Shotgun Sports USA
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Shotgun Sports USA
The Next Generation of High-Performance Shooting Eyewear
Discover the future of shooting eyewear as we chat with Dennis Sprenger and Phillip Pilla about the game-changing Raptor II series. Prepare to be amazed by the innovative lens technology that's about to take the shooting world by storm in 2024. From the vibrant chromatic shifts to the practicality of transitioning from the shooting range to everyday wear, this episode is packed with insights on the latest advancements from Pilla. Get a peek into the meticulous crafting behind each pair of glasses.
We discuss features that set the Raptor 2, Velociraptor, and Outlaw series apart from their competition. We get into the complexities of matching prescription lenses to the specific needs of different shooting disciplines, and just how Raptor series stays ahead of the curve. You will be amazed by the customization options and groundbreaking filter technologies designed to enhance visual acuity in any lighting condition. This episode is an explains a lot, in detail, for shooting enthusiasts eager to learn about the vision-enhancing capabilities of these high-performance eyewear options.
Welcome to Shotgun Sports USA. Powered by Winchester Ammunition, the American legend. Listen to the best shotgun shooters from all over the world in every discipline Championship-winning coaches, gun clubs, target setters, vendors, as well as companies that make it all happen, brought to you by Briley Rick Hemingway's Promatic Trap Sales, cole Gunsmithing, clay, target Vision, castellani USA and Falcon Strike. Thanks for listening and remember to visit us online at ShotgunSportsUSAcom, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram.
Speaker 3:In this episode, dennis Springer and Phillip Pila revealed the new products for 2024. Listen closely as they talk about the differences between the lenses. They talk about the new Raptor II and they even explain why the Outlaws are called X6 and X7, which I didn't know. Thanks for joining us today on Shotgun Sports USA. Hey.
Speaker 4:Dennis, what's up? Hey, not much, just looking forward to talking to you again and just sharing some new information with everybody.
Speaker 3:Well, you were just on a few weeks ago or a month ago or whatever it was. You have more to talk about.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we really do. The Raptor II has come out and I know there's a lot of questions about that and we finally got the 2024 lenses. I think they were in customs for three weeks I think Phil was going to have a stroke but those finally came out last week. Hoping that you got your package.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I made a post about it. Yeah, it's all right. The. We'll talk about the lenses later when we get Phil on. But yeah, the new 12 is pretty, pretty popping.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean that that 19 just became really popular and more and more and more and and people wanted something a little darker and, like you said, it's, it's stout and and Phil will go into it too. I mean there's new acronyms. You know spa, you know he has on every lens. So I want to ask him things like that what? Ok, it was bad enough. You couldn't explain chroma shift. Now explain spa to me. You know, and he's just so good at that. I mean, he's lived reason dies to stuff and he's so like not, you know, not even looking at this 2024 stuff. I'm not kidding that, he's talking about stuff in 2025 and 26.
Speaker 4:And some of the technology is just mind blowing and I mean it's exciting as a as a Pula dealer, to hear how he keeps pushing envelope and and just working with everybody. You know, like yesterday, you know, I think, when you called me and we tried to set this up, I said, man it, and just, you know it's hard, justin. And you said what's so hard about selling pilas? Remember, yeah, remember, when you're you're questioning me and I said, well, maybe the word isn't hard. I said it's, it's consuming because I mean we literally get 30 messages a day and and just just answering questions and things like that. Because, as you know, the reason we're doing this podcast is because this product is complex and for some reason, I still enjoy helping people. So just looking forward to tonight and just getting that message out to everybody.
Speaker 3:It's Pula. Pula is really confusing with the numbers. You know we've talked about that before. There's so many numbers that mean so many different things, and now he's adding in blueberry and lime chroma shift and don't forget.
Speaker 4:Goldenberry, Goldenberry and you know, big guava yeah, red hot chili pepper yeah.
Speaker 3:But there's a reason behind all of it, you know.
Speaker 4:I'm excited to listen to him talk about it, so I hope everybody else is too so. But you know I'm looking forward to this year and and and you know things are going good, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I saw your daughter and her husband at Jack Link's with Clay Target Vision. I guess you didn't feel like coming. You should do good to go down there, right.
Speaker 4:That's a long way away, I don't. I mean, like I told you, I haven't been south of Illinois. Well, so are they. Where are they from? They're from Wisconsin, they in Beloit they live. But yeah, I know, I don't worry, I heard about it, and so she talked the old boy to going into the southeast region also. You know that's that's coming up quick. You know that's three weeks away. So I'm really looking forward to coming to Georgia. I hear it's supposed to be nice. Yeah, what do you know about Georgia?
Speaker 3:Georgia is fine right now, but you need to come on back when it's about August and see what you think about it then. Yeah, oh, you know, we did it. We did some giveaways down at Jack Link, so you sent me some frames and I thought that was a pretty good turnout, I mean as far as the interaction we have with some people, and maybe we'll get to do that again somewhere.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean well, like, do you have any pulled on there in Georgia at that southeast regional? Do you think I'll have a good spot?
Speaker 3:Well, zach Garedo is always going to give you a good spot. I'm going to be serious about this. There's not a bad spot down there, it's. I mean it's a straight line. I mean there's. You know where all the vendors go. It's pretty much right there. You know, let's. He parks you around the corner somewhere down by the, where everybody keeps the campers and stuff.
Speaker 4:Yeah, my buddy ordered me a new tent, so I'm really looking forward to that. I hope I have it in time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're going to have you set up, so we'll talk about that for a second. You're doing something a little different this year. When you go to places, you're going to have a bigger tent, right Correct, with sides and with graphics and with all this crazy stuff on it. What are you doing that for? Because you got, because you got wet at nationals, or because you want to do something, boy?
Speaker 4:I did get wet at nationals. It did rain that whole week and it's like every time it rained the tablecloth got wet and we were hanging stuff up in the wind and so, like I said, I have a good buddy that set me up here and yeah, no, we're looking forward to this summer, you know, going down to the southeast region all, and then the month right after that going to M&M. And you know I was on Phil three years ago about that shoot. I really wanted to, you know, be there and Phil's been good enough to me to, you know, with his friendship with Anthony and stuff like that, to secure that for us. So, and after that, the world fee test by Pete Malloy's, and we're going to be sponsoring the prelim up there and help supporting him a little bit. Is that how you?
Speaker 3:say it.
Speaker 4:Preliminary, I think it's three courses. So three syllables, three courses. Oh, I got it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and then you know, being the title sponsor again for the US Open and at my home club, which I'm really, really excited about. I just think you know, you know me, I'm proud of Northbrook, brett and the board and I don't know. I just you know, those guys are just every time I go there to shoot like there's a bulldozer working, there's something being done. You can see your money at work. You know, today I had two pallets of shells.
Speaker 4:Fedex calls me and says your two pallets of shells are being dropped off and I'm like, oh crap, I didn't call Brett. So I called Brett and just say Brett, can you get two pallets of shells free? Answers. The phone sends me a picture of the two pallets on the ground. The target setter calls me Tony asked for my combo of my unit. You know they put it on the forklift, put it inside. I don't know, it's just, it's a great club and I think that if you haven't signed up for the US Open, I mean it's just. I just have a lot of faith in Brett and everybody at that club that it's going to be a great shoot.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, they always put on a good shoot. I mean, it's big enough, it's tough enough, and you know now how far do you live from Northbrook.
