ATA Show 2025

In this episode of the Range Podcast, hosts Ricky Brule and Jake Hollywood Iverson discuss their experiences at the 2025 Archery Trade Association (ATA) show in Indianapolis. They are joined by Rory O'Loughlin, CEO of Vapor Trail Archery, to reflect on the unique atmosphere of this year's show compared to previous years, the successful launch of their new product, the Victor arrow rest, and the innovations that set it apart in the market.

The conversation also touches on the emotional connection to product development, the importance of networking within the industry, and personal anecdotes from the show, culminating in a tribute to Jarrod Fondie, the pioneer of limb-driven technology. The episode concludes with thoughts on the future of Vapor Trail Archery and the excitement surrounding their new offerings.

Takeaways

• The ATA show atmosphere is unique and collaborative.
• The Victor arrow rest has been well-received by dealers.
• Networking at the ATA show is crucial for industry relationships.
• Emotional connections to product development enhance the experience.
• The Victor rest features innovative technology that appeals to users.
• Vapor Trail Archery has a strong turnaround time for products.
• The importance of honoring pioneers like Jared Fondy in the industry.
• Personal stories from the show create a memorable experience.
• The excitement for future products is palpable among the team.
• Support from the community is vital for continued success.

The Range Podcast is available on all major platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Video versions are also available on the Vapor Trail YouTube Channel and Wild TV.

Enter Promo Code trp15 during checkout at www.vaportrailarchery.com to receive 15% off VTX Bowstrings and Branded Apparel.

The Range Podcast is brought to you by Vapor Trail Archery and Stokerized Stabilizers. We are proud to be a part of the @sportsmens_empire network.

‍

Ricky Brule (00:01.548)

Welcome to the Range Podcast. I'm Ricky Bruhle and with me is Jake Hollywood Iverson. Join us at the Archery Range where we'll tell stories from the hunt, discuss technical bow shooting tactics and gear, and pick the brains of some of the most successful people to ever shoot a bow. Whether you're about to shoot that axe for the win or send an arrow at a trophy buck, this podcast is for you.

‍

Ricky Brule (00:29.677)

Range podcast is brought to you by Vapor Trail Archery, makers of the best bowstrings money can buy, originators of limb driven aero rest technology and innovators of Stokerized Stabilizer Systems. Hey, welcome to the Range everybody. I'm your host, Ricky Bruhle and I've got my co-host here, Mr. Hollywood. We are at the 2025 Archery Trade Association show in Indianapolis and well, we're not live, but anyway.

‍

We just, oh, we're also sitting here with Mr. Rory O'Loughlin, CEO of Vapor Trail Archery and Stoker Eye Stabilizers. So anyway, we just wanted to have a quick discussion about the show, how it's going, you know, the reception that we've had for our new product launch, talk about a few frustrations with that and also the success that we've had with it. So Rory, this is your third ATA show.

‍

fourth ATA show. How do you feel about this year compared to past years as far as attendance and just overall sentiment with our products? It's definitely very unique compared to the past because my very first one was 2020 when that was pre-COVID and so that's when you got lost in this place. Yeah. It was like three times the size.

‍

And so, you know, Cam Haines is standing outside Hoyt and, you know, all the other celebrities are running around touring the facilities. So now with COVID, mean, shit, the next year was canceled, right? 21. We didn't all get back to 22. 22 was weird because there was like hardly any foot traffic. 23 was our last one. Yeah, actually. 8X launch. Yeah, 8X launch.

‍

That was a lot of fun. But there was, again, hardly any foot traffic. So then we were just like, you know, what? They're going to have it. And where'd they have it last year that we did not? St. Louis. Which we were told by many dealers that, oh, no, we're not going. We don't want that place unless you want your car broken into, you know? Yeah, yeah. Stuff like that. So here we are, 2025 ATA. I like the smaller venue. Can't get lost in it.

‍

Ricky Brule (02:55.439)

I feel like all the industry people are here and collaborate and discuss things. A lot of synergy there as far as partnerships. Love ATA for that. And then of course, when you launch a new product like the Victor, which has been received very well. It's awesome to talk to the dealers face to face because we spend so much time on the phone with them.

