IWA PART THREE
ACCESSORIES AND CLOTHES
Probably a third of the surface of the ten halls was occupied with accessories and clothes. If it was difficult to absorb all information about weapons, catching all novelties in respect of A&C was basically too much of a challenge.
We were content to touch the tip of the iceberg.
And since ice is cold, we looked at warm clothing.
X-bionic and their novelties made a good impression. Actually they made the impression of belonging to the high-end of modern „tech” clothing. Research and designs is done in Switzerland and crafting in Italy.
Shirts, Pants, Socks, Jackets – the whole range. Quite impressive to see how much research and development but also high quality marketing is put in this products.
This is not to say that there is no fierce competition in this field. To the contrary: we noted at least a dozen other producers as well – including ones from Eastern Europe and Asia.
Among clothing and accessories producers, 5.11 remains a class for itself. No wonder these guys have such a market share. However, competition is getting tougher here as well.
While there are producers of clothing and footwear, we noted an increasing number of weapons producers that also want a share of the pie. Blaser and Beretta are well established in this field. It is not to be excluded that there will be others to join.
Big players of outdoor and hunting clothing were also at IWA. Härkila is just an example. They presented a few new collections. The Pro-Hunter sticks out. The clothing looks good and feels good when you touch it. Top-notch, both the products and the marketing.
There were other novelties on the show as well, including the ones brought by new-comers. The Finish people from Jelou Fox made a good impression. Not only is their name (that means yellow fox) very attractive – so are their products. We have listed below just a few of the novelties, jackets and funny design caps.
Among other footwear products we found worth mentioning Dachstein. Not only because their products are of high quality and include high tech – see the heated boot.
But also because some of the products are Made in Romania.
Ear protection is an important feature when shooting. The market is constantly on the move here. Aside of the classic ear-muffs electronic ear plugs are winning more and more fans. No wonder, particularly since most of the shooting season takes place in (relatively) high temperatures. If you also shoot rifle you learn to quickly appreciate not having to bother about the muffs and their position.
Big names are present in this niche: Siemens and Peltor to name just a few.
A new name from Italy joined the game. Euro Sonit brought Shothunt. The fairly small but effective and completely waterproof product was quite impressive on the IWA. It appears that it convinced champions like Eric Grauffel to use it, so it must be worth. We are looking forward to test it in Romania.
Sebastian Gutiu