I haven’t thought much about shooting this week as I was on a business trip but I did come home to my MidwayUSA shooting mat and my PAST shoulder pad.
The foam in each is 1/2″ and feels like the closed cell type but I cant be sure. The shoulder pad may not fit a large or “full-figured” person as it just fits me and though I am overweight I am small in stature.
The MidwayUSA shooting mat is moderately well made. The material both top and bottom is fairly robust with the bottom black material having some waterproofing added. The olive drab top seems well made and with good size anti-skid areas. The anti-skid does not seem to be sticky though it was only 40° when I had it outside. I was going to rate the stitching as fair to poor in some places where it seemed that the bottom thread from the bobbin was not feeding properly but upon closer inspection those areas are where stitching was stopped and started and those were areas of overlap. The thread thickness seems a bit undersized for this application. We will have to see how that affects durability. I’ll rate the stitching as fair.
There is a pocket in the front flap where you could store a notebook or as I will do, store six metal wire stakes to be used through the six grommets to secure the mat to the ground. The mat is very large as compared to some twice as expensive.
Based on value I would rate this mat at $49 a 7 out of 10 but if I didn’t take its price into consideration the stitching would drop it to a 5 out of 10 because I do believe that some areas of stitching will prematurely fail.
Bill – Never used the mat but have owned PAST shoulder pads ever since I bought my first 300WBYMAG. And really needed it with a Browning Safari in 458 with no butt pad. Getting older, I now use it with anything heavier than 308.