1. Red-Dot Goodness One thing that biases me toward a manufacturer is when their people “nerd out” on the engineering details, waxing on about tolerances and materials and such. Such passion seems to translate into a better product. With Riton Optics, even the marketing guy will talk for an hour about how to properly zero; therefore, this Riton 3 Tactix MPRD 3 props up my bias. This red dot has been simplified in that it shakes awake, but it doesn’t aggravate me by also controlling brightness—two up and down buttons on the left allow me to control that instead. Press and hold the up button, and the dot configuration changes between an illuminated dot, a circle or a dot in a circle. This RMSc-footprint optic is made of aluminum alloy, has 1x magnification, comes with a side-loaded 1632 battery and has a 3 MOA dot. The glass is clear and strong and the price seems just right. (ritonoptics.com; $329.99)
2. Don’t Let Go of a Good Grip You might not realize just how much your grip strength affects your shooting, but you’ll certainly notice should it start to disappear from aging or injury, as mine has. Many of the students I’ve worked with have struggled in this area, but now I have a better recommendation than simply “start strength training.” The Prohands Tactical training tool is a typical hand exerciser in most ways and allows you to train each finger or all, but its detachable laser makes it unique. Using the laser with the included lockout for the other fingers lets you see how steady your trigger finger is as you press against resistance. These come in a variety of pull weights, from 5 to 13 pounds, and with suggested exercises. (prohands.net; $69.95)
3. Good N’ Cozy I love it when the weather gets cool enough to wear cozy top layers, and I know this water-resistant Sitka Traverse Jacket is going to be a mainstay in the rotation. Its interior is lined in Berber fleece, which is about as cozy as possible but somehow doesn’t overheat me. My hands tend to be the coldest, so I also like the longer sleeves with thumbholes (that won’t gap open when not in use) and I like that the two pockets have the same fleece on one side as an additional barrier. The ladies’ version is a bit tailored and is available in black or optifade camo. (sitkagear.com; $179)
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