Product Reviews

Tactical Snacks Gummies

I saw a lot of cool tactical products at SHOT Show 2025, but one of the most surprising new products was a packet of fruit gummy snacks. Tactical Snacks is a veteran-owned company handing out sample packs of their Watermelon Overwatch gummies.

Tactical Snacks were created to provide low-sugar alternatives to regular gummy candies. They come in two varieties: Sour gummy with 3g of net carbs and High Protein with 9g of net carbs and 8mg of protein per packet. Their ingredients have a welcome lack of high-fructose corn syrup.

The taste of the Sour Gummy variant is very similar to Sour Patch Kids candies. The High Protein variant has a harder and chewier mouth feel and a sharp, slightly bitter aftertaste. It reminds me of chewing on vitamin-C tablets. The Sour Gummy is my favorite of the two, but both would be satisfactory on a hike or patrol.

BUY

Amazon https://amzn.to/3Z1I1gO

SPECS

SOUR GUMMY

Net Weight: 1.8oz

Calories: 55

Carbs: 21g

Fiber: 12g

Protein: 0g

Net Sugar: 3g

PROTEIN GUMMY

Net Weight: 1.8oz

Calories: 95

Carbs: 29g

Fiber: 1g

Protein: 8g

Net Sugar: 9g

INGREDIENTS

Low Sugar Sour Gummies

Tapioca Fiber Syrup, Allulose, Water, Tapioca Syrup, Pectin, Citric Acid, Watermelon Natural Flavoring, Cane Sugar, Monk Fruit Extract, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Malate, Fumaric Acid, Malic Acid, Red Radish for color.


Protein Gummies

Tapioca Syrup, Allulose, Water, Hydrolyzed Collagen Protein, Organic Cane Sugar, Pectin, Watermelon Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, Sodium Malate, Sodium Citrate, Monk Fruit extract, Red Radish for color.

Shooting Sports

TMI Live 250528 BBS games with Scott Robinet


Too Much Information live chat show. In this episode, we’ll be talking about classic BBS games with Voltaric Software founder Scott Robinet. Stop leaving yourself vulnerable to data breaches. Go to my link https://aura.com/moondog to get a 14-day free trial and see if any of your data has been exposed. Read my notes https://moondogindustries.com/tmi-live-250423/

SPONSOR

Aura https://aura.com/moondog

EARLYBIRD Clue:

THIS WEEK

Moondog2A

Moondog Reviews

Moondog Go

NAME THE BRAND CLUE

Launched in 1988 this 3-letter name company grew to become at one time, the largest Internet Service Provider in the world 1990s. Logging in, users could often hear the words: “You’ve got mail.”

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Bulletin board system (BBS), also called a computer bulletin board service (CBBS),[1] is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user performs functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. Many BBS servers offered online games, including early forms of MMOs.

SPECIAL GUEST:
Scott Robinet https://elysiumsoftware.com/

Play LORD https://lord.stabs.org/index.html
Play Trade Wars https://www.thecrustychicken.com/tradewars.html

CONTESTS

HASHTAG DRAWING #gta https://goldentrailer.com/

Brand Clue:
This 3-letter name company’s full name was America Online, and the ubiquity of their promotional floppy discs and later CDs, became a cultural touchstone. Despite dominating the market in 2001, its business shrank with the decline of dial-up internet. By 2015 it would be bought by Verizon.

May 2025 ProHear Contest
May 2025 EZShoot Contest

HASHTAG DRAWING #aol

Next Livestream Wed June 4

Shooting Sports

SHOT 2025 Swampfox Optics

Swampfox is a rising US optics brand that has made a name for producing value priced red dots. They’ve expanded into LPVOs and long range scopes. They’re following the template of Primary Arms by offering premium design features for a value tier price just a bit above budget.

I’ve never tried out their optics but many of my viewers have suggested I do. I stopped by their booth at SHOT Show 2025 to get acquainted with their red dots and LPVOs. Their red dots feature a selectable multi-reticle and their LPVOs have well designed reticles more in line with my tastes. I hope I can get an opportunity to test one later this year.

