August 25, 2026 • 31 mins
Are you looking for a fun way to practice shooting at home without wasting expensive ammo? In this episode, the hosts talk to Cara from Mantis about smart tools that make gun practice easy and safe. These cool devices track how your gun moves hundreds of times every second! You can see your progress right on your phone or tablet screen. They even have safe laser guns that feel real so you can practice in your living room. A live teacher holds weekly calls to help you answer questions and get better. You can even join groups with friends to set goals and earn real patches in the mail. If you want to become a better shooter from home, check out Mantis today!
Links
- mantisx.com (Official store and free app download details)
- MantisX Mastermind Course (Educational app extension)
- Mantis Support Portal (support@mantisex.com or live chat on site)
Key Takeaways
- High-frequency sensors quantify muzzle drift, draw speed, target transitions, and recoil management without live fire.
- The TitanX laser pistol allows continuous trigger resets without manually cycling a slide or unloading carry firearms.
- Hardware purchases include lifetime access to the Mantis app without subscription costs.
- Virtual groups and built-in course patches motivate regular dry-fire practice through gamification and community support.
Key Words
- Mantis
- TitanX
- Dry Fire
- BlackbeardX
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- SHOT Show
- Laser Academy
- Target Transitions
- Mastermind Course
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:14):
Welcome to Amateurs and Experts Podcast.
We are at SHOT Show 2026, andI'm Erica Chin, and I'm here
with Maggie Reese as my co-host,and we are excited today to um
learn a little bit about Mantisthrough Kara.
She's here uh talking about theMantis and the new products out.
(00:34):
I got to see them yesterday, soimpressed.
I didn't really know that Mantismade so many things and did so
many things.
Um, the product, the the umsoftware.
I had a little lesson yesterday,and it was so cool.
Um, because you know, our boardmembers they use mantis.
(00:55):
I am one that hasn't yet, but asI told you yesterday, I mean I
can't wait to get one.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01):
You're gonna change that.
SPEAKER_02 (01:03):
I am, I am.
SPEAKER_01 (01:04):
Well, you're actually a newer company, like
you you haven't 2015.
Yeah, 2015, 2016.
Yes, um, you know, the ownerswere just like, you know, they
understood other things werecapturing motion and were like,
why why not a gun?
Right.
And it's it's kind of grown fromthere.
So uh we've got we've gotproducts that, you know, we've
(01:26):
got the Marines, we've got Armyusing it to competitive
shooters, to Olympic shooters,to the casual shooter.
So it's really something foreverybody.
SPEAKER_03 (01:37):
So my background is in competition shooting, and so
anything to do with firearms,it's all about repetition, it's
all about muscle memory, it'sall about consistency, and there
are so many things that you canlearn about your firearm when
you're not actually at theshooting range pulling the
trigger on live ammo.
Because you just really need togo through the mechanics over
(01:59):
and over and over and becomefamiliar so that it is just an
extension of your body and youreally don't have to think about
it.
So we have always preached aboutdry firing, and dry firing has
to be one of the most boringthings in the world.
SPEAKER_01 (02:12):
Dry fire is life though.
And it's it's it's it'ssomething that you take away all
the externals and you can focuson the little changes that you
need to meet in without all theexterior, I call it noise, so no
bang, no recoil.
Yes.
And that it's just you and whatyou're doing.
The tactile feel of the drilland the weight of the gun.
(02:34):
And it's and it's it's afeeling, it's it's the
understanding of your gun.
And I know many competitiveshooters are like, well, just
read your sites, read yoursites, but but really does your
sites tell you everything?
Yes.
Not necessarily.
Um, you know, and like I said,our products are from the
beginner shooter up to the highexpert, and I think it provides
(02:56):
everybody some data to learnfrom.
And so that's one thing is our,you know, we we capture so much
data, and it's it's hard tocomprehend.
I mean, yesterday you saw thatand you're like, oh my gosh,
there's so much here.
SPEAKER_02 (03:08):
But and I would totally nerd out on the data
that's because I want to know,like, you know, I'm I'm one of
those people that want to see uhimmediately what's going on.
SPEAKER_01 (03:18):
And that's that's why I started I started using
Amantis in 2017, I think.
I I didn't start working for thecompany until 2024.
Um but I used it because I'm aI'm an I'm a data junkie.
And I love the fact that I hadimmediate feedback on what I was
doing, and that I I'm just anerd or geek to start with.
(03:40):
And so I I literally tell peopleit's the geek world has now met
the gun world through ourproducts.
So you've got very technicalinformation that you can digest
and make yourself a bettershooter.
And we do in our apps, we try touh bring it down to a level that
if you're not that data junkie,that you can still read and
understand what's going onwithout having to dig into all
(04:02):
the nuts and bolts of it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:04):
Well, and you're taking something that, like I
said, is is not very interestingon its own, but is very much a
necessity of firearms ownership,and then you're making it
interesting, you're givingpeople information on their
level of however they want it,and then you can track, you can
kind of see your growth overyears, and and and really that's
inspirational.
Like when you can see back towhen how you started and where
(04:26):
you're going, I think thatthat's what inspires you to then
want to keep on training andkeep on becoming proficient with
your firearm.
So that's the interesting partto me.
SPEAKER_01 (04:36):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (04:38):
Yesterday you kind of went over the software, and I
was so impressed.
SPEAKER_01 (04:43):
Um, you said that it takes 400 400 data points per
second.
So it the the units areconstantly know where it's at in
space and and what it's doing.
So there's a gyroscope with anaccelerometer in there, and it's
capturing 400 data points persecond of movement of the gun.
(05:05):
So it's the ultimate truthteller.
It does not lie.
It's gonna pick up the thelittlest bit of movement.
If I were to put it on the tableand not touch it, you're still
gonna see vibrations from thefloor uh down to the Earth's
rotation causes a little bit ofvibration.
And this picks it up.
So it it's again, that's you,you it kind of blows your mind
(05:26):
to go, how how does it do itall?
But literally it's just pickingup motion and it's feeding it to
the app and it's how we digestthat that motion.
And so that's where we havedrills that are great to tell
you what's happening with mymuzzle as I as as before,
during, and after the triggerpress.
But we also have drills for ournew product that will tell you
(05:48):
as a competitor how do youmaneuver the gun.
So it's not looking at a shotscore anymore, it's how well did
you transition from target totarget.
Yes.
Did you did you overswing yourtarget?
Did you delay on your targetbefore you press the trigger?
So you have a lot ofinformation.
You get information on yourholster draw.
So we we can take that data andand and the the units can look
(06:12):
at specific movements, so that'swhere we build our drills.
Is is holster draw is notlooking at shot score, it's
looking at what's happening fromthe beep until you make the
shot.
And the dynamic drills arelooking at what's how's the gun
moving in space, 3D space.
Now it's really hard becausethose dots are in 3D and we got
(06:32):
to put them on a 2D image, butthe fact is there's still data
there and we can still grade,you know, transitions.
What's the fastest transitionbetween two targets?
Well, straight line.
Yes.
And and we'll paint the exacttransition you do.
So if you swipe an S or if youhook or or or you you do a big
(06:52):
old curve, it's gonna show youthat.
SPEAKER_03 (06:55):
Well, everything in the firearms uh when it comes to
operation of firearms comes downto tenths of seconds, just
absolute milliseconds.
And that doesn't matter ifyou're shooting competition, if
you're in a self-defense,personal defense situation, if
you're hunting, whatever it is,you're always trying to become
more proficient in how youoperate it and shave off time.