‍

see how excited they are about the product. Talking to them, how we can help them. So what makes it unique when I first started talking about the overall ATA experience is that, OK, foot traffic's down. But overall, this is probably one of the best ATAs VaporTrail's ever had, as far as orders being written for the new AeroRest, the Victor. And then just

‍

the positive feedback from our dealers are happy with the bow strings as far as taking care of them during the busiest season, being able to deliver to their customers with the quickest turnaround time in the industry. So that's what's really cool because you were talking to other industry guys are like, oh yeah, wish there was more orders being written, wish there was more foot traffic for our booth or whatever. And then I'm just feeling blessed because we're actually knocking it out of the park in that arena right now.

‍

Absolutely Hollywood speaking of the Victor so let's talk a little bit in deep more detail about that rest and and What are you seeing? You know when dealers are coming in talking about it, and you're talking about all the features and stuff Are you are we getting any dealers that are kind of scoffing at the price or are they? You know what what do you see in there price is not an issue? I mean dials already selling you know

‍

$600 sites, Altreview selling $700 sites. It's not that we threw a price out there and said, yeah, it's going to be $339. It's just machine costs. We put years of R &D into this. There's a couple patents behind it. It's justified. And again, like Rory said, it's been very well received. And everyone loves it. The biggest things that everyone likes is, especially with IMS, it makes it easier.

‍

Ricky Brule (05:16.079)

We don't have to worry about 1,800 brackets anymore. It's down to just one. So you just run the IMS mount. And then we do have a burger option. Some guys are liking that more for Target. But then after that, the spring tension adjustment. Everyone's like, oh my god, that's perfect. And I don't know if everyone will really need it. But the option to use it is there. And that's what everyone loves, having that option. And I'm just going add on to that, the ease of use.

‍

to change the tension. You're using your thumb and a set screw. It's very user friendly. In the past, it wasn't quite as easy. It was actually really easy to mess it up. So we were kind of nervous about certain people making those adjustments. And so having the ability to only have four slots, because you really don't need it to be infinitely adjustable. You don't want it that way. Yeah, because then you

‍

damage the spring in there you can jack it up so like and it's it adds just enough or if not more than you probably would need but again if you wanted to remove that cord and you wanted to just shoot right off of a lizard tongue or something like that and then to your point I heard you tell a dealer that I didn't even really think about but we you know you have the ability to adjust the launcher angle and if you wanted to you could drive both those screws in and make it static yeah right so again so

‍

It can appeal to the target folks as well. some of the other features, it's got a full capture rubber over molded cage on it. We've got six colors. That also includes black. And what else am I missing? The field colors, they match up with dialed and Matthews. And the Poplar Beaux that are really doing well in the market. And then, of course, the Hoyt Whiskey or Bourbon. Yeah.

‍

Which is our scotch by the way. so it's scotch, dialed is whiskey, and Hoyt is bourbon. And then so, yeah, so we've got kind of like a little Rosetta Stone on our website because we wanted to have our own names, but we also want to, we're working with dialed and we're going to try to get the colors to match as closely as possible just so that everybody can kind of match all their accessories and then even our Stalker Eye stabilizers are going to match all those colors as well. So that's a pretty cool feature. mean, everybody

‍

Ricky Brule (07:41.345)

is very few dealers are scoffing at the price. I've only had a few go, whoa, at first. And then once we start walking through the features, then they're like, OK, that makes sense. And especially with our lineup that we have now, it's a lot of the rest, they might have one feature that you really like, but then you can't go to the bottom limb. So we run into that a lot. And then the other thing is you get customers that

‍

They want the latest and greatest. They want the 8X, but they've got a 10-year-old bow. And I'm like, I'm sorry. You know what I mean? Well, I have a 7X, and it's exactly the same rest aside from the bracket. But they're still not having it. So then they go somewhere else. And now there's no excuses to not shoot it. And I get the price point. We've had a few people on social and on YouTube having some concerns about it. But the dealers are just like, yeah.

