This is the second in a series of reports from the 2012 Shooting, Hunting Outdoors Trade (SHOT) Show, the largest gathering of shooting and outdoor retailers, along with associated media, in the world.

Day one of the SHOT show: I’ve been to Las Vegas over a dozen times in the past 15 or so years and have a pretty good working knowledge of the street layout around the Vegas strip.

That’s why I know we weren’t lost.  Rather, I knew exactly where we were: driving in circles in a forsaken ghetto in west Las Vegas.

It was a typical start to our SHOT show adventure.

The whole thing started the night before when our hotel desk clerk suggested we drive to the show rather than take the monorail system that makes a stop right behind the Sands Hotel convention center, where the show is located.  She said that by parking at the Wynn Hotel and Casino, we could easily walk to the show.

After the minor miscalculation and detour involving Desert Inn Boulevard, we finally arrived at the Wynn.

It was an easy walk, especially after the nice plainclothes security officer decided to walk us through the hotel to make sure we didn’t end up dying of malnutrition while walking in circles inside the cavernous resort.

According to Ken’s pedometer, it was short jaunt of 8/10′s of a mile before we even arrived at the Sands Convention Center.  We’re so grateful that the clerk saved us from making that 500 yard walk from the monorail station.

The show was the same as always: huge, loud, crowded and completely beyond human comprehension.

We saw many old friends, met several new ones, saw a few celebrities and had a semi-violent discussion about the merits of the Weaver versus Isosceles stand over beers.  In all, pretty much the same as always.

In the end, we walked about 5 miles, filled our bags with all sorts of free brick-a-brack and grew even more jaded at the thought of looking at one more black rifle.

All I can say is that when all the shooting wars stop, there is going to be a considerable amount of oversupply of tactical stuff.

Other random thoughts:

1.  The Zombie crazy is out of control.  We have seen zombie ammunition, zombie guns, zombie targets, zombie gun-cleaning-kits and zombie knives.  OK, folks- a joke is a joke; this is getting out of hand.

2. Las Vegas has the highest per-capita amount of legal advertising in the western world (“If you’ve been injured in an accident, or killed someone with a machete during a robbery, call Dewey, Cheatam and Howe…..”)

3. The Peppermill restaurant, on the Las Vegas strip, is an institution.  If you are visiting Lost Wages, stop at the Peppermill for a good meal at reasonable prices.

4.  The number of panhandling homeless people in Vegas is dramatic and annoying.  I find it hard to believe that a truly homeless and penniless person could afford an accordion.  On the other hand, maybe the market for accordion studio musicians has fallen drastically.

5. Never trust the directions from a desk clerk

6.  Never, ever trust the directions from a desk clerk.  If you do, make sure you’re wearing comfortable shoes.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites