Desert Rat Chats With Sparky From M2D Camo
Mike (Sparky) Sparkes and I have been having some e-mail correspondence and I thought my readers might enjoy learning more. Sparky owns M2D camo. They have a great looking product. You’ll also want to check out their TV Show - “Livin The Dream”~DesertRat
1) Thanks for taking the time for an interview Sparky - how long has M2D Camo been on the market?
I designed M2D CAMO in the fall of 2005 and unveiled it at the ATA and Shot Show in Jan of 2006. So we have been on the market about 3 seasons.
2) How have sales been in this economy?
Sales have been okay. As a small company we have grown in our 3 years of sales so that is good. We continue to get new customers, because we have a very good word of mouth product. People that wear M2D CAMO love to tell others about how great it truly does work. It’s hard to argue with that. I think the economy has made things more difficult for a small company as Dealers don’t buy new products as much, and big dealers stick with what they know has proven itself already.
3) Why did you decide to develop your line of camo?
I was sick and tired of all the camo out there because no matter what you wear, it all BLACK BLOBS at a very short distance. I wanted a pattern that stayed light in color, and actually created a pattern that has the ability to appear to change colors, no matter your environment. It truly is amazing to watch it change colors when you move from one location to the next. We believe anybody that truly gives it a shot in the woods, will love it. That’s why we offer a 100% money back guarantee. We have a lot of naysayers, that tell us our photos are photo shopped, or that it really doesn’t do what we say. Well, if it didn’t, we sure wouldn’t offer a 100% money back guarantee, now would we?
4) From concept to marketplace, how long did the process take? What were some of the more surprising challenges along the way?
It took about a year and a half to develop and actually make a small run of fabric. Then about another 7 months to actually get to market. There are lots of challenges, when you know nothing about what you are getting into. I didn’t know anything about fabric, dealing with China, clothing, etc. The other major surprise is how loyal some people are to the camos that all look the same, but they want to wear them because of what they say, not because of how they work in the field. Most camo today is designed to look good on the hunter in church, at school, yet does very little to actually conceal you in the real world of hunting.
5) What is your favorite game to hunt?
I love to hunt Elk in the rut with my bow. I love a good mule deer hunt, as I think a BIG mule deer is one of the hardest trophies out there to get. I love it all, but those are my two favorites.
6) What’s your dream hunt?
I have been very fortunate to go on many hunts over the last few years, harvest some nice animals, meet some GREAT people along the way, and just have good times with good people. I love all hunting from predators and birds to big game. My dream hunts are hunts I can afford, and that pretty much keeps me in the US and Canada. BUT, if costs were no object, and I could hunt one thing and not worry about it, I would want a nice male lion from Africa. I am a Leo, and have always loved lions. So regal. Second would be a Grizzly bear hunt. Maybe someday I will be lucky enough to go hunt one and film for my TV show….you never know….that’s why they call it a DREAM HUNT
7) Where would you like to see M2D Camo five years from now?
I would like to see M2D CAMO still growing and gaining a bigger following. The longer we stick around, the more customers we continue to become true believes in M2D CAMO. I hope we still have our TV show, and my biggest hope is that we are finally in the big box stores so everyone out there can have access to M2D CAMO in their own local markets.
8 ) Anything exciting coming in the near future for M2D?
We have a great fleece line that we introduced this year, that people LOVE. We also made our pattern available for the water transfer process, or dipping as it is called. I have developed a pretty cool snow pattern that we just got the samples for, so we may come out with that for the fall of 2010. We hope to have more specialty products this fall like pop up blinds, lay out blinds, decoy bags, back packs, fanny packs, and maybe a few more items.
Thanks so much for taking some time for my readers!
Your very welcome, and Thank you for taking the time to learn more about myself and M2D CAMO.
Folks, I strongly encourage you to check out M2D Camo’s website. It’s a site that has a lot of neat stuff, and it is put together well. You can order M2D online at their store. DesertRat
