Here's a writeup I did for another site for day 1...
Ok, back in the hotel room. I am exhausted. This is nuts. I did a big survey of the main show and only even glanced at 1/3 of it. This thing is absolutely bonkers. I wanted to do more updates throughout but Dad got in around 2pm and had to meet up with him.
Had lunch at Wolfgang Puck's place in the Sands. Very good burger.
Highlights of today:
Thermal/Night Vision
Night Optics:
Night Optics has some new thermals coming out. They are amazing. Small, lightweight, very easy to use.
L3 tube is awesome. Gen 3+ BLACK AND WHITE. Already sent one to a poster but got to sit down and play with them today. Amazing. Also, they have increased the rating on these from maximum of 308 to 50 BMG... yeah, I've been very hesitant to rec these for anything above 308 but now the 300 Win Mag we talked about in another thread is officially supported. I do want the new NS 750 Gen3+ L3 tube. 4x dedicated scope in black and white and upgraded glass. In fact, it's nearly too clear as you can see the hexagons in the tube.
TNVC:
TNVC has some 640 pixel thermals. Really clear. very interested in the product. Only problem is FLIR refuses to bump up the refresh from 30 htz to 60 htz. There is still a bit of a stutter when you watch something move on this. Anyone that plays video games understand the refresh rate being a big deal to at least 44 htz. Regular night vision... eh, it's basically the same as Night Optics. In fact, they purchase their scope from NO.
ATN:
Regular night vision... It still sucks. X sights... the 3-12x supposedly are shipping out. I got locked into getting 5 of them. Well, 4 because I'm keeping one. They added a manual focus to the 3-12x and a new firmware update for both models will enable the user to put the crosshairs on the video (video did not previously have crosshairs). Played with the digital binocs and... not impressed. I can handle a little weirdness on optics with a scope if I have a really good high quality set of binocs with me. Having the shaky image on the binocs is a no-go though they did say the gyro inside was not active yet. That is a new firmware that is being pushed out shortly so that may fix it. Horribly narrow field of view to it.
They also had an unannounced product at show in their digital spotting scope. I don't really see the point, honestly. Digital is just not as clear as optical. It gives the ability to take video which might be cool under a few unique situations but I really can't see the digital spotting scope taking off, at all.
Glass optics:
This is my main goal tomorrow. I absolutely love Vortex and the Asian optics but... having free range with some European stuff makes me remember what I fell in love with in regards to optics. Is it worth the price difference to jump up to Kahles, Swaro, Schmidt, etc? That depends on the user. Tomorrow is my main optics day and will be hitting Vortex, Leupold, and the like. I really want to get Swaro as a stocking dealer but I don't think I have the budget allocated for it. I can problably swing Kahles, which is essentially the same thing so we will see. Will talk to Swaro tomorrow to find out. Did check out the 1-6 vortex scope. I haven't said anything about it because I wasn't supposed to until shot, but I've known about it since November. It's a cool optic that I think will be the primary AR scope that I sell. I think my cost on it will run roughly $375. Great price point for what it is, and it is extremely close to being a 1x and has very little prism.
Guns:
Went by larue and got my dillo dust and my dillo. Got a dillo for tx4guns as well. He promised me a set of ivory grips for my yet to be purchased Night Hawk so we'll see if he delivers, jk. Checked out the new trigger and I like it. It is obviously built for battle and is a beast. The pull is actually very nice but still it's not as good as Geisselle...
Which leads me to Geisselle... I opened an account and will be a stocking dealer for them.
Other stuff....
Yeti... yeah, looks like I have a Yeti account now. You all love to hate it but... I might as well. Enough of you guys buy them that it should be a win-win as I will include texags hookup.
Eye candy... lots of filthy, nasty skanks that I loved to ogle. ATN was, as normal, hit or miss with their girls in a couple were hot and a couple should not have been hired. One company had a trio blondes that distracted me so much that I don't even know who the company was. Like, seriously, I ignored everything that was going on around me and just zoomed in on the tight nearly wardrobe malfunctioning leather. Just.... damn.