Speaker 4:I live an hour and 20 minutes and you know I drive by a lot of clubs to get to it. I live in Wisconsin but for me, even at 40 cents a target, I feel like I get the most value by going there. And and you know it's. You know I'm trying to think I'll be wrong at this, but we must have like 50 garages on the property. You know where. You know I come pulling up, I push the button, my garage opens up, there's my ranger. You know we have. I have my shells in there. It's just. It's just, I don't know it. It it? They're really accommodating and it's. You know, great restaurants. You can have a nice breakfast or just everything about it is nice. So I'm just just looking forward to the US Open, like always, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, you're going more places than you did last year and the year before and the year before.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know it, and that's just because of my daughter and you know my son along my wife, you know, I mean I think with all four of us now, I mean we're, we're looking forward and I said it last time. I mean it's just, it's nice to be with everybody and see everybody. That just makes it, it brings everything full circle. You can talk to him on the phone, but you know shaking somebody's hand and you know, even at the, you know the nationals. I mean people are baking stuff for us and bringing us food, and it's just, you know. I don't know.
Speaker 4:I enjoy it more and more and my daughter is pushing me more and more. Like, dad, you're going, so I guess I'm going to the Southeast and see my buddy Justin.
Speaker 3:Well, I'll tell you this. So I mean, I've been to a lot of clubs and I don't remember one that has where. So where four city is located is right in the middle of everything. Like you could. You could pull out of there and get to a barbecue restaurant and literally two minutes and then you can go right across the street from it and eat seafood. I mean, the hotels are 10 minutes away. It's it's like everything is right there, and if you don't have something to do.
Speaker 3:You're going to ghost tour. If you don't like that, then you can go. Look at all the history from you know the wars back in the day. So there's all kind of stuff you can do in Savannah.
Speaker 4:Well, I paid a tour. I paid a tour guide, so I'm hoping I get a good. Have a good trip.
Speaker 3:Well, that'll be good. So something is something new. You're starting this year probably at the regional is called the Clay Target vision lounge, right.
Speaker 4:The CTV lounge? Yeah, we're going to. You know what is that? We, I don't know. We always have people hanging out or stuff like that. And you know, even, like Rebecca said, that you know Zach and Desi are there and Jim Greenwood's working on Zach's gun and and it's just nice to have a place to come sit and relax and, just like you said, socialize. So, yeah, we're going to have the CTV lounge down there and you know, at all these shoots we want to just make it that. I mean Rebecca, you know, tells me dad, you give too much away. But you know, at the Jack links I think she did pretty good.
Speaker 4:You know, as far as you know, we really like to give back to our customers because I have to admit, I mean, yeah, we are busy, yeah, we do really well, but it's our customers and it's just a great way for us to, you know, have a cooler of water or just something and giveaways, and I don't know, it's just we want to give back to the sport. You know, more than people think and we do, you know, just by. You know the sponsorships and things like that, and I'm sponsoring, you know, the grand again this year. I'm not even sure if I'm going, but I want to sponsor, you know, the grand and and and those shooters mean a lot to me, those trap shooters and you know, just to have that. You know is is important to us and and, like I said, we just want to be able to share with our customers some of our success. And they say they seem to respond to that and tell their buddies, or you know friends, and and we keep growing. That's for sure.
Speaker 3:Are you gonna have gummy bears at the regional? Are you gonna carry those on a plane? Are you gonna get you some?
Speaker 4:No, I got a buddy that lives in Georgia. I'm going to ship everything down to him and then I'm going to make him bring it to me In that order. My wife packed for you this week. I told her don't put gummy bears in there. Did she listen to me?
Speaker 3:No, there's gummy bears in there. All right, good, why, well, she's not?
Speaker 4:no, I just told her he don't don't, he don't need gummy bears, and so I was just curious if she sent them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she sent me. She didn't send me as many packs as she normally does. I counted them. You only send me four. She only sent me three this time.
Speaker 4:All right I got one card.
Speaker 4:One card. That's hard to market us with one card. I'll have to talk to her about that, you know. But that's, that's part of our success. Every quarter we put some business cards in and and and, like I said, it really helps because people, if, if I can get that order out within hours and that customer calls me, you know, a day or two later it says I can't believe I have my order. It just, it just helps us, you know, grow the business and that's, you know, part of it. So we just keep pedal to the metal and try to have fun doing it. So it's great. You want to give the old boy a call here?
Speaker 3:So what we have. We got Dennis on, of course, and we were talking about what he's going to be doing this year as far as the shoots are concerned. And then we also talking about the new lenses that are out for 24. And yeah, and all the. We talked about the names and how we want to find out how you come up with all those, all those crazy names and they mean something and we want to find out what that is. And then you got the new Raptor that's out. So, let's, we didn't, we didn't talk about that, the last show that you did. So let's, let's kind of get into that, this show, and uh, okay, and let's talk about what's new. And Dennis, if you want to you probably know the question Ask him as far as the new lenses getting here.
Speaker 4:Well, if I ask him questions, I kind of ask him the questions that that I get all day. So I'm pretty much just representing the, the, you know the customer out there. But, phil, yeah, pretty exciting to get the Raptor to. Maybe let's just start off a little bit and talk about Raptor to. What are the big differences, what are the similarities, how, and? And just explain it a little bit to us and why you're so excited about the Raptor to and also Phil.
Speaker 3:let me add to that. Let's talk about the difference in the Raptor and then the outlaw. Okay, Cause some people may not know what that is.
Speaker 4:And even the 540 and 580, justin, I think we can hit on all that, especially when it comes to RX. That's a lot of a lot of questions during the day and even if we can just touch on those for five minutes, I think everyone liked to hear a little bit about all that. All right, sounds good, so I'll start with the Raptor 2, phil.
Speaker 2:Okay, the Raptor 2 is an evolution of the Raptor platform and the Raptor platform was really an evolution from our 580. And the deployment of that kind of technology is really more for individuals that want slightly more of a traditional look to what they're wearing. And then you know we have actually a ton of customers that want a pair of glasses that they can go shoot in, get in their truck, go get a gallon of milk, go home and never take their glasses off. So you know, that kind of fits the bill there, just purely from a lifestyle and a cosmetic look, the frame is a phenomenal frame to wear in the field for small game and any or hunting needs. So you know, from a pure, just to say, model standpoint, you know, for the last I'd say, 15, 20 years we've always had mask product, meaning one lens across your entire face, and we've kind of dabbled in the two lens solution because there's a lot of folks out there that like a two lens solution and a fully corrective measure in terms of utilizing prescriptions. So the Raptor II really builds on the evolution of really what we did with the Raptor. And the Raptor is very different than the 580 and 540 or 500 series line because what it allows the lens to do is float. So the original design study was how can you actually make a pair of glasses where the corrective measure, meaning the prescriptive lens, is not affected by the wearer or the wearer of the product, where when you flex a frame you actually change the attitude of the lens on your face, thus potentially influencing prescriptive power either positively or negatively? So the Raptor originally was designed to, you know, facilitate a frame where that would not happen. Then we kind of noticed a couple of things happening in the marketplace where a couple of different types of styles were being presented, and we felt that, given our engineering background and the way that we facilitate, you know, our thought process and bringing a product to the market, we wanted to out engineer anything on the market, and the Raptor II, along with the Velociraptor, is some of the most adjustable product that's on the market. I mean you can simply tune a pair of glasses either using our planal lens technology, which is the non-prescriptive filters, or prescriptive filters, and really tune someone's prescription in the model. And that really was the genesis of what we were trying to do was make a pair of glasses that you could really dial in a shooter's prescriptive need when they're in the stock.