‍

When can we get them? I mean, everyone thought dialed was crazy and Ultraview was right from the start. They're going to do it. If you are really serious and you love your product and you want it to work, put the full faith into it, you'll do it. Yeah. And just like you said, a lot of people don't realize, they don't understand. Yes, we have two patents surrounding it. We have a licensing agreement with QAD in order to have that IMS model. So that's naturally going to drive the cost, but then it's got every feature you could possibly need.

‍

There's no other arrow rest out there that has this many features. Top or bottom limb adjustment. There's no other bracket you have to have in order to do that. bubble level. Ease of use with those features. Yeah. Like the rope attachment. I just want to hit that again. So as you know, our legacy rests, the ones that fall to the side for the blade rather than fall away from the shooter.

‍

We always had to have a pulley system, which is an attachment that goes to the bottom limb, where this system, you don't change anything. You loosen one screw, and then you just thread it a different way. Top, bottom, seconds. Yeah, and we spent what? Probably an hour today walking around, checking fitment on all of the new bows, any bows that are around, and there wasn't any that.

‍

Ricky Brule (10:01.643)

It doesn't fit on the only one that we know for a fact is the Matthews RS. Lifts RS. Yeah. If anyone is wondering how you fit it, just watch Wayne Endicott's video and you just cut the whole back off. it to an angle grinder. Then get the Sharpie out. Just for anodization looks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I would do is I would just take the angle grinder to that roller guard.

‍

and then get the Victor on there and figure out a different solution for the cable. Or just don't buy that bow. Or get taller than 5 and 1 feet tall. Because that's the only people who are to be shooting the RS anyway. Yeah, guys like Joshua Hubs and.

‍

Josh is in the background for everyone watching. He's been bussing my chops all week, so I got to give some back. We'll get him in here in a minute so he can chat with us little bit. But awesome. So yeah, just everybody is super excited. I'm extremely proud of what we launched this week. 100%. I mean, honestly, I'm getting a little lump in my throat right now thinking about it, just all the hours and time.

‍

effort, everything we put into making this happen. The promo videos, know, Damon did a fantastic job. Hollywood was filming two days before in like negative two degrees to try to get some lifestyle shots. You know, I did that five day hunt in North Dakota in sub-zero temperatures to get all the lifestyle stuff we needed. Matt, know, spending hours on end over the holidays, putting together a 3D animation, that's absolutely fantastic. Yeah. So.

‍

You know, just, and it's probably the most well-received video we've had on YouTube to this point. You know, we had PJ Reilly up in here. was, you know, doing a review on it. You know, so just, it's getting tons of exposure, you know. The only thing I'm a little bit, and I've been ratting Raven about this the whole time because I'm like, man, this is our chance to finally win the best accessory at ATA.

‍

Ricky Brule (12:06.635)

and we didn't get it. it's, I won't get into the details as to what my thought process is with that, but it's kind of upsetting, especially to who won, you know what I mean? And it's nothing against the manufacturer that won, they make a great product. Obviously we're teamed up with them to even make the product that we have, but it's just like, man, that's a...

‍

Yeah, right here. It's just surprising. You you know, we could easily come out with one of these and just put a different color on it, too. we're going to do the same thing next year. No, we're just going to change a different color cage. We're going do flow green for Dudley. on. So that being said, Hollywood, you need to start campaigning to get yourself on the board of directors for ATA. So then you have control over the judges. Correct. And then that's how we'll win.

‍

It won't matter if have Belmar shooting our rest next. And everyone loves Belmar. Yeah. mean, there's a lot of people right now that don't shoot our rest that want to shoot our rest now. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I think a lot of people were just like, yeah, I think all of our rests are great, have been great, still are great. But I feel a lot of people are just kind of sitting out there like, when are they going to?

‍

do something. Everyone's been watching Hamski and QAD's always been top, but Hamski keep climbing. And then finally we do this. it's just like, I don't know, you guys have probably heard the same, right? Around the show, people have just been like, in passing, have you seen that new rest? Have you seen that, Victor? You need to go to Vapor Trail. And how many guys came up to us going, I was told I need to come here and see this. Even industry guys.

‍

Mainly industry guys were saying, I was told I need to come and see this. And even Hamskey came and saw it. But of course, they're doing their job too. Well, and they're just chomping at the bit. Dealers that normally would be like, hey, yeah, no, call me next week and I'll put my orders in. Now they're like, can I place the order? Can I place the order?

