Controlling your scent?

[littleTO]

Over the weekend I got busted by a couple of does, no big deal, bu that could have been the buck I've been looking for but luckly it wasn't. I use H.S. Scent products, I wash my clothes, take a shower, use the cover scents and everything but I still got busted. Does the Scentlok clothing brand really work or will you still get busted no matter what? Thanks for the opinion.

[Steverino]

This is a particularly hot topic. As the saying goes-you need to hunt the wind. While I do take preventative measures such as you do (showering with special no-scent stuff, washing my clothes in scent free-non UV brightening detergent) as well as bagging my clothes with scent wafers and dressing on-site, I still believe that a deers keen sense of smell will bust you if the wind is blowing your stink in their nostrils.

Here's an example; a buddy that I know wears all of the Scent Lock gear and follows the same measures but also has moaned about getting busted- this after querring him and discovering that he hiked into his spot and was heavily perspiring with no head protection and was hunting out of a ground blind with the wind going in the direction of the deer that he was hunting

These products can help you but are not a cure all for defeating a deers smell. Just my .02. I'm sure that you will get alot of opinions on this one!

[skeet]

You know...this is kind of a pet peeve for me. How did ANYONE kill a deer before we had scentloc clothing and deer scents and camouflage clothers etc. As a kid...we had very few deer in our area. If we saw a deer while on the school bus it was a surprise the sucker didn't turn over with all the boys on that side of the bus. Had no camo...no deer scents...and no no scent soap(good ol Ivory soap). I still hunted and stand hunted and I always got my share...and a few others also at times. We learned to watch the wind...pick good areas to stand in and learned how to stand still or move slowly when still hunting. We also learned how to walk in an Eastern Shore woods and not make as much noise as a deer. Very seldom got busted...and when I did I was almost always really close but not shooting. Technology isn't the answer y'all. It is a help...but learning the tradecraft is the answer, Deer are evolving too. They look up in the trees nowdays. They didn't for a long time...but they learned. Hunters need to learn also... Sorry..Rant over!!. I also missed the largest deer I ever saw just because I didn't look at where I wanted to hit...All I could see was the horns. He was better than a 200 class deer. Oh man..what a bummer!! Snuck up on him at about 20 yds when he finally saw me. I had a fixation on his rack....and just plain missed an easy running shot

[LoneWolf]

I agree Skeet.
I do try to keep my scent down as much as possible, but I'd be willing to bet that when most hunters are busted (myself included) it isn't scent. We moved, we stand out too much, we are sillouted(sp), etc, etc.

Just way to easy to say "I'd have got em, but they scented me."

[Steverino]

I did recently read an interesting statistic in one of my hunting rags (can't remember which one at the moment-perhaps F&S ) that showed the success rate of bowhunters over the past twenty years. Now that I think of it, it was probably Illinois Game and Fish because I believe that it showed harvest numbers by county.

Anyhoo...while there were obvious cylical years based upon weather and other conditions, by and large, bowhunters are taking more deer in just about every state than they did years ago.

I believe that along with better knowledge and education, hunters have access to better equipment, clothing, and the like. When one considers the ever shrinking available land on which to hunt, this is amazing to me.

[petey]

I never got all caught up in the Scent-Lock Hype. I kill my deer every year, and in fact the first one shot with the bow this year had the wind blowing right at her.

I personally think it's a Hygene issue, more so than some magical suit. I called in two bucks on Saturday who both came down wind and well into bow range, one being ever so cautious too.

I own a Scent Lok suit, only b/c it was a Christmas gift, but I've never activated it and I use it for more of a coat than anything else. I've shot a lot of deer using that jacket that was never "Activated" <-- ha ha.. what a crock!

Here's an interesting article all you Scent-Lock advocates should read. Maybe it'll put a new perspective on things

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The Truth about Scent Lock Suits…

The extreme commercialization of bow hunting has, in my opinion, resulted instances where hunters have been duped. In fact, I can think of several products that are down right gimmicks and obviously seek to play upon consumer ignorance and slob hunters looking for success shortcuts.

The question has been raised: Can activated-carbon scent elimination clothing really give you an edge against the nose of this animal?
I was once asked, "What do you think is the biggest gimmick on the (outdoors equipment) market is today?" I will warn you up front that my response to the question, which follows, may be a bit painful. Furthermore, I will say that if you do find my response painful, it's likely that you spent your hard earned wages on the product that I'm about to scrutinize.

Here goes: I believe the biggest gimmick on the outdoors equipment market today is activated-carbon scent elimination clothing that are being marketed under various brand names. You know the ones I'm talking about, so I won't name names. I'm talking about all of them.

If you're a bow hunter and believe in the effectiveness of these special garments, hopefully you aren't so angry that you stop reading this article. Because if you read this in its entirety, I promise that you will learn something.

