Most of it came from the increase in the bow hunting community size with a spike from the post-Rambo II movie release. The Rambo II movie was the "Hunger Games" of my youth. Archery really rocketed after the movie was released.
When we started bowhunting, the assumption was that we "needed" camo to sneak up on game. What we had at the time, was old fatigues, surplus uniforms and a marketing idea was born. I hunted for several years in a set of USMC lightweight cammys, with canvas soldier fanny bag.
Reality, break-ing up the outline, masking the face, and sitting still were probably as good then as they are now. But, we "were told" by Outdoor Life, Sports Afield and such that we needed camo to get the job done. So, an industry met the demand for something other than BDUs.
Sitka Gear and the like are now marketing to the new 20-something crowd with the idea of going lean and light, with perfomance based equipment, over the Wal-Mart brand. Their hunter model is a lean runner with 5% or less body fat, and the idea that you have to get wayback in there to hunt.
Does the Opti-fade pattern work? Has for me, but who knows what else would have worked?
Sitka Gear is made mostly overseas, not a poke, but the prices don't reflect that. You get some features that the baseline gear doesn't have in pockets, seams, and zippers...but not sure it meets the price difference. Rocky has good gear, usually for about half of the Sitka Price.