‍

Ricky Brule (14:18.991)

They just want to get in line. So it's extremely exciting to see that. Like Rick said, all that work, finally, at the 8X, we put just as much work into. it's like, it's still top rest of ours. But this is super huge for us. Yeah, it did good. But it wasn't long before we ran into fitment issues again. And it's just like, you've got to be kidding me. Every year, there's something we have to change.

‍

there's a silver lining in that and it forced the innovation that brought us to the victor that we have today. And so there's something to be said about that. I love that Hamski came over here and chatted with us and they were talking to us about certain things because that lets us know that we're, how does Scott Bakken say it, we're whacking the bee's nest a little bit. They're aware.

‍

It's getting us back on the map, think. then in turn, it gets the brand back on the map. And then that'll help us develop more relationships as far as getting strings and cables on people's bows, because they're by far the best and fastest you can get on the market. And I would like to add on to that, that this last busy season.

‍

We're talking peak busy season when all stream manufacturers are four to five weeks out on average. Our longest turn time was seven business days. So we're normally three, you know? And then of course it creeps up four, five, six, seven. And then we did the same thing on the way down, six, five, four, three.

‍

So I'm just going go ahead and say that it's going to be most likely just August through October is where we get a little bit bottlenecked. yeah, you know what? Call any of those other string manufacturers and ask them their turn time. You're not going to get a better turnaround time than Vapor Trail VTX, that's for sure. That's right. Absolutely. And now with the new stock sets that we'll have and you know, mean, there was

‍

Ricky Brule (16:32.111)

Mike's Archery was in here, and they have their own string builder. But it's like, if you need a set tomorrow, we can make it happen. If you call us early enough in the day, we got it on the shelf. It's got brass. They're ready to go. Yeah. And for stock sets, when they're there, 3 PM's the cutoff, because UPS picks up around 4. So you know what? You call us. You place the order. You talk to one of us on the phone. It'll go out that day, which is insane. And if you have a customer in a pinch and you want to overnight it, I mean,

‍

You'll have it the next day. Right, exactly. It's insane. So yeah, I wanted to add a little bit more to the lump in your throat on the Victor, just by the way. Yeah. Because I feel like everyone should know. And he deserves the recognition. And that is Jared Fondy for being our founder and also the inventor and pioneer of limb driven technology.

‍

His his full name is Jared Victor Fondy and so we named this arrow rest after Jared I never personally knew Jared I was actually the one that I came to Rick and I was like What was Jared's middle name? So I remember that he was talking about across

‍

Crossbow brand of strings like way long ago and we're throwing around the Victor name and so I just like we were you know Trying to decide what we're gonna call the this new arrow rest and us anyway, I came to you I was like do the Victor. Yeah, let's do it

‍

And I never, again, knew Jared, but all the love that you guys have for him, and I feel his love through you guys. And so it's pretty awesome that we can pay tribute and do this one for Jared. Yeah, very well-received. He's proud, I know. I think he would just be absolutely amazed at that product.

‍

Ricky Brule (18:32.373)

It is the most supercharged limb driver ever built. And it's going to be tough to beat. We already have some plans to make it even better. I know. So minds are already rolling. Yeah. I mean, so it's just just so awesome. So exciting. Twenty twenty five is going to be unbelievable. We just moved into a brand new facility. We're going to have a new pro shop, new range set up.

‍

It's nice because I don't need to have my skateboard now to get from one side of the building to the other. Although I got to admit, know, ripping around on my skateboard is pretty sweet. It still can. Yeah. But yeah, it's just...

‍

Super cool. We're finally getting to this point where we can breathe a little bit and start focusing and grinding on moving forward instead of digging ourselves out of a hole. Yeah, I agree. And I'm excited, actually, to get back to what we love and what we do best in the offseason. And that's preparing for battle.

‍

for the next busy season. That's what we do best. Absolutely. All right, Rory, we're going to get hubs in here, man. Thanks, brother. Thanks so for everything. He's been whining and dining us this whole week. We're going to have our steak dinner tonight and hopefully some tequila. It's time to have steaks. Yeah. guys, wait, this guy's at full draw with no way around it. Hubs.

