THE OUTDOOR TECHNICAL TACTICAL EQUIPMENT BLOG. Join us where we talk all things industry, gear, lifestyle, design and just all round fun.

EnforceTac and IWA March 2024

We are back from the EnforceTac/IWA, an international trade fair for security agencies that transitions into IWA, the world’s leading exhibition for the hunting and target sports industries.

We were hosted by Recon Company, a premier German distributor and retailer with a strong online and brick-and-mortar presence in Salzgitter. Their team of industry veterans, experts and one great son, made us feel right at home with good vibes and conversation. Our neighbors in the booth were Darren and Kevin from Snugpak who kept the laughs going with their amazing English sense of humor.

We stayed in the beautiful walled city of Nürnberg, famous for many things including the Nürnberg Bratwurst and “Schäufele” (pork shoulder with crispy skin), two local Franconian dishes that we almost couldn’t get enough of. We ate at authentic restaurants with communal tables and toasted local beers with local people – Prost!

TACWRK, another top German retailer and distributor, graciously invited us to their industry dinner. We shared a table with two former US Navy SEALs, Zach Steinbock and Sean Matson from MATBOCK.  On our other side was the crew from BeaverFit, a containerized fitness solution out of the UK.  Their English sense of humor gave Snugpak a serious run for their money.  We knew we were in for a great time when they started off the night apologizing in advance for the inevitable shenanigans. Let’s just say, it was an amazing dinner.

We met Tom Short from Ops-Core/Gentex, those guys use our OTTE Gear Helmet Bags.  Gary Robbins from High Speed Gear came by the booth. He loves the TACOS we did with them in our POW Poppies pattern.  On our Day 3 morning metro commute, we introduced ourselves to two fellow Americans, Aaron Zar and Eric Imsland from SLNT. SLNT makes innovative Faraday packs and pouches to keep your electronics protected.  We hung out with the Noveske crew at their fave local bar on the square and stayed up waaayyy too late sharing stories and laughing.  Our friend and Multicam vendor from 1947 Ocean State Innovations took us to a great Italian restaurant with a few industry friends. Being on that side of the pond made it easier to catch up with our French and Dutch distributors, TR Equipement and Noorloos respectively. 

It was great to be exposed to interesting products from European brands we don’t see in the USA much: Helikon-Tex had some cool products made in PenCott, Frogskin/Duck Camo, and Rhodesian Brush Stroke; Corinthia and UF Pro had big booths showing off their new lines. We met Andreas Schlosser from Mil-Tec by Sturm, they do a lot of affordable tactical outdoor and paintball products and use a new camo called Phantomleaf.   There were other smaller brands with new camos and new designs.  Lawrence Holsworth and Dom Hyde from PenCott Camo came by to talk about how defeating thermal drones is still a work in progress. 

Our German friends from ePig Group who have shot videos of our booth for the past 5 SHOT Shows were there en masse.  They had 10+ crew shooting videos of almost every booth!  It was great to break bread with them on their home turf at a farm-to-table restaurant outside of the city.

On our way out, we touched the brass ring placed on the fence that surrounds the square’s main monument. Legend says visitors who find the ring and touch it will return. So we will be back to this beautiful Bavarian city to see old friends and make new ones! 

Mary & Todd