Folkalist.
Certainly the "ray-way" is a conspiracy, as is the broad usage of snow caves. If by conspiracy you refer to things like men's need for a big knife to protect them selves , or that rapists and wild animals just sort of hang around in the middle of nowhere waiting to be gunned by inexperienced shooters, that they are habituated to think of as prey. How about the Tent Foot print conspiracy. Its real. They decided that if they started making the floors of tents from really light weight stuff like the walls, that they could then sell an additional floor "foot print" for extra money and weight because the new lightweight floor wasn't durable enough.

Their certainly are manufacturing conspiracies in the backpack business. One year they will decide that you need a violet and teal backpack, and another year it'll be camo tights and bicycle tops. Whatever it is, there are more people out there buying gear than using it much, and the mass markets are people buying the same old rectangular sleeping bags and tents with rain fly's the size of bikinis.

Who says you NEED a hydration bladder in your pack?

Hmmmm - but anyway I wonder how many people carry large white reflectors to signal to passing flying saucers while camped on sacred mountain tops. Its ok, I'm part Indian.

Jim YMMV