Speaker 2:A lot of optometrists out there, which is why sometimes it's not the greatest thing to go to just a regular optometrist to get you know your product fitted for a gun. The ability to take a pair of glasses and fit them while you're actually using the instrument is a far better solution than just standing and taking the same kind of measurements that you would with a pair of street glasses. So the Raptor II being an adjustable nosepiece on our copahinge, we were able to actually change the panoscopic angle, meaning the tilt of the lens from the cheek to the forehead and then the extendability of the temple arms. You have a ton to work with to kind of tune the seg height, which is really where the optical center in your glasses is, using that particular product. So that was really the genesis behind our two lens system with the Raptor family.
Speaker 2:The Raptor, I thought, was a fantastic cosmetic entry for us and certainly had the technical ability to allow a frame to be fit to someone without affecting the way the lens was sitting on your face.
Speaker 2:The Raptor II and the Velociraptor just takes the two a new level in terms of the customization of the product.
Speaker 2:And the nice thing about the product is there are people out there that you know get a little frightened as to the cost of doing prescriptive measures and they have a need, just given where they are in their life, that their prescription may change, you know, every 12 months, every 18 months or whatnot, and then they got to invest in all kinds of new lenses again if you're using filters with prescription ground directly into the lenses.
Speaker 2:The nice thing about the Raptor series is you can use a prescriptive insert do it once, have all the Plano filters in front of it, which you know the setup really does work amazingly well or you can put fully prescriptive lenses with the filter in them in the frame as well. So the thing that I'm excited about in terms of the product it just gives a ton of latitude for someone to utilize a pair of glasses both for prescriptive measures as well as Plano measures. It looks fantastic and I have to say the quality of the product is just unbelievable. My team in Italy just did a phenomenal job manufacturing this particular design. It's of the highest quality on the market, fully adjustable, and is one of those products that you really look good wearing as well. So I think it checks all the boxes for us.
Speaker 3:Whoa, I might need to get something that's going to make me look good when I'm wearing them.
Speaker 4:The thing that I just want to explain. You know, we do do our axis in the 540 and 580, like Phil said, and, and now we can do the same R axis in the Raptor too. But the thing that that that I don't know if everybody's aware of, you can just buy a Raptor with a 18 CED, 54 CIHC and a 92 CIL and just wear them, you know, instead of outlaws and just get into a more traditional but have all the same colors, all the same ice coatings that the outlaws have. And then you know that wasn't available where in the 540s or the 580s, where you could actually get a Plano lens. Plano meaning there's no script, just you know what we normally sell.
Speaker 4:And explain Phil a little bit. You know, when we talk about outlaw 6 and outlaw 7, people think you just numbered them wrong. But the real reason behind the that's a 6 and a 7, it describes the. You know, explain that and then explain the curvatures in the Raptor. Both I think the Raptor is a 6 base frame and an 8 base lens. Can you just go into that a little bit?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the numbers on our product do relate to the base curve of the lens. So, specifically on the outlaw X6, the reason we named it an outlaw X6, it's a base 6 curve, which is a slightly flatter curve than the outlaw X7, which is a base 7 curve lens, so it has more wrap to it. The nice thing about the Raptor frame is we have 8 base geometry lenses that are de-centered, which means that we can put more of an angle for lack of a better description in the product and not have any aberration in terms of the optics of the product. The base 6 frame geometry gives us a lot of latitude in terms of being able to do a wider range of prescriptive lenses mounted directly to the frame. So that gives us a lot of play in terms of being able to utilize that product for a bunch of different uses. The 8 base is even a higher wrap lens, so that really offers not only a performance advantage but it really offers a cosmetic look. A traditional aviator is either on a 4 or a 6 base lens, so it's a much flatter design. Given the size of the lens is smaller, it actually just perceptively looks flatter. So product that has more wrap to. It has a more cosmetically pleasing silhouette. So the Raptor kind of checks those boxes as well. Because we were really very focused on how do we do a platform that is prescriptive friendly but also has a cosmetic appeal to it as well. So that was something that when I had one of the first prototypes of the Raptor series, I had a 9.5 CID in it and I can't tell you how many people would come up to me and say, wow, that's just a great looking pair of glasses, not even knowing that we manufactured them for shooting purposes.
Speaker 2:The frame geometries are very fluid in terms of being able to accommodate both needs in terms of plano, non-prescription and prescription and, like I indicated before, you can buy a plano kit and put a prescriptive element behind it. We're also finding that people that want different prescriptive levels like that particular approach because they can have different inserts for more traditional approaches, whether they're doing pistol shooting or whether they're doing hunting on a scope, all those kinds of things. There's a lot of utility in being able to use an insert in a traditional pair of glasses with multi-filter approach, meaning multi-lens kits from low light to full sun. So the platform is, as I would say, a very elastic platform because it really offers a whole lot of different options. And the frame design also accommodates a straight bayonet style, which is our edge temple, or a forked approach in terms of you know, that's our trademark with our four points of contact behind the year, with offsetting some of the weight that the bridge feels on the front side of the glass.
Speaker 2:So fantastic product has a lot of different technical merit and then also really has I think you know, as I would say a lot of street merit too, because it's just a great everyday pair of glasses as well. So Dennis points out quite well that you can put a full sun ED meaning enhanced definition lens in the product, drive your car with it all day and bang, get out at the range and even pop in you know, a 92 CIL or even a 98 AR and go shoot under the lights at the end of the day after you're done working. So it's definitely a great new entry for us and certainly in the early going here the reception to it has been really, really phenomenal.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean over the last couple of weeks, I think it's I mean 50-50, I've been putting a lot of RX scripts right into the lenses and you know I'm doing some RX inserts. And if you don't mind, justin, I just kind of want to go over some of the RX aspects a little bit. You know I read on Facebook and clay shooting or something. Somebody will say I need a pair of prescription glasses, what do you recommend? And I can barely look at that without like having a stroke because it's like you're somebody asking. You know, facebook, what the right answer is and it's the answers just go all over.
Speaker 4:But if I could just try to explain it a little bit better, you know the 540 series, 580 series, what we did have and we always say if you have a stronger RX, you know meaning you know a thicker lens or that the 540 always worked the best for a really strong RX. And then the 580 is a little bigger lens and we you can. You know it's a little harder to put a strong RX in there, but you know it's, it's flatter, it's like it's a six base right A 580.
Speaker 2:The 580 is a is a base frame. We use six base lenses on it and compensate for it.
