If you’ve ever tried to glass all day on a steep hillside and felt your lower back lock up, this episode is going to hit home. I sit down with Steven Giles from DRT Hunting to talk about the Recon Lounger—a rifle cover that turns into a legit glassing chair—and how one well designed piece of gear can keep you comfortable, protect your optic, and replace two or three other items in your pack. We dig into the engineering behind it, the real world use cases, and how a multi use mindset changes the way you hunt out West.

Steven is a manufacturing engineer and co founder of DRT Hunting, and he built the Recon Lounger out of his own frustration with sore backs, sap covered jackets, and expensive optics getting beat up in rough country. The result is a thousand denier, carbon reinforced rifle cover that unfolds into a stadium style chair, doubles as a shooting support, and even pulls duty in your sleep system—all without adding another bulky, single use item to your pack.

We talk through why comfort actually keeps you “in the game” longer behind the glass, how Western residents and non residents think differently about glassing, and why multi use gear matters more as hunts get more remote and expensive. If you’re the kind of hunter who tinkers with homemade scope covers, hates traditional slings, and loves figuring out new ways to use the gear you already carry, this conversation will give you a bunch of practical ideas to test on your next mule deer, elk, antelope, or coyote hunt.

Highlights

• The Dirt/DRT origin story, “dead right there” name, and bison logo.

• How the Recon Lounger works as a rifle cover, scope shield, and glassing chair.

• Why comfort behind the glass matters for long Western hunts.

• Multi use field applications from rifle cover to chair, pad, and camp utility.

• Real hunt use cases from long glassing sessions to packing out birds or sheds.

• Manufacturing lessons from prototyping to over building and show season inventory.

• Using knowledge and creativity to carry less gear and solve more problems afield.

If this episode gives you ideas for making your pack lighter and your glassing more comfortable, hit follow on the podcast and share this one with a hunting buddy who’s always tweaking their gear setup. You can check out the Recon Lounger and follow Steven’s crew at dirthunting.com and @drt_hunting on Instagram—links are in the show notes

https://www.instagram.com/drt_hunting/

https://www.drthunting.com/

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