The long shotgun microphone is something you don't see in a lot of kits. I have one, but haven't used it in years. But then most of my work is inside. I remember playing with the long shotgun soon after I got it to find out what it would give me. I was on the front lawn in a quiet neighborhood in Baltimore. A short block a way, across the street, one of my neighbors approached his car. This was back in the day when you had to unlock your car with a key. I put on the headphones, aimed the long gun at him and cranked the input on the mixer. To my great surprise, I head the tinkle of his keys. Then a car came up the street, driving between us. It would have deafened me had I not ejected the headphones straight off my head.
You see long shotguns outside in sports, nature and some feature film work when wireless lavs are frowned upon and wide shots have dialog. Not used as often as hypers or short shotguns, they remain part of the audio tool kit, along with the wind gear that's usually required to keep them happy.