And like you said, if you'redoing some extra movements that
(07:18):
you're not just catching on yourown, but you have that data
feedback that says, you did kindof a little bit of a wonky line
and wasted time, you know,getting from A to B, now you
have a way to actually see thatand improve it.
SPEAKER_01 (07:32):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So it quantifies everything inthe app.
So again, the devices areliterally just passing data
points to the app, and so itallows us to continually build
things in our app without havingto change the hardware.
So, you know, once you buy in,and we're we're a company that
we we don't like subscriptions,we don't do subscriptions.
(07:54):
So you buy the hardware, the appis free.
And so it and we build newcourses, we build new drills, we
learn we learn, hey, you know, acouple years ago they're like,
why can't we look at recoil?
So instead of looking at a shotscore in live fire, let's look
at recoil and give you fourdifferent metrics on recoil.
How do you handle that gun?
And let's say you're trying todecide between two guns.
(08:16):
You can literally shoot it withone gun, do a comparison, and
shoot it with another gun, andsay, which one do I handle
better?
Wow.
So this is more than it's gonnabe.
SPEAKER_03 (08:24):
I even knew I was like, wait a second, I think I
you know I have to upgrade mysystems, you know.
Yes.
Um because I got I I gotinvolved with Mantis or just
using it for me personally,pretty much when you guys first
came out because it was soinnovative, like what you were
doing in the industry andproviding this feedback.
So that that's really cool tosee that there was more than
even I realized.
(08:44):
And you brought something withyou.
SPEAKER_01 (08:45):
So, yeah, so we just released in November a a dry
fire training tool because oneof the things that we realize
people struggle with with dryfire is using their own gun.
Generally, most people only haveone of their carry gun, which
means you have to unload it.
And so you're unloading andreloading, and at home, you
know, is that is that the mostbest place to be safe?
(09:07):
You know, you can do it safely,but a lot of people wanted, I
want something that thetrigger's gonna reset.
And so what we did is wedeveloped uh, we call it our
tight next.
So the tight next is our lasergun.
So you press the trigger, you'regonna get a laser.
But it also has ouraccelerometer and gyroscope
hardware in the gun, so it'sgonna do all of the stuff that
(09:31):
our previous units do, as wellas all the dynamic training,
because we don't have to detecta trigger press.
When you put our units on yourregular gun, the unit has to
look for specific vibrations toknow the trigger press.
This has a circuit on it.
We give you two magazines.
We can track how long has themagazine been out of the gun
(09:51):
because there's a circuit on themagazine.
SPEAKER_03 (09:53):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (09:53):
So you can track reloads, uh, it low voltage
Bluetooth connects to yourtablet or your phone.
It is optic ready.
And and if I were to had an openone, you'd see four two sets of
screws.
So it's RMR, RMS, RMS C as well.
Okay.
So it fits most optics outthere.
Uh it's built upon that the it'ssubstantially similar to a Glock
(10:14):
platform currently, uh the 17,19, and 45.
So uh we have three differentmodels out there.
So our 700 is similar to a Glock17, the 701 is similar to the
19, and the 702 is similar tothe the Glock 45.
Will work in OEM in holsters.
Uh OEM magazines will work inthe Titan as well.
(10:36):
So you could use uh you get twomagazines, but you could use if
if you're competition shootingand you're running with four
mags, as long as you've got OEMmags, they they they'll work
just fine into here.
Uh so it it provides all thatdata motion that we're talking
about in a completely inert,safe gun that that you can pick
(10:58):
up at any time, turn it on,connect it to your device, and
get some dry fire training done.
Don't have to worry aboutunloading a gun, handling ammo,
anything like that in the in thecomfort of your home.
SPEAKER_03 (11:09):
So for me, I think one of the most important things
about dry firing is that notnecessarily how long you do it,
but consistently doing it.
And so if you can make a systemthat makes it easy for you to do
it, you know, daily, I I mean,because that's really what it
takes to become proficient, youknow, with a firearm, is you
have to invest in it daily.
(11:30):
But if you have to go and, likeyou said, unload your gun or get
it out of the safe or do all ofthese things and it it starts to
become a little bit too much ofa chore.
It's tedious.
And then you can make excusesabout why you're not doing it.
But now you have something thatis a a safe platform that you
can leave out and you don't haveto lock it up and you can access
it every single day.
SPEAKER_01 (11:51):
I've had many people come by our booth and say, once
those who have bought a Titan,that they, you know, so many of
us work from home now that theyleave their Titan on the desk,
yes, and and when they have acouple of minute break, they'll
pick it up and and some peoplewon't even connect it to their
phone.
Is they'll just actually takeshots with it.
It's got the laser so you cankind of see what's happening.
(12:13):
You know, you can look for crispdots versus dashes, because if
you've got dashes, you're movingthe gun.
Interesting.
Uh and and and P I think we'reseeing more people dry fire even
without connecting it to the appjust because of the convenience
of having it setting rightthere.
But uh, you know, to turn theapp on and get the data, and we
do, we we can let you set up atraining schedule and we'll
(12:35):
notify you through the app ifyou enable notifications.
SPEAKER_03 (12:38):
Hey, you didn't practice today?
Is that what it tells you?
SPEAKER_01 (12:40):
Well, it'll say, you know, three o'clock, here's your
notification to practice.
Uh we also have a groupfunctionality within our app, so
there could be a little bit of akind of community there.
Um, I've got some gals back fromwhere I'm from that we have a
little text group and they allhave mantis devices, and so we
set up a private group and wecan see what each other has
(13:01):
done.
So you can actually, you know,work with it.
So instructors can actuallycoach if you're doing virtual
instruction and the person has amantis, you know, you you can
actually see what they're doingand see the movements, whether
it's holster draw, dynamictraining, or just shot score and
and the movement of the muzzle.
So I think it's a great tool,not just for somebody who wants
(13:24):
to use it to practice, but me asan instructor, it gives me more
data from my students,especially if we can't go to the
range together.
Yes.
So it allows me to give homeworkand follow up.
So I think there's a there's somuch to it that people don't
realize in that app itself.
And so another thing that werolled out in August, so why I
(13:47):
was kind of brought on to Mantisis kind of starting to connect
instructors with our products.
And what we realize is a lot ofpeople, our app is so thick with
data and rich with settings thatit it it was a struggle for some
people.
And so I brought come in and Irealized most of the instructors
(14:08):
didn't fully know how to use it.
So we had to kind of step backand go, we need to teach people
how to fully use our app, youknow, because most people just
pick one or two drills and theytend to stay with those one and
two drills.
We want to open up the horizonto go, here's all this stuff in
here.
Uh you as a competitor help I'm,you know, I it's part of these
videos.
(14:28):
I help you understand whatdrills might be best for what
you want to accomplish for yourgoals.
Because everybody's gotdifferent goals.
So that's called the MantisexMastermind course.
And it's a nominal fee outthere, it's a one-time cost, and
it goes through, it's eighthours of self-paced learning to
learn all about the app.
And I we have had so many peopletake that going, I I thought I
(14:51):
knew how to use it, now I reallyknow how to use it, and I really
know how to understand my databetter.
So, you know, we're just tryingto get the word out about that
as well that don't let it, thethe app be daunting to you.
We've got tools and resources tohelp.
Plus, every week, we you know,Mantis is very customer focused.
We we want to to interact withour people.
(15:13):
I mean, you walk up to our boothand what is it?
It's chaos.