Speaker 4:Right. And so you know the same thing goes like with RX inserts, like even with the Raptor. The nice thing about the Raptor RX insert compared to an outlaw RX insert is that it uses an insert pretty similar to the X6 Panther post but it's flatter so we can put, you know, I'm putting a minus seven and you know, stronger and feel comfortable doing it in the left curvature Raptor insert than the outlaw. And even like when, you know, like I had a guy I did an outlaw insert for and he says, dennis, like it's just not clear, and I'm like, well, I know the lens is right on and I always say, send me a picture of you looking through the lens. Well, this gentleman had such a high nose bridge that he's looking out the bottom of an outlaw and and he wasn't, you know, centered up and that's where this Raptor really accelerates.
Speaker 4:You know we talk about both the Raptor 2 and the Velossa Raptor. The Raptor 2 does have an adjustable nose bridge that you know has three clicks. You can move it up and down. So when you are do have a prescription and depending if you get into your gun hard or you have a more upright head, it has some adjustability. But this Velossa Raptor. It actually has a stem sticking out the top of it and you have so much up and down adjustability.
Speaker 4:But I think for a trap shooter it really would would be. You know something that's depending on how you get into the gun. That Velossa Raptor gives you that ability to center that that lens to your eyes and that's what just makes it so important. And you know the other thing the Raptor 2, compared to the original Raptor, the vertex index, which means the distance between your eyeball in the back of the lens, is a little smaller, a little better, a little less light noise. So, like you said, it's just. You know we're doing a lot of Raptor business lately and it just seems to be growing Now the geometry of the Raptor 2 sits closer to your face than the original Raptor.
Speaker 2:So Dennis points out, you know, definitely a performance benefit to the correctability of the product as well.
Speaker 3:Oh nice, I didn't know it sat closer to your face.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and it just, you know, it, just, it just it's very comfortable and the adjustability of it even, like you know, you can adjust an outlaw X6, outlaw seven a little bit with the you know pushing the nose, you know saddle around and stuff. The adjustability of the Raptor 2 and the Velociraptor is, to me, the game changer, especially for shooters, when you people don't realize that we're all different. We all have different RX strengths. There's certain certain RX strengths that work better in this type of glass compared to somebody with a mild script, you know. So that's where I do a lot of that during the day just talking to people and getting them into the right, right glasses according to how strong their RX is is the best way for me to put it. But do we want to talk anything else about the Raptor? Do you want to start into these seven new lenses, phil?
Speaker 2:No, I mean, I really believe that you know there's there's, I think, a lot of product on the market that pushes a traditional format.
Speaker 2:And you know the nice thing about the Raptor 2 and the Velociraptor we put a lot of thinking into the geometry of it and we really feel that we've we've landed on a product that has the latitude to accommodate such a wide range of need, and that's one of the things that's quite exciting about this particular product.
Speaker 2:And you know, as we, as we move forward, we're adding additional filter technology and in plano for it and certainly the temple options will become more prolific. But in terms of out of the gate competitively on the market, I feel that we've come up with the highest quality, most adjustable product on the market that you know really will, will stand up to any shooter's needs. And the one thing about the Velociraptor that is coming is we have a replacement nosepiece for the Velociraptor that will allow for the stem, as Dennis put it, to be replaced with a fully corrective insert for the Velociraptor as well. So that's that's coming and quite an exciting development on the backside of what we've introduced thus far. The Raptor 2 uses the insert methodology that Dennis mentioned, and then both models use fully correctable lenses as well without the insert system. So any any approach we can, we can definitely facilitate.
Speaker 4:And just to reiterate, if you have a stronger script and you want to go with an insert, I definitely would say go with a Raptor over you know an X6 or seven, because it's just a flatter insert and it just accommodates those stronger scripts better.
Speaker 3:Gotcha what I'm interested about. I might try some of those, dennis, I hadn't. I think I've seen those, the new ones. I know I've seen the older ones, but I want to see the new ones especially closer to your face.
Speaker 4:I'll send you a pair tonight. You just got to tell me whether you want, like, copper frames or if you want edge frames button. I'll just send you some down and just text me what kind of lenses you know. Maybe let's just set you up for stuff to drive in for now. Okay, I mean I still have your credit card, so it's okay, trust me.
Speaker 3:I know you will. I want you to start talking about what's going to be. My favorite one is the 12. I don't know what you? Yeah, that's a good place to start right.
Speaker 4:Let's start with a the new 12 blueberry Phil.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I mean from from my perspective we always come from a different point of view to Create a new science for the year that we feel Is better than the last. And you know, as we mentioned on multiple occasions Having the opportunity to talk with you, we're we're an engineering-based company. It's all about the engineering, technology and the design of what we do for performance and Cosmetic, all that other kind of stuff, even though we were just talking about the raptor being Cosmetically pleasing. At the end of the day, the only thing that cuts the mustard for me is doesn't work. And and that's that's the ruler and this year we we did a lot of homework on when were there holes in our lineup that we could fill with brand-new thinking, where in years past, we might have introduced something that was incremental to a previous generation or whatnot. And this year we really tried to focus on how we could take Holes and introduce not only a solution for that but also marry it with some new technology that we've brought to the table. So this year we've we've introduced seven new filters for this year's lineup. Last year we had six new filters and the first one, at the highest light value and lowest transmittance, is our 12% lens and We've had a ton of people go my god, the 19 CIN is just an absolutely phenomenal neutralization lens.
Speaker 2:Can you do something darker? And the interesting thing about doing darker, it's not just make it darker. You've got to really work on manipulating the filtration science so that you don't lose the hallmark of our product in terms of depth of field, level of clarity, enhancing visual acuity, all the things that go into making a lens perform. The darker that you get a lens, the downfall of it. If it's not articulated properly, you really do lose depth of field. So this particular lens, as do all seven of our new lenses we introduced this year and benefit from a new pigment and filtration science that we call spa, which is a spectral pigment accelerator. And what that means in layman's terms is if any of you've ever played with your iPhone and you start manipulating or editing a photograph and you start dialing up all those little dials that Apple allows you to do to make color more vivid or intense or Put more contrast into the picture and those kinds of things, and all of a sudden everything really starts getting dimensioned to it. That's the same level of a detail that's going into the new technology that we've put in to manipulate the way that the eye sees color, and the 12 blueberry lens.
Speaker 2:We call it a blueberry lens because it has a level of purple and blue to the lens that really allowed us to get great depth of field and really kick back that green background and relax the eye in what we would call direct sun, so sun coming right at you. And the new the new lens has been out there, I think three weeks and the feedback has been phenomenal. And it doesn't really matter what market we've been in. The reality is the lens is performing absolutely phenomenally and it is. The feedback is wow, this lens is a darker 19, but it's really vivid To a larger extent and that's really the technology. That's that's in the lens.
Speaker 2:But we really spent a lot of time because we had so many people saying God, we really want a full sun Direct in your face. Purple neutralizer when I'm shooting against those green backgrounds it still allows us to jack the target. So that blueberry lens was the darkest filtration that we've put out this year At the 12 percent level. But that particular lens takes the spa technology, the spectral pigment accelerator, which is basically infused into the lens and then still borrows from all of the other Previous technology that we built on last year, which was a runaway success for us, which was the infrared and ice technology that is on the lens as well, so that Still benefits from the ease of cleaning of the lens, the hydrophobic nature of the exterior of the lens, the Hydrophilic nature of the inside of the lens in terms of spreading moisture to help retard fogging on the backside of the lens, and then, in working in concert with the pigment accelerators, is our Infrared to just make everything that much more vibrant and vivid when you're looking through the lens.
