Booth / first-look: SHOT Show 2022 interview with Dustin at the Athlon Optics booth. Unboxing-style walkthrough of Athlon’s new shooting tripods plus their match giveback program. Specs, MAP/MSRP, and availability are as taped (upload May 2022) and may have moved — verify current Athlon listings before you buy.
Channel fans and family — if you’ve been eyeing a real shooting tripod but hated the “camera tripod + pile of Amazon add-ons” tax, this one’s worth a watch. Full booth deep dive (~13 min) of Athlon Optics shooting tripods and their shooter’s giveback program from the video, not a Short.
Gear I actually use: SlavGuns Amazon. Precision accessories: Anarchy Outdoors (code SlavGuns on Anarchy-manufactured items). Support the channel: join on YouTube.
Athlon’s match giveback (as taped)
Before the tripods, Dustin walked the booth announcement: Athlon was putting real money back into competitive shooting. Log a local, regional, or national match on their site — no subscribe gimmick, no data-harvest pitch in the tape — and you’re in a quarterly drawing for $5,000 cash + $5,000 in optics. Place 1st / 2nd / 3rd while running an Athlon optic and you’re also in the year-end draw for $20,000 cash + $5,000 in optics.
Pitch from the booth: grow the sports, reward people who already support Athlon glass, and make “first match” less scary. Program details, eligibility, and whether it’s still running will have changed since May 2022 — check Athlon’s current site before you plan a season around it.
New Athlon shooting tripods
Then we were standing next to something with Athlon on the legs. Lineup as taped by leg diameter: 40 mm, 36 mm, 32 mm, and 29 mm. Heights are close across the sizes (a few inches of difference from the fat 40 mm tubes to the 29 mm), with Dustin’s line that a 6’8″ shooter still had to lower the 40 mm — “unless you’re over 7’2′, sorry.”
On the big 40 mm kit he showed:
- Ball head claimed to support about 88 lb
- Leveling (bowl) head included alongside the ball head — both in the package
- Spiked feet, padded carry case, padded shoulder strap (stage-to-stage without collapsing)
- MOLLE leg wraps for Kestrel / calls / whatever you clip on
- Stone/sand bag hammock style weight option called out in the kit talk
- Carbon fiber legs with vibration damping
- Water-sealed twist collars (vs outdoor latch levers that need more maintenance)
- Multi-position legs — 40 mm can open wide and drop to roughly 9″ for prone / bipod-style use
I’m a bit of a tripod snob (studio Manfrottos plus a pile of shooting sticks), so hearing a glass company ship a complete competition/hunting kit instead of a bare set of legs was the surprise of the booth.
Price talk (May 2022 tape — verify today)
As taped at SHOT 2022 / the May 2022 upload:
- 29 mm leg option — about $475
- 40 mm (biggest kit shown) — $699 MAP/retail with everything (both heads, spikes, case, wraps, strap)
Context he gave on the floor: a similar Chinese-OEM camera tripod that got adapted into the shooting world was retailing around $800+ for the legs alone — before stone bag, MOLLE wraps, shoulder strap, and usually only one head. Athlon’s package at $699 with both heads and the lifetime warranty is why my jaw hit the booth carpet.
Lifetime warranty on the tripod line (same Athlon “send us the pieces” story as their optics). Dustin’s contrast: a lot of pro camera tripods are six months to two years — not lifetime. Prices, kits, and SKUs may have changed since 2022 — confirm current Athlon MAP and what’s in the box.
Who it’s for / mounting notes
Hunters who want more stability than shooting sticks, older shooters who can’t live prone all day, PRS / NRL / rimfire match shooters moving stage to stage, and anyone mounting a spotting scope (adapter called out on the kit). Picatinny-to-Arca adapters exist if your rifle isn’t Swiss-Arca yet; Manners-style stocks with a short Arca section were the booth example for hunting guns.
Availability talk at the show: late February / early March of that year so they’d hit spring season — again, historical context from the 2022 tape.
Bottom line
Athlon wasn’t just waving glass at SHOT 2022 — they showed a fully kitted carbon shooting-tripod line with both heads in the box, MOLLE wraps, spikes, case, and a lifetime warranty, with booth MAP talk landing the big 40 mm kit at $699 and the 29 mm around $475. Stack that next to their match giveback pitch and it’s a serious “we actually care about shooters” booth. This was a booth interview and hands-on first look — not a multi-month range abuse study — so treat prices and program rules as taped and verify before you buy.
Keep squatting.
Would you run the fat 40 mm Athlon kit for matches, or grab the lighter 29 mm for hunting first?
Some links are affiliates. Purchases may support the channel at no extra cost to you. Always follow federal, state, and local law. Firearms, ammo, and suppressors ship to eligible buyers only.
Comment here