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Some additional thoughts from the NRA convention today as I think about my experience over in St Louis.
In was painfully obvious that some companies/brands/booths were very busy and some were not. Granted I didn’t hit every booth but I did walk the entire exhibit hall once because I knew I wasn’t coming back for a second day but still in my hurried canvas of the expo hall some were covered up and some were not.
Those companies that were covered up seemed to have two or three things going on. First was color. In a world of black rifles, cammo and “tactical” colors, the booths and companies who were bright with color were busy. Blue, white, red and yellow seemed to attract the most attention. For what ever reason color seemed to be a magnet.
Second was the representatives on the floor. Those busy folks were busy because they knew their stuff and wanted to talk about their stuff. I found that a lot of the folks working some of the booths were not sales people but were from manufacturing, assembly and also development. I liked that. I liked talking guns with the guy or gal who either built it or developed it and also uses it. The not so busy booths were staffed by mostly sales people it seemed.
Last those working the floor worked the floor. When I walked up to a booth I was greeted and asked what I was looking for, interested in or wanted/needed info on. They were seeking out the public. The other less busy booths seemed to be talking to their friends and not really interested in engaging the public.
ATTENTION LOUISVILLE FARM SHOW EXHIBITORS: Take note above……the last few times I have been at Louisville you have acted like its a chore for me to ask a question or inquire about a product. Plus your all sales people, get the real people out on the floor would you. Those that know the product, built it, developed it and use it.
If there was a disappointment in anything it was in one booth I visited. A company, whom will not be named, of whom I have and use a lot of their products, seemed to be staffed almost by kids, (granted I am now mid 40′s so I find myself saying kids to anyone who looks younger than me, a sign that I am getting old) of whom were more interested in talking to each other and handing out an occasional “sticker” than in talking about their products. I was almost shocked. I stopped by there to see what was new, what was up and coming and what might be new to add to my collection but not only did they not have much to see they had even less to talk or hear about. Epic fail…………..
ATTENTION LOUISVILLE FARM SHOW EXHIBITORS: Take note above……Last year I went to two different manufactures of the same type product to investigate buying their products only to be greeted by KIDS who didn’t know squat about what you made……………and I didn’t even get a “sticker”. Pull your heads out of you rear ends and get with the program.
I found all the NRA staff that I recognized to be extremely friendly and kind. I also found all the big “stars” of shooting TV who were there to be very friendly in the booths. I noticed that when they left the booths they made a b line for the door and while still nice they were pretty short on fanfare. This I think was to be expected. I assume that they were under contract do just what they did in the booths or companies for which they were being paid and couldn’t do any extra for “free” for those that stopped them in the hallway.
Another thing I noticed was that the booths with the scantly clad ladies signing pictures and letting those who wanted to take pictures with them do so were busy but there was little interest in the actual products that said ladies were standing besides. Just proves that you can draw a crowd but without something substantial you cant hold them.
Last but not least……..
Being a farmer, and a joke that all farmers and ag businesses understand, I have never paid for a ball cap. We farmers always get a “give me” cap. For the record I have purchased ball caps, I purchased my Glock hat several years ago, my Rock River Arms hat and also my Knob Creek hat. But the other 100 or so hats on the hat rack are give me caps from various ag companies. Those caps I have purchased are of good quality. Again the joke is that you cant give a farmer a “cheap” hat and expect them to wear it.
Matter of fact there are only certain brands that we will wear because they will hold up to the abuse we give them.
Smith and Wesson was giving away hats when I was there. Nice hats. Very nice hats. Good quality hats. I would have to guess that those hats cost them about $5-$8 wholesale at the volume they were giving them out. Having bought give me hats to pass out for the soil testing company I know what a good hat will cost. Smith and Wesson were giving away a quality hat worth the money.
Kudos to them for doing so.
Now that being said a lot of the other companies were selling hats so that you could get the “star” or “expert” they had speaking in their booths to sign them. Some of these hats they were asking $15 for or more. And they were CHEAP hats. Cheap hats that a farmer wouldn’t be caught dead wearing.
Pitiful!