You know, there's there'severybody wants to try our
stuff, and we we we don't sitbehind our tables and just let
people walk by.
We engage people, and so in thatspirit with mastermind, uh I was
challenged to say, you've got toengage those people.
They're gonna they're gonna giveyou 20 bucks to take that
(15:33):
course.
How do we keep them engaged?
And so you get a weekly call.
So I spend an hour on a phonecall and it's an open-end mic
session with anybody in thatcourse.
You personally?
Me personally.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
So I've had many people go, saythat itself's worth 20 bucks
because people can say, well, Ihave this problem in the app and
I'll cover it on the call.
But I get people to go, I amstuck at a two-second draw to
(15:55):
per first shot.
Yeah.
How do I break through thatbarrier?
And so me as it's I have a sidegig as an instructor.
So I will I will help tell thema couple of drills to do,
whether it's with our productsor straight up dry fire drills,
maybe it's just an extend preppress, you know, to get on the
trigger quicker after theirholster draw.
And so it's it's kind of thisopen mic session, and and you
(16:18):
know, we get 20 or 30 peoplejoining those every week.
And now they're starting to makea community because you get
similar people on with similarinterests, and it's it's kind of
cross-pollinating.
So, you know, it's it's a greatprogram to help try to bring
people.
So if you're an instructor andyou really don't know how to use
our products in your classes, wehave a separate call for
(16:39):
instructors.
So there's a lot of touch base,and like I said, that's kind of
what my mojo is to bring tobring people together and get
more people to use our productsand and and not be, oh, well,
that's that's too complex forme.
When it's really not.
SPEAKER_03 (16:55):
Well, I love that you're bringing in the best of
both worlds where you're usingtechnology to its fullest, but
you haven't lost the humanconnection.
Like that just blows my mindright now that you're actually,
you know, there is a live humanbeing on the other side who's
going to answer your real lifequestions and help you get
better and help you use this.
SPEAKER_01 (17:13):
Correct.
And that's Mantis' mojo.
We we just we love that customerfacing.
Our support team is all locatedhere in the U.S.
They are all Mantis employees,they all know how to use all the
products.
In fact, you don't really get towork for the company unless
you've already used the productand like love it.
Yeah.
And so it's it is.
People say, oh my gosh, yoursupport is amazing.
(17:36):
So, you know, if you have aproblem, reach out to our
support team.
There's a phone number to callto get a live person, there's
chat on our website, or supportat manasex.com, and somebody is
going to help you.
And they're great people.
That's who's working the booththis week.
We have a lot of support peoplehere.
Really?
And it's because they know theproduct.
So we have you know, salespeoplesupport people, but people are
(17:57):
like, oh my gosh, I talked toyou on the phone, and so it's
it's that human connection.
SPEAKER_03 (18:02):
Well, and I feel like Erica, we can be using this
and motivating each other.
You know what?
SPEAKER_02 (18:07):
Absolutely, because we can see each other's you
know, progress and yeah, andthat makes it fun too, is it you
get a group of friends.
SPEAKER_01 (18:15):
And you can actually set goals and challenges in that
group.
So you could say for this week,it's it's it's our goal is for
everybody to get a 90 and aboveon the Nana Sex Benchmark drill.
Or number of shots or thingslike that.
SPEAKER_02 (18:30):
So it wouldn't, I mean Maggie definitely is the
pro.
So even though we're atdifferent levels, it would just
be like a percentage and itwould be at my level.
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
Yeah, you could set it to whatever percent you want.
So it's kind of how whatever thegroup wants to do to decide.
So cool.
You know, I've got, you know,for that you could just say,
hey, we're trying to encouragejust to shoot.
So the ladies that I have thisgroup with, is we're just trying
to get, you know, three times aweek, you know, at least 50
shots in.
So we could put in that as agoal.
It's 150 shots per member.
unknown (19:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (19:04):
So something as simple as that.
SPEAKER_03 (19:05):
I feel like we're gonna be doing this.
Yes, we will be.
Yeah, because we've just beentalking about that a lot, is you
know, we we live hours apartfrom each other and we
definitely want to spend moretime actively like competing and
and doing stuff together.
But for those times where we'rejust in different parts of the
country, we can still motivateeach other and challenge each
other.
SPEAKER_02 (19:24):
And you know, I love that um people have come around
and said that they have it ontheir desk because right now I
have a slinky on my desk, andwhen I'm on the phone, I'm
slinking, or I have a couple oftextile, but this would be
great.
SPEAKER_01 (19:37):
Yeah, just put a sticky note up, or yeah, you
know, one of our Laser Academytargets, put it up, and you can
run at that, uh, you know, justto just to get some trigger
presses in.
I mean, you don't even have to,you know, work on holster draw,
it's just pick it up and do sometrigger presses.
It's it it changes you, youknow.
It just if you really focus.
And I think one thing in dryfire we we tend to do, or when
(19:59):
we try to teach people dry fire,it's not just about the trigger
press.
You brought up that it's almostyou have to understand and be
it's a feeling that if we don'tengage in the process, we're not
really pushing the bar forwardand getting better.
If you're just picking up a gunand mindlessly pressing, you
know, that's that's myelinatingthe wrong things in.
(20:21):
So it's it's it's being focusedon what you're doing, but you're
still getting value in that twoor three minutes, you know, to
do those things.
And but in dry fire, I alsoencourage people, no
distractions, you know, try totry to really focus on what
you're doing, have a plan, comeup with a plan, and really focus
on what you're feeling.
Yeah.
Because it is, you know, as acompetitive shooter, when you
(20:44):
run a stage, you don't even knowto look at, you don't have to
look at the clock or the score.
Yeah, you know when it feltgood.
Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_03 (20:50):
But you know what?
A lot of people ask me becausethey're like, okay, how do I
train for competition?
You know, what do I do?
How do I dry fire?
They don't know how to come upwith the plan.
SPEAKER_01 (20:58):
That's the problem, and that's and that's kind of
what I've been challenged withworking on next is is maybe in
2026 uh Mantis will be puttingout a plan.
So I I've kind of got it down onpaper.
I think people people want toengage whether that's a video,
and so we're we're looking athow do we do that to feel like
(21:19):
people are engaged.
And maybe it's a it's a a weeklyvideo that we put out and go,
here's what I've done in DryFire this week, follow along.
Pull up this drill, here's whatwe're gonna do, and and do that
together.
Because I think you know, in thein the world, we're in such a
digital age now that I thinkwe're starting to realize we
need that connection.
Absolutely and whether it's youknow, it's one thing to do with
(21:40):
text, but even if you'rewatching somebody on video,
you're making a connection withthem.
SPEAKER_00 (21:44):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (21:44):
And especially if if they can jump in and ask
questions and go, you know, andand and somebody's gonna answer
them, wow, what a what anawesome, you know, community
that would be.
So I think you're right, it'sit's motivation, but I think
it's especially if you've gotsomebody to do it with.
And to keep you accountablemakes dry fire a lot easier.
SPEAKER_03 (22:04):
So what's the investment into Mantis?
Like so for people who aren'talready invested in the product,
right?
How do they get involved?
SPEAKER_01 (22:11):
So we've got multiple um products.
So our our X10 unit, I didn'tbring one of those here because
the Titan's the real hot unit.
I was like, I have the X10.
But the X10 is is a gooduniversal tool because you can
put it on a pistol or a rifle.
It will do dry fire or livefire.
SPEAKER_02 (22:30):
I didn't realize that it would do live fire.
