War is good business. There's no denying it. Probably every sector of the U.S. economy is hungrily eyeing the
$441.6 billion earmarked for military spending in 2006 - a number that represents an astounding 45% growth in spending since 2001. You'd have to be stupid or perhaps deeply principled e.g. really stupid, to ignore the potential profits a nice fat slice of the war pie can offer your business. No business or industry seems to be immune, not even *sigh, ours.
- Camelbak: Definitely the most open about selling gear to the war machine. They are the Dr. Strangelove of outdoor gear. A whole section of their site, in fact, is devoted to selling gear to military. And they are mentioned in countless articles including this one in USA Today. Not comfortable with this? Try Platypus hydration systems. I couldn't find mention of them selling to the military. But who knows.
- GoLite: Another proud supplier to the US military. Back in 2003 5% of their sales were coming from the military. I'm sure it's even more now. The same USA Today article has this fine quote, "War can be good for smaller companies," says Demetrios Coupounas, co-founder and president of GoLite. Yeah boy! Nothing like killing 30,000 Iraqis and over 2,000 Americans to really drive home some good profits.
- North Face: I don't get it. They're out there saving lives in Pakistan while at the same time they're making a tidy profit selling Met5 (you were wondering who bought them) jackets and other gear to an institution specialized in ending lives. A Time article, Troop Chic, also gushed over the industry for selling to the military. "The North Face recently added a camouflage fly to one of its expedition tents in the hope of making more military sales. In every other way, says Jill Pagliaro, a spokeswoman for North Face, “the design for Alpine athletes and military usage is similar.” I guess when you're driving profits for a huge corporation, you can't let any segment go, including the war segment.
- Black Diamond: This one hurts folks. I hold/held BD to higher standards, despite what Ultraformat has to say. But even they sell to the military according to their own site. Albeit the Austrian military. Which somehow seems even worse.
- Arc'Tryx: Another company quite proud to be selling to the machine. From their site: The Marines also needed about 200,000 units of the pack—called Improved Load Bearing Equipment, or ILBE—over four years. When the bidding dust settled, Arc’teryx had won the contract.
- Outdoor Retailer: This completely floored me this year. Among the seminars on Environmental Sustainability and Green Business Practices you had Doing Business with the U. S. Military at last summer's OR. Am I the only one who sees the absurdity of this? An industry promoting Environmental awareness at the same time it supports an industry that scars, destroys, and pollutes the environment? My head hurts.
The list goes on. Oakley, Johnson Outdoors, Oakley, Rain-Shield, Integral Designs. In fact, even if you wanted to buy gear from manufactures that don't support the war machine, you might be hard pressed to find them. I will spare you my opinion on the matter. It should be evident by now. I'll just remind my 10 readers you have a choice. And I'll remind the industry we also have a choice. The outdoor industry is not in the bomb or the gun making business. Killing, or "defense" as you might call it, are not our core business nor is it necessary for our survival. As my dear friend Albert Einstein once said, “You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.” Perhaps we could focus on the prevention side and let someone else intimately more skilled and knowledgeable work on the preparing.
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