Shot Show 2026 recap

John AdamaStaff - 12 hours ago

This week I attended Shot Show in Las Vegas. It’s the largest trade show for anything tactical, guns, military, LE, etc. Here’s a random recap of trends and products I noticed:

Drones, robots, surveillance, and AI… oh my. While companies have been playing with these techs for a while, it does feel like things are shifting from “fun prototypes” into “this shit is real now.” Besides the tech reaching more field-ready stages, the industry is also clearly responding to the massive increase in budgets and oppressive appetites at the US fed gov. As a civilian who believes in things like privacy and constitutional law, I couldn’t help but feel grief/dread as I watched the pitches.

Anti-drone ammo for normal AR-15s / .223s: As defeating drones became important in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the first anti-drone attempts focused on shotguns, nets, radio jamming, etc. But the shotgun approach has downsides. A company that caught my attention is Drone Round Defense. They make a standard .223 / 5.56 round that fires shot instead of a single bullet. The round works in any normal .223 rifle, using normal mags, and can even be run full-auto and suppressed. 

This makes a lot of sense to me, because I will almost always prefer to carry a rifle than a shotgun for general defensive needs and wouldn’t want to lug a shotgun just in case there’s a drone. Just one 30-rd mag of these rounds would be great for drones or even human defense in the way a shotgun would be. Effective to 100 meters and with decent velocity (2,200 fps).

The company seems to be a little hush and not handling PR well. And they aren’t selling to civilians. But whether it’s this group or another, I like this category. Here’s the one public video about them:

New Avon half-face respirator and goggles + PPE companies embracing civilians: I’ve recommended Avon for a while as the best gas mask, and use their C50 in my personal preps. But, like most high-end PPE companies, they typically didn’t sell to or even think about the civilian market. I remember trying to talk to the 3M reps at Shot in 2017 and they essentially laughed me out of the booth while saying “we don’t care about the civilian market and frankly don’t want to sell to them… you weirdo.” Thankfully that attitude is changing across the industry — COVID and the continued rise of mainstream preppers certainly helped. A good demonstration of this is that Avon opened their direct to consumer ecommerce site about a year ago. I’ve bought supplies from them (without them knowing I was an ‘influencer’) and was happy with the results. 

Avon has two new products that I’m very excited about and will personally buy to make a core part of my preps: the MITR-M1 Half Mask and the MITR-PG1 Powered Goggle. The M1 is already on market and the PG1 is coming later in 2026. 

I’m excited about them because I’ve never found a half-mask respirator or goggles that I actually like wearing and want to bet my life on, especially in a wildfire escape situation where you’re dealing with both heat and smoke/particulates. A lot of goggles just don’t handle that well, whether it’s fogging up, letting the smoke in, or even melting on your face. The PG1s have a battery that actively moves/filters air while creating positive pressure inside the mask (which helps keep the external stuff out). And both systems fit perfectly with a helmet and shouldering a weapon.

Diamondback SDR-A is a new 2″ snub nose aluminum everyday carry .38 SPL +P revolver. Approx $600. I’ve been in the market for this style and was leaning towards the S&W 442/642, which are some of the classic go-tos that the SDR-A is competing against. I got to fire 12 rounds (this holds 6 rather than the typical 5) and mostly enjoyed it. The grip has a spot for your pinky, which competitors typically don’t, but how you address the pinky made a difference between the aiming angle feeling natural vs. not. The point of aim was lower than expected, with the front sight sitting entirely below the target. Lightweight, seems well made, the finish is nice, etc. I’ll probably buy this and use it as a pocket or ankle gun.

Forced Reset Triggers are having a moment. FRTs are a way to make semi-automatic guns fire faster, to the point they function similar to a full auto. Full autos (“machine guns”) are highly regulated, expensive, and rare in the US. FRTs existed in a gray area for a while, but recent government decisions reduced that risk/ambiguity to the point it seems they are here to stay. So the industry and consumers are leaning into it in a big way. We saw multiple demos of new or in-development products that we’re excited about and plan to use personally, like those from Active Safety Designs. 