‍

Come on, come on, sweetheart. It's your turn. Oh, no. Keep recording. Just wanted him to let go. I haven't seen it all show. I'm like, here we go. Oh, shit. Is that Sean too? So scary when somebody draws a ball with no arrow in it. It's just like makes me cringe. Yeah, that's great. Mr. Joshua hubs, man. How welcome to the range podcast, man. Thanks for coming on. Appreciate you, dude.

‍

Ricky Brule (20:28.077)

Definitely. Thank you. Thank you guys for inviting me out here to ATA. I have a hard time like just what you just said right there. I thought for sure something smart ass was going to come out of your mouth. This dude has been busting my chops this whole week. dude, it's been fun. It's super, super awesome. It's a different side of you that I don't know. And I love it. You fit right in here with the rest of the crew. You know the product. You've been shooting limb drivers since the

‍

Back in the day, I learned some about you that I didn't know. used to work at the Boatek Pro Shop for a little while. You worked at Sportsman's Warehouse. So did I. So we had that in common. We talked about that a lot. Losers. Hollywood's a Shields boy. He's all bougie like that. That's a pretty boy. Sportsman's Warehouse is like the budget Boatek compared to the Shields Boatek. really good though. It used to be. Back in the day. Well, yeah, when we were there. Once we left, it kind of.

‍

Yeah. Nice. So, but yeah, man, so what are your thoughts on the first ATA show you've ever been to? It's awesome, honestly. So last year, I also attended the Western Horn Expo. And this is one of those events that if you're into the media industry at all, this is an event to come and network with. Like, definitely recommend it. Tons of companies. It's very well put together. And yeah, just getting around, meeting new people.

‍

putting a name and a face together is always something nice to do. Yeah, absolutely. And it was really cool when we were trying to figure out who we wanted to come to the show. And you came to mind pretty quick. And when I asked you, you were just like, man, yeah, I'm excited. And it kind of brings me back to the first couple shows that I went to and the excitement that I had.

‍

Not to say every time we get here, it's always a blast. It's always awesome to see everybody, but there's so much work involved with us getting here that it's hard to see. It's hard to see it that way now. You know what I mean? Hollywood, this is your fourth or fifth, right? And it's just so much work for us to come here. And like Rory said, we had some years there where it was dreadful. That one year we went big. We were 20, 20 or 20.

‍

Ricky Brule (22:47.592)

foot by 20 foot booth. We had the big stage set up. We had every single stabilizer we make on that table. And it was just crickets the whole time. so you never know. You're always wondering, like, man, is it going to be worth it? And to have this product launch of the Victor here has been huge. And also the rep group that we've signed on with, Gartland and Associates and JES. And they've been bringing people over and just

‍

getting it hyped up too. They've been doing a fantastic job of explaining how it functions and everything like that and getting people over here that really like it. I think going back a little, the shows in the past have been so slow. So I was kind of scared. Yeah, Josh was an obvious. And if I keep looking away and looking like I'm out of it, these guys keep on drawing back bows.

‍

Without an arrow. You just wait. You just can't miss it. Waiting for the dry fire. Maybe you should just set your phone up right there real quick so you can. I'm just waiting for that thing to smack and those cams go flying. So anyway, it's been slow. And I was like, jeez, I hope the guys that haven't been here before at least can have a good time. But it's been so slow, kind of scared. Like, oh yeah, here's the ATA show. But it's slower now. And it still is.

‍

This show, I'm so happy you guys got to experience. We're doing numbers with this new rest. And you've been absolutely perfect with your sales pitch, too. You're just lubing us up over here. So it's been fun. Josh has been working. Every one of us had to work the booth. like Rick just said, when we did that 20 by 20, was almost like we had to jump out and grab someone. Like, hey, come here. Come out and buy this rest. And now it's just like we had so many people in here just trying to get in.

