{"id":94,"date":"2011-01-26T09:35:11","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T16:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/?p=94"},"modified":"2011-01-26T09:35:11","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T16:35:11","slug":"shot-show-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/?p=94","title":{"rendered":"Shot Show 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve been going to the Shot Show for several years. It\u2019s always a great way to start the year. You can&#8217;t help but to have uber-levels of post-Show enthusiasm and optimism. \u00a0Several vendors who exhibited expressed to me that they were enthused by the higher traffic and frequent visits from qualified leads this year.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, I had a great time. But here are some my takeaways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I hate Sands Convention Center. I hated it last year and I know the organizers made a lot of effort to make improvements, but frankly, it still doesn\u2019t cut it. Shot Show is too big for the layout. You\u2019ve got exhibits sprawled across hidden rooms and multiple levels. After day 3, I&#8217;m discovering areas that I haven&#8217;t even covered yet. Food stands are terrible. Exiting out through the Venetian is a cattle call. Taxi lines are awful. Bottom line\u2026from an attendee\u2019s standpoint, it\u2019s not good.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When will NSSF acquiesce the Military folks and create its own category? Military vendors are the bastard stepchild right now. By default, most are shoehorned into the Law Enforcement category. And while many vendors crossover between law enforcement and military,\u00a0plenty do not. As a result, the Law Enforcement category is busting at its seams with companies. Yet, NSSF still maintains a category for Outfitter\u2019s Post &amp; taxidermy with a whopping 13 exhibitors? I know the organizers have resisted military folks hijacking their show, but there\u2019s a better solution than what is done\u00a0now.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Thank you Caleb Crye (of Crye Precision and Multicam camouflage fame). Let me explain. As most of you know, all of our nylon tactical gear is Made in USA from mil spec materials. For several years now, I look at display after display of Chinese knock-offs of digital universal camo pattern (UCP) and cringe. Most of it looks like fabric run under an inkjet printer with a glossy finish. Now that Multicam is being rolled out to the forces, UCP is on the way out. This year, I started to see small displays of Multicam product in these importers\u2019 booths. Each time I asked about how it was manufactured, they complain about how expensive mil spec material is and how they have to procure and ship to their overseas factories. I couldn\u2019t help but smile from ear to ear. So thank you Caleb, for sticking to your guns and holding the license for your product. It&#8217;s a small victory for those of us still sewing in the USA.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The nylon tactical gear field is healthy with a lot of promising up and comers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bearse USA has had a lot of participation in the body armor industry making vests, plate carriers, etc. A lot changes continue to happen in this biz and it is always interesting to watch the ups and downs of the players in the prime contracting arena.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Glad I don&#8217;t sell gun safes. Those must be a bitch to ship, set up, and\u00a0send back home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Weather was much better this year. Thank you Mother Nature. Didn\u2019t think 3 days of straight rain could ever happen again.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Finally, I wish Shot did not overlap with Outdoor Retailer. My feet need a break. Plus, many of the folks who attend Shot also go to OR. As a vendor, the time could be spent more effectively if there was some spread between shows. Just sayin\u2026At least there is Summer OR.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Observations about Shot Show 2011 <a href=\"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/?p=94\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[10,21,20,19],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5euFE-1w","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16,"url":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/?p=16","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":0},"title":"Contract Award Delays","date":"April 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"If only I could be a fly on the wall at the DSCP, Natick, and other hubs of Department of Defense procurement. For reasons that are unclear to me and plenty of others in the industry, there have been several delays in awards of contracts. I know of several companies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Government&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31,"url":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/?p=31","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":1},"title":"Is Made in USA molle gear really better?","date":"May 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a reasonable question in these times when so much of the textiles world is focused in the Far East. I spent much of my time at this year's Shot Show in Orlando confirming my convictions. This is how I make my living after all. So I set out to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Made in USA&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":104,"url":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/?p=104","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":2},"title":"Two Big Reasons the Squeeze Will Continue on US Military Textile Suppliers","date":"September 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"DLA Troop Support in Philadelphia recently had a meeting for industry folks. In it, they mentioned that the budget for fiscal year 2011 was 1.9 billion. They had spent 1.7 billion by that time. Yet, everyone was wondering why there have been so few solitications throughtout the year. One big\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Made in USA&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":105,"url":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/?p=105","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":3},"title":"No one can be an\u2026","date":"September 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"No one can be an expert on every product application, but customers often ask for a recommendation on which fabric to use for a particular situation\/environment. I've accumulated a bunch of knowledge on textiles in my head, but I found this chart as a very useful guide. Kudos to American\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Contract Sewing&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":77,"url":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/?p=77","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":4},"title":"Where to find a starter Industrial Sewing machine","date":"March 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"People often struggle sewing through heavy coated fabrics like nylon and web with a home machine.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sewing Techniques&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5,"url":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/?p=5","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":5},"title":"Do you really have a sewing factory in the US?","date":"March 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Some might be amazed how often I get this question. Of course, the answer is an emphatic YES! At our company, Bearse USA, we feel very fortunate to be able to survive and thrive in the topsy turvy world of manufacturing. We took our share of lumps for awhile, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Contract Sewing\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97,"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/97"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tacticalgearsewing.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}