Product Reviews, Shooting Sports

Lasting Merino Wool Clothing

A gun industry trade show isn’t the first place you’d go to try wool socks, but that’s where we found ourselves on the final day of SHOT Show. My producer came across Lasting, an outdoors clothing company which makes 100% Merino wool in the Exhibitor map. We stopped by after visiting another nearby booth to see what they had to offer.

Every experienced outdoorsman I know swears by wool as the best material for socks for its moisture wicking and wearing properties. This includes sportsmen, military, and law enforcement, that attend SHOT or cater to that market. It’s surprising therefore, there are almost no outdoor clothing companies at SHOT.

Neither my producer or I were familiar with the Lasting brand. Our goal was to check out their products, especially their socks, and if they were quality, find out from the booth where online or which local retailers carried them. And boy, was I unprepared for what we experienced.

I believe wool is great for outdoor clothing (and many of my business suits are made of it). But I can’t wear wool without wearing a cotton base layer under it. My skin is unusually sensitive and typical wool will raise hives when it brushes against my bare skin, unless its Cashmere, even 100% Merino wool.

But I found out at Lasting that not all 100% Merino wool is the same. They only use 16.5µm thickness Morino wool thread which comes from the softer belly fur of Merino sheep. This makes their clothing feel more like silk or lycra than wool.

Yeah, I’ve heard similar claims about soft wool from clothing reps during Fashion Week in New York City, but my standard for soft is a lot higher than most. I was dumbfounded at how soft Lasting’s t-shirts felt. I’m wearing their t-shirt right now and I’ve never before been able to wear wool on my bear skin before this.

I never heard of Lasting before SHOT. I’m a Lasting fan now. But dang are they pricy. If you need a soft wool base layer, they are worth it.

Shooting Sports

New Aguila Rata 22LR

At the Aguila booth this year, Luis showed me their new packaging for the relaunch of their 22LR shotshell cartridges, renamed “Rata”, spanish for rat. Aptly named as this speciality cartridge was designed for dispatching fast moving pests at close range. Rata is unique in that it uses #10 bird shot, which are larger balls than their competitors such as CCI and Federal.

Because of the low recoil energy of this shells loading, this round does not cycle reliably in semi-auto firearms and should be used single-shot or in revolvers. Luis provided me with their gun range ballistics gel footage showing how effective it is in squirrel sized target. While not immediately obvious due to the small shot size and clear gel, on closer review of the footage, you can see multiple concurrent hits on the gel and an obvious transfer of energy. That varmint is d-e-a-d.

Gadgets, Shooting Sports

New NexTorch Products 2023

NexTorch is a flashlight and tactical accessory company that most consumers aren’t aware of. Primarily its because they primarily market to law enforcement, military, and first responders. And they’re German, preferring to promote themselves more by reputation than advertising.

NexTorch’s new TA30C is a tactical light outputs 1300 lumens with a rechargeable lithium battery. While these specs are pretty standard for flaghship tactical lights, what sets the TA30 apart from the category is its controls. Instead a memorizing a series of tailcap clicks or side button taps, the TA30 has a clear and intuitive control ring on the tail with power level symbols.

What isn’t as obvious from the photos but you can perceive when holding NexTorch flashlights, is the quality of their materials, construction, and thoughtful design. The TA30 can also sport a tactical carry ring that functions like an accessory handle and “brass knuckle” in melee. Unlike some gimmicky metal rings, their carry ring is made of polymer and can break away to reduce the risk of injury to the user if the flashlight is caught or trapped.

This practical design extends to their NEX security baton. This steel baton telescopes from a foot long steel rod and extends to 28″. It can accessorized with a 4 section cross-guard designed to defend the user from blade wielding assailants (England much?)

NexTorch is designed in Germany but produced in China to lower costs. Their products are priced at a premium compared with mass market Chinese brands like Olight and Fenix. But are still only half the price of comparable SureFires tactical lights.

Shooting Sports

Winchester Xpert 22LR

It’s been 40 years since Winchester stopped making the legendary Model 52. Last year, the Browning company that still bears the Winchester name, released their first .22LR rimfire in decades: the Xpert.

In many ways the Xpert is the diametric opposite of the Model 52. The Xpert shares the polymer body and 10/22 compatible magazine of the Winchester Wildcat. It uses an adjustable M.O.A. trigger from the Model 70 (which can be adjusted down to 2.5 lbs) and has a Bentz chamber.

With a street price under $300, the XPert is priced to compete with the base model Savage A22 and less than half the price of a Bergara B-series or the CZ 457s. It remains to be seen if the XPert can compete with those bolt-action rimfire rifles or live up to the legend of the Model 52.

