SHOT Show — Best of Day 1 - Off Duty, Technology - Army Times

SHOT Show — Best of Day 1

Video: Kroma Milspec – T-1 Micro – GPS02

ORLANDO, Fla. – We’re in the rear with the gear, and guess what? Life is good.

The 2007 Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference kicked off here Thursday in grand fashion as the largest SHOT Show in the 29-year history of the event. Around every corner of the massive Orange County Convention Center lurks a never-before-seen item with the potential to change — or maybe even save — your life.

So deciding what to highlight from our first day on the floor was like trying to choose a favorite “Deal or No Deal” girl.

Thousands of industry professionals poured in to wander through 650,000 square feet of all of the hottest new tactical and outdoor gear, put on display by more than 1,800 manufacturers and distributors. It’s gear heaven in there, and once we stopped drooling, our four-person recon team got down to the business of finding the next big thing.

The best of the best? Too close to call. The best we can do at this point is offer the “Best of the Day,” the top three items we couldn’t stop talking about over dinner.

Submitted for your approval, “The Best of Day One.”

1. Video: SureFire Kroma Milspec

The company that revolutionized the tactical flashlight industry has done a lot to diversify itself over the years, moving into such areas as hearing protection and flash/sound suppressors. So good are some of these options, the company’s brand new trio of fixed- and folding-blade tactical knives almost made our “best of” list.

But in the end, the SureFire team is known for its flashlights, and the new Kroma Milspec might be the last one you’ll ever have to buy.

Designed to suit most military applications, the Kroma Milspec is actually five flashlights in one. There’s a red light for field use, a blue light favored by medical personnel, a yellow-green light for aviators, infrared for illumination while wearing night-vision goggles and a dual-intensity white light. Selecting your preferred color is as easy as turning a dial, eliminating the need for keeping up with a variety of colored filters.

The Kroma Milspec is powered by the same lithium batteries as its other offerings, and has a run time of four hours at low intensity and 1.5 hours at high intensity. Suggested retail price is just over $300, reduced to about $250 with a military discount.

So far, only about 300 have rolled off the assembly line, and most of those are have been sent out into the world for user feedback. Look for it to hit a retailer near you by early summer.

2. Video: Aimpoint T-1 Micro

Recently selected — again — as the Army’s optics company of choice, the folks at Aimpoint were awarded a contract earlier this month for more than 160,000 of their new CompM4 tactical red-dot aiming sights. After all, what’s not to love about an optic that will probably outlive the rifle it’s attached to?

But as much as we liked the CompM4, it was Aimpoint’s T-1 Micro that got our Spidey senses tingling. Super-tiny, weighing in at just 3.6 ounces, the nonmagnifying optic is perfect for adding a red-dot sight to all types of rifles, submachine guns, handguns and shotguns. It can be used as a stand-alone sight or be top-mounted on larger optics, night-vision or thermal-imaging devices.

The sight has six night-vision settings and seven daylight settings, and is designed to operate continuously for more than five years on the included battery. It is expected to retail for about $680.

Unveiled publicly for the first time Thursday at SHOT Show, visitors to the Aimpoint booth seemed to be pondering all of the possibilities the Micro might offer. We can’t wait to see what you come up with.

3. Video: GPS Morphed

Maybe you’ve already seen the Grip Pod Systems’ GPS02, a front handgrip with a hidden bipod that springs from the bottom at the push of a button. Already, more than 75,000 soldiers and Marines have them attached to their M-16 and M-4 rifles, and thousands more are waiting in line.

Soon, M249 Squad Automatic Weapon gunners will get a turn, thanks to the GPS Morphed, an updated version of the GPS02 that was unveiled Thursday. Gone are the lightweight polymer-and-steel legs, replaced by sturdier all-aluminum legs. It’s a small change, but it raises the system’s load-bearing capacity from 300 to 450 pounds and makes it perfect for the SAW gunner, according to co-inventor J.R. Moody.

We were skeptical of the system’s durability until the 180-pound Moody set one up and stood on top to prove it wouldn’t break.

“The Army’s been using them for three years now and we haven’t had a problem,” he said.

The system, distributed by U.S. Tactical Supply, is expected to retail in the $100 to $150 price range.

Best of Day 2

Find of Day 1: Blist-O-Ban

Find of Day 2: ParaScope Urban Combat Sight

SHOT Show preview