Besides what good is a hat that is signed by someone? You would never wear it would you? Hats are meant to be worn and worn out then thrown away. You wear a hat until it isn’t recognizable and then you go to the closet or hat rack and get another give me hat and go on.
I will wear my Smith and Wesson hat with pride until it wears out. Thank you S & W!
No, I didn’t buy a $15 cheap hat either.
And no one signed my hat.
Hats are made for wearing.
Leave it to a farmer to go to the NRA Convention and talk about give me hats.
Took Friday off, it ended up raining anyway, and went over to St Louis to the NRA convention. This is the first convention I have been to. I thought as a new life member I should take it in. I have to say its the equivalent of the Louisville Farm Show for guns……just LOTS and lots to see and none of it work related.
First off I must apologize for the quality of the photos. I used my phone because I didn’t want to take my camera and have an extra device to keep track of. That was a mistake. First, my phone camera had dust on the lenses from planting on Thursday and second, my battery died about half way through the day. There were so many thing I wanted to take pictures of that I just couldn’t after the phone died. Oh well.
So squint a little bit and maybe the pictures will be in focus……….
First I got to meet Frank W. James. Frank is a now retired farmer and gun writer from northern Indiana. His blog is one that I frequent pretty much daily and the link to it is here. Great talking with Frank and making the introduction.
I hit the Rock River booth, makers of AR platforms and my favorate AR platform for a visit and fondling of the new products.
I also hit the Smith and Wesson booth and got to fondle the new (or new to me) M&P .22 pistol. I am really leaning towards one of these if I can’t get my hands on a Tactical Solutions .22 conversion for my Glock. I visited with the fine folks at Tactical Solutions on the Glock conversion and got to fondle it as well and I like it. Trouble it no one has one to sell………….?? Back orders.
A quick stop by the Glock booth to see the Glock 20 10mm hand cannon and I got to see R Lee Ermey or “Gunny”. The line was long for an autograph and picture so I snuck this one just before my camera went dead.
I grabbed this qucik picture of Ronnie Barrett designer of the infamous Barrett 50 cal rifle just as my phone went dead.
As withe Louisville Farm Show, you can’t see it all in one day or in one sitting. Plus there are all the “special events” going on at each booth its hard to make it to them all as well. I got to see bits and pieces of Tom Knaff talking, the boys from Shooting USA talk and sign stuff, Maj John Plaster and the those guys from that swamp people show. But then again I didn’t get to spend a great deal of time at any one place to see exactly what they were saying or doing either.
All that being said, I enjoyed my first NRA convention thoroughly. Well worth the worn out back and feet at the end of the day………I will be going back to another on real soon.
My sister Samantha and her son Jack from Phoenix are here at world wide headquarters for the next week for a visit. Jack made a field visit today to bring me a diet Mt. Dew.
Started planting corn today. Field I was in had been deep tilled in January when it was so dry and it also has tile. It was dry and worked like a lettuce bed! Best working ground we have had in years.
I ran the autosteer but for what ever reason it kept loosing GPS fix in one place in the field so I ran with the markers down and it was good to see that the competing technologies matched up!
One thing that always amazes me is that coyotes are not scared the least bit of farm equipment. And it always amazes me that I never have a firearm when these events happen………
Broke down and got the disc out and went to it. Ground is working very well and will be near perfect after a pass with the field cultivator. May try to plant some corn tomorrow……….more later
With not much time to post this last week or this week I thought I would start a new category to use as filler when ever the mood strikes me. Farmers have some of the best road side signs ever. So look for them and send them in and I will post them here.
For today here is one that got shared off Facebook
There are two distinct wheat crops growing in Southern Illinois this spring. The distinction is in how they have been managed.
Those who have managed their wheat according to the weather and growth stage have some awesome looking wheat. Plant development has been greatly accelerated due to the unusually warm weather we have had this winter and spring. The result is that we are about a month ahead of schedule in some areas with where the wheat is in its life cycle. Those fields have had their N applied earlier than normal and have had their weed control applied earlier as well. The result is one of the best looking wheat crops ever in my opinion.