Speaker 2:So the 12th blueberry is definitely a hit right out of the gate and and really fill the need in our neutralization family, which is our CIN Family, which is, you know, stands for chroma shifts, infrared neutralizer, the. The lens family now really, I think, has a real good breath to it in terms of the 12, the 19, the 40 CN, the 52 CIN and then up to the 65 CIM, and which also has, you know, a neutralization filter bent to it as well. So we have a whole suite of this base filtration idea from now direct Sun all the way down to a diminishing light situation. So that was a great addition for us and filled a real need for a lot of our customer base around the world.
Speaker 4:Wow, I agree. I think that you know we can see. You know, as far as our sales go, I Do. You think I have enough of them for right now. Filler, do you think I should order some more?
Speaker 2:If I had them, I'd give them to you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, no, I, I tried to jump in front of that because I knew you would run out of them. But, yeah, no, I, I, I. I can't believe how strong that the 19 has become, and that's just because of you know the way. Yeah, it's a neutralizer, but it really started to perform, as far as you know. Seeing the target better and the 12, just you know, takes that to another level. So the next lens probably would be the, the passion fruit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the passion fruit lenses is is is another one where you know it seems like We've we've done a really good job trying to find what our customers have been asking for this this year.
Speaker 4:You know I've been asking for this lens for three years, so right yeah this is true.
Speaker 2:This is true, the, the CI HP, which is the chroma shift, infrared high contrast the. The reality is we call this a passion fruit lens so that it really had more of a specific target for us in terms of the nomenclature and you know everyone, you know comments on the names that we put on these lenses and we found it to be like really very Interactive with our customer base and shooters around the world because they kind of key in on. It's much easier for someone to say, hey, send me the blueberry lens than the 12 CI BB lens, where it becomes a little bit more intense in terms of under, you know, remembering the numbers and the letters and all that kind of stuff. So the, the fruit lenses, we've always come from the perspective that the, the lens is a healthy addition to what the eye can perform In its sort of native state, where we put a manipulative lens in front of your eye and then all of a sudden We've really had a healthy impact not only on your vision but the aptitude of what you can do from a performance standpoint in the chosen sport, certainly in firearms sports. So the, the fruits have really done well for us and we just continue to use fruit based nomenclature, along with the scientific base of the transmittance level being the number and then the, the act. You know, the the letters that we use for each one of the acronyms for what we put in terms of the technology. But the passion fruit is is probably, you know, one of those, those families of lenses over the last ten years that we just have had an enormous amount of success with and we've changed Things like, for example, when I said that these lenses are completely different, they're filling holes in in the past.
Speaker 2:We've taken this particular filtration family and we've tweaked it a little bit, change the transmittance level a little bit. Where we had a 50 RHC that we turned into a 47 CI HP HC and and that was a benefit to that particular filter at that transmittance value. This particular filter really fits in between our 15 CI HC, which this past year the introduction of that lens as an infrared ice lens was one of our top five lenses and the 47 CI HC. That particular lens has been, I would say, one of our top six lenses of all time and the ability for us to now articulate a new filter that's not a full sun or a medium light lens, we call this a mid-light lens, and the Mid-light lens is sort of when you have yellow light out there but you have a lot of puffy clouds where it's actually cutting down on the overall amount of light reaching your eye. So it's not a really bright bright situation, but it's between what we would say medium light, where you might have gray overcast or that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:This is in between that and to get the performance to Step into its own, we had to rearticulate the, the filter, and when we say that, what we're doing is pretend we're playing with in the old days. You have the equalizers for your boom box or your radios or whatnot, and you're always dialing up the treble, the base. This is the same kind of thing that we do with the color spectrum and what is the visual color spectrum? We keep sliding up and down the EQ to be able to push and Diminish different values across the light spectrum within the filter, to tune it, and it's a very iterative Process where we go through with Zeiss and all their engineers. You can bench test everything all day long. And it's supposed to be X, but you get it and you infuse it into the lens and it has a different characteristic when it actually gets into the lens.
Speaker 2:This one, we went through a bunch of iterations on it and then we finally found this really nice sweet spot that ended up 50% of the value of the 47 and the 15 and it's just a really super All-around high contrast lens and it's one of those that if you had one to pull out of your bag which I certainly don't endorse, but if you had that go-to lens, this would be one that just has really great detail and nice target intensity and Really fits that all-around kind of condition. So I'm really excited about this particular lens because the success we had with the 15 and the 47 and this just gives us a whole new Sort of dimension where we're not over cranking a lot of target orange. It's just a really nice pleasant lens In that mid-light condition.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean for me, as far as all these new lenses, I mean it falls into my wheelhouse because, like you said earlier that 47, it's just been our workhorse, probably one of the most popular lenses that we've. We sold more of that lens than you know a lot of Other lenses you know. It's just so popular and and and guys like I talk about guys you know notoriously being red, deficient and things like that and for me the 47 Just really accelerates orange and now I put on this 31 and the way I'm wired and the way my rods and cones are, it just it's, it's. It's like you said, it's unexplainable. It really works for me because I'm a 47 shooter and now this 31 it just gives me that in a bright, sunny day up on the berm at Northbrook is is a go-to lens I can see for me.
Speaker 2:I'm quite happy with this one. It rounds out the family for that particular type of filter for sure.
Speaker 4:All right, real quick, let's go to 35 fig, yeah, and what the differences and the similarities and what your thought process is behind that? Well, but one of the things that I do have the benefit of is.
Speaker 2:My 87 year old father is is still right there working 15 feet from me and Of the Italian descent. We all are obviously manufacturing all of our product in Italy. We have an affinity for figs and we were looking for a fruit for this particular lens and we're like, oh, this is, this is a great lens, to to name the fit big when originally on our design platform it was supposed to be the 35 CIN. And this is another one of those where we've had an An enormous amount of inbound request from our shooters that they wanted something in between, kind of a sweet spot of the 19 and then the 40 CIN being a slightly different type of technology that uses a Previous generation of our technology, but still the 40 CIN, you know, has the IR ice type backbone but it's got a much different exterior, robust, I would say, coating technology on it. Then our 52 and our 19 that are pure IR ice coated technologies. But we had tons of inbound where they said again we want something that's not so much in the full sun or or medium gray light area. Can we get something that is in this mid-light area? And the 35 CIN was the original design and we wanted to name it something very different because it really Does have a very different introduction. To get it to perform very Well, we added more red into it and we actually blended the cherry filters that we have and some of our most successful lenses, like our raspberry or our 36 CPOM lens.
Speaker 2:We blended in this cherry base along with the purple Esk filter of our normal CIN spectral curve and we got this wonderfully blended lens that we call the fig and and because it has this introduction of more of a red nod to it with this cherry in it, we didn't want to continue with it being kind of the same platform as our other neutralizer lenses, so we called it the fig lens, which is why we call it 35 CIA. This was one of the first lenses that we actually articulated in. The A was an accelerator before we started playing around with some of the other nomenclature. So the fig lens has this beautiful platform of a blended science now and this one just turned out, in my opinion, one of my favorite that we've introduced in the last couple years. It's just a really cool technology, has the base of the neutralization, but it has this really vibrant, vivid picture with it. It almost is the difference between when I go from, you know, a standard 1080p iTV to a 4k TV. It's just that much of a change.
