This year’s edition of IWA, the European equivalent of SHOT, is paying particular attention to a topic that acknowledges the fact that it’s a nervous time, worldwide.
One of the primary topics of this year’s “IWA Vision” is “Crisis Preparedness.” It’s not quite the equivalent of Nordic countries coming out and warning their citizens to prepare for open conflict with Russia, but it’s certainly more than passing acknowledgement that things are the opposite of stable in Europe.
IWA Vision is designed to give retailers insight into the “growing public interest in personal resilience, emergency planning and sustainable security solutions.” According to IWA, the need became especially relevant in January 2026 when a power outage in Berlin demonstrated “how quickly essential services can reach their limits— and how crucial robust emergency plans have become for both the population and critical infrastructure.”
Apparently, farsighted retailers are already adding equipment for emergency preparedness and survival to their hunting and shooting sports gear. For those who consider “prepping” synonymous with the outdoor lifestyle, this isn’t exactly a revelation. The same gear we use when hunting, fishing, camping, or whatever is particularly well-suited to get us through whatever sort of (hopefully) short-term services interruptions we encounter. With some homes in Nashville, Tennessee still uninhabitable 24 days after a winter ice storm blew through town, it’s definitely still top-of-mind with many of our friends and neighbors.
That level of awareness has not been the case in Europe until fairly recently. Despite heated rhetoric between nations, the electric power, water and natural gas supplies and trade goods have continued to flow bidirectionally without much regard to borders and politics. That, apparently, is seen as being subject to change in the not-too-distant future.
So what would happen in a large-scale power interruption? That’s one of the topics being covered this year in Nuremberg. Conversations scheduled for the “expert stages” include potential causes, systemic vulnerabilities, and the “societal impacts of a blackout.”
The societal impacts part of the discussion is really where the nervousness lies. Not because of simulations, but “due to real incidents and the changing security environment.” The real incidents range from lone wolf terrorist attacks to drones now more than capable of taking down critical infrastructure.
To address those concerns, IWA’s expert events include “concrete guidance on which product groups will become increasingly important.” Those products groups include everything from energy management and emergency power (think heating homes and preserving food) to first aid equipment and communication tools that remain functional without infrastructure (you don’t need to think too deeply to imagine how quickly long-term services and infrastructure failures could turn nightmarish in Europe).
But IWA’s focus is on meeting potential needs with real, salable, products. A special area directly behind the expert stage features sources for everything from crisis competence training to equipment for water management and hygiene options for “challenging operational scenarios.”
IWA OutdoorClassics 2026 features more than 1,000 exhibitors and attendees from more than 120 countries. As the European equivalent of SHOT Show, the attending retailers will be looking for the hot products their customers will find irresistible. Those products will include new guns, optics, knives and apparel, but this year it seems there will be an increased emphasis on gear designed to keep you safe and comfortable, whether hunting, hiking, fishing or sheltering in place.
As always, we’ll keep you posted.
—Jim Shepherd