ANME Winter Expo Kicks Off in Las Vegas
Army Navy Military Expo Showcases Backbone of Tactical and Surplus Industry
The Army Navy Military Expo (ANME) kicked off Sunday at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, just days before the official start of that other big show in town catering to similar crowds. The ANME is a business-to-business trade show that offers goods from the army, navy, tactical & law enforcement, camping & outdoors industries. GunLink staff had a chance to stop by the show on opening day to walk the aisles and visit with a number of the exhibitors.
As one exhibitor explained to us, the show was born about half a decade ago following a change of direction in another show that many of the vendors had previously focused on and has been growing ever since. For business owners and buyers in the surplus and tactical industries, the ANME offers much more personal opportunities to interact with their suppliers than some larger shows. The show also offers a venue for SMBs and start-ups for whom getting on an exhibitor waiting list and hoping to get in might not work.
There is some overlap between SHOT and ANME exhibitors and attendees – we saw some familiar faces both in the booths as well as walking the aisles, including a James Yeager sighting – but another vendor explained to us that there is often a marked difference what attendees are looking for. Rather than focusing on the latest firearms and high-tech gadgets, attendees here are looking for genuine military surplus goods as well as outdoor and survival staples and basic tactical products – something that can be challenging in a world where the finite supply of vintage surplus goods is ever shrinking. Continue reading
Win an Alien Gear Gift Card from GunLink
If you follow the GunLink Blog, you know that we were impressed when we bought our first Cloak Tuck holsters from Alien Gear and they have kept us impressed as they have continued to expand their lineup to include OWB holsters, Cloak Tuck 2.0 holsters and a variety of clip options. We apparently weren’t the only ones to be impressed, either; Alien Gear had to double their production just to keep up with demand.
Alien Gear’s latest offering is their gift cards and we thought it would be a great idea to give one away!
How great of an idea is that? We can give you a holster without even knowing what pistol you carry! In fact, the $50 gift card that we’re giving away is even enough to get TWO HOLSTERS! If you win, you can get one for yourself and one for someone else. Or you can be greedy and keep them both or get one holster and a pile of swag – we won’t judge you.
The entry period lasts through January 23, 2015 – coinciding with the end of our live coverage of the 2015 SHOT Show. Don’t worry, though… our coverage of the latest and greatest that the shooting, hunting and outdoor industries have to offer doesn’t end along with the giveaway. Be sure to stay tuned to the GunLink Forums and GunLink Blog following the show for continued coverage, reviews and more.
Enter The Giveaway
There are several ways to enter. Using the widget below:
- You can earn one entry for following GunLink on Twitter.
- You can earn another entry for following Alien Gear on Twitter.
- You can earn an additional one entry per day by tweeting the message.
- You can earn a whopping 3 additional entries for posting in the giveaway thread on the GunLink Forums.
The 2014 Gift Buying Guide for Firearms Enthusiasts
You had all year to shop. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday have all come and gone. Now December is upon us and you still haven’t finished your holiday shopping for the firearms enthusiasts in your life. With the 2015 GunLink Holiday Gift Buying Guide, you will have to come up with another excuse than forgetting a gift to avoid visiting your in laws for Christmas.
The Gift of Gun Rights
One easy, and always appreciated, gift for any hard-to-shop-for gun lover is an NRA membership. It’s the gift that keeps on giving all year by helping to protect our Second Amendment rights. Membership comes with other benefits as well, such as a choice of publications sure to satisfy any shooter, including American Rifleman, American Hunter, and America’s 1st Freedom. Membership also gets you in to the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits, which is always a great experience for any firearms enthusiast. Click here to save $10 on an annual NRA membership for that special someone (or yourself).
Something EVERY Shooter Needs
If you know what kind of firearms your recipient owns and enjoys shooting, Continue reading
Alien Gear Offers New Lines of Holsters, Accessories
Earlier this year I bought a pair of Alien Gear IWB Cloak Tuck holsters for some carry guns. I liked them enough (see review here) to pick up another one on the secondary market. The folks at Alien Gear have been keeping busy and I recently had the opportunity to try out some of their new products and accessories.
One of the big features of Alien Gear products – aside from comfort – is their modularity. The Cloak Tuck IWB holsters consist of the leather backing, the Kydex shell, and front and rear belt clips – each with three different mounting positions to adjust for cant and ride height. The removable shell allows for swapping out shells if you change carry guns or if the shell gets damaged. This modularity is also the driving force behind a lot of Alien Gear’s newest offerings. Continue reading
Alien Gear, Old Faithful Holsters Merge
Announced today on each company’s respective Facebook pages, Alien Gear Holsters and Old Faithful Holsters are merging together under Tedder Industries. See our Alien Gear Holsters review.
Alien Gear/Old Faithful merger announcement:
Alien Gear Holsters, the makers of quality, concealed carry holsters announces that they are merging with Old Faithful Holsters, also a manufacturer of concealed carry holsters and accessories, to become the leading hybrid holster manufacturer in the United States under parent company Tedder Industries.
The merger of Alien Gear Holsters, based in Hayden, Idaho, with Old Faithful Holsters, based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, further increases the combined companies share in the concealed carry holster market. “The merger is also expected to result in greater efficiencies and significantly increase our market share,” said Thomas Tedder, president of Tedder Industries. Continue reading
Voters Pick Alien Gear as “Best Holster In The History of Ever”
It seems we were not alone in giving Alien Gear Holsters high marks. The folks over at Concealed Nation recently hosted a poll asking voters to choose their favorite holster. From more than 20,000 total votes, Alien Gear was the landslide victor with almost 10,000 votes, accounting for 48% of the responses.
Crossbreed took second with 28% of the votes while Versacarry (9%) and N82 Tactical Holsters (6%) rounded out the top four as the only other holsters with 1,000+ votes. Meanwhile, big name holster manufacturers like Galco, Blackhawk, DeSantis and Fobus struggled to break the 1% mark in the poll. View the full results here.
If you have a holster that you especially love (or hate!), be sure to leave a review on the Gear Reviews board in the reviews section of the GunLink forums.