There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity, and I would never dream of calling my fellow bow hunters stupid. It's the ignorance (i.e. the lack of knowledge) factor that has led many quality and even professional bow hunters to be fooled by the claims made by the manufacturers of scent elimination clothing.

I plan to educate you, not point fingers or spit propaganda. Before I do though, I'll tell you a bit about myself. I am a biologist by education and received my Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University. I've worked in the environmental protection field for more than ten years.

I have worked with various forms of activated-carbon, the same material that is used in the many brands of scent elimination clothing. Many of you have read articles by authors that claim their scent elimination clothing was pinnacle in helping them tag the biggest buck; without it, the hunt would not have been successful.

What's new? That is a common marketing strategy used to push new equipment. Bow hunters, despite what gear they choose, are a traditional bunch. Many of us have gained knowledge on how to hunt our query and what equipment to use through word of mouth and testimonials of other perceived more knowledgeable bow hunters.

When Chuck Adam, for instance, talks or writes, I listen and pay attention. I'd be crazy if I didn't. He is without question a knowledgeable bow hunter and we all stand to learn a lot from an experienced bow hunter like him.

The problem with these scent elimination garments is, unless you have a science background and to an even greater extent, have worked in the environmental protection / remediation profession, you simply cannot posses a clear understanding of how activated-carbon works.

So, as I promised, I am going to tell you how activated-carbon works and why it is my opinion that activated-carbon scent elimination garments are ineffective. Then you can take the information presented here and make an educated decision for yourself.

Activated-carbon comes in several forms and is used in many applications as a filtering or cleansing media. activated-carbon can be manufactured from carbonaceous material, including coal (bituminous, subbituminous, and lignite), peat, wood, or nutshells (i.e., coconut shells or walnut shells).

The manufacturing process consists of two phases: carbonization and activation. The carbonization process includes drying and then heating to separate by-products, including tars and other hydrocarbons, from the raw material, as well as to drive off any gases generated. Heating the material at 400-600°C (752-1472°F) in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere that cannot support combustion completes the carbonization process.

Activated-carbon comes in the form of a very fine powder, which is impregnated or weaved into the textile fibers of garments. It also comes in a granular form. Both forms are used in various applications including to purify both water and air. Some of the popular drinking water filters and mechanical air filters on the market use activated-carbon as a filter media.

Activated-carbon is an extremely porous material with high ratios of surface area to unit weight. One pound of activated-carbon contains up to 100 acres of surface area!

Activated-carbon has a particular affinity to organic materials such as volatile organic compounds or VOC's. Human odor is composed of different gaseous molecules of VOC's and other chemicals such as hydrogen sulfides, which are absorbed by activated-carbon.

Think of activated-carbon as a common sponge that you would use to wash dishes with. Take a sponge and place it in a cup of water. What happens? It soaks up the water. The sponge, like activated-carbon, has thousands of little pores and channels running through it. When activated-carbon soaks up human "stink" odors, it does so through a process called adsorption.

Stinky gasses (i.e. human odors) are adsorbed into the many micro pores on and within the activated-carbon and are retained there. Now, what happens when a sponge becomes saturated?

A sponge that is saturated with water cannot adsorb any more. Hold a saturated sponge full of water in your hand and you will observe water dripping from it. When activated-carbon in a water or air filter becomes saturated it is called breakthrough.

In short, when a water's or air filter's filter media (i.e. activated-carbon) becomes saturated with contaminants, the filter is rendered useless and the contaminants contained in the water or air stream pass through the filter. After a while, you will be drinking dirty water or breathing stinky air until the filter is replaced. Makes sense right?

Think of activated-carbon as a molecular sponge. As is the case with any sponge, activated-carbon can only hold or adsorb so much stinky stuff. Once activated-carbon becomes saturated with contaminants, it must be reactivated or replaced entirely.

What do you do with a sponge that is saturated with water? You squeeze it to release the adsorbed water so you can reuse it. Or, you simply get a new dry sponge. Like the sponge analogy, activated-carbon must be "squeezed out" so to speak, in order to reactivate it for reuse.

Now you know how activated-carbon works. Most of the information I just provided can be found on some of the more popular scent elimination garment manufacturers' web sites.

So far you might be thinking to yourself "Wow, activated-carbon really works". Well, it does work, sort of.

Activated-carbon is a fine filter media, but using activated-carbon as the key component in a scent elimination garment is not a practical application.

Unlike a common kitchen sponge, you can't just leave it on the counter and let it dry out. In order to re-activate activated-carbon, it must undergo a process called Pyrolysis. To fully re-activate saturated activated-carbon, you must heat it to approximately 800 °C or 1,472 °F, in a controlled atmosphere of low oxygen concentration to reduce the possibility of combustion.

