I tested the Mantis X10 Elite shooting performance evaluation system from MantisX of Oswego, Illinois. This is an addicting training device that attaches to the user’s handgun that gives real-time feedback. It is inexpensive, simple and the feedback is very usable.
The X10 Elite proved to be a training product that challenges the user toward improving their marksmanship and gun handling. It gives the user a healthy mix of brutal honesty and rewards to improve shooting skills. The method is habit forming and the outcome is good habits.
In full disclosure, I was not introduced to the line of Mantis products in the conventional way. One of the guys with whom I regularly shoot all of a sudden had an obvious bump in his shooting performance. He was already a good shooter, now he is an excellent shooter. I asked him how he had been practicing and he handed me a Mantis X3, which is similar to the X10, with fewer features. Now my shooting also has been improving.
The Mantis device is a shooting performance evaluation system that attaches to the accessory rail of any firearm. It is about the size of a matchbox and weighs practically nothing. It pairs with your smart phone or portable device using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE or Bluetooth 4.0) and the Mantis App. It can quickly charge off of almost any charging block. A single charge is good for quite a few range sessions. It provides a full data analysis of your shooting performance. It works with live fire, dry fire, air soft, or CO2 powered arms.
From unboxing after installing the Mantis App, it took me about 25 seconds to get up and running. In their cruel fashion, the product does not provide data analysis until the shooter has registered 50 shots. This is akin to the local bakery offering the first slice of cheesecake for free.
The data analysis provided is a full spectrum of shooting performance, areas where the shooter can improve, and tracked progress. The training app also has a “social” feature where groups can share their scores, train together, and challenge each other for improvement. This is especially handy for agencies who wish to create training groups and set training goals to augment their regular training and testing specifications.
The Mantis X10 Elite—as do all Mantis products—uses electronic motion detection from several different axis, to measure the movement of the gun. When I first took it out for a spin, I was amazed at the accuracy of the unit, and the speed at which it communicates the motion of my gun.
Honestly, I don’t know how the X10 Elite can distinguish between the falling of my striker and the racking of my slide. I tried racking my slide softly, in an attempt to trick it into thinking I’d already fired a shot, but it still provided a complete analysis. The X10 Elite reads muzzle trace, which is a recording of how the shooter acquired the target, and the activity that directly precedes the full press of the trigger to the rear. Altogether, the X10 Elite system gives the shooter a sighting trace, trigger pull trace and a shot breaking/recoil return analysis, when real bullets are used.
It is habit forming
Increasing a physical perishable skill is really increasing the efficiency of the sequencing of nerve recruitment for a particular training task. That is, gaining a skill involves making the skill a habit.
A habit is an acquired behavioral pattern formed by repetition. In training, we tend to identify and distinguish between good habits and bad habits. As everyone knows, it is harder to break a bad habit than it is to acquire a good one.
Extinguishing a bad habit is best done in a relaxed environment where the habit won’t be practiced. For example, quitting smoking is best done over a vacation where cues and habit reinforcement are minimized. When it comes to trigger training, removing bad habits of very difficult because instructors try to erase them using focused attention. Good luck with quitting smoking over vacation, by the way.
Habit creating behaviors are seated in the area of the brain (probably the basal ganglia) which drive emotions, memories, and pattern recognition. Decision making occurs in the prefrontal cortex.
Learning trigger skills requires focused attention, deliberate repetition and positive reinforcement. Focused attention is a concentrated mimicry of good technique. If it is coupled with deliberate repetition, plus positive reinforcement, a desirable stimulus, training is enhanced. The Mantis products rate each shot as a percentage. The higher the percentage, the better the shot. As the percentage climbs, the praise from the Mantis improves.
Mantis is habit forming, and produces good habits.
I used this product with live fire. The progress is clearly tangible. With anyone that used the product, the higher the percentage, the smaller the group. The higher the percentage, the more accurate the shot. The Mantis could literally predict how a person was going to shoot during actual live fire by how they did during dry fire. I have yet to find an exception, and everyone who used the product improved. This finding alone is enough for me to recommend this product to be given to each officer in the field.
