Thanks, all. I appreciate the answers. Some very good thoughts expressed here.

Seems like there are several reasons people wind up with camo/black/od gear. And as I stated earlier, I understand hunting and hiking with woodland-type gear. And now I also get the fact that for some things the civillian equivalent is more money or not as tough.

But to draw this back one more time to dedicated emergency gear, I have a sense there are some folks that do choose gear with half a thought to hiding out during a crisis if needed. Here are my thoughts around that...

Personally I do not plan for, nor want to be part of a scenario where I feel the need to "go commando" and hide out in the woods with my wife and children. Hence there is not a single piece of emergency gear/clothing I own that will help me escape detection. Just the opposite in fact. Perhaps I am flawed in that thinking. -shrug-

However I do plan for emergencies, which by my definition are short-term interruptions to our regular life. Even when an entire section of the country was affected by a disaster and the government response was slow as in hurricane Katrina, I didn't see anyone needing to hide in the woods from the helicoptors/marauders/zombies/et al. Are there scenarios I can conjure up in my imagination where society itself breaks down and I need to hide? I suppose so. But while that type of thing makes great movie fodder, it's just not what I plan for.

But it sounds like there are lots of reasons we choose the gear we do. Thanks for sharing yours,