Speaker 2:So I'm quite excited about this, this lens and the couple of events we've had it at the dealers that have been out there with it sold out of what they had on this particular lens, because I think it's one of those that immediately when you try it on you're like, wow, this is really great. So I was really really happy with this because, you know, we started out with the design study. Let's see if we can peg something again in between these two lenses, that we have this whole. And again, we benefit very, very well from the relationship we have as an exclusive provider with Zeiss. The Zeiss engineering team is just a phenomenal group of scientists that really get what we do and they're quite collaborative and pushing really what the technology is capable of doing. So it was one of those things that we kind of like spilled two glasses of, you know, vanilla and chocolate milk together, by introducing the cherry and the in the purple filtration, and we got a winner out of it. So I was I was really excited about this one.
Speaker 4:You know what they call that, justin. Right, it's called a hybrid. You know, just like the hybrid move, you know it's a hybrid. It's got a little bit of this little bit of swing through, little bit sustained, little bit of. You know, that's the hybrid lens there. Yeah, all right, moving on, phil, what would we go to? Are we gonna go to the guava?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the guava lens is actually a lens that falls more into a specialty category, but you know there is a level of red green deficiency and a very large proportion of the population, especially men. So this was one of those lens technologies that was a must-have for us and the reason for it is we introduced our red green deficient lens technology in our CGR platform and all of those who know our platform of CGR, which introduces polarization to a lens that red green deficient lens technology to pass the Zeiss standards for which they hold our product to and that they will endorse, was only available in the CGR platform, which is a basic lens which only fits, because of the fixation technology we use in our outlaw platform, on an outlaw X6. We can't put that lens on a panther system, so that's why it doesn't exist there. So we only really had one product that we had this red green deficiency technology that was available in. So this year we really were committed because the success of the red green deficient lenses has been phenomenal the RGHL and the RGLL that's found in our CGR technology. We've had customers on the phone being like I have never seen like this, because I've never been able to see these colors before and we had so many people inbound. I have an outlaw X7, I've got a panther. Why can't I have this particular type of technology? So we spent the last year with Zeiss rearticulating this and the spot technology allowed us to put this particular filtration science into what I would say is a standard lens geometry over outlaw X6 as well as our outlaw X7, which is different than the CGR geometry of the lens.
Speaker 2:Anyone who has a CGR lens will see that it's slightly different than our standard X6 outlaw lens because of the specificity of really what that needs to deliver from a technological standpoint. So this lens, the guava lens, comes in at a 39 transmittance, which is halfway sort of again between the HL and the LL lens. It's a great all-around technology for red green deficient individuals and it really is one of those that take that base technology that's already have proven technology for us in the CGR platform of the red green deficient lenses and puts it and infuses it into a standard delivery for us on the two most popular platforms that we produce, which is the outlaw six and the outlaw seven. Funny enough, the articulation of the filter in it is really a super delivery for people who are not red green deficient as well, but it's just got a really nice crisp the delivery but really articulated in terms of the science in it for red, green deficient individuals, where we're again playing with the EQ to really dial in the lens for that particular need.
Speaker 2:So this is, this is one that brand new delivery, full 18-wheeler size hole in our lineup to be able to address this and it's one of those that you know clearly is a what I would call light bulb lens for a lot of people who have this particular need, because they immediately put this on and, man, they can see some targets.
Speaker 2:And that's just really a great thing to hear from our customers when they call us back and say, listen, this lens is really helping me out because I've never been able to see anything before, and that's that's really where this lens came from for us this year. So we call it the guava lens for obvious reasons, because of what the fruit looks like, and you'll notice that the fruits that we use are directly correlated to you know really what the lens looks like and what the ultimate delivery of what we're trying to do in terms of the colorization. But this one I'm super excited about because we just I felt so bad for a lot of our customers calling in why can't I get this technology in what I have? So we did our homework and I have to say high props to the Zeiss team because they came through with this particular technology that we didn't think we were able to deliver because it was firmly rooted in the CGR platform, but now we have it in in our standard delivery, which is which is great.
Speaker 4:I, I sold a lot of RGHL's and RGLL's filled, you know, and I haven't had, not, I've not had one customer like say yeah, no, just hasn't performed, or say they want, they want to, you know, give it back. I mean, that's so. Knowing that, that technology now in those lenses and in the success that I've had selling those lenses, and now being able to sell it to people with X7 and being on the phone all day and knowing how many people are red, green, deficient, I'm very excited about that lens and, like you said, it's gonna, it's gonna help a lot of guys out and I'm looking forward to that now. Now. Now we can just go right. We're seeing that we're talking red, green, let's talk green.
Speaker 4:You know our success, you know, with the 92 CAL and even like the 92 CAL, a lot of times people don't realize that our progressive line was actually the start of the 92 CAL because of and you know they're very similar as far as light transmissions and things like that. But we had of, you know, a medium green before. But here this lens, here it I can definitely tell it's different.
Speaker 2:Maybe explain it yeah, one of the things that we learned from the 92 CAL and the 92 CAL is is one of our top three lenses. I mean, it's just one of those lenses that just works for 95% of the population out there that shoots that's looking for a real low light and flat light type lens. So you know, the the issue was again this kind of echoed over and over again. This was kind of the year that we listened to really what our customers were looking for to fill these holes that we had in our lineup and, as Dennis mentioned, we had a medium green lens before. But basically what we did in that particular iteration was we just basically, you know, dialed up the transmittance value by reducing it so that you had a darker version, and that really is much different than what we've come up with now, which we use the spectral pigment accelerators in this Kiwi fruit lens, and the Kiwi lens is one of those that I've put on people that don't even shoot and they look through this thing like damn, everything so crisp. It's just one of those lenses that we have articulated where we've dialed in the way that you see color and the medium lighting condition and and you kind of got to get away from the fact that it's just in this green family. You have to kind of take a look at it from a different perspective, because the way that I like to look at this lens is, if you're shooting in green, gray light and you're looking for something that's really going to facilitate crystal clear, sharp clarity, this particular lens does an amazing job doing that.
Speaker 2:This is not a lens that I would say is a lens that you're going to say bang, look at that orange target. It looks like someone just put, you know, a light switch on it. It's. It's not one of those lenses where we're accelerating color to the point where we're trying to make it vibrate in a specific wavelength, meaning like target orange.
Speaker 2:This is one of those lenses that not only helps in that with the spectral accelerators that we're using now, meaning the way that we're manipulating color but it's just one of those lenses that's dialed in to give vivid, crisp edges to what you're looking at, and I just think that this is one of those that is just going to be a runaway winner for us today, because the 92 CIL, like I said, is one of our top three lenses, but this particular lens is just a great flat gray light lens that just dials in detail. So this one I'm really excited about, as all the lenses that we've discussed before, they all use our seven layer anti-reflective technology, so you don't get any light dispersion off the back of the lens, which further enhances the value of this particular filters design. So all around the kiwi fruit bam I'm I'm jacked about this particular lens because it is it is crystal clear and it's just one of those tight lenses that just makes everything sharp.