Popular Garand Thumb video of an MP5 with FRT: 

New Streamlight TLR-3 X weapon light: I’ve run other TLR lights for years and they’ve been fine. But I got to play with this new model and liked it enough that I plan to sell some of the older ones I have and replace with this. It’s smaller, easier to customize (eg. the pic rail mount is reversible), and can use either a normal CR123 battery or a branded USB-C rechargeable option. (Micro USB needs to die yesterday!)

Lightweight boots seem to be a trend. There isn’t a specific one to call out — although I did see options from Arc’teryx and generally love their stuff — so I just wanted to share the observation that there seems to be a wave of focus on this, maybe because of new advances in materials and manufacturing. Which is great, assuming the durability holds up! No point having a light boot if it falls apart.

The “smart” firearm accessories trend continues, but you can skip it for now. I noticed a lot more emphasis on digitized optics, weapon lights, laser/IR systems, range finders, goggle AR overlays, and so on. The new Leupold rangefinder was an example from the show. The pitch is usually something like “buy all this stuff that works together and you’ll be a better shooter!” But I just don’t get excited about it and think the market is still too early. It’s a lot of money for only a theoretical benefit… 99% of you will be better shooters simply by practicing and/or buying better ammo, not via these gadgets.

CRKT Provoke X pocket folding tomahawk (and the Provoke karambit defensive knives): 
I first learned about how tomahawks can be a legit fighting weapon from Jon Stokes when he was writing the original tomahawk guides for TP. He and others have shared stories about how War on Terror special forces guys were really enjoying using them in the field. The new $325 Provoke X is a foldable, rapidly-deployable tomahawk that you could carry in a pocket or mag pouch:

Although not new, it was my first time touching the $225 Provoke karambits and I plan on buying one. Karambits are a popular EDC defense blade because of how you hold the blade, creating a sort of talon that comes out of the bottom of your fist. I find it to be a more natural and dummy-proof (ish) fighting style, especially if you’re not going to train a lot. But most karambits fold in half, which can limit how you deploy them and create awkwardness in a real-world fight. 

Ironclad EXO Tactical Operator Impact gloves: $35. I got these as a freebie giveaway and haven’t yet put them through their paces, but the first impression is great. And I’m typically picky about gloves. I have large hands and tactical gloves typically don’t fit well, with the wrist cuff often coming up short, but these XLs are comfortable. Seems well made, but not bomb proof — I can tell where it will fail whenever it eventually does. The thick knuckle protections are a good balance of padding without being too rigid.

The “suppressor boom”: Although Republicans did not deliver on their promise to make buying a silencer the same as buying a firearm, the $200 tax is gone and the process has shrunk from almost a year’s wait down to a few days. So the market is expecting a boom in civilian suppressor sales, and you can feel this across the industry with lots of new options, sales pitches, etc. I hope it continues and protecting your hearing is no longer vilified. 

Anti-thermal features are more heavily marketed as a reaction to thermal vision continuing to spread. Like the “IR defeating” heat coatings promoted on the new Daniel Defense offerings.

Ruger updates the classic 10/22: The “takedown” backpack rifle is very popular for prepping since it’s so lightweight, affordable, and easy to use for the less-trained among us and/or when hunting rabbits and such. Ruger announced some misc. updates to their 10/22s, such as better triggers, reduced weight, M-LOK handguards, etc. I didn’t see specifics on which models get what and when, but it’s nice to see they’re continuing to invest in this classic category. I’ll finally buy one for myself when the updates are rolled out and combine it with the Magpul X-22 Backpacker stock, which we got to try out:

Magpul DAKA Grid System: This launched at Shot a couple years ago, but this was my first chance to fiddle with it and it’s a neat way to solve the problem of customized rifle case storage. I used to make custom foam cutouts for my hard cases, but it’s a lot of effort that only lasts as long as your rifle or it’s configuration doesn’t change. The DAKA Grid is an obvious way to solve that problem.

Dark Energy Poseidon XL: A new portable battery pack that’s ruggedized, has solar input, etc.

Nite Ize Orange Screw ground anchors: I like Nite-Ize in general, and last year they acquired the Orange Screw products. Could be a good choice for a portable shelter kit.