Practical shooting is judged on accuracy, power and speed so correctly capturing the speed of a shooter is critical. There are many manufacturers of timing devices for our sport but one company stands out: Competitive Edge Dynamics. Their CED7000 timer has a ton of features that make it an outstanding choice for use in practice and at matches.
Shot timers perform two primary functions: producing a starting signal and recording the times of a competitor’s shots precisely. The CED7000 has a very loud starting signal but can be adjusted if necessary. It also has a back-lit LCD display that is easy to read and has tons of information on it that is useful, like time of day, battery life and of course the shot number, total time and current split time. You can hold up to 10 strings with unlimited shots per string. This is really handy since you don’t necessarily have to report a first string to the scoring RO before shooting the second string. Reviewing the string can be done easily in either direction, making a detailed time assessment of a run very easy.
Along with the basics, you can also set par times, fixed/random delay or instant start times and the unit can perform in stealth mode for timing other shooters silently. It can also be used as a standard stop watch for those times you may want to check range equipment or any other non-shooting event.
The CED7000 uses a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that can run for 20-30 hours of practice or match duty. I find that I charge mine about once a month. Given the tiny size of t
he unit, the loud signal, bright display and low weight (2.9 oz.) this is amazing run-time. The charger is a small “wall-wart” type that is also small and light, making it easy to keep right in the range bag.
The model I bought is the CED7000T, or “tactical”, which is all black. I thought the standard model with all those chrome buttons was just a little too shiny for me. If is functionally identical otherwise.
There are a number of accessories for this timer to make it more useful, like silicone “skins” that protect the device from damage, belt holsters, wrist holsters, storage bags and even an RF module that allows the timer to communicate with a remote “big board” display so that everyone on the line can see the times. 
I normally wear the unit on a lanyard around my neck. It is included with the timer, along with a second wrist-sized lanyard. I find it is so small and light that it is unnoticeable, except on rare occasions that involve running hard or very abrupt/awkward transitions during a stage.
As if all this wasn’t enough, the timer even has an automatic power-down feature that saves the battery if you forget to turn it off. This is perfect for me since I often forget.
Given the small size, light weight, terrific battery life and excellent feature set, I find this to be the perfect shot timer for my needs.
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