Speaker 4:Justin yeah did you try it on? Oh yeah, I try everything well, what did you think when you put it on I?
Speaker 3:like them all. I mean, you know, the problem is I got, I have so many, I just can't decide which ones I'm gonna use.
Speaker 4:So if yeah, you know, I just I change them out about one server station no, I know and, like I said, all that little stuff helps you from station to station and and you need that.
Speaker 4:But anyway, you know the thing about the this, this lens to.
Speaker 4:That I just wanted to mention when you look at it, when you feel you're talking about that medium gray light and you know, like, for instance, desert shooting or even winter shooting in the Midwest or New England or wherever of West Coast, with even in like California with the brown grasses and things like that, I just think that this here I mean I got a lot of trap shooters in California that they're telling me that their clubs are going with green targets and these things are flying out the door to those guys. And so I think, for green targets and that flat gray light, like you said, just to get that clear, vivid, crisp image, this lens is gonna, you know, take off. And one other thing that I just want to mention too I think when it comes to pigeons in a lot you know we have a lot of pigeon shooters that listen to this I really feel that this lens here for pigeon shooters is is a must yeah it's, it's one of those that just as you put it on and just stuff, just dials up the detail.
Speaker 2:So I'm completely excited about this one. It was a different design study and I know I give high props to the Zeiss team, but you know, this year we just have had a really great fortune to introduce the new, the new pigment technology in the way that we're moving color, and this one is just bang spot on detailed let me ask you this real quick, phil.
Speaker 4:You know we talk about most. You know, like you know, three, four out of ten guys are due in colorblind, which means they're red green deficient. I just wonder what this green lens with with those, you know, people that are the red green deficient. How that, how would how they'd perceive it?
Speaker 2:you know it'd be interesting yeah, I think what you're gonna find is gonna add more detail. I don't know if you know the way that this particular design of lenses done, if it's really going to dial up the affinity for their deficiency, but you know, I think that what you will find, what someone is red, green, deficient you will find a higher level of detail and visual acuity using the lens for sure that's where.
Speaker 4:That's where I think you know these good pigeon shooters, you know they look for the eyes of the pigeon, and I just think that you know, especially with gray pigeons, that this, this lens, will be a winner. Well, let's, let's move on to our the golden berry. I've heard about the golden berry for a year now and I know we've always had, you know, pila's. You know success started off with with our amber lenses and you know that's what you started with. And we've had low light transmission eds before. But maybe just take a minute here and explain what makes this so special as a low light ed yeah, I mean the golden berry lens I'm gonna call our pro lens.
Speaker 2:You know that type of thinking because you have a lot of pros out there that like a really balanced lens, which has always been the success of the ed family of lenses, where we're kind of buoying and raising the whole value of of the color spectrum so that there's more intensity in a more balanced fashion where we're not overdoing one piece of the spectrum versus another to achieve a color manipulative state that is, on one side or the other either more orange, less orange, kickback, the green background, that kind of thing. The reason I'm calling it a pro lenses because you know you talk to a lot of pros about really seeing the bird and the detail and not having an affinity for just the target color but the target in totality where you want to see the dimples, the edges, all like you know sort of detail and this particular lens. As Dennis mentioned, we've done other high transmittance value ed lenses. But as you get to a higher level of transmittance value the utility of the pigments performance becomes less because you have less to work with. When we introduce the spectral pigment accelerator technology that we're infusing in the lenses now, the combination of that with the ice, ir coating technology is really given birth to a lens that I think is just one of the best ed lenses we've ever done. And this lens is going to be phenomenal for not only you know, you know sporting ski. This is also going to be a really good lens for all your you know tactical type shooting, whether it's IPSE, ipda, any of those particular types of disciplines, and even you know out in the field.
Speaker 2:So this particular lens really just benefits from you know, 30 years of doing this particular you know type of lens. But you know we've always had the benefit of of increasing the technical performance of the materials and technology we're using, and this one definitely benefits from the introduction of the new way that we're using pigments and the pigment accelerator in the lens. So I Can't say enough about this one. This one, you know, for me is is one of those that I can just Guarantee that, across the board, every top shooter out there is going to just want this particular lens because it's just that that balanced in, that critically accurate in terms of producing a sight picture that has a Level of detail that we haven't really ever been able to produce at this transmittance value with this type of lens Design. I.
Speaker 4:Even think like for hunting and things like that too. Just that balance approach and I sent one to. Zach, justin. So I'm, you know and you know Zach, you know even Zach, you know Brandon, those guys, you know Anthony, they all look, you know, love their Ed's and I'm curious what the what's that things I sent sent him one before I sent it to you.
Speaker 3:Trust me, I know, I know he's already, he takes me and I was to brag or what he's got, and so you know what happened yeah.
Speaker 4:Right, well, we got one lens left. Let's not jump into it. So you know, for a while there. You know that 70pwc was just, you know, a workhorse it I had a lot of guys that use it for nighttime, you know, under the lights shooting, and we discontinued it. But what replaced it, phil?
Speaker 2:the 69 blush peach is what we're calling this lens, and the 70pwc is, you know, one of our Top 10 selling lenses of all time, you know. I mean it's definitely one of those lenses that has a really strong following. The difference here is, with the new pigment accelerators that we're using, we've introduced a Level of detail that you know we just talked about in the goldenberry lens, but this particular lens is a little different because we've now bled in a little bit more red to this particular lens, hence why we're calling it a blush lens. It's really got that little splash of red with the Articulation of the peach spectral curve that we've had so much success with, and it is even present in the 55pwc, which the 55pwc you know. We're going and running that out now with a new, darker blush peach coming later in the year Not sure whether it's going to arrive late fall or whether it'll be a 25 lens, but the peach lenses have Always been a really widely accepted lens with a lot of enthusiasm, and we wanted to again Introduce an improvement and I know this is kind of like goes against the grain of the first six lenses we were talking about, because I was saying, hey, this is like completely new holes that we filled and this is kind of again a little bit of a Departure from that because it is an enhanced lens technology that we previously had in the 70pwc. But I believe that this is a much different approach because now we're able to isolate With more criticality very specific pieces of the visual spectrum that we have really been Not able to do at this high level of transmittance value and introduce a little bit more red to this in blending what we had with the 70pwc. So it's got a Little bit more of a ruby red Influence in there that we've blended in and it just gives that much more sort of detail at that high transmittance value.
Speaker 2:So I think that this is a drastic improvement to the delivery of this particular type of family of lenses that we've had for the peach technology and that's really what the design study was for. This is, how do we improve that lens? Because it was such a wild success to date and you know we're never really, you know, satisfied with the level of performance. We certainly get extremely enthusiastic about what we're delivering, but soon as we deliver it we're like man, how do we do better than that? Which is just the mentality of what we, we, we attempt to do on a On a, you know, ongoing basis, and I think, really, what our custom-made base is constantly looking for for us to do is continually outdo ourselves. So, from an engineering perspective, you know that's really. You know, what makes us get up every day is to continually try and push the envelope, and this is definitely a direct result of that particular mentality of improving on one of our best-selling lenses.