So yesterday when we talked, Iwas just like, what?
Yes.
Because I that was one part ofit that I was missing.
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
So yeah, dry fire or live fire.
And it'll go on, like I said, apistol or a rifle and multiple
pistols.
So it's you're investing inhardware, and again, the apps
are free.
So if you're you know a family,you could go buy one for the
household, and you know, yourspouse could download the app
under a different user ID, theyBluetooth connect it for their
(23:01):
dry fire session.
You do you do yours separatelyand your data stays separate,
but again, you can touch basethrough those groups.
But that's the X10, so that'skind of our universal product.
Uh that runs 250 on our website,and if anybody knows Mantis, we
don't ever run specials.
We don't do Black Friday deals,so we try to.
SPEAKER_03 (23:20):
You don't have to wait to buy.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (23:22):
Don't wait to buy, just buy it.
Uh so 250, that's kind of themost universal product we have.
I've already talked about thetight next, so that one is 200.
So you're going, well, why isthis cool pistol less?
It's because it's dry fire only,and and it's the the X10's more
universal versus the tightnecks.
But man, to get the tight neckstool in a 250 price point's
(23:45):
amazing.
I mean, I'm an instructor andI'm like, I want about 10 of
them.
SPEAKER_03 (23:49):
Well, I was just gonna say, with the price of
ammo and and how much time youcan get behind your firearm and
not having to leave the house,not having to drive to the
range, having something that youcan continuously use and then
have other family members use.
I mean, that's like kind ofridiculous.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (24:06):
You know, it's so good.
If you're a a rifle person, soan AR-10, AR-15, say you run a
SCAR heavy or scar light, uh, wehave what we call the Blackbeard
X.
So think about tight next for arifle, but it's for your rifle.
So as long as it meets one ofthose platforms, and we got AKs
(24:26):
gonna come out eventually, um,you actually remove your bolts
and your charging handle andyour magazine.
You insert our bolt carriergroup and our magazine, and it
turns your rifle into acompletely inert dry fire tool.
It's gonna give you all the samedata that the Titan X gives you,
so that you've got now, so ifyou're you're doing uh rifle
(24:49):
training to do three gun, youyou've got a way that you can
train at home and it resets yourtrigger.
So it is your most importantpart because you need to feel
the trigger.
It is your trigger press, yourtrigger reset.
So that that unit does run alittle more, so that's 350, but
you're gonna get a laser, youget that trigger reset, you get
all the diagnostics in one.
(25:11):
So again, no charge for the app.
So you're you're you're buy one,cry once, and it's yours.
And we're constantly developinguh, you know, some people say, I
don't know what to do in DryFire.
In our app, so if you have ourapp scroll all the way to the
bottom and you're gonna seecourses.
So these are the cool things.
So we take 10 drills and we makeit a course, and we put some
(25:32):
boundaries to say, you know,you're going from this start
position and you need to pass atthis percentage.
You get through those 10 drills,at the end, you fill out your
address if you at 48 U.S.
states, we're gonna send you apatch for free.
Nice.
And there's like 12 courses outthere that you can just earn,
and they are really nicepatches.
(25:54):
They're not little patches,they're like, you know, pretty
good sized patches.
And so it gives you a path.
SPEAKER_03 (26:00):
It gives you a path.
It's good for goal setting andto and to have those mile
markers and say, okay, I I didthis, I completed this, I
invested the time in improvingmyself in my use of a tool, and
then goal set.
SPEAKER_01 (26:13):
And who doesn't have a patch wall or put patches on
your bag that you want to have?
Yes, absolutely.
Absolutely.
So I mean, and even you know,those courses get harder as you
go, and even I haven't passedsome of those courses.
So I'm still working because Igotta learn to work on my
reloads.
We need to talk.
I need I need reload help.
Um but but it's there's we tryto put things in there to engage
people, and and again, becausepeople don't know what to do,
(26:36):
the courses are great.
Just start doing theintroduction course and and the
the marksmanship, so we workmarksmanship first.
So that is how still is the gunwhen I press the trigger, then
we go to combat courses, we addthe reloads into combat, and
then we just released ourconcealed carry courses.
So that that is based off of asa as a concealed carrier, what
(26:57):
do you want your draw to firstshot to be?
Right.
You know, so we we we kind ofworked down from uh information
we took from activeself-protection with all the
videos that they watch, uhdefensive videos, and I'm still
trying to pass the eliteconcealed carry, and I thought I
was pretty good at concealedcarry, but it's the it's the you
know, we focus on holster draw,we focus on magazine reloads,
(27:20):
and uh how still your shootingis.
So we make you get out of theholster fast, and you've got to
slow way down to get that shotbecause we call we we have a
drill called hostage rescue, andeverybody's like, I hate that
drill, because it requires youto to accomplish a high score in
a short amount of time,generally coming from the
holster.
SPEAKER_03 (27:39):
That's so interesting.
But like you said, with like aconcealed carry and stuff like
that, you your clothing, youknow, do you have outerwear on?
Like, you know, that's veryimpactful, and you get to see
the data that really tells youhow it's impactful.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (27:52):
Holster draw analysis breaks your draw down
into five steps.
So from the beef, you will knowhow long did it take me to get
to my grip.
So clothing comes into playthere, but not even.
With I mean, you care about yourdraw-to-first shot competition,
right?
Absolutely.
And so you can look at what howmuch did I spend from the grip
to I pulled the gun out, to Irotated the gun horizontal, till
(28:14):
I pushed out to the target,until I pressed my shot.
It breaks those five piecesapart and it gives you a little
bit of trace so you can kind ofsee, am I consistent with my
motion?
Yes.
And so I look at my holster drawanalysis and I go, I can cut
another tenth off of my reactiontime.
And so it allows you to knowwhat do I need to work on.
SPEAKER_02 (28:34):
That's great.
So, Kara, if um you know,everybody out there that wants a
mantis, like I do, how do how dothey get one in their hands?
SPEAKER_01 (28:43):
You can go to uh www.mantisex.com and go to the
store and you're gonna find allof those products.
On top of, we have a targetverification product called
Laser Academy.
So if you just want to see whereyour shots go, Laser Academy
does that.
So we have that's a product aswell that you can buy a bundle
that's 160.
Again, buy once, it's yours.
(29:04):
Um and so all of these productsare available out there.
So the X10, uh we we have somelower versions of the X, so if
you want just dry fire only, youcan do an X2.
If you want dry and live, butyou're not gonna get holster dry
analysis or recoil meter, thatwould be an X3.
So I tell people, bite thebullet, get the X10 up front
because you'll want those extradrills.
(29:25):
You can get the Titan.
We are a little back ordered onthe Titan because we didn't
realize expect the demand to beas high as it is, but it's a
pretty cool product.
And the black beards are outthere as well, and there's
different models of blackbeards.
You can get the black beards inred or green.
Um, and and we're gonna offerthese in in green and IR, but
those are more gonna be specialorder on the Titans.
(29:46):
And we have more Titans comingout.
So I know some people like I amnot a Glock person.
I am not, I am an HK snob, I'llI'll just admit that on the air.
I I I love my VP9, and so we'reworking on other models.
So we're working on some SIGsand an HK VP9, uh, MNP 2.0, but
on our website, so if you go tothe Titan page on our website
(30:07):
and you want a specific model,we're taking votes.
So you go out and you say, Iwant to see a Titan in this
model, and there's a form foryou to fill out, and we tally
those votes so that we kind ofknow what's the demand.