Those who have managed their wheat according to the calendar have wheat that is behind in its development and in some cases its health. This wheat looks N deficient in most cases and is shorter. In some instances we see tiller development aborted due to lack of N. Nitrogen has been applied later and in some cases the weed control chemistry is just going on and with the hot temperatures for this time of year we see some cosmetic burn to the plant. Worse yet some have combined their N and weed chemistry to save time and trips across the field. Again we see some plant injury and loos of weed control. This wheat crop looks average at best.
So which one is right?
Well with the lack of a late spring freeze appearing likely managing by plant development and going early could result in one of the best wheat crops in years. Even better than last year. If we were to get a late spring freeze, then that advanced crop is toast. Then those who managed by the calendar will look like geniuses. No matter what the later crop is going to be average at best but it will be a crop.
Lately I have seen a lot of discussion on Mossbergs new 464 “tactical” lever action rifle. Frankly the discussion goes all over the place and most of it (discussion) is about useless. I look at it and say why? I mean is there really a market for that?
I have yet to think I needed a lever gun with a muzzle break, picatinny rail fore grip and a M4 style stock.
Then again I went to a recent gun show with my friend Randy and he spotted a double barrel shotgun with a picatinny rail under the barrels. I didn’t even look at the thing let alone find out who made it. Really? A picatinny rail on a side by side coach gun?
What Cowboy Action is now shot in low light?
Again I don’t get it.
I guess I do get it, I mean in the age of marketing “tactical cool” you need a rail on everything. I am sure there is somewhere an espresso maker made to mount on the rail of an M4. If one where a true “operator” then I could see the need for such. Rail, not espresso maker. Yes I can even see the need for a light on a rifle or pistol but not all the other junk that folks hang there.
That being said Matthew and I went shooting Sunday for a while and we took our “tactical trail gun”. The old short barreled Winchester 94 Trapper in 38/357. No rail, no espresso maker, no light, no nothing. Just fun to shoot. And it didn’t even intimidate the cows in the background! The old gun is a shooter. I traded for this gun some 15 years ago. I had a Smith and Wesson 617 9 shot in stainless with a 6 inch barrel and the other guy had this gun. He wanted what I had and I wanted a Winchester 94. I miss the old S&W 617 but have got more use and had more fun with the 94.
For a trail gun it works for us. Its light enough to carry on a hike, can be loaded with bird shot or magnum loads and it sure seems quieter than the 617 when you shoot it. And with out a rail and such it doesn’t look tactical………meaning it doesn’t draw much attention except for the few guys who slobber over it because its a 94.
I guess I will just take my lever guns plain, no “tactical cool” please.
I sprayed 45 acres of volunteer wheat, cheat and other weeds yesterday as it is still way to wet to work ground here. I feared if I didn’t get them killed it was going to be a mess when I finally did get to work the ground. Even my worked ground is staring to green up a bit. I had to drive around a few wet holes even with the ATV sprayer.
The fall applied chemicals are doing a great job holding the weeds back on the no till fields. Wish I had hit them all now but who would have ever thought that we would be so early this year with our warm up.
I also mowed the grass, for the second time this year yesterday. Yep mowing grass in March……and spinning across the yard due to the wetness.
Still waiting on one last part to finish up the planter.
Trying to enjoy the calm before the storm so to speak…..because when it breaks its going to break hard I think. This crop will go in the ground the fastest and earliest I can remember. Then again………….I could get fooled.
I seem to have got way behind on keeping this page up as of late. To be honest I haven’t had time with this early spring…………
I will try harder but when I get in at night I have been wore out……..
So for a little while a “lite blogging warning” is in effect.
Promise I will do better!
New openers, shoes and firming points on the planter…………
Now we wait for Easter to get here……..no planting before then, if I can hold myself back!
Got up this morning and went and fed cows. Nope, not mine but a friends who had to be away for a few days and didn’t have anyone who could fill in for him. Was kind of fun actually. Had to spear four bales of hay to be put out in the feed lots for the cows and then put out some ground feed for the steers.
It was a welcomed change of pace and interesting to watch the livestock go through their habits when they hear the tractor coming and hear the bulk bin auger run. Pavlov was right…….. !
