Kestrel, Your Personal Genie

by
posted on January 14, 2015
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
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

Derya MAX 01
Derya MAX 01

Maxed Out: Derya's New MAX Shotgun

The Derya Arms MAX is a new semi-auto shotgun designed for serious competitive shooters that is made entirely in the USA.

Breaking Through the "Bulletproof Bubble"

The "Bulletproof Bubble" is one of the most frustrating things a shooter can experience, because it doesn't make any sense. Every round seems to land all around the exact center of your point of aim instead of in it.

Sharpen Your Shooting Skills: Prairie Dogs

Reactive targets, such as prairie dogs, offer many lessons about one’s long-range abilities.

The Armed Citizen® Aug. 7, 2026

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

Gun of the Week: Zev Technologies x Magpul FDP-C

One of the most anticipated firearm releases of 2026 was the Zev Technologies FDP, a folding pistol-caliber design that the company produced in conjunction with Magpul Industries.

Review: Taurus 22TUC

Taurus USA's 22TUC is a little, polymer-framed .22 pocket pistol with a tip-up barrel design that, unlike many of the company's guns, is made entirely in the United States.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.