Day two of SHOT continued, for us, with back-to-back meetings.

We started the day with Tim Matter and Chris Wood of Tactical Walls. They showed us their new drop-down shelf product and introduced us to David Roberts of Tennessee Arms Company. Tennessee Arms produced polymer lowers for AR-15’s. David claims to do one thing and do it very well. He also suggested that their hybrid, nylon-brass lowers can withstand far more abuse than poly lowers of the past. Tennessee Arm’s lowers are made of nylon with a brass inserts in the buffer tower and pistol grip. The basic lower weighs in at 5.6 oz, lists for $46.73 and is available in black, flat dark earth, rifle green, OD green, stealth gray and pink.

Shortly after leaving the Tactical Walls/Tennesee Arms booth, we came across one of our dedicated readers.

After pulling ourselves away from Ted, we stopped by the CRKT booth to see what was new. A couple of their fixed-blade knives caught our eyes.

Designed by Lucas Burnley, the ACHI’s understated elegance drew us in to striking distance. The ACHI is designed to be a traditional utility/EDC knife with an intriguing shape and design. The blade is made of 8Cr13MoV. The knife is 6.25″ long and weighs a scant 2.8 oz. With a price point of just $59.99, we predict the ACHI will become a fan favorite.

Just down the display row from the ACHI was the Yukanto, designed by James Williams. With a twist on Osaraku style, William’s blade is made for fighting and designed with our special operations forces in mind. The name means “sword of valor.” The blade is made of AUS 8 steel and powder coated black. The knife is 8.69″ long with a weight of 3.9 oz. The G10 handle, with its unique X pattern, felt secure in our hands if, perhaps, a little small.

The VertX booth was next. They announced their new Core Casual Pants on Day 1 of the show. With an even lower profile than most of their pants, the Core should feel right at home in the casual office environment. All of the typical VertX features were there. The 9 oz, 98% cotton/2% Lycra fabric also seems like a good fit for an urban/sub-urban environment.

Next up – one of our show favorites. RISE Armament President Chris Barger thinks that his new RA-535 drop-in trigger is the “Ferrari of triggers.” You know what? He may just be right. The trigger has an exceptionally fast reset, nearly nonexistent over-travel and a smooth, crisp, light trigger pull. At $259.00, the RA-535 is smack-dab in the middle of the price range for high quality, drop-in AR triggers with what felt like a bit of a performance edge.

One of the themes of the show, in terms of backpacks, seems to be the “covert” AR-15 pack. While we’re confused by the term “covert” as it relates to these packs (What exactly are people supposed to think is in these packs, tennis racquets … violins … really long books?) we have to admit, they do have a niche. Eberlestock was certainly one of the earliest companies to understand that niche and provide a product. With their history in Olympic shooting, Eberlestock has been making packs to carry rifles during competitions and hunts for years. Their Cherry Bomb and Secret Weapon packs are no exception.

Most of Eberlestocks new products this year are targeted at the hunting market. Their F1-Mainframe is their latest innovation in hunting packs. A basic frame system that can be configured in one of more than 100 combinations, the Mainframe allows the hunter to go light, capable, comfortable or all of the above. You can even haul a cooler in/on this pack.

Sneaky Bags and Arc’Teryx also appear to be getting into the “covert” AR-15 backpack game.

We’ve done a couple reviews that included the MDT LSS precision rifle chassis. They had their new, skeletonized stock, polymer magazine and HS3 chassis at the show.

Based on the products at this year’s SHOT, the “gunderwear” (Our term. So far, we haven’t seen a product with this name ..

. thankfully.) category of concealed carry wear is hot.

On the other end of the “I Might Actually Wear This” spectrum were Kitanica’s denim jeans. Built to withstand the same abuse as Kitanica’s other clothing, these jeans looked both comfortable and durable. The multicam pocket liners were a big hit.

We had a really good discussion with the founder of Flashbang Holsters, Lisa Looper. She showed us their latest release, the Audrey. The Audrey was designed for ladies with “some extra curves” and can be worn strong-side with a reverse cant or weak side for a cross-draw.