Then if was off to sample for the second day at Ridgeway. Off the tile fields it is a bit wet down at 5 plus inches. Rain in the forecast the next few days has everyone sitting on go. Still lots of spraying and fertilizing going on but little or no field work.
The weather says go, but the calendar and field conditions have everyone standing by. Some farmsteads look like the flight deck of a aircraft carrier. Everything is lined up along the driveway ready for take off.
Worked at soil sampling east and north of Ridgway, IL today. Saw some planters running up and down the roads but didn’t see anything being planted. I would say if it doesn’t rain they will be running hard this weekend.
In several fields I had to dodge tornado/storm debris, lots of insulation, shingles, small boards with nails in them and the occasional toy or Christmas decoration. Not sure where it came from, guessing Ridgway or Harrisburg as none of the structures near the fields I was in were damaged.
The fields with tile are very dry and would work good, but the fields with no tile were very wet at the bottom of the probe.
“The more complex the mind the greater the need for simplicity of play.” Capt James T Kirk
Its been a few days since I have had time to update my blog so I thought I would do so with a long post so “be warned those who enter here!” With the level of activity and constant variety of jobs to be done I feel the need for simple play but there is no time right now it would seem. Nor is there anyone who wants to play either. This rain would normally indicate a time to stop and rest, but rain isn’t welcome right now because of the list of things that must be done is not getting any shorter.
The new shed/warehouse/shop has a concrete floor now. The final pour happened yesterday and it looks truly beautiful. Concrete will be a welcome departure from rock and asphalt. The heat in the floor will be a welcome wonder for winter work that doesn’t seem to get done now because of the cold in the other shed. There is still a lot of work to be done on the shed but its getting closer.
I got in one good day of soil sampling on 2012 ground this past week before I had to pull out and head to a Pioneer meeting. The ground is sampling nice for the most part but is kind of funny in a way for March. With the lack of snow and shallow freeze/thaw that we get here in southern Illinois in a normal winter the ground is very “fluffy” in a lot of areas. That is dependent on if there was fall tillage done, but there is a good 3-4 inches of fluffy ground on most fields I have been on.
Everyone says they are ready to go to the field and plant corn, or so they say. Yet I can gather that most don’t have their seed corn yet and they keep forgetting that its March and not April. This very mild winter has got everyone mixed up and if it keeps this up till April I suspect we will see a lot of corn go in the ground sooner rather than later.
I did manage to slip in getting another field chisel plowed yesterday evening after I got back from my meeting. The ground is hard in these wheat fields and its no wonder why. The wet conditions last summer resulted in ruts from wheat harvest, double crop bean planting and from the bean harvest. Its ground is packed tight!
A side note is that while the big tractor is working in the field, out of no where come these seagulls. I have no clue where they came from. They are not hanging out around the farm anywhere, and the lake is several miles away. Yet they seem to show up within minutes of the tractor going to the field and disappear just a quickly when I shut it down. They don’t hang around. Strange birds for sure.
BTW in case I didn’t gripe enough its week 2 without any acetylene yet………….
If all that wasn’t enough, we have also been trying to get details on the new business finalized. That also isn’t getting done as fast as I want but it is going forward and we will be ready to go live soon, I hope. I guess if I wasn’t so busy with everything else I could get that done as well.
Speaking of simple play. What has happened to my “gun” shows on the outside channels? I mean even my favorites are not worth watching as of late on TV. It seems that every show is now doing the same topic week after week. I mean come on guys show me something new or original, not the same thing program after program with the same bad “experts” talking about and using the trendy words or latest fad in “tactical cool”. I have no interest in hanging an espresso maker off my AR’s rail.
Worse yet some have fallen into this “prepper” mentality as well. All I need is another show with the end of the word being preppers or bunker preppers or salt and preppers or what ever, with some gun play involved. First off your guys don’t have a clue, second you make gun owners look bad and three you can’t be for real. I mean anyone who is so scared of the EOTWAWKI would not be on national TV or even a gun show showing the world what you have laid in for an emergency.
Nothing on TV at all anymore.
Simple is what I need, simple play.
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