You know, obviously with lawenforcement we had to we had to
go Glock first.
Right.
Uh, you know, it's just the mostwidely used, but but we're gonna
we're gonna try and build someother uh platforms so that we
(30:29):
try to get as close to the gunyou have.
SPEAKER_02 (30:32):
That's awesome.
That's amazing.
Well, thank you so much forcoming on and all your time
yesterday and today.
Uh I I mean I'm just mind-blownat the product and can't wait to
get one.
Absolutely.
I I already have a plan inplace, so uh I think you know
the product is is amazing andand uh yeah, it's really gonna
(30:53):
up my game.
So watch out, world.
Yes, absolutely.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Welcome to Amateurs and Experts Podcast.
We are at SHOT Show 2026, andI'm Erica Chin, and I'm here
with Maggie Reese as my co-host,and we are excited today to um
learn a little bit about Mantisthrough Kara.
She's here uh talking about theMantis and the new products out.
(00:34):
I got to see them yesterday, soimpressed.
I didn't really know that Mantismade so many things and did so
many things.
Um, the product, the the umsoftware.
I had a little lesson yesterday,and it was so cool.
Um, because you know, our boardmembers they use mantis.
(00:55):
I am one that hasn't yet, but asI told you yesterday, I mean I
can't wait to get one.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01):
You're gonna change that.
SPEAKER_02 (01:03):
I am, I am.
SPEAKER_01 (01:04):
Well, you're actually a newer company, like
you you haven't 2015.
Yeah, 2015, 2016.
Yes, um, you know, the ownerswere just like, you know, they
understood other things werecapturing motion and were like,
why why not a gun?
Right.
And it's it's kind of grown fromthere.
So uh we've got we've gotproducts that, you know, we've
(01:26):
got the Marines, we've got Armyusing it to competitive
shooters, to Olympic shooters,to the casual shooter.
So it's really something foreverybody.
SPEAKER_03 (01:37):
So my background is in competition shooting, and so
anything to do with firearms,it's all about repetition, it's
all about muscle memory, it'sall about consistency, and there
are so many things that you canlearn about your firearm when
you're not actually at theshooting range pulling the
trigger on live ammo.
Because you just really need togo through the mechanics over
(01:59):
and over and over and becomefamiliar so that it is just an
extension of your body and youreally don't have to think about
it.
So we have always preached aboutdry firing, and dry firing has
to be one of the most boringthings in the world.
SPEAKER_01 (02:12):
Dry fire is life though.
And it's it's it's it'ssomething that you take away all
the externals and you can focuson the little changes that you
need to meet in without all theexterior, I call it noise, so no
bang, no recoil.
Yes.
And that it's just you and whatyou're doing.
The tactile feel of the drilland the weight of the gun.
(02:34):
And it's and it's it's afeeling, it's it's the
understanding of your gun.
And I know many competitiveshooters are like, well, just
read your sites, read yoursites, but but really does your
sites tell you everything?
Yes.
Not necessarily.
Um, you know, and like I said,our products are from the
beginner shooter up to the highexpert, and I think it provides
(02:56):
everybody some data to learnfrom.
And so that's one thing is our,you know, we we capture so much
data, and it's it's hard tocomprehend.
I mean, yesterday you saw thatand you're like, oh my gosh,
there's so much here.
SPEAKER_02 (03:08):
But and I would totally nerd out on the data
that's because I want to know,like, you know, I'm I'm one of
those people that want to see uhimmediately what's going on.
SPEAKER_01 (03:18):
And that's that's why I started I started using
Amantis in 2017, I think.
I I didn't start working for thecompany until 2024.
Um but I used it because I'm aI'm an I'm a data junkie.
And I love the fact that I hadimmediate feedback on what I was
doing, and that I I'm just anerd or geek to start with.
(03:40):
And so I I literally tell peopleit's the geek world has now met
the gun world through ourproducts.
So you've got very technicalinformation that you can digest
and make yourself a bettershooter.
And we do in our apps, we try touh bring it down to a level that
if you're not that data junkie,that you can still read and
understand what's going onwithout having to dig into all
(04:02):
the nuts and bolts of it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:04):
Well, and you're taking something that, like I
said, is is not very interestingon its own, but is very much a
necessity of firearms ownership,and then you're making it
interesting, you're givingpeople information on their
level of however they want it,and then you can track, you can
kind of see your growth overyears, and and and really that's
inspirational.
Like when you can see back towhen how you started and where
(04:26):
you're going, I think thatthat's what inspires you to then
want to keep on training andkeep on becoming proficient with
your firearm.
So that's the interesting partto me.
SPEAKER_01 (04:36):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (04:38):
Yesterday you kind of went over the software, and I
was so impressed.
SPEAKER_01 (04:43):
Um, you said that it takes 400 400 data points per
second.
So it the the units areconstantly know where it's at in
space and and what it's doing.
So there's a gyroscope with anaccelerometer in there, and it's
capturing 400 data points persecond of movement of the gun.
(05:05):
So it's the ultimate truthteller.
It does not lie.
It's gonna pick up the thelittlest bit of movement.
If I were to put it on the tableand not touch it, you're still
gonna see vibrations from thefloor uh down to the Earth's
rotation causes a little bit ofvibration.
And this picks it up.
So it it's again, that's you,you it kind of blows your mind
(05:26):
to go, how how does it do itall?
But literally it's just pickingup motion and it's feeding it to
the app and it's how we digestthat that motion.
And so that's where we havedrills that are great to tell
you what's happening with mymuzzle as I as as before,
during, and after the triggerpress.
But we also have drills for ournew product that will tell you
(05:48):
as a competitor how do youmaneuver the gun.
So it's not looking at a shotscore anymore, it's how well did
you transition from target totarget.
Yes.
Did you did you overswing yourtarget?
Did you delay on your targetbefore you press the trigger?
So you have a lot ofinformation.
You get information on yourholster draw.
So we we can take that data andand and the the units can look
(06:12):
at specific movements, so that'swhere we build our drills.
Is is holster draw is notlooking at shot score, it's
looking at what's happening fromthe beep until you make the
shot.
And the dynamic drills arelooking at what's how's the gun
moving in space, 3D space.
Now it's really hard becausethose dots are in 3D and we got
(06:32):
to put them on a 2D image, butthe fact is there's still data
there and we can still grade,you know, transitions.
What's the fastest transitionbetween two targets?
Well, straight line.
Yes.
And and we'll paint the exacttransition you do.
So if you swipe an S or if youhook or or or you you do a big
(06:52):
old curve, it's gonna show youthat.
SPEAKER_03 (06:55):
Well, everything in the firearms uh when it comes to
operation of firearms comes downto tenths of seconds, just
absolute milliseconds.
And that doesn't matter ifyou're shooting competition, if
you're in a self-defense,personal defense situation, if
you're hunting, whatever it is,you're always trying to become
more proficient in how youoperate it and shave off time.
And like you said, if you'redoing some extra movements that
(07:18):
you're not just catching on yourown, but you have that data
feedback that says, you did kindof a little bit of a wonky line
and wasted time, you know,getting from A to B, now you
have a way to actually see thatand improve it.
SPEAKER_01 (07:32):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So it quantifies everything inthe app.
So again, the devices areliterally just passing data
points to the app, and so itallows us to continually build
things in our app without havingto change the hardware.
So, you know, once you buy in,and we're we're a company that
we we don't like subscriptions,we don't do subscriptions.
(07:54):
So you buy the hardware, the appis free.
