Clever signs like these wooed browsers at the Indianapolis Boat, Sport and Travel Show as they window-shopped.
Boats of all sizes, makes and costs were on display, adding up to a lot of horsepower.
It’s a good thing fish can’t read, or they would have been frightened of this booth at the Indy outdoors show.
This backwoods baby will go just about anywhere, just not very fast at a top speed of 20 mph or so.
Toys. Big toys. Over the years, that’s how major purchases of outdoor recreational vehicles and boats and have come to be described.
Boats. Recreational vehicles. ATVs. All of the above. This is the time of year many invest in such major-league buys, so they can be full-on ready for summer.
That also is why the horsepower on display at the recent 69th annual Indianapolis Boat, Sport and Travel Show needed a calculator to figure. Not only do outdoors individuals wish to escape to the woods and waters, to the backwoods and the big waters, but they prefer to do it fast.
The reason why the outdoor show industry’s prime time of the year takes place over the winter is because after New Year’s, after family celebrations at Thanksgiving and Christmas, outdoorsmen are getting the itch to do something, anything connected to their hobbies. Yet it is still winter, so they can’t really go outside and enjoy themselves in too many pursuits. Outdoor shows, oxymoron or not, all take place indoors.
As part of the psychology at play, the operators of outdoor shows also believe their target audiences may be coming off a windfall such as cash acquired as a gift over the holidays.
Outdoor shows of January, February and March are an annual ritual in many cities, not just Indianapolis, but in Chicago, Cincinnati, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (a famous one) and elsewhere. Handier yet for the region is Safari Club International’s annual convention relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, over the last two years — and maybe for much longer. That’s kind of having the granddaddy of them all move to your neighborhood. Overall, the theme of the shows would be “Come on and treat yourself.”
The entire idea must work. It is no accident the Indianapolis show has been going strong for 70 years. This is much like inviting someone with a sweet tooth into a chocolate factory to browse. By the time you finish touring the 750,000 square feet of outdoors space indoors at the fairgrounds you might be looking for a shoe convention to visit too because you have worn out the soles of your footwear.
The really high-quality outdoors shows not only feature display booths staffed by guides booking trips for the coming months, and the gleaming new products, from guns and ammo, to rods and reels, from boats to off-road vehicles.
Don’t you need something new and shiny? Impulse buys of machinery that need a key to start are a threat to the bank account.
One of the first eye-catching items I viewed at the Indy show, standing and gazing with fantasy on my brain next to a similarly goggled spectator, was a $287,000 boat. We pondered the impressive nature of the vessel with the realization the only way we could afford it would be to trade our homes for it straight up. We would have to live on board because it would be the only roof we could afford. Let’s just say Huck Finn was not stowing away on this baby for a ride down the Mississippi River.
Much more realistically priced, and perhaps more logically suitable for an average-income family (if there is such a thing in boat owning), was the mess of pontoon boats spread around on display showcased by various dealers. A price tag around $20,000 is about the same as a Nissan Versa or a Hyundai, so that seems a bit more doable. Of course, you need a trailer and other accoutrements. Ka-ching.
There were some cute signs inviting window shoppers to tease them into collections of boats. One read, “Just add water.”
An off-road vehicle dealership from Martinsville was introducing a new product that was passing the eye test. The new item, which had four smallish tires on each side and came in camouflage coloring, was an object of intrigued curiosity.
A saleswoman named Lydia, who had recently piloted the newly stocked item on a highway said, “It’s like you’re in your own little tank.” It’s not really for street use, but for rutted ground, and only goes 20 mph. Still, you know that style definitely appeals to some guys. One Indiana browser stopped and said, “This is beautiful.” He even looked under the hood.
From the big yacht to the tiny tank, there was much temptation wooing men and women of the wild, who if they were really wise forgot their credit cards and checkbooks at home.