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GEAR This year Gerber is releasing its Bear Grylls Survival Series. The series includes nine different items ranging from knives to survival kits to multi-tools like this one: The Ultimate Multi-tool. It features a needle nose pliers, a fine edge knife, a serrated knife, saw, phillips screwdriver, small flat driver, medium flat driver, lanyard ring, bottle opener, can opener, scissors, wire cutters. The only thing this tool doesn’t include is Bear’s rugged English accent.This is the king of the series, named the Ultimate knife. It is 10 inches long with a 4.8-inch blade. The sheath includes a fire starter that can be used with the striker notch on the back of the knife blade.This is X Cam Blackout from Primos. It has a preview screen that shows you exactly where the camera is pointing and it produces no visible light. But with LED technology Primos claims, it still gives you 50 feet of night photo range that is undetectable to animals and humans.Leopold also has a new trail camera this year called the RCX. The camera has a separate controller and viewer that allows you to download images and video right from the field. This allows you to leave the camera in the field longer and more frequently. Watch the video here.Danner’s new boot, the Descender, is designed for tactical air assault. With 100-percent waterproof Gore-Tex and a lacing pattern that gives you a glove-like fit, these boots will be useful in the field even if you’re not dropping out of a helicopter.This is Scent-Lok’s bomber jacket in Vertigo pattern from the company’s Savanna line. The Savanna line is designed for warm weather hunting in the early season. The jacket has a light-weight design for September whitetail hunts or long hikes on cool mornings in elk country.Coleman’s new camo for 2011 is the Alsea Jacket and pants. Both the pants and the jacket are water resistant, breathable, stretchable and quiet. It’s available in Mossy Oak Breakup and Max4 camo patterns and at $90 for the jacket and $80 for the pants, it won’t put too big of a hole in your wallet.Leupold’s Vendetta isn’t brand new, it debuted in 2010, but it’s still relatively fresh on the market. The Vendetta is a range finder that mounts to your bow, and by pressing a button that attaches to the grip of your bow, you can activate it at full draw. It takes about an hour to accurately mount on your bow, but once set it’s good out to 70 yards and automatically adjusts for inclined and declined shots. However, the Vendetta is not legal in all states, so check the regulations where you hunt before you buy it.GUNS Berretta’s A400 Xplor now comes in 3 1/2-inch in the Unico model.This prototype shows a cutout of the new gun’s Kick-Off recoil reducing system that Beretta claims allows the gun to shoot with 70 percent less felt recoil than competitors.Also new in the A400 Xplor line is the Excel. This is a competitive sporting clays gun, and yes, it only comes in blue. Beretta hopes that the unique color pattern will attract younger shooters.The gun also has a screen at the bottom of the heel that tells you how many rounds were fired through it as well as what the outside temperature is.Savage rolled out a handful of new guns this year including the Model 111 and Model 11 Lightweight Hunter. The guns are designed for long backcountry hikes and of course come with Savage’s signature AccuTrigger. The Model 11 short action rifle weighs only 5.5 pounds.Savage set out to make a shotgun that shoots like a rifle and the product is the 212 Slug Gun complete with an AccuTrigger and a fully rifled barrel. The gun comes in both 20-gauge and 12-gauge.Also new from savage is the Model 16 Bear Hunter. It has a stainless steel fluted barrel and it’s stock is synthetic and camo patterned. It comes in .300 WSM and .325 WSM.And last but not least from Savage is the Axis Series stainless rifle. The gun is sure to become a reliable beater for new hunters and those looking to save some cash. It comes in both short and long-action calibers and it only costs about $414. But the downside is it doesn’t come with an AccuTrigger.Ruger’s new gun for 2011 is the Gunsite Scout Rifle. Ruger designed the rifle with help from experts at Gunsite Academy, a marksmanship school in Arizona. It comes in .308 Win. and sports a picatinny rail and flash suppressor. The gun is built for fast mounting, quick target acquisition and accurate shooting.The SHOT Show is officially underway and all the big gun manufacturers are rolling out their latest products. This is the Raging Judge from Taurus.The Raging Judge has created a swirl of gun talk at the show. It’s a beast of a handgun that fires 28-gauge shotshells. The Raging Judge has a cushioned insert on the grip to reduce recoil. It’s a big, heavy gun that is sure to kick like a mule.Taurus also had this new rifle that came in both .40 cal and .45 cal.This was one of the many new tactical rifles that was introduced at the show.But not all the new guns were tactical. Weatherby will introduce a new series of Vanguard rifles this year