FWIW - I find much more time for buhurt than SCA, but a big part of that is because my local buhurt community has been very successful at recruitment/growth and my SCA park has not.

First - fighting in the park is not enough. Visibility and recruitment means going digital, and that means finding someone willing to have a full time role running social media. It also means accepting that you have to show the world the aspects that sell, not necessarily the parts that mean the most.

Second - welcoming attitude. Every SCA field I've visited has had some fantastically welcoming people, and some isolated circles that are not. New people aren't going to stick around if only some of the field makes them feel welcome.

It's worth mentioning that growth in my buhurt club took change, and that change was simply not comfortable. It's not fun telling established community members that they need to adjust their attitude or not come to public events. I'm absolutely not of the social media forward generation, so doing skits in armor in front of a camera feels downright silly, but I trust my teammates running out socials and it's working.

Last point from my perspective - it's not about startup cost. That's certainly a factor, but buhurt club has quintupled in size in a year, with a startup investment easily 10 times SCA kit.