Opinions
Training Insight: Just Do Cool Sh*t like Ridgeline
The firearms training segment of the industry is pretty stale these days. How many fundamental level pistol/carbine classes can you take? Any serious student would say “as many as you can – never stop practicing the fundamentals.” I agree with that wholeheartedly which is why I stopped doing a lot of shoothouse and force on force […]
A Different Kind of SHOT SHOW
[While I am baring my feelings in this post, probably to the detriment of my business, I’ve never been one to hold back. Want to know how I feel? Just ask.] I’ve gone out to SHOT SHOW for many years now, more times than some of my peers, not as many times as the true […]
Why the Gun Industry Will Be Saved by Magpul
It’s Media Day at the Range at SHOT SHOW 2018 and I am not attending. It feels strange because Range Day is a normal staple of my SHOT SHOW agenda. As I woke up this morning, with the plastic reality that is Vegas looming over me, I was reminded that my favorite event in product […]
Behind the Scenes – 2017 Rifle Builds
In this video, I walk through two of my most recent rifle builds: a 16″ version that I put together myself with parts from my parts bin, and a 14.5 inch rifle that I planned out to be a high gun assembled by a professional. Nate at First Due Firearms of Sabattus, ME did the […]
Predictions for the GEMTECH and Smith & Wesson Deal
It’s been a while since I saw acquisition related news in this business that actually got me excited. With the recent announcement by RECOIL that Smith & Wesson, a division of the American Outdoor Brands Corporation purchased silencer company GEMTECH for an undisclosed amount of money, I get to put on my M&A hat and […]
The Strangest Press Release Ever?
Every day, my inbox gets flooded with press release after press release from marketing and PR companies working hard for their clients. I even setup mail filters to shuttle them all into one folder so I can scan them when I have time. But this latest press release from Shults Media Relations really caught my eye […]
The Top 5 Takeaways from OR’s Latest Video
“Where the Wild Things Play” is the latest video from Outdoor Research and Krystle Wright. Set to the background music of Cake’s “Short Skirt Long Jacket” the short film hits on all levels, showing that women can absolutely crush outdoor sports. In 4 days, this video has been seen more than 1.4 MILLION times. How […]
An Inside Look: Marketing Companies – A New Era of Snake Oil?
This “industry” is becoming overrun with people intent on delivering marketing services to small businesses. Undoubtedly, there are many reputable firms out there, but there are also many that are doing more harm than good. I’ve wanted to address the issue of Marketing Companies for the better part of a year, and I finally got to putting my […]
Our Subtle Shift of Strategy
I’ll give it to Facebook. They’ve got the evergreen content strategy nailed. Those reminder posts that they inject into your feed really give you a good perspective of where you are today versus where you were one, two, or five years ago. It’s amazing to sit back and think about what we choose to post […]
Ahhh, Hypocrisy! Welcome Back!
If you’ve followed my stuff for a while, you know that I can tend to be a bit outspoken about protecting artists rights, especially when it comes to copyright. I’ve stood on more than one soapbox, had a LOT of discussions with folks (and peers) with dissenting opinions, and have come to the conclusion that […]