I was wondering if anyone has been to The Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg PA? I want to go check it out but it’s a 5 hour drive! I was wondering if anyone had been there and if it was worth the drive?
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I was wondering if anyone has been to The Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg PA? I want to go check it out but it’s a 5 hour drive! I was wondering if anyone had been there and if it was worth the drive?
The company I used to work for had a booth there. I've been there working it 5 times. It's huge! I don't think you can see everything in just one day. There's lots of good companies there with lots of swag. Be aware though, the guys working the booths are a bit burned out from SHOT Show so they will be a little low energy.
Worked the show many times. Quality of the show has gotten much better since the NRA got involved as more and larger firearm manufactures have appeared.
The vast majority of the show is hunting and fishing outfitters. If your not looking for a trip the largest portion of the show will simply not pertain to you. More and more mom and pops along with the traveling RONCO junk salesmen there as well.
Archery Hall is made up mainly of dealers and bow manufactures supported by their sales reps vs. factory staff.
The larger firearms hall has a mix of some decent sized companies with professional booths but in most all cases everything is downsized from the SHOT Show layouts. Many smaller operations as well like customer rifle makers and of course the no name holster guys as well those trying to break into the industry with the next best widget.
I would suggest you look over the exhibitor list and if it has enough of what you might want to see make your decision based on that. Many manufactures will be very downsized without the products you really want to see like Geissele for example so I dont want you to be disappointed. Go during the week if you can because on weekends its just a sea of people strolling the aisles and about impossible to navigate. Im near Akron and if I was going would leave early in the morning with plans to be there by noon, believe they open at 10:00am, and would be gone by closing at 8:00. Home by midnight! Have done that more than once but I go with a plan and dont stop to look at trucks, 4 wheelers, stuffed animals and the crap that is scattered throughout.
If you have the time and have never been to anything other than a gun show might be something to see especially if your into hunting and fishing. It would take something specific for me to go back like wanting to meet face to face with a specific outfitter.
Safe Travels
Thank you for the honest info.