Over the past 100 years thousands upon thousands of camouflage patterns have been developed and issued to various military, paramilitary, law enforcement and other groups around the world.
But, ever since the United States Marine Corps began fielding MARPAT in 2003, kicking off the US military camo wars, commercially produced patterns have been all the rage. Adding fuel to this explosive growth has been a multi-front war with troops looking for a better mouse trap as well as the US Army’s Camouflage Improvement Effort that looked to industry to fulfill their concealment needs into the 21st century.
It’s a bubble all right and we Americans love bubbles. Name an industry that hasn’t had one. Shoot, there wasn’t even a camouflage industry until about 10 years ago and it grew itself right into a bubble. The question is, if and when it will burst.
Between the Army’s upcoming announcement of a new family of camouflage and Congressional interest in forcing all of the US services to adopt the same pattern(s) an argument could be made that the market for camouflage is getting ready to stovepipe.
But I would make the opposite argument. The genie is out of the bottle. Aside from patterns that perform very well in virtually any environment imaginable as well as some really cool looking patterns, the age of the digital printer is upon us. Companies like HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp offer their Ghostex and Deceptex custom camouflage print on demand services. Additionally, Special Ops Apps offer a mobile device app called CamoScience that allow you to design you own camouflage for the environment you are in and can print the new pattern on demand.
In addition to the availability of these custom solutions, military, law enforcement and even tactical and outdoor enthusiasts offer a sophisticated consumer base that demands performance. And that’s not to mention the consumer market that wears camouflage just because it can.
Will the camo bubble burst? Not anytime soon.
