walk around and miss some stuff and get lost... hahah!

    Cheers.
    Ducimus

  8. #8
    CGN Ultra frequent flyer Jarlath's Avatar
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    It was a pleasure seeing you there RL1! Glad you had a great time. It is very hard to describe the actual scale of the show to most people.
    "Every loss of a soldier is a significant one. These great Canadians, died serving Canada and the people of Afghanistan."
    Modified statement of Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.

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