The Mantis engineering team has created an entire comprehensive package, which includes training benchmarks, complete trigger analysis, and even reload analysis for the shooter. It maintains a complete history for the shooter to track progress, which can also help them with firearm and accessory selection.
A better dry fire tool
The Mantis X10 Elite System differs from all other systems because of a few simple features. First, shooters can use their own gun. While this sounds like a simple thing, most of the products that provide dry fire training require a replica product, or some sort of fixture added to the gun.
Second, the switch from dry fire to live fire—using the same gun—is completely seamless.
Third, the X10 Elite System does analysis for long guns. Again, I don’t have a clue how it distinguishes between action and firing pin.
The Mantis X10 Elite model also attaches to the base plate of any magazine, and can provide additional performance evaluation that includes recoil analysis and holster draw analysis. The analysis it provides encourages the user to draw efficiently, and efficiently point the gun.
Mantis in the future
After I used the Mantis X10 Elite for a while, I decided that it is the range training partner I never wanted to have. The X10 Elite is overly critical, inconsiderate of my feelings, emotionally degrading and brutally honest about my shooting performance. It is not tactful, nor does it take my personal sensitivity into account. I have tried to divorce myself from the X10 Elite, and still, here it is.
I got a chance to talk to Adam Allgaier, COO of Mantis Tech. Allgaier told me that the Mantis products have a loyal following in Law Enforcement. He explained that most law enforcement agencies require multiple qualification sessions per year, depending on the agency. These products prep for qualification, and improve scores.
The original Mantis product came out about five years ago. This past year they launched 3 new models: the X3, which had much better battery life than the original product and a quick disconnect lever, the X7, which is similar to the X3, with additional functionality, specifically for shotgun performance, and the X10 Elite, which is their top level model. The X10 Elite has all of the original functionality of the X3, but adds more analysis, including a draw and report analysis. After playing with several models, I can assure everyone that the X10 is the way to go.
I asked Allgaier if the Mantis products contained accelerometers. He told me it was proprietary, but the engineering goal was the ability to capture and stream motion data in real time. Allgaier told me that, even after 5 years on the market, there really isn’t a product like the Mantis. Considering the additional features in the X10 Elite, it will be quite a challenge for someone to come up with competition.
The Mantis X10 Elite has a number of coaching features, and I asked how Mantis Tech gets coaching input for their program design. Allgaier told me that there are firearms instructors on staff for Mantis, and they use them as the starting point for design. The coaching is really shaped by the network of instructors that are Mantis dealers. They draw on a cadre of daily users who teach shooting skills.
The marksmanship data for each user is portable, and web based. The portability is big when it comes to maintaining training records of an agency. If the agency provides the product, then monitors the progress of officers, it can be included as part of the training documentation for the agency. Agencies are acutely aware of cases where “failure to train” attaches liability, such as City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378 (1989).
The Mantis system includes a social networking aspect of the training. That is, individuals can establish shooting groups, giving them the ability to set goals, compare results, and encourage other shooters. Instructors can track the progress of shooters. For example, Law Enforcement agencies can create an agency group.
In a moment of honest speculation, Allgaier and I discussed the future of his product. He cryptically told me that there are other things in the works, but overtly said that his engineering team is working on an archery analysis system. He explained that archery is another quantifiable target practice skill. The current products will get more courses and drills for training.
I asked Alger if there was anything that he would want the end-user to know about his product. He told me that they have the best customer service on the planet. Before I could tell him that everyone tells me that, he explained to me that it wasn’t unusual for an end-user to have direct access to their engineering team. They will do anything in the name of improving their product.
The Mantis is not waterproof, but is quite durable. There aren’t any moving parts except for the activation button. The current model the X10 Elite, can last anywhere from 8 to 20 hours of continuous shooting. The battery is standard Li-On technology, but the product doesn’t draw much juice.
The Mantis line of products should contain a warning about being habit-forming. MSRP of the Mantix X10 is $249.99.