BUY

Liberty II RMR https://amzn.to/3QQPOJX

Shooting Sports

SHOT 2025 Aguila 556 Battle Bag

At the Aguila booth in SHOT Show 2025, they showed off such a no-brainer innovation. Their 5.56mm ammo will now also come in 30-round boxes. Considering 30-round magazines have been the military standard for the M16 platform for over a quarter century, it’s about time. Prior to this, 5.56 (and 223) ammo was normally sold in 20-round boxes. Moreover, Aguila is offering these boxes in 450-round sealed polymer Battle Bags with built-in handles for fast and environmentally protected handling and transport.

BUY

Aguila Battle Bag https://shrsl.com/4u0h1

FIND AN AGUILA RETAILER

https://www.aguilaammo.com/find-a-retailer

Travel

NYC The Oculus

The Oculus is the architecturally stunning transit hub next to the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan in New York City. It houses the NJ PATH station with connections to 12 NYC subway lines. It also houses dining and stores managed by Westfield. It connects to the NYC Fulton Street subway station, One World Trade Center Tower and Observatory, Brookfield Place, and the Ferry Terminal in Battery Park City.

Designed by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. In utility, function, and aesthetics, it is one of the finest transportation structures in the world and certainly the best transit building built in the United States this century.

Social

TMI 250521 Steve Shadrach


Too Much Information live chat show. Our guest is Stephen Shadrach, a fashion photogher and paparazzo https://www.instagram.com/photographer_stephen_/ This video is sponsored by Aura. Stop leaving yourself vulnerable to data breaches. Go to my link https://aura.com/moondog to get a 14-day free trial and see if any of your data has been exposed. Read my notes https://moondogindustries.com/tmi-250521-steve-shadrach/

SPONSOR

Aura https://aura.com/moondog

EARLYBIRD Clue:

THIS WEEK

Moondog2A

Moondog Reviews

Moondog Go

NAME THE BRAND CLUE

This company was founded by George Eastman in 1892 in Rochester, NY and became one of the largest photographic film companies in the world.

THUMBNAIL THIS

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Paparazzi

Freelance photographers who pursue celebrities for the purpose of taking candid photographs, often selling these images to publications. The term “paparazzi” originated from the character Paparazzo in the 1960s film La Dolce Vita

SPECIAL GUEST:
Stephen Shadrach

https://www.whatnot.com/user/shadrach

CONTESTS

HASHTAG DRAWING #gta https://goldentrailer.com/

Brand Clue:
This company created the first handheld digital camera in 1975 but chose to ignore the digital cameras, afraid it would hurt their film business. 

The digital photography and video market became dominated by Canon, Sony, and Nikon. By 2011 this company declared bankruptcy.

May 2025 ProHear Contest
May 2025 EZShoot Contest

HASHTAG DRAWING #kodak

Next Livestream Wed May 21

Shooting Sports

Strike Eagle vs ED-PRS

The Strike Eagle 5-25×56 is Vortex’s best long-range scope under $1000 (with a street price of around $700-$800). Optical technology has advanced as fast as prices have dropped. New “budget” scopes now offer higher optical quality and performance. One of the best examples is Discovery Optics’ ED-PRS which sells for half the price of the Strike Eagle.

The ED-PRS ships with more accessories than the Vortex. My model is the first edition Gen2. The newest version of the Gen 2 has updated tool-less turrets and does not ship with scope rings. The ED-PRS has tall oversized turrets which are easier-to-read numbering. The ED-PRS turrets had more precise feeling clicks and a wider range of adjustment. Both scopes appeared to be well constructed but the ED-PRS is almost a full pound heavier and certainly appears more chunky.

Both scopes offer bright and clear imagery that is very similar in quality. The Strike Eagle has a brighter and higher contrast image but with slightly more chromatic aberration at high power. The Strike Eagle also offers a more forgiving eye box.

Both scopes showed good color rendition at the gun range and the ability to see details in low light at 25x. Because of the Vortex higher contrast glass, the Strike Eagle seems a bit sharper but both scopes can resolve the same level of detail in the US Airforce reference chart.

Long-range shooters will be well served with either scope for their similar optical performance. But for conscious shooters, the Discovery Optics ED-PRS is the clear winner.

