Today's news section contains several of the new items that confirm what I believe is a healthy trend in the shooting and outdoor categories: lower price points on hot product categories.

For example, there are two schools of thought when it comes to lasers. The traditional instructor says you should use your sights first and your firearm mounted laser secondarily to confirm your aim. Others say the laser is designed to help you get off that all-important first shot quickly - while you're getting your sights in correct alignment. I've used lasers in both ways -including in training to develop a more consistent trigger squeeze.

No one has argued the usefulness of lasers. Unfortunately, not everyone has been able to afford them.

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2054582.jpeg> Crimson Trace's one-size-fits-all budget laser. A good sign for the consumer. OWDN Photo.

Shortly before Christmas, Crimson Trace announced their first moderately-priced one-size-fits-all laser. Seeing the biggest name in one of the hottest categories offer something at a very modest price point says there's a widening of the consumer marketplace. That's good for everyone.

Today, LaserLyte announces their side-mounted laser line has been expanded to Ruger's LC9 pistol. Again, a moderately priced alternative for a hot-product.

A pretty good trend for budget-conscious consumers- and who today doesn't fit that category?

And the development of alternate mounting systems is also good for consumers - and first responders who aren't looking at having to choose between lights, lasers or combinations thereof and their favorite holsters.

Granted, most shooters have a box of holsters squirreled away somewhere on a shelf, but those are generally purchased as part of the experimentation necessary to find the "right" fit. There are a couple of holsters in my personal box of stuff that I really, really liked.

Unfortunately, they were no longer options when lasers and/or lights were mounted on their former firearm. And as a civilian, carrying a multitude of pouches on an already snug belt just didn't work.

And Mossberg has introduced a shotgun system that makes a lot of sense. It's a modular combination of stocks, forends and barrels that enables the works of a shotgun based on their 500 and 590 lines to quickly be changed into a variety of configurations.

"It's a cool system," says Mossberg's Tom Taylor, "you can go from a shorter barreled breaching shotgun to a goose gun configuration." It's intriguing, and would seem to be one of those ideas that allows you to own a single shotgun with a variety of applications - although I've not had an occasion where I needed the breacher configuration- it's a cool idea to be able to have one gun that fits a variety of specialty applications. We'll tell you more after we've had some time to try out the modular system.

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2054584.jpeg> Smart Sleeves are exactly what they say -protective sleeves that allow you to use your touch-screen device in less-than-ideal conditions. OWDN photo by Jim Shepherd.

And one tiny idea had several of us slapping our heads on the show floor. They're called "Smart Sleeves" and they're exactly what the name implies. These protective covers look a lot like a baggie for cell phones and tablet computers. But these covers really are "smart" they enable you to use your phone to talk, text, email or even browse the internet while they're encased in these protective covers.

Lots of cool products are scattered throughout the SHOT Show. Tomorrow, we'll continue our prowling of the SHOT Show aisles. As always, we'll keep you posted.

--Jim Shepherd