And so it and we build newcourses, we build new drills, we
learn we learn, hey, you know, acouple years ago they're like,
why can't we look at recoil?
So instead of looking at a shotscore in live fire, let's look
at recoil and give you fourdifferent metrics on recoil.
How do you handle that gun?
And let's say you're trying todecide between two guns.
(08:16):
You can literally shoot it withone gun, do a comparison, and
shoot it with another gun, andsay, which one do I handle
better?
Wow.
So this is more than it's gonnabe.
SPEAKER_03 (08:24):
I even knew I was like, wait a second, I think I
you know I have to upgrade mysystems, you know.
Yes.
Um because I got I I gotinvolved with Mantis or just
using it for me personally,pretty much when you guys first
came out because it was soinnovative, like what you were
doing in the industry andproviding this feedback.
So that that's really cool tosee that there was more than
even I realized.
(08:44):
And you brought something withyou.
SPEAKER_01 (08:45):
So, yeah, so we just released in November a a dry
fire training tool because oneof the things that we realize
people struggle with with dryfire is using their own gun.
Generally, most people only haveone of their carry gun, which
means you have to unload it.
And so you're unloading andreloading, and at home, you
know, is that is that the mostbest place to be safe?
(09:07):
You know, you can do it safely,but a lot of people wanted, I
want something that thetrigger's gonna reset.
And so what we did is wedeveloped uh, we call it our
tight next.
So the tight next is our lasergun.
So you press the trigger, you'regonna get a laser.
But it also has ouraccelerometer and gyroscope
hardware in the gun, so it'sgonna do all of the stuff that
(09:31):
our previous units do, as wellas all the dynamic training,
because we don't have to detecta trigger press.
When you put our units on yourregular gun, the unit has to
look for specific vibrations toknow the trigger press.
This has a circuit on it.
We give you two magazines.
We can track how long has themagazine been out of the gun
(09:51):
because there's a circuit on themagazine.
SPEAKER_03 (09:53):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (09:53):
So you can track reloads, uh, it low voltage
Bluetooth connects to yourtablet or your phone.
It is optic ready.
And and if I were to had an openone, you'd see four two sets of
screws.
So it's RMR, RMS, RMS C as well.
Okay.
So it fits most optics outthere.
Uh it's built upon that the it'ssubstantially similar to a Glock
(10:14):
platform currently, uh the 17,19, and 45.
So uh we have three differentmodels out there.
So our 700 is similar to a Glock17, the 701 is similar to the
19, and the 702 is similar tothe the Glock 45.
Will work in OEM in holsters.
Uh OEM magazines will work inthe Titan as well.
(10:36):
So you could use uh you get twomagazines, but you could use if
if you're competition shootingand you're running with four
mags, as long as you've got OEMmags, they they they'll work
just fine into here.
Uh so it it provides all thatdata motion that we're talking
about in a completely inert,safe gun that that you can pick
(10:58):
up at any time, turn it on,connect it to your device, and
get some dry fire training done.
Don't have to worry aboutunloading a gun, handling ammo,
anything like that in the in thecomfort of your home.
SPEAKER_03 (11:09):
So for me, I think one of the most important things
about dry firing is that notnecessarily how long you do it,
but consistently doing it.
And so if you can make a systemthat makes it easy for you to do
it, you know, daily, I I mean,because that's really what it
takes to become proficient, youknow, with a firearm, is you
have to invest in it daily.
(11:30):
But if you have to go and, likeyou said, unload your gun or get
it out of the safe or do all ofthese things and it it starts to
become a little bit too much ofa chore.
It's tedious.
And then you can make excusesabout why you're not doing it.
But now you have something thatis a a safe platform that you
can leave out and you don't haveto lock it up and you can access
it every single day.
SPEAKER_01 (11:51):
I've had many people come by our booth and say, once
those who have bought a Titan,that they, you know, so many of
us work from home now that theyleave their Titan on the desk,
yes, and and when they have acouple of minute break, they'll
pick it up and and some peoplewon't even connect it to their
phone.
Is they'll just actually takeshots with it.
It's got the laser so you cankind of see what's happening.
(12:13):
You know, you can look for crispdots versus dashes, because if
you've got dashes, you're movingthe gun.
Interesting.
Uh and and and P I think we'reseeing more people dry fire even
without connecting it to the appjust because of the convenience
of having it setting rightthere.
But uh, you know, to turn theapp on and get the data, and we
do, we we can let you set up atraining schedule and we'll
(12:35):
notify you through the app ifyou enable notifications.
SPEAKER_03 (12:38):
Hey, you didn't practice today?
Is that what it tells you?
SPEAKER_01 (12:40):
Well, it'll say, you know, three o'clock, here's your
notification to practice.
Uh we also have a groupfunctionality within our app, so
there could be a little bit of akind of community there.
Um, I've got some gals back fromwhere I'm from that we have a
little text group and they allhave mantis devices, and so we
set up a private group and wecan see what each other has
(13:01):
done.
So you can actually, you know,work with it.
So instructors can actuallycoach if you're doing virtual
instruction and the person has amantis, you know, you you can
actually see what they're doingand see the movements, whether
it's holster draw, dynamictraining, or just shot score and
and the movement of the muzzle.
So I think it's a great tool,not just for somebody who wants
(13:24):
to use it to practice, but me asan instructor, it gives me more
data from my students,especially if we can't go to the
range together.
Yes.
So it allows me to give homeworkand follow up.
So I think there's a there's somuch to it that people don't
realize in that app itself.
And so another thing that werolled out in August, so why I
(13:47):
was kind of brought on to Mantisis kind of starting to connect
instructors with our products.
And what we realize is a lot ofpeople, our app is so thick with
data and rich with settings thatit it it was a struggle for some
people.
And so I brought come in and Irealized most of the instructors
(14:08):
didn't fully know how to use it.
So we had to kind of step backand go, we need to teach people
how to fully use our app, youknow, because most people just
pick one or two drills and theytend to stay with those one and
two drills.
We want to open up the horizonto go, here's all this stuff in
here.
Uh you as a competitor help I'm,you know, I it's part of these
videos.
(14:28):
I help you understand whatdrills might be best for what
you want to accomplish for yourgoals.
Because everybody's gotdifferent goals.
So that's called the MantisexMastermind course.
And it's a nominal fee outthere, it's a one-time cost, and
it goes through, it's eighthours of self-paced learning to
learn all about the app.
And I we have had so many peopletake that going, I I thought I
(14:51):
knew how to use it, now I reallyknow how to use it, and I really
know how to understand my databetter.
So, you know, we're just tryingto get the word out about that
as well that don't let it, thethe app be daunting to you.
We've got tools and resources tohelp.
Plus, every week, we you know,Mantis is very customer focused.
We we want to to interact withour people.
(15:13):
I mean, you walk up to our boothand what is it?
It's chaos.
You know, there's there'severybody wants to try our
stuff, and we we we don't sitbehind our tables and just let
people walk by.
We engage people, and so in thatspirit with mastermind, uh I was
challenged to say, you've got toengage those people.
They're gonna they're gonna giveyou 20 bucks to take that
(15:33):
course.
How do we keep them engaged?
And so you get a weekly call.
So I spend an hour on a phonecall and it's an open-end mic
session with anybody in thatcourse.
You personally?
Me personally.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
So I've had many people go, saythat itself's worth 20 bucks
because people can say, well, Ihave this problem in the app and
I'll cover it on the call.
But I get people to go, I amstuck at a two-second draw to
(15:55):
per first shot.
