Erik Bartell on Military Service, Building Echelon USA, and Why an HK MP5 Is Still Calling His Name

When Erik Bartell sat down with Silencer Shop at SHOT Show 2026, this episode had no chance of being boring.

This episode is a fast-moving mix of military stories, startup grit, veteran advocacy, caffeine-fueled chaos, and a gun wishlist that ends exactly where you'd hope it would: with an MP5.

That's what made this episode fun.

Erik isn't the kind of guest who gives polished, buttoned-up answers and leaves it at that. He's high energy, mission-driven, and the kind of guy who can go from talking about building a brand from the ground up to ripping around in an M-RZR and wanting to mount suppressed machine guns on it.

And that's why we get along so well.

Silencer Shop x Echelon USA Collab Energy Drink

One of the best parts of the episode was hearing how the Silencer Shop x Echelon relationship actually came together.

It started back at SHOT Show 2025, when Silencer Shop first noticed Echelon through its support of the HunterSeven Foundation and a cancer screening initiative at the HUXWRX booth. Erik talked about showing up and backing a cause that mattered to him, handing out a mountain of energy drinks, and helping support something bigger than just booth traffic and branding.

That part matters.

Because by the time this episode was recorded, that first interaction had turned into a real partnership; not the forced kind, but the kind built on shared values, mutual respect, and what felt more like friends hanging out than a stuffy corporate collaboration. Together we came up with a custom Silencer Shop x Echelon can in an all-new flavor “Armed Golfer”, thousands of units going out to the good people of SHOT Show, and a lot more ideas already in the chamber.

That’s a lot cooler than just slapping a logo on something and calling it a day.

Erik’s Path to Entrepreneurship

One thing that comes through in this episode is that Erik didn’t build his life by following a tidy script.

He talked about growing up poor, going to college on scholarship, realizing early that he didn’t fit the environment, and making a hard pivot into the military. That led him into ROTC, then into Army service, and eventually into the kind of experience that reshapes how you see work, leadership, and purpose.

After active duty, he hit a point a lot of driven people know well: he had done a lot, his body had paid for it, and he needed to figure out what came next.

Erik’s next chapter started in fitness.

Not “influencer fitness.” Not polished gym-bro branding. Just actually helping people (and the occasional thirst trap). He started by training younger soldiers and sharing workouts because they were actually helping, and people kept asking for more content. That snowballed into veteran-focused nonprofit work, where he helped build and run intensive camps for veterans, often with a whole lot of grit and not a whole lot of resources.

And when he tells those stories, you can feel it.

Loading trucks. Driving gear across the country. Fundraising to keep the mission alive. Building something meaningful out of sheer effort and belief. It’s the kind of story that reminds you some of the best brands are built by people who were too stubborn to quit when things got inconvenient.

How Echelon USA Got Started

Erik makes it very clear that Echelon wasn’t built from trend reports and marketing fluff.

It was built through feedback from the people it was meant to serve.

Erik wanted an energy drink that would get you where you needed to go to do hard stuff, but wasn’t filled with ingredients that sound like hazmat materials.

He talked about developing products with direct input from active-duty guys who were testing prototypes and giving brutally honest feedback. If something sucked, they said it sucked. Then they went back, fixed it, and kept refining.

That process says a lot.

Because when Erik talks about Echelon, he doesn’t talk like a guy chasing some manufactured brand image. He talks like a guy who wanted to make something he’d actually use. Echelon energy drinks are for when you need something stronger than the weak stuff, cleaner than the mystery-can alternatives, and built for people who get stuff done whether that’s weight training or clandestine operations.

That’s probably why the brand feels the way it does.

There’s intensity to it, but it doesn’t feel fake. Because it’s not.

The “First, Last, Next” Answers Were AWESOME

This is First, Last, Next, so of course we had to get into the guns.

Erik’s first gun was an H&K USP, which is an insanely strong opening answer. Not a casual first handgun, but one of the coolest pistols ever made. Not some forgettable starter pistol. A USP. The gun used in Counter-Strike and countless action movies. He said it came from a handshake deal, he didn’t know much about guns at the time, and he still has it today. That one’s not leaving the collection. We also examined his hands; the USP isn’t for those with small mitts, and we’re happy to report that Erik is built to handle that beast.

His last gun purchase was a Flux Raider. Sure, technically this is just a chassis, but you turn it into a firearm so we’re going to count it. He also talked about piecing together other setups, but the Raider clearly lived in that “latest obsession” category.

And when Elliot asked what gun was next, Erik gave one the best possible answers:

An MP5.

The MP5 might be the greatest firearm ever made. It’s certainly one of the best suppressed guns we’ve ever shot. It’s in every video game, has more screentime than Brad Pitt, and is incredibly fun to shoot.

HK Slap. That’s it. Everyone should have an MP5/SP5 in their collection, and we’re happy Erik is adding one to the arsenal soon.

That whole section is great because it turns into this mix of practical use, pure fun, and the kind of gear-brain enthusiasm that every gun person immediately understands. He talks about the MP5 as both a training gun and a fun gun, then folds that into recently buying an M-RZR and wanting more guns to run out of it — preferably suppressed, obviously.

Beneath the Jokes and Caffeine

This episode has a lot of laughs in it. We like Erik and the Echelon team a lot, so much so that we frequently send each other gag gifs and sharp swords. But what we like most about the Echelon USA crew is that they do the hard things and have the right values.

Under all the banter, there’s a clear thread running through the whole conversation: service still matters to Erik. Supporting veterans still matters. Building things that actually help people still matters. That comes through in the HunterSeven story, the nonprofit work, the way Echelon was developed, and the way Elliot closes out the episode by recognizing that Erik has stayed true to who he is.

Also, yes, it ends with an “I love you.”

As it should.