‍

super excited you know that Josh you know first time out here got to see all that stuff yeah yeah and yeah it's it's fun it is very fun and you know if you're kind of in the industry like you're saying with like media stuff like being able to actually be in the industry now yeah and the other side of it too is like kind of what you said I mean you get to see a side that you don't always see because most of the time most of our communications either done through Instagram email or phone calls so

‍

Ricky Brule (25:01.17)

being able to be here and then all go out to dinner later. You just get to be on a more personal level with everybody else and get to see how they react and how they are as a person. Yeah, you get to know everybody on a deeper level. And like I tell these guys all the time, I'm like, a lot of the business is drummed up outside of this show. You know what I mean? Because that's when you really start to dive deep. And you get to learn about people's families and where they're from.

‍

other things they like to do. then there's not an ATA show that I've ever gone to where I didn't have multiple people invite me out on a hunt somewhere. You know what I mean? Or, dude, you got to come out. And as much as I wish, I can take them up on that. You know what I mean? Usually, it's just we're just too busy. Or money is an issue when it comes to certain things, especially elk hunting. Well, I'm definitely going go to New Mexico if I can. But yeah, if we can make that work out.

‍

that'll be awesome. you know, again, just like you said, Josh, the relationships, being able to, you know, like Craig Francis over at Ultra View, I mean, I've been kind of following along with him and him and I have communicated a little bit, but just to like get a get a face with the name. And this dude is like a giraffe, man. He's so tall. I'm like talking to him, looking up like this, you know, but just a super down to earth guy. You know what I mean? I just.

‍

Again, you see that social media side of them. You see the content that they put out. oftentimes, it's really inspiring. And so it's good to just be able to say, hey, and now I'm not just an avatar that comes up in your DMs anymore. There's a deeper connection there. So that's always awesome. And just seeing all the new products. so it is a bit strange that it's such a small footprint.

‍

Rory likes that, I guess, because it's easier to get around. I mean, it's nice because, yeah, sure, it's less walking. It's just kind of sad, though. It just seems smaller, too.

‍

Ricky Brule (27:04.734)

Again, still fun, still fun being here. And like you said, you get to figure out these people from being on a screen and figuring out Josh doesn't mean anything serious ever. So if he didn't have an Instagram to shout he lived in Arizona, New Mexico, wherever the hell, I would never believe it at this point. I don't know about this. I've never felt so gullible in all my life. I know. You guys eat it up every time. I'm always like, no way, dude.

‍

he just starts laughing. I'm like, again, how am I, how do I keep, you know, and then he gets serious and then I'm just like. with the phone. This is the first night with the phone. Yeah, so yeah, left my phone at the restaurant, didn't even notice it. We left, we get all the way back to the hotel and I'm like, oh, dang, man, I left my phone back there. And he played into it just perfectly. He was like, oh, no way. He was like, dude, you know, they're closed, right? And I was like, oh, yeah. And I was kind of joking.

‍

I was like, oh, I was gonna call over there to see if they found it. But of course they have my phone and then he was like, oh, yeah, man Well here you can use mine and he pulls my phone out of his pocket gives to me I'm like you son of a and then he's like, oh, he's like dude. How are you so calm? I'd be freaking out right now if I didn't have my phone and I'm just like, what do you do? I know that's closed I guess you know, but it was honest to God. I was like inside Dying, you know, then he gave it to me and I was like such a sigh of relief. I'm just like, oh my god

‍

God.

‍

And then, yeah, so since we're going down that route now, let's talk about the dinner we had last night at Buka. Oh, dude, that was fun. That table with the Pope. We, mean, somehow we need to a photo in there where you show where Rory's sitting at this throne. It would have been more fun if there was a bigger table, like a long table. But yeah, you're at the throne, like the head of the table. And yeah, I don't know, around

‍

Ricky Brule (29:05.566)

table you can keep going. A giant round table with a lazy Susan right? then the Pope's head's right there. Yeah. He's on his throne. We're all around him. So we were talking before that when in the room when Hollywood figured out he was like, yeah, should we eat a buka? And I'm like, yeah, that sounds great. I was like, dude, I got this really great story. And so probably 10 years ago now when I was here, me and Steve and yours and we're all sitting at a table having dinner there.