BUY

ED-PRS on Amazon:

https://amzn.to/4dqSKYf (10% discount code: MOONDOG525)

https://discoveryopt.com (10% discount code: Moondog)

Vortex Strike Eagle on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4gA4Ejq

RESOLUTION

ED-PRS: Group -1 / Element 6

Strike Eagle: Group -1 / Element 6

SPECS

STRIKE EAGLEED-PRS
Magnification 5-25x
Objective Lens: 56 mm
Tube Diameter: 34 mm
Focal Plane: First
Reticle: EBR-7C (MOA)
Illumination: red
Eye Relief: 3.7″
FOV @ 100 Yards: 24.0-5.2
Parallax: 15 yrds-Infinity
Elevation Adj: 110 MOA
Windage Adj: 78 MOA
Per Click: 1/4 MOA
Per Rotation: 25 MOA
Length: 14.6 in
Weight: 30.4 oz		Magnification: 5-25x
Objective Lens: 56 mm
Tube Diameter: 34mm
Focal Plane: First
Reticle: SFIR MRAD
Illumination: red
Eye Relief: 3.3-3.4 in
FOV @ 100 Yards: 25.3-5.06 ft
Parallax: 25 yrds-Infinity
Elevation Adj: 36MRAD (124 MOA)
Windage Ad: 17MRAD (58 MOA)
Per Click: 0.1MRAD
Per Rotation: 10 MRAD
Length: 415mm (16.34in)
Weight: 1255g (44.3oz)

Gadgets, Shooting Sports

SHOT 2025 XVision thermals

XVision specializes in digital optics. At SHOT Show 2025 I got a chance to see their Flex series of compact thermal scanners and sights. The Flex2 won Outdoor Life’s “Best Thermal Optic” award because of its high resolution and compact size. These thermals ran from $2500-$3000 MRP, but what caught my eye was their Shadow 100 night vision scanner because it has an MSRP of $149.

BUY

Amazon https://amzn.to/4h9X7qT

Gadgets, Shooting Sports

Rangecraft Velocity Pro Chrono

Back in January, I got a chance to see a pre-release sample of the Rangecraft Velocity Pro at Athlon’s booth. Athlon had planned to release the Velocity Pro in early April for a price of $350. Unfortuantely, nobody knew that the Trump Administration would be imposing over 100% tariffs on Chinese made products. Nor that this would cause widespread parts and shipping delays.

Some folks online were posting negative comments about Athlon, butthurt because the chrono didn’t ship in April and the price had gone up to $399; which is only about 10%. Retailers started getting their shipments at the very end of April and customers were getting their orders in the first week of May. I was pleasantly surprised to get a Velocity Pro from Athlon to test this early on. Often when a company has such high demand for a new product, they skip the gun-tubers until after they get their 2nd or 3rd shipments fromt he factory.

The Velocity Pro looks strikingly similar to the Garmin Xero. It is slightly larger in size with a slightly bigger display screen. The Velocity Pro has 2 additional control buttons on the top and has its menu arrow buttons on the side of the unit. Its physical dimensions are only slightly larger than the Xero and it also has a slightly bigger and brighter LCD screen. The Velocity Pro’s tripod base is heavier providing a more stable platform against high winds.

Comparing the two at the range, the Velocity Pro showed slightly faster readings on average to the Xero. The difference between the two chrono’s was less than 1% which is neglibable. While testing a pistol shooting in rapid fire, the Xero could not keep up with the Velocity Pro. The Xero would miss recording shots if there was less than a 1.5-2 second delay between shots. The Velocity Pro’s more reliable sensors, better menu layout and contols, and with less than a 1% difference in readings made the Rangcraft the better chrono.

BUY

Optics Planet https://shrsl.com/4w9cc

SPECS

VELOCITY PRO

Battery Type: Lithium-Ion

Battery Life: 6 hrs

Display Size: 2.4”

Display Resolution: 240 x 320

Radar Type: Dopler

Velocity Range: 65-5000 FPS

Velocity Accuracy: +/- 0.1%

Connector: USB-C

Weight: 4.7 oz

Travel

NYC Ground Zero Memorial

The 9-11 Ground Zero Memorial is a pair of square fountain cascades that trace the footprint of the World Trade Center towers that once stood in this hallowed ground. Cascading waterfalls drain into the below-ground museum dedicated to the 2,996 who died on September 11, 2001 during the terrorist attack. At ground level, visitors can explore the park that formed the base of the Twin Tower plaza.

Gear Reviews, Education, and Adventure