The thing with this too is the consumer expectation, shareholder demands, changes in exchange rates, material costs, and shifts in marketing play a big role in this too.
Danner Acadia's have always been very good boots and are still today. Big difference is that they were $180 15-20 years ago and now are over $250-$300. So when we look at the aforementioned Pronghorns, they fall in that $180 range and now we say, "Danner sucks because these $180 boots were not as good as Danner's $180 boots from 20 years ago, oh how the brand has fallen" when in reality we are not comparing apples to apples. But the Acadia is not a hiking boot .. it is a duty boot designed for a completely different purpose then Lowa, Hanwag, Scarpa, etc. so again, are we comparing apples to apples.
Not to mention these companies are now owned by a conglomerate more than half the time that demand a return on investment so they get marketing involved to push cheaper, higher margin products that don't stand up so they can push there quarterly earnings in the right direction. Consumers have also been groomed to expect high value out of low costs due to this marketing and honestly, most hunters probably spend 2-5 days total in a year in some of this equipment so it gives the impression that it "lasts" but it really doesn't. And places like Cabelas and Bass Pro dive head long into this game because it fits there business models, so it makes sens why your case from 20 years ago has held up, because the same case now would likely be 150-250% more money then it was 20 years ago but ppl don't want to spend it.