Yeah.
How do I break through thatbarrier?
And so me as it's I have a sidegig as an instructor.
So I will I will help tell thema couple of drills to do,
whether it's with our productsor straight up dry fire drills,
maybe it's just an extend preppress, you know, to get on the
trigger quicker after theirholster draw.
And so it's it's kind of thisopen mic session, and and you
(16:18):
know, we get 20 or 30 peoplejoining those every week.
And now they're starting to makea community because you get
similar people on with similarinterests, and it's it's kind of
cross-pollinating.
So, you know, it's it's a greatprogram to help try to bring
people.
So if you're an instructor andyou really don't know how to use
our products in your classes, wehave a separate call for
(16:39):
instructors.
So there's a lot of touch base,and like I said, that's kind of
what my mojo is to bring tobring people together and get
more people to use our productsand and and not be, oh, well,
that's that's too complex forme.
When it's really not.
SPEAKER_03 (16:55):
Well, I love that you're bringing in the best of
both worlds where you're usingtechnology to its fullest, but
you haven't lost the humanconnection.
Like that just blows my mindright now that you're actually,
you know, there is a live humanbeing on the other side who's
going to answer your real lifequestions and help you get
better and help you use this.
SPEAKER_01 (17:13):
Correct.
And that's Mantis' mojo.
We we just we love that customerfacing.
Our support team is all locatedhere in the U.S.
They are all Mantis employees,they all know how to use all the
products.
In fact, you don't really get towork for the company unless
you've already used the productand like love it.
Yeah.
And so it's it is.
People say, oh my gosh, yoursupport is amazing.
(17:36):
So, you know, if you have aproblem, reach out to our
support team.
There's a phone number to callto get a live person, there's
chat on our website, or supportat manasex.com, and somebody is
going to help you.
And they're great people.
That's who's working the booththis week.
We have a lot of support peoplehere.
Really?
And it's because they know theproduct.
So we have you know, salespeoplesupport people, but people are
(17:57):
like, oh my gosh, I talked toyou on the phone, and so it's
it's that human connection.
SPEAKER_03 (18:02):
Well, and I feel like Erica, we can be using this
and motivating each other.
You know what?
SPEAKER_02 (18:07):
Absolutely, because we can see each other's you
know, progress and yeah, andthat makes it fun too, is it you
get a group of friends.
SPEAKER_01 (18:15):
And you can actually set goals and challenges in that
group.
So you could say for this week,it's it's it's our goal is for
everybody to get a 90 and aboveon the Nana Sex Benchmark drill.
Or number of shots or thingslike that.
SPEAKER_02 (18:30):
So it wouldn't, I mean Maggie definitely is the
pro.
So even though we're atdifferent levels, it would just
be like a percentage and itwould be at my level.
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
Yeah, you could set it to whatever percent you want.
So it's kind of how whatever thegroup wants to do to decide.
So cool.
You know, I've got, you know,for that you could just say,
hey, we're trying to encouragejust to shoot.
So the ladies that I have thisgroup with, is we're just trying
to get, you know, three times aweek, you know, at least 50
shots in.
So we could put in that as agoal.
It's 150 shots per member.
unknown (19:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (19:04):
So something as simple as that.
SPEAKER_03 (19:05):
I feel like we're gonna be doing this.
Yes, we will be.
Yeah, because we've just beentalking about that a lot, is you
know, we we live hours apartfrom each other and we
definitely want to spend moretime actively like competing and
and doing stuff together.
But for those times where we'rejust in different parts of the
country, we can still motivateeach other and challenge each
other.
SPEAKER_02 (19:24):
And you know, I love that um people have come around
and said that they have it ontheir desk because right now I
have a slinky on my desk, andwhen I'm on the phone, I'm
slinking, or I have a couple oftextile, but this would be
great.
SPEAKER_01 (19:37):
Yeah, just put a sticky note up, or yeah, you
know, one of our Laser Academytargets, put it up, and you can
run at that, uh, you know, justto just to get some trigger
presses in.
I mean, you don't even have to,you know, work on holster draw,
it's just pick it up and do sometrigger presses.
It's it it changes you, youknow.
It just if you really focus.
And I think one thing in dryfire we we tend to do, or when
(19:59):
we try to teach people dry fire,it's not just about the trigger
press.
You brought up that it's almostyou have to understand and be
it's a feeling that if we don'tengage in the process, we're not
really pushing the bar forwardand getting better.
If you're just picking up a gunand mindlessly pressing, you
know, that's that's myelinatingthe wrong things in.
(20:21):
So it's it's it's being focusedon what you're doing, but you're
still getting value in that twoor three minutes, you know, to
do those things.
And but in dry fire, I alsoencourage people, no
distractions, you know, try totry to really focus on what
you're doing, have a plan, comeup with a plan, and really focus
on what you're feeling.
Yeah.
Because it is, you know, as acompetitive shooter, when you
(20:44):
run a stage, you don't even knowto look at, you don't have to
look at the clock or the score.
Yeah, you know when it feltgood.
Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_03 (20:50):
But you know what?
A lot of people ask me becausethey're like, okay, how do I
train for competition?
You know, what do I do?
How do I dry fire?
They don't know how to come upwith the plan.
SPEAKER_01 (20:58):
That's the problem, and that's and that's kind of
what I've been challenged withworking on next is is maybe in
2026 uh Mantis will be puttingout a plan.
So I I've kind of got it down onpaper.
I think people people want toengage whether that's a video,
and so we're we're looking athow do we do that to feel like
(21:19):
people are engaged.
And maybe it's a it's a a weeklyvideo that we put out and go,
here's what I've done in DryFire this week, follow along.
Pull up this drill, here's whatwe're gonna do, and and do that
together.
Because I think you know, in thein the world, we're in such a
digital age now that I thinkwe're starting to realize we
need that connection.
Absolutely and whether it's youknow, it's one thing to do with
(21:40):
text, but even if you'rewatching somebody on video,
you're making a connection withthem.
SPEAKER_00 (21:44):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (21:44):
And especially if if they can jump in and ask
questions and go, you know, andand and somebody's gonna answer
them, wow, what a what anawesome, you know, community
that would be.
So I think you're right, it'sit's motivation, but I think
it's especially if you've gotsomebody to do it with.
And to keep you accountablemakes dry fire a lot easier.
SPEAKER_03 (22:04):
So what's the investment into Mantis?
Like so for people who aren'talready invested in the product,
right?
How do they get involved?
SPEAKER_01 (22:11):
So we've got multiple um products.
So our our X10 unit, I didn'tbring one of those here because
the Titan's the real hot unit.
I was like, I have the X10.
But the X10 is is a gooduniversal tool because you can
put it on a pistol or a rifle.
It will do dry fire or livefire.
SPEAKER_02 (22:30):
I didn't realize that it would do live fire.
So yesterday when we talked, Iwas just like, what?
Yes.
Because I that was one part ofit that I was missing.
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
So yeah, dry fire or live fire.
And it'll go on, like I said, apistol or a rifle and multiple
pistols.
So it's you're investing inhardware, and again, the apps
are free.
So if you're you know a family,you could go buy one for the
household, and you know, yourspouse could download the app
under a different user ID, theyBluetooth connect it for their
(23:01):
dry fire session.
You do you do yours separatelyand your data stays separate,
but again, you can touch basethrough those groups.
But that's the X10, so that'skind of our universal product.
Uh that runs 250 on our website,and if anybody knows Mantis, we
don't ever run specials.