that will eventually phase out the current line of Vanguards. Note: The rifles pictured here are the old Vanguard models. The new model hasn’t even been manufactured yet.The new line will have redesigned stocks to make them lighter. While the action will remain exactly the same as the old Vanguards, the new vanguards will sport a new three-position trigger that can be adjusted externally. Weatherby is guaranteeing that the new Vangaurds will shoot 1-inch groups at 100 yards straight out of the box. Not bad for a rifle that will cost about $499.Weatherby also has a pump shotgun out that is supposed to be the company’s answer to Remington’s Wingmaster. It comes in a variety of different finishes and at about $300, it’s about as affordable as it gets.Last but not least from Weatherby is their Threat Response line. Weatherby is also pitching the top gun decked out in digital camo as a turkey gun.Mossberg also has new turkey guns out on the market in their Turkey Thug series. The new series will come in 835, 935, 535 and 500 models. The guns are all affordable ranging from $409 up to $642.Another new shotgun out from Mossberg is the 500 Chainsaw. You hold it like a chainsaw with your left hand on the handle that attaches to the pump.It’s a 12-gauge with a pistol grip and it’s compatible with a light or a laser site. But the big question is: why would anyone would want to shoot a shotgun this way?Then there’s the shotguns made by Perazzi. The upside of this four-gun set is that it includes a 12-gauge, 20-gauge, 28-gauge and 410-gauge. The downside is that it costs $259,367. I don’t make enough money to even write about these guns.To celebrate the 1911’s 100th birthday, Springfield is introducing it’s Range Officer. The gun is designed to be an out-of-the-box competition pistol that comes in .45 ACP. Price: $704Also new from Springfield is theXD and XDm compact pistol. Each gun comes in a kit and is chambered in either .40 or 9mm. Price: $564Stoeger’s new shotgun for 2011 is the M3500. It can handle 3 1/2-inch loads and was designed as an affordable auto-loader for waterfowlers. Price: $679Benelli brought a new Vinici to the show that can handle 3 1/2-inch rounds. The Vinci and it’s unique looks have been out for awhile, but until now it couldn’t handle anything bigger than 3-inch shells.One of the coolest things about the Super Vinci is that it breaks down with just a few button presses and turns. Benelli says you can break the gun apart and put it back together in 15 seconds. It’s estimated price is about $1,600.Winchester has put a new new look on its model 1886, called the 1886 Short Rifle. This rifle will see limited production, handles 45-70 Govt. rounds and runs about $1,269.Besides the Versa Max (read about the Versa Max here), Remington is introducing a Model 700 XCR Tactical Long Range Rifle in 338 Lapua. The rifle was designed to shoot extra long distances (like 1,000 yards).The gun isn’t available now, but it’s expected to hit the market later in 2011.Marlin is always willing to reinvent it’s classics and this year it’s the 1894SBL. The gun is short and sweet with a 20-inch barrel and was designed with an edginess that Marlin hopes will catch the eye of younger shooters.Marlin also has a new .22 designed for kids called the XT-22YR. Marlin took extra care in designing the stock and surveyed a group of young shooters to find the average measurements of youth shooters.They then took those measurements into consideration when they designed their new gun’s stock.After looking at this photo you might be saying: “The A-Bolt isn’t new, those guns have been around forever.” But these A-Bolts are shotguns.Browning made an A-Bolt shotgun about 10 years ago, but the gun never took off because it was chased out of the market by cheaper options. Now Browning hopes the market will be able to support its new 12-gauges with fully rifled barrels. I have a Browning A-Bolt rifle and putting up this shotgun feels almost exactly the same.Browning also has an addition to its Maxus line with it’s new Sporting Carbon Fiber. As the name suggests, it has a carbon fiber finish on top and bottom and it costs about $1,419.This gun isn’t exactly new (it’s a few years old), but I thought I’d put it in the gallery anyway. It’s Bushmaster’s 50 cal. While it looks like this gun has enough recoil to roll over a volkswagon, Bushmaster says its felt recoil is actually about the same as a 12-gauge shotgun. That’s because the bolt, which weighs 8.5 pounds, was designed to absorb most of the recoil.Overall, the gun weighs 40 pounds when loaded.Check back for updates about new guns and more tactical weapons from the SHOT Show at Outdoorlife.com.
We’ve seen some interesting new developments from the top firearm manufacturers and gear makers at SHOT Show. Check out the latest from the outdoor industry before it even hits the market.
Alex Robinson is Outdoor Life’s editor-in-chief. He oversees an ace team of writers, photographers, and editors who are scattered across the continent and cover everything from backcountry sheep hunting to trail running.