Helikon Shooting Mat

Helikon’s Backblast shooting matt is available in Adaptive green as seen here, Coyote and Shadow Grey. It arrives tightly rolled and flipping off the G-Clips surrounding it allows it to open out lengthways and flip open in width to provide a full-size human profile to shoot from on cold, damp, hard or generally uncomfortable surfaces.

The Matt is made from tough 500D Cordura that resists scuffs and tears for years of use without an undue weight, just 1500-grams total. Overall length is 1540mm/60.5-inches with 675mm/26.5-inch width full length for your torso, yet there are also additional `wing` like zones extending outward to 890mm/35-inches for your elbows. These wings feature non slip surfaces to lock into position and the central chest area is a soft Velcro type surface to attach accessories to. If it’s windy, six loops span the circumference to peg the matt in position as well as the forward anchor points for the `Y-Strap`. This hooks on and offers adjustable length to position its twin looped arms to slip around the feet of your bipod. When shooting prone, having this extra ability to anchor the gun in position, especially when `loading` the bipod on a slippery or hard surface, is an exceptionally useful addition although I think it might be better to permanently tie the G-Hook in place. When the matt gets shuffled around it is very easy to lose the strap except when it’s in tensioned use.

Secure shooting

I like the Velcro central section for use with monopods that can be quite aggressive on softer materials and loved the non-slip grip for elbows and knees. There was just enough padding to maintain comfort from irregular surfaces without feeling you were trying to aim and shoot from a boat. The matt shed rainwater beading on its surface with nothing more than a flick away and none was absorbed through the Nylon Cordura from below.

Conclusion

This is an accessory which although advertised for professional `operators`, has very applicable skills for anyone at the range all day or just wanting to zero a rifle from the stable prone position without getting unduly wet or dirty laid on the ground. Any mud or for that fact, Cow Pats that did dry on the on the underside of the cordura was easy to brush off when dried. An extra-large version is also available for those wanting a little more space.