Speaker 4:You know, on the 55pwc, fill in the 70pwc. Those were always lenses that Still worked well with green targets. What would you say about Greens, especially even with the new Bush peach?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I think that the, the level of Green targets that you see being thrown, the, the level of of dial on this particular product. Here the filtration curve is definitely going to help with that particular you know type of target. And you know we, we, if you take a look at you know there's a ton of green targets that are actually thrown in Europe and the the reality is, if you look at the peach lenses, they've always done well in that particular type of setting. So, yeah, this, this will definitely work even better because of the blend of the red Introduction along with the same spectral curve that we had in the pwc. So, you know, you know you'll get a little bit more pop in that particular sort of awareness. But that really is going to happen more with the contrast that you're getting in this particular lens. Even though we don't like push this as a high contrast lens, there's still going to benefit from some of that level of contrast that's coming along with this lens.
Speaker 4:Well, you know, I know that, you know, I know, like you know, we talk often and I know that you know, with all the pricing and things like that and and this technology, everything in the Euro and things like that, the price of the product and everything, and I appreciate you always trying to, you know, keep the prices as best you can and and that's probably my heart to sell us. Just, you know, and people trying to understand that that yeah, it's not, it's not an everyday glass here, but we're really, you know, technically trying to push the envelope always and make and have the best product out there, and that you know that I'm proud that you do that every day.
Speaker 2:Well, I appreciate that. You know, we believe that we're delivering a product for performance and, you know, at the end of the day, I don't make any excuses for what it takes to do that and we're proud to put out that particular product. And, you know, from, from my perspective, this particular group of lenses that we've put out last year was, was great. This particular set of lenses for 24, I feel like our Beautiful complement to what we've already put out. So in the last, let's just say, 18 to 24 months. So it really starting to round out what we're doing in terms of the complete offering. We'll never get to the complete offering because there always will be another opportunity to increase performance and deliver something special that we haven't delivered yet.
Speaker 2:Or, you know, we get a ton of inbound from our customers, which we love is the collaborative process of not only working with our professional shooters. I really love to to to, you know, comment that I'm hugely, you know, humbled by the fact that we have such an amazing base of professionals that use our product around the world. We don't use artificial intelligence to articulate something that we think should be popped out as a widget. We use human intelligence, and that human intelligence runs really deep, from Olympians using our product to professionals to use our product, to multi-world champions. That Collaborative human intelligence that we put out for our product, I think, is really what pays dividends, because this is a super collaborative process.
Speaker 2:We get a ton of feedback and certainly looking forward to the next 12 months with consumers and our customers coming back and saying, hey, listen, have you thought about you know doing, you know a paintberry lens or whatever that they dream up, that they think that they would love to have, and we'll go back to our team at Zeiss and we'll dial up, you know, a new platform For that. So one of the things that I think really makes people a different is we have this unbelievable sounding board that gives, you know, us a reason and a design study to come out with these kinds of technologies. So this year we came out with seven, seven really exciting lenses and you know we certainly appreciate everyone's you know opportunity to try them out.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know. One last thing, justin, I just wanted to touch base on is, you know, with all this technology, with with what's happening with inflation and things like that, it's I get it that it's harder and harder for people to understand. I get it that it's harder and harder for a lot of people to afford this. And you know, the one opportunity that I have, you know, is that you know Phil allowed me to.
Speaker 4:I think I spent $70,000 in initially with with my blade frame, and you know I wanted something rugged, lightweight, functional, and you know it's made of surgical stainless steel and, and so if you go to clay target vision, I can still offer, you know, a customer, you know, a good price deal on a three lens kit, only with the blade frame now.
Speaker 4:But you know, I just want people to be aware. You know, I think my daughter even has something out there if you want to buy three of these new lenses, we will give you a blade frame. So, just understanding, it's harder and harder for people to stay in the sport and and a way that you know, in a way, I kind of feel like I'm undervaluing my product and something that Phil always warns me about. But you know, if I have to give up the profit of the blade frame just to, you know, get more and more shooters and in the Pula glasses, that's, that's my goal, you know, as as a dealer, and I'm happy to do it and but still, you know, proud to be a Pula dealer and try to reach a broader market. You know, with our blade frame and, and and trying to give those, you know, that value to the customer that really needs it.
Speaker 4:So nice by three Of the new lenses and you get some blades yeah, so it's just stuff that we're trying to do and and and you know we understand it's tough out there right now and you know with inflation and things, but we we want everybody to have an opportunity to have the best well, just so you, just everyone listening, should already know the Pula product is the In.
Speaker 3:I don't ever say something's the best, but I have to say that Pula has Tackled the market and produces one of the best products in the market or the best product in my opinion.
Speaker 3:I mean there's, so I can, I can. There's somebody coming my office or the day, and so I had some people, glasses lay in there, and they said what are these? I said they're shooting glasses and he puts them on. He says wow, that's clear. I mean that's the first thing he said, and if they are, I just they're so clear I think I can see clear with them, then I can without them.
Speaker 4:But and to tell you the truth, justin, I think a lot of it is that seven coats of anti glare. You know what I say. When you put them on, it's calming, it, Quiet. The light noise in, and, and would you agree with that, phil?
Speaker 2:Oh, 100%, 100%.
Speaker 4:You know so, and that's that, that's, you know, like I said in, and that that's seven layer higher, high performance. You know, coating, you know, isn't cheap, but it it makes that difference when you put it on, and what, why? People just go, their eyes just start relaxing and, and you know, it's a cut, it's cumulative. I always liked your analogy, phil. It's like you know, one year we put a cam in the engine, the next year we put new heads on it, and then following year we put a blower on it and we just keep it.
Speaker 3:We keep going, you know, and and that's exciting in this industry, yeah, why do you wait so long to fix your car up like that? Dennis, I thought you did it all the right time.
Speaker 4:Gotta save my money.
Speaker 3:Phil, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it all at one time, aren't you?
Speaker 2:100%. I can't wait for all of that, you know you're gonna drop, drop it all in there. You may as well go.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's right.
Speaker 4:No, I appreciate you, phil, like always. Justin appreciate you. Yeah, you know having us on again and I hope that it helps to answer some questions and let the people know about these new lenses and the Raptor and I'm looking forward to seeing everybody at the Southeast regional.
Speaker 3:Yeah, phil, when you gonna come to a shoot? Never, you know.
Speaker 4:I think, I think I might know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, get now behind the desk these days is Challenging, but I do. I do want to make it a plan. It's actually to be perfectly honest, in the next like 12 months there'll be some more pillows joining and that will free up a little bit of my time. So I will definitely be out on the circuit in in the next 12 months with a little bit more regularity, because I'll have some Some of my, some of my family taking up some of the slack.
Speaker 3:Well, hey guys, thanks for coming on, and there's a lot of good information about a lot of good stuff. So if you have any questions, call Dennis. He loves for you to call him and talk about.
Speaker 4:And.
Speaker 3:He gave you all the right answers. If you don't answer, just leave him a voicemail. Phil is my. I'll get back to you, I guarantee it or my daughter.
Speaker 4:you know Rebecca's really good, she's like she's. She runs interference for me and I get a list every hour dad, did you do this, did you do that? Did you get this person? So? But you know, it's still fun to have my, my daughter, my wife and my son-in-law and we're very, very thankful for all our Customers.
Speaker 3:Yep, all right guys. Well, that's it Thank you, I appreciate it, yeah, and we'll talk to you later.
