In Houston, spent several hours at

the NRA Annual Meeting, before my back said, "NOPE!, YOU ARE NOT GOING ANY FURTHER!"  Even after a pain pill and a muscle relaxer it is still sore as all get out.  I'm going to wait for my food to settle before I take a Toradol and lay down.

However I managed to get 3 and half aisles done today.  If #2 Sprog hadn't been there I doubt I would have been able to get through 2 of them  I wanted to see how much I could do without having to grab my wheelchair out of the truck, and while I'm in pain, there would have been no way I would have been able to negotiate those aisles in my wheelchair.  So I'm glad Melissa was there to help me carry the cameras, and other assorted errata.

I did have some interesting conversations, there is one in particular I will relate.

Do you remember the Heizer Double Tap?  They had a series of issues with their manufacturer, delaying their products release, and causing other issues.  I spoke with Raymond B. Kohout at Double Tap's display and he was kind enough to give me his time and help explain a few things to me.  Right now they have a new manufacturer in Florida who is making the DoubleTap as fast as they can to get the product out to dealers.  He also gave me a thumb drive which I haven't gone through yet as I am too sore to go downstairs and get it out of the truck.  Mr. Kohout showed me on a cut away model of the DoubleTap its many design features, which actually impressed me.  He showed me how the trigger mechanism works which reminded me of a double barrel single trigger shotgun, how the grip holds two additional rounds on a special speed strip for quick reloading if necessary, how the barrel of the pistol can be changed by pushing out an AR-15 style pushpin to change the caliber from .45 ACP to 9mm Luger.  He even offered to have a T&E Pistol sent to my dealer down by Corpus.  On the last, I declined as I really don't have access to a proper range close to me.  However I told him that on my next trip to St. Louis where they are based I would love to take one to one of the ranges up there and wring it out with a box or two of ammo, in both .45 ACP and 9mm Luger.  I had also made mention of a problem many people who are getting older suffer from.  Night Blindness of one degree or another.  Mr. Kohout mentioned that they are working on a slightly tall front sight blade with a bit of tritium specifically for people with that problem.  That is what I like to hear from a firearm company.  They are looking out for as many of their customers as they can, and are preemptively looking for solutions for problems their primary customer base might have.

Granted right now their products cost is somewhat high, compared to other firearms and their product is currently a niche product.  As they get more of their pistols out into the marketplace, and as they can refine them, I believe they can bring their products prices down making them more affordable for more customers.

I hope they continue to improve their product and include more calibers.  I personally wouldn't mind seeing a DoubleTap in .38 Special/.357 Magnum, .32 ACP/.380 ACP or even .22LR/.22 Magnum.

If they keep innovating we may just see those other calibers at a price which almost anyone could afford for a quality pistol.