This is scientific fact and is even stated in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Engineering and Design, Adsorption Design Guide, Design Guide No. DG1110-1-2, if you'd like to check it out for yourself. This fact is not however mentioned on any of the popular scent elimination clothing manufacturers' websites.

One of the most popular scent elimination clothing manufactures instructs consumers to simply place worn garments in a common household clothes dryer for 20 to 30 minutes to re-active the carbon in the garment. The average temperature generated by a clothes dryer does not even come close to being able to generate the extreme temperatures necessary to drive out contaminants absorbed in the many micro pores and channels of activated-carbon. In fact, most residential clothes dryers only heat up to a temperature that is well under 200°F.

Those of you, whom use water filters or air filters in your homes, think about it. Why can't you just boil your filters in hot water or throw them in the oven or microwave for a few minutes to re-activate the carbon filter media. You can't; that's why. You don't own special multi million-dollar pyrolysis thermal regeneration equipment that produces enough heat to re-activate carbon. Therefore, you have to buy new filters every now and then.

[petey]

Re-activating carbon for industrial uses is big business. Type in the words "activated-carbon" in your favorite Internet search engine and you will see what I'm talking about here. In order to fully reactivate the activated-carbon in one of the many scent elimination garments on the market, you might as well just throw the garment in your campfire, because the extreme heat necessary to re-activate the carbon would likely destroy the garment anyway.

Forgive my sarcasm, but I tend to get irritated when I see good folks getting duped. And as a class, I think bow hunters are a pretty good bunch. So as a product, I think all the activated-carbon scent elimination clothing products on the market are nothing more than gimmicks.

I do not believe, based on sound science, these garments are even effective the first time you use it. Think about it. Each garment would have to be manufactured and placed in a sealed, scent proof bag when shipped and remain sealed on the shelf at retail stores. This is not the case, however.

From the minute the clothing is manufactured, it begins to adsorb "stink" and continues to adsorb "stink" while awaiting an ignorant, misinformed consumer to purchase it. It is likely that the activated-carbon contained in the garment is already completely saturated with "stink" upon being purchased.

Many of the scent proof garment manufacturers somewhat acknowledge this, in an attempt to bring some legitimacy to their product. They recommend that you immediately wash and re-activate garments by placing them in a clothes dryer as soon as the product is purchased. Funny, they also happen to recommend their own brand of laundry detergent that is special made for these special garments.

As I explained above, washing and drying the garment is merely an exercise in futility. At best, the only way these garments could be manufactured and utilized effectively would be if they were designed for one time use. In other words, they would have to be disposable.

The military actually uses activated-carbon suits as a kind of chemical protection garment, but they're a single-use, disposable garment and not intended for multiple washings.

Here is something else you should consider before purchasing one of these products: activated-carbon's adsorption effectiveness when used in an air filter application becomes greatly reduced when it is wet. So what happens when you sweat during those humid early season bow hunts? That's right, your clothing gets wet and becomes even less effective.

A leading manufacturer of activated-carbon garments admits that no laboratory testing has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of the clothing when it is wet from hunter's perspiration.

So why the craze? Why are so many hunters rushing out to purchase these garments, when the science-based fact is that they don't work?

As I mentioned earlier, consumer ignorance is one reason. I think another reason is that many hunters so badly want to believe that they can purchase something that will render them invisible to a whitetail's or elk's nose.

As I said earlier, many of you have read articles by authors that claim their scent elimination clothing was pinnacle in helping them tag the biggest buck; with out it, the hunt would not have been successful. I truly believe the fact that these hunters who wore these garments while achieving success, can be chalked up to being merely a coincidence. Many of the authors who wrote these type articles failed to mention they were wearing their lucky hat and that their lucky rabbits foot was in their pocket at the time.

All sarcasm aside, I think many successful hunters who wear these special garments fail to recognize that they have been consciously paying closer attention to personal hygiene techniques before every hunt.

You must understand that none of the success story articles that push these special garments are based on science studies. They are opinions; misinformed ones at that.

I've talked to a few technical representatives with some of the more popular scent elimination clothing manufacturers and none of them have performed controlled scientific studies to demonstrate the true effectiveness of these garments. However, they claim to have "field tested" the garments. Come on folks. How do you field-test these garments?

It is said that a deer can smell nearly 1,000 times better than humans. You cannot legitimately observe the effectiveness of these garments or read a whitetail's mind. No one, to the best of my knowledge, has contracted a non-biased independent laboratory or university to demonstrate the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of this clothing.

It is my belief that the manufacturers of these specialty garments know what the results of such a study would show; therefore it would not behoove them to undertake such an exercise. So they just claim the garments are field tested by the product-pushing pros.

