by Over the years I have come home with a lot of swag from the SHOT Show. Every year seems a little different other than patches are always popular. Stickers are moving up in popularity due to the cost savings over patches.
Since I give out patches as well as take them, I tend to get some cool ones. By the way, the swag pirates already have the Altama patch set up on EBay for $60 and up. Not cool!
Then there is the perennial favorite that I always try to collect, the Dillo, from LaRue Tactical. It is a tactical “beverage entry tool.” LaRue makes great barrels and triggers among other items.
Then there is the more unusual swag. One year I got a pair of “Battle Brief” boxer briefs from Tactical Distributors. This year it was a pair of cool socks from Darn Tough. I wear their wool socks year around and love their lifetime warranty. These are from their new line called “Wide Open”. I’m wearing them as I write.
Then there is the really useful swag. My good friend Andy Langlois of Andy’s Leather sent me home with one of his Rhodesian slings. Unlike many slings which are meant to be primarily carry slings, this is a shooting sling. It gives a fourth point of contact when shooting a rifle. I highly recommend them.
I always like to spend some time at the Suppliers Showcase which is on Monday and Tuesday. The suppliers range from those having raw materials like steel and fabrics to industrial control software to firearm parts. One of the companies I came across was HolsterSmith.com which sells holster making supplies. They had everything from Kydex to leather and everything needed to make your own holster. They sent me home with a kit to make a leather OWB holster for a Glock 19. With a little work, it will also fit a Ruger RXM.
I don’t believe I saw any giveaway t-shirts this year but I could have missed them. To the Complementary Spouse’s joy, I only came home with one cap though I was offered many more. This one was from Arktis of the UK. It was in blaze orange camo (and not made in China!). Everyone can use a good blaze orange cap for hunting! As for Arktis itself, they make great combat smocks and chest rigs.
Since certain Facebook commentators are consternated about NRA directors being at the SHOT Show, I want to emphasize I was there under my own media credentials, I paid for my food, lodging, and airfare out of my own pocket, and nothing cost the NRA or its members a dime. Every other director who was there with whom I’ve spoken with either at or after the show did the same in terms of paying their own way. I don’t know how things were done when Wayne and his cronies were running things but this is how it is done now.
Even though I think the main guy has definitely derailed his own conversation, the question he was really asking in follow up was whether anyone actually verified that NRA didn’t buy a bunch of entry passes in advance ready to give to board members.
Even if you went there on your own pass for your own purpose or business, that doesn’t mean that the staff broke old habits and reduced their purchasing. Those passes add up and the money may have been spent even if you guys didn’t intend it to be spent. (Also, he was absolutely not productive in the way he handled the attempts at follow up. It speaks volumes that the seriousness you took with him got a more productive response. Kudos to handling it well for as long as I followed the comments. I think at least one other board member absolutely made the situation way worse by targeting people in the industry who are friends with him with a public post.)
As I noted on X, when dealing with NRA members who are former staff or know former/current staff, there’s a bit more grace that needs to be extended.
One, they likely know more details on how the operations of something is/was handled inside. If they know that and realize how likely it is that waste is still happening because board members don’t know how things work, there will be frustration. At a much lesser level of insight, I know how insulting it was when a board member recently dismissed my 20 years of active involvement in various aspects of the NRA & its offices and tried to distract me with a referral to a completely unrelated committee/office. Like, I don’t control these budgets, you do, and you don’t even know what offices exist in the organization? Experience that kind of dismissiveness multiple times and it can leave members a little jaded.
Two, they already worked for below market rate wages in many cases, and working for NRA doesn’t exactly open that many doors for many positions. They’ve given of themselves and risked career options in many cases to serve, so emotions may be high. There aren’t many board members who ever reach out to help with the actual work when times are tough or busy for the organization. The ones who do get talked about for years in a very positive light. I heard stories almost two decades after someone left the board about how even when they disagreed with him, the staff appreciated that he reached out to find out what was necessary to do their jobs or lighten the heavy loads.
Three, many times because of their circles they know of other waste or problems with divisions that could have made better choices and actually helped the association out. This insight is going to cloud the attitude and bring out frustration. More board members need to seriously listen to figure out what the details are that they are missing to address the concerns. I know you do a great job of listening and asking good questions – hopefully others learn from that example.
And, also, yeah, crazy how swag ends up on ebay so quickly. It’s not uncommon for me to find the DAR donor gifts up on ebay for sale before mine has even arrived. 🙃
Love the Tactical Entry Tools from LaRue. I have some friends in Texas and I might need to order some for gifts (plus, of course, one for myself).
Without knowing anything about the FB kerfuffle, got to agree with Bitter that grace goes a long way, and spending time finding out the culture of a staff goes just as far. If it was always a benefit, bitching at people about it doesn’t help, versus asking why it’s a benefit.