Western Outdoor Times - Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!

We are staying in the Luxor hotel (which is incredible, by the way), and when we go out to dinner or are just walking back to the room after the show, we see and talk to a lot of people - waiters and waitresses, attendees of some of the other trade shows in town, the people who work in the shops, etc. They all seem to have major misconceptions about the SHOT Show.

Everyone seems to think it's like the worlds biggest gun show, with people buying and selling guns all over the place. That isn't what it is at all, or at least not the way people picture it.

At the SHOT Show, thousands of exhibitors bring their wares to the show and set up their booths with pretty much just one or two of each item they sell. Big gun makers will have huge booths with lots of guns, smaller

ones will have small booths, but the guns there are not for sale at the show. There are also a lot of other things there, as I hope you can tell by what we've been writing about. But SHOT Show isn't about selling individual guns - it's about getting orders for the next year. You don't walk into the SHOT Show and come out with an AR in your hands.

SHOT Show is where everyone sees and gets to touch all the latest gear. Buyers, store owners, press, and outdoor celebrities roam the aisles. This is where store owners decide which items they'll stock - what they

think will sell well. It's not a bunch of gun nuts wandering around with bandoliers of ammo on. It's industry professionals showing and seeing the latest gear and goods. SHOT stands for Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trades - not just guns. Yes, there are a lot of people dressed in tactical clothing, but there is a significant amount of space dedicated to law enforcement equipment, and tons of space devoted to hunting gear, clothing, camping gear, etc. That said, here are a few things we thought were awesome today.

Zippo has some great new stuff coming out in June this year, including their new Typhoon Matches, which have incredibly long match heads. These will be available in kits with a container and 16 matches, plus some of their Easy Spark tinder, and refill matches will be available in packs of 30. The kits will be just $11.95 and the refills will be $9.95. These are absolutely perfect for camping, emergency kits, hunters - anybody who may want to build a fire sometime under less than perfect conditions. You can even get these matches wet and they'll still light. They'll also have the new Mag Strike matchless fire starter, and an improved Axesaw. Their Easy Spark tinders will burn for up to five minutes after lighting, giving you

plenty of time to get that wood going. They also have new Tinder Shreds coming out - made from pine wood and paraffin, they'll burn for up to eight minutes. Also coming in June are their new rechargeable hand warmers. All of these will be coming out in June (some in September), but you can see them

now at http://www.zippooutdoor.com.

We mentioned that law enforcement is a big part of SHOT, but a lot of products cross over - flashlights, for instance. ASP has the world's smallest rechargeable flashlight. It's called the Dot and it's just 1.872

inches long and .575 inches in diameter, but it produces an amazing 130 lumens. It comes in red, blue, or black, and is the perfect size for your watch pocket, keychain, or purse. You can charge it up with any computer, car charger or wall charger - anything with a USB port. They cost $35. ASP also has a retractable charging cord that goes in right side up every time, because it's made to work either way. I don't know about you, but it seems like I never get them in the right way the first time, so I can't wait to

see these. I didn't see them online yet, but you can get the flashlights online at http://www.asp-usa.com.

Tomorrow is the last day of SHOT Show, and we'll have a lot more stuff to tell you about before we head home. Stay tuned!