‍

And Babe Winkleman, a lot of you probably don't know who he is, but he was like a TV personality, local guy, Minnesota, big into fishing and all that kind of stuff, had a hunting show. And he comes walking in with his entourage and they go back into this room or whatever and didn't think much of it after that. Got done eating. We walk, but we walk and pass this hallway and you look down and you can see the post of the bust of the Pope in the middle of the table and all the people sitting around. And then Babe Winkleman is sitting at the throne.

‍

It just made me chuckle. I'm like, no way. That's hilarious. I'm telling this story, and I'm like, but I couldn't remember if it was in Louisville or if it was here, because I get the two kind of mixed up. They kind of intermingle one another. keeping track of which is which is hard. And so anyway, we're walking through the hallway. They're getting us to sit down, and I see it. And I'm like, there it is. There it is. We got to go sit there. So we're getting the host to seat us down there. And she went and asked her supervisor.

‍

They let us sit back there. And then it completely empty. Otherwise our table would have been next to none other than Eric Griggs and company with gas bow strings. Yeah. So so they were privileged enough to get a really long table back there too. But yeah, it was like what are the chances of that as we're walking over there? They're all sitting there too, you know. But but I feel like we got the I feel like we got the better spot. We had the better seat. Way more fun. Yeah, dude. It's like some penises.

‍

and stuff on the ceiling. There was. It's like the naked angels were up there. Yeah. was interesting. was whole thing. It had this in it. It was like a dome roof in there. Yeah. And then it had like, it was bizarre. It had like this echo where I could, when you guys would talk on the other side of the table, it almost sounded like you guys are mic'd up. Yeah. Like you could hear so much better. was like that sound was like bouncing off that I might to go home and like put a huge bowl above my table.

‍

Ricky Brule (31:35.136)

gonna get home now. Just make sure you put flying naked children on it too. Yeah, I got painted up. That was really helpful. I wish I should have got a picture of that so there'd be some context for our YouTube watchers. I don't have a photo of that. It might be in the photo we took with everybody. might be able to see the top half. possible. I might have to try to plug that in. Big thanks to Rory too. He spares no expense.

‍

when we come out here to do this. This is kind of our big thank you to us for busting our butts all year and having to put up with each other. It's just a great time to...

‍

you it's work, but we can also kind of play and unwind a little bit. And so now with this upcoming year, just, man, I'm just excited to see what's going to happen. So, yeah, same here. All right. Well, excited to see what this rest. Yeah, man. Yeah, for sure. And of course, you're going to be one of the first to get one. So maybe perhaps you will also fit the bill on the first person to kill an animal with it like you did the eight X. There's not there's a chance.

‍

I thought I was gonna be the guy, but I couldn't do it in North Dakota, so. I'm never the guy. And that's fine. I don't kill anything. Keep at it. You'll get him. Yeah. You'll get him. All right, Josh. Thanks, brother. Thank you. Hey, Glenn, why don't you step, wanna step in? Ooh, Glenn's in the hot seat. Let's get Glenn up in here. Oh, man, we're just doing the whole party.

‍

Ricky Brule (33:24.27)

Alright folks, well we got Mr. Glenn Blair here. He is

‍

one of the longest tenured pro staffers for Vapor Trail. He's responsible for lot of innovations actually. He's got a lot of good ideas. He's got an engineering mindset when it comes to archery to the finest of details more so than I think anybody I know. so we just wanted to get you on here Glenn, get you some notoriety for the innovations that have come through Vapor Trail over the years. You've been shooting our strings forever.

‍

and you've always helped give us good solid feedback and I think probably a majority of the animals you've taken have been with some sort of vapor trail product in one way or another. Yep, I'm pretty sure that's true. Because I know in the early days I wasn't very successful, right? That didn't come till later on. Yeah. So we'd already made the switch, I think, for most of them. Yeah.

‍

So your first ATA, I can't even believe we haven't had you come out here with us in previous years. But what are your thoughts, what's your overall thinking on the show? Well, for me, was overwhelming to some extent, right? There's just so much.

‍

to look at and people to talk to about all aspects of the game. I walked around yesterday and ended up just swimming basically. Getting this analysis paralysis right. Pretty much, yeah. But it's been good. I've talked to lot of people.

