The Hunter is the Hunted
I just received the new BassPro shops hunting catalog, and spend the past hour thumbing through it. I saw many things that had me tempted to reach for my credit card. But I calmed my knee-jerk reaction to run right out and make my purchases and backed off. It was at this point that as the hunter, I almost felt hunted by the providers of gear for outdoorsmen.
Don't get me wrong, I saw many items out there that I definitely need and could see making good use out of in the field. But I also saw many items that looked like they were designed to 'catch' the hunter.
For example, the trend toward making all sorts of gear camoflauged continues. I saw many new flashlights, range finders, and radios showing up in camoflauge patterns. While this might seem like something that can help you to achieve ultimate concealment in the woods, I looked at it as a great way to lose items in the woods. If you drop your camo radio while walking into the woods, what's the chances of finding it on the way out? I would prefer to have these type of items in a solid black color, or maybe even a yellow. While the yellow would stand out more and be the most detectable, it would definitely be easy to find. A color like black would be less visible when used in the woods, but could also be more easily found if dropped. I would think that a solid black object on the ground would be more easy to see than a pattern designed to blend in with the surroundings.