We don't do Black Friday deals,so we try to.
SPEAKER_03 (23:20):
You don't have to wait to buy.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (23:22):
Don't wait to buy, just buy it.
Uh so 250, that's kind of themost universal product we have.
I've already talked about thetight next, so that one is 200.
So you're going, well, why isthis cool pistol less?
It's because it's dry fire only,and and it's the the X10's more
universal versus the tightnecks.
But man, to get the tight neckstool in a 250 price point's
(23:45):
amazing.
I mean, I'm an instructor andI'm like, I want about 10 of
them.
SPEAKER_03 (23:49):
Well, I was just gonna say, with the price of
ammo and and how much time youcan get behind your firearm and
not having to leave the house,not having to drive to the
range, having something that youcan continuously use and then
have other family members use.
I mean, that's like kind ofridiculous.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (24:06):
You know, it's so good.
If you're a a rifle person, soan AR-10, AR-15, say you run a
SCAR heavy or scar light, uh, wehave what we call the Blackbeard
X.
So think about tight next for arifle, but it's for your rifle.
So as long as it meets one ofthose platforms, and we got AKs
(24:26):
gonna come out eventually, um,you actually remove your bolts
and your charging handle andyour magazine.
You insert our bolt carriergroup and our magazine, and it
turns your rifle into acompletely inert dry fire tool.
It's gonna give you all the samedata that the Titan X gives you,
so that you've got now, so ifyou're you're doing uh rifle
(24:49):
training to do three gun, youyou've got a way that you can
train at home and it resets yourtrigger.
So it is your most importantpart because you need to feel
the trigger.
It is your trigger press, yourtrigger reset.
So that that unit does run alittle more, so that's 350, but
you're gonna get a laser, youget that trigger reset, you get
all the diagnostics in one.
(25:11):
So again, no charge for the app.
So you're you're you're buy one,cry once, and it's yours.
And we're constantly developinguh, you know, some people say, I
don't know what to do in DryFire.
In our app, so if you have ourapp scroll all the way to the
bottom and you're gonna seecourses.
So these are the cool things.
So we take 10 drills and we makeit a course, and we put some
(25:32):
boundaries to say, you know,you're going from this start
position and you need to pass atthis percentage.
You get through those 10 drills,at the end, you fill out your
address if you at 48 U.S.
states, we're gonna send you apatch for free.
Nice.
And there's like 12 courses outthere that you can just earn,
and they are really nicepatches.
(25:54):
They're not little patches,they're like, you know, pretty
good sized patches.
And so it gives you a path.
SPEAKER_03 (26:00):
It gives you a path.
It's good for goal setting andto and to have those mile
markers and say, okay, I I didthis, I completed this, I
invested the time in improvingmyself in my use of a tool, and
then goal set.
SPEAKER_01 (26:13):
And who doesn't have a patch wall or put patches on
your bag that you want to have?
Yes, absolutely.
Absolutely.
So I mean, and even you know,those courses get harder as you
go, and even I haven't passedsome of those courses.
So I'm still working because Igotta learn to work on my
reloads.
We need to talk.
I need I need reload help.
Um but but it's there's we tryto put things in there to engage
people, and and again, becausepeople don't know what to do,
(26:36):
the courses are great.
Just start doing theintroduction course and and the
the marksmanship, so we workmarksmanship first.
So that is how still is the gunwhen I press the trigger, then
we go to combat courses, we addthe reloads into combat, and
then we just released ourconcealed carry courses.
So that that is based off of asa as a concealed carrier, what
(26:57):
do you want your draw to firstshot to be?
Right.
You know, so we we we kind ofworked down from uh information
we took from activeself-protection with all the
videos that they watch, uhdefensive videos, and I'm still
trying to pass the eliteconcealed carry, and I thought I
was pretty good at concealedcarry, but it's the it's the you
know, we focus on holster draw,we focus on magazine reloads,
(27:20):
and uh how still your shootingis.
So we make you get out of theholster fast, and you've got to
slow way down to get that shotbecause we call we we have a
drill called hostage rescue, andeverybody's like, I hate that
drill, because it requires youto to accomplish a high score in
a short amount of time,generally coming from the
holster.
SPEAKER_03 (27:39):
That's so interesting.
But like you said, with like aconcealed carry and stuff like
that, you your clothing, youknow, do you have outerwear on?
Like, you know, that's veryimpactful, and you get to see
the data that really tells youhow it's impactful.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (27:52):
Holster draw analysis breaks your draw down
into five steps.
So from the beef, you will knowhow long did it take me to get
to my grip.
So clothing comes into playthere, but not even.
With I mean, you care about yourdraw-to-first shot competition,
right?
Absolutely.
And so you can look at what howmuch did I spend from the grip
to I pulled the gun out, to Irotated the gun horizontal, till
(28:14):
I pushed out to the target,until I pressed my shot.
It breaks those five piecesapart and it gives you a little
bit of trace so you can kind ofsee, am I consistent with my
motion?
Yes.
And so I look at my holster drawanalysis and I go, I can cut
another tenth off of my reactiontime.
And so it allows you to knowwhat do I need to work on.
SPEAKER_02 (28:34):
That's great.
So, Kara, if um you know,everybody out there that wants a
mantis, like I do, how do how dothey get one in their hands?
SPEAKER_01 (28:43):
You can go to uh www.mantisex.com and go to the
store and you're gonna find allof those products.
On top of, we have a targetverification product called
Laser Academy.
So if you just want to see whereyour shots go, Laser Academy
does that.
So we have that's a product aswell that you can buy a bundle
that's 160.
Again, buy once, it's yours.
(29:04):
Um and so all of these productsare available out there.
So the X10, uh we we have somelower versions of the X, so if
you want just dry fire only, youcan do an X2.
If you want dry and live, butyou're not gonna get holster dry
analysis or recoil meter, thatwould be an X3.
So I tell people, bite thebullet, get the X10 up front
because you'll want those extradrills.
(29:25):
You can get the Titan.
We are a little back ordered onthe Titan because we didn't
realize expect the demand to beas high as it is, but it's a
pretty cool product.
And the black beards are outthere as well, and there's
different models of blackbeards.
You can get the black beards inred or green.
Um, and and we're gonna offerthese in in green and IR, but
those are more gonna be specialorder on the Titans.
(29:46):
And we have more Titans comingout.
So I know some people like I amnot a Glock person.
I am not, I am an HK snob, I'llI'll just admit that on the air.
I I I love my VP9, and so we'reworking on other models.
So we're working on some SIGsand an HK VP9, uh, MNP 2.0, but
on our website, so if you go tothe Titan page on our website
(30:07):
and you want a specific model,we're taking votes.
So you go out and you say, Iwant to see a Titan in this
model, and there's a form foryou to fill out, and we tally
those votes so that we kind ofknow what's the demand.
You know, obviously with lawenforcement we had to we had to
go Glock first.
Right.
Uh, you know, it's just the mostwidely used, but but we're gonna
we're gonna try and build someother uh platforms so that we
(30:29):
try to get as close to the gunyou have.
SPEAKER_02 (30:32):
That's awesome.
That's amazing.
Well, thank you so much forcoming on and all your time
yesterday and today.
Uh I I mean I'm just mind-blownat the product and can't wait to
get one.
Absolutely.
I I already have a plan inplace, so uh I think you know
the product is is amazing andand uh yeah, it's really gonna
(30:53):
up my game.
So watch out, world.
Yes, absolutely.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
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