‍

Ricky Brule (35:07.262)

experience. Yeah. Yeah. And we've been able to cut loose a little bit and have some fun. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's cool. Like Rick said, Glenn's been around forever and he has killed with our prototypes in the past. Actually, yeah. We've been working on this rest for so long that Glenn has been a tester of many products, actually, and has field proven them time and time again.

‍

And he said something interesting to me. were saying that, because Hamsky came over here saying, yeah, we're all limb driver guys. And you have one of the limb drivers from before they were ever a company. Before they came to be, yeah. Yep. And you have probably one of the first limb driver pros that Jared ever did. It's crazy. Because you've been around forever. And like I said at the hubs, too, I'm so happy you guys got to see this show.

‍

show of all of them. Sure, the footprint's smaller, the...

‍

the amount of traffic we've had in here has been insane. Yep. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if it had been an A-Day type of event. I I don't know. For me, it would have been just mind boggling. I don't think we would have had enough people. I have big passion for the sport and all the things that are involved, right? So it's been a really good experience. Yeah, it's fun. So yeah, it was, when we're sitting down, we're trying to figure out who we want to

‍

come to the show with us. And unfortunately, our other longest tenured pro staffer, Frank Welsh, wasn't able to join us out here. it's like, I want guys out here that know our products on an extremely intimate level. And both Glenn and Frank are both.

‍

Ricky Brule (37:09.372)

very precise, I guess, with a lot of things. A lot of good insight as to little things that we could do to improve upon the rest. both of them being phenomenal bow technicians is huge. And it's not to say, we've had guys come in the past that they shoot our rests and they understand them, but not at a level that you guys do. And so with this launch,

‍

of this aerial rest, it's like we knew we couldn't spare any expense when it came to getting this launch. So we wanted to have people extremely knowledgeable talking about it.

‍

And so that was one of the reasons why we had decided. you've come to, let's see, was one tack you came out with me to South Dakota. And again, I have no doubts that I can walk away from the booth and Glenn is going to know exactly what to talk about. And so that's kind what we wanted because we knew we were going to have to do some running around and checking with other manufacturers for product with the Pro Shop.

‍

and the rep groups and meetings with Shields and some of the other arrow manufacturers and stuff like that. thanks for being here, man. Really appreciate it. it. I had a blast. Can't wait to do it again. It's been a great time. You are invaluable to us. And so thanks a lot, Yep. Appreciate it, right. So anything else, Hollywood, from you,

‍

I'm pretty hungry. Hungry? And hopefully soon. Yeah. Rory's ordering food, I think. Oh, he is. Oh my goodness. Oh, bomb. That would be sweet. Bomb. Grubhub or something. All right. Perfect. Yeah. Well, if anyone does hear this episode, if anyone does hear it, I just want to say thanks for all the support.

‍

Ricky Brule (39:14.086)

Yeah. You know, it's been huge. And again, this rest has been so well received. And we hope the support is continued. You know, again, like, Yeah. we've everything we put into this, Blood, sweat, and tears, man. It goes all the way back to Jared.

‍

Yeah, then Ears was even part of it too. Yes. thank you for mentioning that. probably shout him out. Ears started a lot of this project too. unfortunately, fortunately for him, unfortunately for us, he left to go better his life and his wife. But yeah, he's a huge part of it. But no, just thanks to everyone for the support. We'll return the favors. We'll do what we can for everyone.

‍

Absolutely. Yeah. Thanks a lot, Ears. Appreciate it. When I called, I sent him a picture of it and he asked me when the royalty check was going to show up. And because he did play a pretty big role in the beginning stages of it. And then we kind of handed it off and then we ran with it. So yeah. So thank you, everybody, for joining us here at the ATA show 2025 Indianapolis. And with that, we're going to pack up our bows and go to the shooting lanes.

‍

That's right. And get some food. that's right. Thanks guys. Have a great day everybody. Vapor Trail is now offering an exclusive discount to the range podcast listeners. Enter promo code TRP15. That's T R P 15 at checkout for 15 % off VTX bowstrings and Vapor Trail and Stalkerize branded t-shirts, hats and other gear.

‍