Shooting Sports

New Integrix ELR Scopes

https://youtu.be/kN9Fc6hh3A0

Leapers is best known for the UTG brand of high-quality accessories and budget tier optics (my UTG Bugbuster is not awesome but for the price, one of my favorite scopes). Last year I was introduced to their Integrix brand made with German and Japanese glass and sporting premium features. They released their LPVO but delayed the launch of their PRS/ELR targeted scopes until now.

On Industry Range Day, I was surprised to stumble upon a small UTG booth at the end of the firing line. There I ran into our old friend Kiyo who set me up at the bench with an Accuracy International precision rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum, the same rifle used by the Canadian sniper who scored the worlds farthest confirmed kill at 1.3 miles! Atop this rifle was Leapers new Integrix 4.5-27x56mm FFP scope.

Dealing with a 20-30mph crosswinds and intermittent rain and hail, I managed to get at least 1 solid hit on a gong over 900m downrange. The scope brought the target sharply in focus and the image was bright and clear from edge to edge. And I’m told all of Integrix scopes are tested to withstand the recoil of .338 Magnum rounds.

Theis new ELR scopes contain premium components and are expected to have a commensurate price with an MSRP over $1500. This year I hope Kiyo and Leapers comes through with a sample model that I can test and review at the range.

Gadgets, Shooting Sports

Howard Leight at SHOT Show 2023

I’ve been longtime owner of Howard Leight Impact Sports electronic earmuffs. I’ve tested and reviewed many budget price headphones (around $50 or less) and Howard Leights have performed the best for ambient sound quality. I thought it would be a good to find out what was new with Impact Sports, at the Howard Leight booth at SHOT Show.

Erica at the booth showed me options for smaller head profiles and two new color options. They now offer a Bluetooth model which sorely needed as most new smartphones lack 3mm audio ports. Disappointingly, very little has changed with the Impact Sports line. But perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise because the basic model works as well as it does and has few faults (other than needing a lower pivot point for a tighter ear seal).

As more shooters switch to earbud electronic hearing protection, we will probably see less innovation in the over-ear hearing protection. Still lacking IMHO, is a set of earmuffs that truly offers music performance like the cheapest consumer headset. For travel, working, or just momentary peace and quiet, the Sound Canceling Earphone market has been huge (just look at BOSE, Sony, and Beats). There’s a missed opportunity here for Howard Leight or Walker or 3M to create a cross-over product.

Shooting Sports

New Monstrum Banshee LPVO

I stopped by the Monstrum Tactical booth at SHOT Show and was introduced to their new 1-10×24 Banshee LPVO. It is an upgrade in magnification power from the Specter but retains the same T1 reticle. I recently reviewed their Spectre 1-6×24 LPVO and was pleasantly surprised by a bump in optical quality over their offerings from just a few years ago. I hope to get one soon to compare it with the Spectre.

Southern California based Monstrum Tactical is one of the most underrated brands in firearms. Largely lumped together with budget brands like CVLife, Feyachi, and the plethora of random clone brands. I would agree that 8-10years ago, their red dots and rifle scopes were heavier knock-offs of name brand optics. But their new products look radically different.

In the last couple years they’ve quietly been improving the quality of their optics and glass. They still need to improve their turret quality and reticle options, but they’re putting out decent scopes for the price. And their mounts are some of the best for the price.

The Banshee is available through my Affiliate link: https://alnk.to/8PBuQFY
The Spectre is available through my Affiliate link: https://alnk.to/9xgwLWP

Shooting Sports

New Anderson Kiger 9C PRO

https://youtu.be/tTFw_RgUtdo

Anderson Manufacturing is famous for making budget build AR receivers and parts and whole rifles. But at SHOT Show 2023 their showcase product was a pistol. They launched their Glock-compatible Kiger 9C pistol a few months ago. For SHOT they brought out the Kiger 9C PRO model which incorporates lightening windows in the slide, a fluted barrel, and and RMR cut slide. You essentially get a Custom Glock for the price of plain vanilla.

Gadgets

New Streamlight Products for 2023

Streamlight is one of the oldest makers of EDC and weaponlights. This year marks their 50th Anniversary and at SHOT Show this year, I got a chance to see some of their new products. They’ve updated their ProTac flashlight line with version 2.0 models that all output 2000 lumens for over an hour. Unfortunately they accomplish this using a proprietary high capacity battery which may be a deal-breaker for some but most will still work with standard sized lipo batteries but with a lower light output.

One of the most interesting products I saw was their Pocketmate, a 300 lumen keychain mini-light which really was literally shaped like a key.

These flashlights are available through my Amazon Affiliate links

ProTac 2.0 flashlight https://amzn.to/3Zs8e62

Pocketmate keychain light https://amzn.to/3kB6hWo

Gear Reviews, Education, and Adventure