1. Breitling Emergency Watch
Breitling Emergency watch with distress beacon | Breitling ~$18,000
This was an easy choice because the watch is not just stylish—it actually matters to the story. The real Breitling Emergency contains a dual-frequency personal locator beacon capable of transmitting a distress signal to search-and-rescue satellites. I loved the idea of taking something designed to save an adventurer’s life and imagining how an intelligence service might exploit or modify that capability for its own purposes.
2. Gulfstream G800
G800 | Gulfstream Aerospace $72 Million
The Carlton Group has always had access to exceptional transportation, and the G800 felt like the right aircraft for where Harvath and his team are now. It is Gulfstream’s longest-range business jet and can fly at speeds up to Mach .935. For a group whose operators may need to move halfway around the world with very little notice, range and speed matter.
3. L3Harris ENVG-B Night Vision Goggles
Enhanced Night Vision Goggle–Binocular | L3Harris ~$15,000
These are not your father’s night vision goggles. ENVG-Bs combine traditional image intensification with thermal imaging, essentially fusing the two views together. They can help an operator see people and heat signatures that might otherwise disappear into darkness or heavy concealment. They are perfect for the kind of environments Harvath encounters in CHOKE POINT.
4. Noveske Shorty 10.5″ .300 Blackout SBR
N4 Shorty 10.5″ SBR | Noveske Rifleworks $3,000
I wanted Harvath and the Carlton Group team carrying something compact, suppressed, and highly capable across very different operating environments—jungle, urban spaces, maritime locations, and tight interiors. The Noveske Shorty chambered in .300 Blackout fit that mission extremely well.
5. AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter
Bell AH-1 Cobra | National Air and Space Museum $13 Million
The Cobra appears during one of my favorite visual moments late in the novel. It is one of those pieces of military hardware whose silhouette is instantly recognizable. In CHOKE POINT, a Royal Thai Army Cobra comes in low, blocks a roadway, and points its nose-mounted 20mm cannon directly at a vehicle. It was too cinematic not to include.
6. Perrier-Jouët Champagne
Perrier-Jouët $100
Not all Top Gear has to shoot, fly, or transmit a distress signal. Early in the novel, Kevin Koebler sits high above Bangkok in a black suit, drinking Perrier-Jouët Champagne while waiting for a devastating operation to begin below him. The luxury is deliberately unsettling. It tells you a lot about the man before he ever says a word.
7. KBP PP-2000 Submachine Gun
PP-2000 Personal Defense Weapon | KBP INSTRUMENT DESIGN BUREAU
I wanted the Chinese operatives in CHOKE POINT carrying something distinctive—something Harvath could identify as their calling card. The Russian-made PP-2000 is a compact 9mm personal defense weapon designed for close-quarters use. One feature I found particularly interesting was its unusual original design, which allowed a spare 44-round magazine to be mounted at the rear and double as a stock. Compact, unconventional, and visually distinctive with its triangular handguard, it was a perfect weapon for the Chinese operatives at the center of CHOKE POINT’s Bangkok action.