Kestrel, Your Personal Genie

by
posted on January 14, 2015
gsagi2015_fs.jpg

Kestrel is introducing a new model called the Sportsman Ballistics Weather Meter at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in a few days. AmericanRifleman.org will showcase new products from the show floor, but with so much to see—and all of it cool—I’d hate for this handy unit to get lost in the crowd and me never again have the opportunity to reference “I Dream of Genie.”

undefinedIt’s almost as good as having a professional spotter, except it bottles up nicely in your pocket, and never stiffs you on a bar tab. This is one crazy portable weather station that provides instant and accurate barometric pressure, elevation, density altitude, dew point, headwind/tailwind, heat stress index, relative humidity, temperature, wet bulb temperature, wind chill, wind direction and wind speed.

Talk about information overload. If you’re unmarried when you start calculating a firing solution with all those variables long hand, you may have grandkids in college when you’re done.

Kestrel prevents premature aging by sucking the data into a ballistics calculator. Then it’s plotted against one of the 16 gun/bullet combinations you’ve stored, whereupon an internal genie folds her arms, unleashes magic, and in a blink of an eye a firing solution appears. There’s no smoke from the pair of AAA batteries powering the unit, but your astronavigation legend will build quickly at the range. And, your shooting buddies will look at you as if Barbara Eden was with you on the firing line.

Latest

Leupold Vx 6Hd Cds Szl2 Hunting Riflescope
Leupold Vx 6Hd Cds Szl2 Hunting Riflescope

New For 2025: Leupold VX-6HD Gen 2 Riflescopes

Leupold & Stevens will offer a new generation of premium Gold Ring riflescope for hunters in 2025 of which include innovative features that go above and beyond previous VX-6 designs—their best just got better.

Review: Iver Johnson MF20

It’s no surprise that innovative designs like the Iver Johnson MF20 have emerged; by merging the best features of both shotguns and ARs, this firearm offers impressive—but controllable—firepower while mitigating the scattergun’s usual shortcomings.

6 New Handguns For 2025

Several of the nation's biggest names in firearm manufacturing have released new models ahead of SHOT Show 2025. Here's a rundown of the features that each of them offer.

Boys To Riflemen: Aiken’s Volunteers During The British Attack on Plattsburgh

In September 1814, Americans once again stood against the might of the British military, as their forefathers had done during the Revolution. A small group of teen boys proved their valor in the face of a British attack and earned a special presentation rifle for their efforts.

The Armed Citizen® Jan. 20, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

A Gas-Operated M1903 Conversion That Never Was

The U.S. government's never-ending quest for a more effective shoulder-fired arm to equip its military has, naturally, resulted in more prototypes than production models. This semi-automatic Model 1903 Springfield conversion was one such dead-end.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.