As stated earlier: This is just my opinion, but it's one based on sound science, education and a realistic view of product marketing techniques.

Now you can form your own opinion. Good Hunting

[skeet]

[
Anyhoo...while there were obvious cylical years based upon weather and other conditions, by and large, bowhunters are taking more deer in just about every state than they did years ago.

I believe that along with better knowledge and education, hunters have access to better equipment, clothing, and the like. When one considers the ever shrinking available land on which to hunt, this is amazing to me. [/B][/QUOTE]

Steverino
Personally I believe you are correct somewhat with the above statements. People really are better hunters than they used to be...And have much better equipment.


BUT....I have to say there is another part above that is evident to all. Less land and a WHOLE lot more animals to hunt. We have deer coming out our ears. I was in Pa today and saw bunches of deer there also. Lots more than I saw even 10 -15 yrs ago. We also seem to have more hunters but i really don't know if that is borne out by the license sales. And surprisingly, I feel that I am seeing more large and quality racked bucks than I used to see. If so that means the bigger racked bucks are getting ever smarter than the hunters. What is the ol saying...the cream always rises to the top??

[Steverino]

Good article too Petey-

I found it very interesting...so interesting that I copied it and e-mailed it to ScentLok Technologies in Michigan this morning to get their take on it.

I will, of course being the conscientious observer that I am, share any feedback with my friends here at HC!

I wonder if they will even respond.

I had thought before about the testing of the effectiveness of these types of suits-with so many variables in hunting, how can you objectively rate the effectiveness when there are just so many factors to consider?

I often wonder how many things that I have done both right or wrong during a hunt that I am completely oblivious to.

[Steverino]

Thank you for your inquiry and the opportunity to share our information.
The majority of this article is right on, as to how carbon works. He
paid attention in class, but what he didn't tell you in his article is
at what temperature human odor compounds are reactivated. He makes
reference to the temperature needed for VOC's and to fully reactivate
you need to reach that high temperature and under go Pyrolysis. He
knows his stuff, but we are not making claim to being able to do this.
We recommend avoiding volatile substances because this can't be done.
There are over 300 different odors that the human body emits. In order
to regenerate the garments to have enough capacity to reuse them you
simply run them through the household dryer on high heat for 40 minutes
and do this every 40 hours of field time (any time outside of an air
tight container). The dryer reaches about 150-160 degrees, which is
more than adequate to regenerate the human odors that your suit comes
into contact with. The process of those odors being regenerated begins
at 107 degrees. We don't try to lay claim that the suit alone is going
to make you more successful. Scent elimination is an entire process.
You need to wear a complete system and have scent free equipment and
this will help to get you closer to the game you are hunting. Proper
care, use and storage are big factors in scent elimination. Whenever
there are new items on the market they are skeptics. This article also
doesn't mention that Chuck Adams endorses Scentblocker clothing. I'm
referring to Chuck Adams magazine article Key to Success with Carbon
Clothing in the December 2000 Bowhunting Magazine. I hope this helps
clear things up. If you have additional questions please feel free to
let us know.

Thank you for this opportunity and good luck hunting.

Amy Derby
Marketing Communications Assistant
Scent-Lok Technologies
1731 Wierengo Drive
Muskegon, MI 49442

[fortune]

There seems to be a vital element that you are overlooking with all this talk of protective anti scent clothing.
This is the fact that there is a large amount of scent coming out of your mouths.
You’ve only got to see the condensed breath on a cold day.
What you going to do about that? Wear a plastic bag over your heads ?

[Steverino]

9 OUT OF 10 deer that are dentists, prefere Dentyne.

[petey]

Every good argument has a counter argument! I prefer to just keep my mouth closed and not breath

All joking aside. I used to be real "Anal" about scent, but not so much anymore. Granted, I don't go out to eat at the local diner in my hunting clothes and then wonder why I get winded.
My clothes are either in the closet or down hanging in the basement, depending on the time of year. Our house doesn't stink like cigerettes b/c we don't smoke. I have a buddy who uses scentlok and swears by it, but if I walk behind him in the woods he smells like a stale ciggy and I wonder why? Well they smoke and no matter what, you'll never get that stench out. It's in the carpet, furniture and clothes.

He pretty much calls me a liar when I tell him the wind blows right to a deer 20 yards and they don't wind me, but they do him....hmmm wonder why?

Anyhow, I won't get caught up in the marketing games. I don't even wear a face mask and I've had 9 bucks this year within bow range, the majority under 10 yards! I climb to no less than 18 feet and I believe that's the reason I rarely get seen or smelled.

by the way I called in 3 jakes this morning and shot one of those stupid yearlings. Now..back to buck hunting... ha ha



See I even use that Scentlok jacket for turkey and they didn't smell me!...Man they work great!!!!