Mesa Tactical was also very hospitable, walking us through their entire line. New for this year is their adapter for the FN SCAR that allows virtually any AR-15 stock to be used with the Belgian rifle.

That’s it for today. Stay tuned for another update on day three of the show.

Highlights from SHOT Show 2015:

If you haven’t been to the SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoors Tradeshow) show, it’s difficult to imagine the scope and scale of this event. Roughly 60,000 red-blooded Americans crowd into the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas to check out the latest and greatest (and some not-so-great) products aimed at the shooting sports industry.

As with most large trade shows, celebrities abound. We figured you’d rather see pictures of products, however, than us posing with Jerry Miculek.

On with the show!

Much of the pre-show buzz focused on Magpul and their latest releases since moving to Texas. Freed from the anti-Second Amendment shackles of Colorado, Magpul is going after the precision rifle market and … close to the other end of the spectrum … Glock pistols.

Magpul’s Hunter 700 rifle chassis is marketed to those looking to build a precision rifle based on the Remington 700 short action. The chassis features an aluminum bedding block, Magpul’s SGA cheek riser and length of pull (LOP) spacers. Reportedly, the chassis will be available in March with a MSRP of $259.95.

While they were dabbling in the precision rifle market, Magpul decided to produce polymer AICS-compatible magazines to go with their nifty, new chassis. MSRP on the new AICS-compatible p-mags is reported to be a measly $34.95.

Someone on the other end of the Magpul office complex must have come up with this next idea … Glock magazines. Magpul insists that these polymer magazines (no metal feed lips) will have the same reliability as OEM magazines at a $15.95 price point.

When asked about his sales pitch for these magazines, the Magpul rep responded, “You can buy three of these for the price of one OEM magazine. That’s it. That’s my pitch.” Last I checked, you could pick up a Glock 17 magazine from a number of online retailers for about $22.50.  I don’t mind saving a few bucks, but you certainly won’t get three Magpul G-mags for 1/3 of the price of an OEM magazine.

Benelli created a stir prior to SHOT this year by announcing their first-ever over & under shotgun

. The 828U – “the first over/under worthy of the Benelli badge” – had the Benelli booth filled with curious buyers. Unfortunately, the gun itself was nowhere to be found. Here’s hoping that Benelli actually gets one or two in their booth before the end of the show.

After a disappointing visit to the Benelli booth, we wandered past the Code Alpha display. Something interesting caught our eyes – a tactical, er “evil black” garment bag (in Coyote tan). Just what we needed for the evil black suits we wear during our evil black travel. We didn’t have much time to talk to the Code Alpha guys but they didn’t seem to find as much humor in the product as we did. Perhaps we’ll go back for a proper introduction.

Benchmade’s new 665 Ambidextrous Push Button (APB) Assist knife is one of the newest members of their Blue Class of knives. The opening mechanism is an aggressive spring assist while the closing mechanism is an ambidextrous push button. The 665’s blade steel is 154CM. The scales are blue and black contoured G10 with stainless liners.

Tenzing had an interesting pack that we thought could use a few minor modifications. Having some experience in carrying rifles over long distances in difficult terrain, we offered some constructive criticism. The rep was not amused.

Elite Survival Systems’ Covert Operations Backpack was one of many packs designed to carry an AR-15. Apparently, there is considerable demand for every day AR-15 carry.

Vanquest has marshaled into the ranks of the AR-15 pack brigade.

This product adds a whole new meaning to, “Smile and wait for the flash.”

This seems like a natural combination. As with most things, trying to be too many things to too many people may not pan out. Time will tell.

The answer to the age-old question, “How do I carry while running?” Apparently, targeted at women who run and guys who don’t.

Esky coolers have quite a few nifty features like an integrated basket and cutting board that stores on the under-side of the lid and fits into the top of the lid. They’re manufactured by Coleman in the U.S.A. (Kansas) and claim to hold ice 44% longer than Y(eti)ou Know Who. We hope to get one of their evil black models to test in the not-too-distant future. We know what you’re thinking, “A black cooler? Whose idea was that? We talked to them about the evil black color choice and they explained that they had the evil black model tested by an independent laboratory and that it performed just as well as their lighter-colored models.

Stay tuned for more coverage tomorrow.