Ok, back in the hotel room. I am exhausted. This is nuts. I did a big survey of the main show and only even glanced at 1/3 of it. This thing is absolutely bonkers. I wanted to do more updates throughout but Dad got in around 2pm and had to meet up with him.
Had lunch at Wolfgang Puck's place in the Sands. Very good burger.
Highlights of today:
Thermal/Night Vision
Night Optics:
Night Optics has some new thermals coming out. They are amazing. Small, lightweight, very easy to use.
L3 tube is awesome. Gen 3+ BLACK AND WHITE. Already sent one to a poster but got to sit down and play with them today. Amazing. Also, they have increased the rating on these from maximum of 308 to 50 BMG... yeah, I've been very hesitant to rec these for anything above 308 but now the 300 Win Mag we talked about in another thread is officially supported. I do want the new NS 750 Gen3+ L3 tube. 4x dedicated scope in black and white and upgraded glass. In fact, it's nearly too clear as you can see the hexagons in the tube.
TNVC:
TNVC has some 640 pixel thermals. Really clear. very interested in the product. Only problem is FLIR refuses to bump up the refresh from 30 htz to 60 htz. There is still a bit of a stutter when you watch something move on this. Anyone that plays video games understand the refresh rate being a big deal to at least 44 htz. Regular night vision... eh, it's basically the same as Night Optics. In fact, they purchase their scope from NO.
ATN:
Regular night vision... It still sucks. X sights... the 3-12x supposedly are shipping out. I got locked into getting 5 of them. Well, 4 because I'm keeping one. They added a manual focus to the 3-12x and a new firmware update for both models will enable the user to put the crosshairs on the video (video did not previously have crosshairs). Played with the digital binocs and... not impressed. I can handle a little weirdness on optics with a scope if I have a really good high quality set of binocs with me. Having the shaky image on the binocs is a no-go though they did say the gyro inside was not active yet. That is a new firmware that is being pushed out shortly so that may fix it. Horribly narrow field of view to it.
They also had an unannounced product at show in their digital spotting scope. I don't really see the point, honestly. Digital is just not as clear as optical. It gives the ability to take video which might be cool under a few unique situations but I really can't see the digital spotting scope taking off, at all.
Glass optics:
This is my main goal tomorrow. I absolutely love Vortex and the Asian optics but... having free range with some European stuff makes me remember what I fell in love with in regards to optics. Is it worth the price difference to jump up to Kahles, Swaro, Schmidt, etc? That depends on the user. Tomorrow is my main optics day and will be hitting Vortex, Leupold, and the like. I really want to get Swaro as a stocking dealer but I don't think I have the budget allocated for it. I can problably swing Kahles, which is essentially the same thing so we will see. Will talk to Swaro tomorrow to find out. Did check out the 1-6 vortex scope. I haven't said anything about it because I wasn't supposed to until shot, but I've known about it since November. It's a cool optic that I think will be the primary AR scope that I sell. I think my cost on it will run roughly $375. Great price point for what it is, and it is extremely close to being a 1x and has very little prism.
Guns:
Went by larue and got my dillo dust and my dillo. Got a dillo for tx4guns as well. He promised me a set of ivory grips for my yet to be purchased Night Hawk so we'll see if he delivers, jk. Checked out the new trigger and I like it. It is obviously built for battle and is a beast. The pull is actually very nice but still it's not as good as Geisselle...
Which leads me to Geisselle... I opened an account and will be a stocking dealer for them.
Other stuff....
Yeti... yeah, looks like I have a Yeti account now. You all love to hate it but... I might as well. Enough of you guys buy them that it should be a win-win as I will include texags hookup.
Eye candy... lots of filthy, nasty skanks that I loved to ogle. ATN was, as normal, hit or miss with their girls in a couple were hot and a couple should not have been hired. One company had a trio blondes that distracted me so much that I don't even know who the company was. Like, seriously, I ignored everything that was going on around me and just zoomed in on the tight nearly wardrobe malfunctioning leather. Just.... damn.
