scent blocker clothing

[wannafish2]

ok, so I invested in these clothes couple years ago. still use the scent free soap, deodorant, shampoo etc etc. my question is, everybody says you can't reactivate the carbon unless you can get up to like 1700 degrees....but 180 degrees kills bacteria right? so is it better than nothing to stick the scent blocker clothes in the dryer and run it hot?

What do you guys think?

All I know is that I've seen more deer since I've used the clothes so I consider them a good investment. Even if all they do is put me in more of a positive mindset.

Just looking for some feedback. I should be able to get in the stand here in a week or so. I've got the fever.

Thanks.

[1eyeReD]

I have the same question about "reactivating" the carbon clothing..

Can't seem to get a straight answer. I normally wash my clothes after long trips in some of the scent control detergent products (Dead Down Wind has been the choice as of late) and then dry in high heat for a full cycle. I think you're right about the 180 degrees killin bacteria.

If a short trip, say just an evening hunt or a quick morning hunt where I know I wasn't sweating a lot and didn't spill anything on the garments or touched with greasy or cigarette-contaminated hands, I just bag it up for another hunt..

My pants/jacket are Scent-Lok lined Gander Mountain brand and have had it for over 3 seasons. I've had deer close in swirly winds and down wind more than I imagined possible. I think the clothes combined with all the other stuff you listed gets an archer the edge. Or.... That could just be my better mindset talking LOL!

[engfish]

I bought my Scent Blocker clothing a few years back because it was on sale and it is the quietest material I've ever worn. I wasn't convinced that the material/clothing line would allow me to bypass the same routines you have mentioned--unscented detergent, soap, shower, shampoo, airtight containers, scent killing sprays, etc.

Knowing that I have done everything possible to eliminate and control the smell of human odor is what gives me the confidence--not the clothing line.

If I didn't do all of those things above, I'd want to be shooting them with a rifle over in SD.

[leechlake]

I've read a lot about this and I have an original Scent Blocker suit. Here's a little snippit from a study done. I have no dog in this debate fyi:

Do activated carbon suits work as claimed? When the laboratory at Purification Process was asked to test a popular activated carbon scent-control suit they found there wasn't enough in the suit to even test. In a test with search dogs, by JA Shivik, Ph.D., forty-two people were hidden from Colorado search and rescue dogs. Twenty-one of the people wore activated carbon suits; twenty-one did not. The dogs found all twenty-one people who didn't wear activated carbon suits, and twenty of the people who wore activated carbon suits. There was no noticeable difference in the time it took the dogs to find the humans. It took the dogs 2.7 minutes to detect the humans who were not wearing activated carbon, and 3.4 minutes to find the humans who were wearing activated carbon suits.

[Bear55]

If you are going to go scent control you might as well go all out and do what they say. Technically speaking you need 1800 degrees to reactivate the stuff but I think the dryer may be a way to extend the life or usefulness of your suite. Eventually I think the dryer process won't work as well and you will need a new suite.

Signed a former scent control junkie who gave it up.

[1eyeReD]

If you are going to go scent control you might as well go all out and do what they say. Technically speaking you need 1800 degrees to reactivate the stuff but I think the dryer may be a way to extend the life or usefulness of your suite. Eventually I think the dryer process won't work as well and you will need a new suite.

Signed a former scent control junkie who gave it up.

Have you noticed much change since leaving the ol' scent control ways behind?

Though I've had good results, I still don't know for sure whether it's because I follow every other scent control step in the book or if it really is the freakin $400 worth of clothing I invested in...

In other words, do you or anybody else think we could all get away with just using other precautions and leaving the expensive garments out? The thought of spending that kind of money only to lose it's function (or lack thereof according to the study leechlake showed us) after some time makes a guy think twice. I'm beginning to think I should plan to where my suit til it starts falling apart..

1ER

[sticknstring]

If you buy scent blocker clothing, buy it for the comfort, warmth, features, etc, but not for the charcoal. It's nice stuff, but it doesn't work. Lawsuits and studies have repeatedly shown this. Use the savings & buy a trail camera or stand instead. The only scent precaution techniques I use are my boots and the wind. I make sure my boots are clean and work hard on my entry/exit trails and only hunt a stand with the right wind. I see just as many deer as I did when I wore Scent Lok and that's something since the deer population is about 2/3 of what it was then.

[harvey lee]

Totally agree stick.

I have the stuff but rarely use it.

I make sure I shower before I go out, use scent free soap and dead down Wind.

I also wear rubber boots and play the wind.

I have had about as good of success as one could have over the years.

[MattL]

I wear Scent Blocker every time out. I have not paid full retail on any suit I've purchased. I always buy at the Scent Blocker warehouse sale which is full of overstock and returned items. This does not change my routine; I always shower and spray down every time...and I ALWAYS play the wind. This sometimes means getting out of the stand early or relocating if the wind switches. We can do all we want, but its darn tough to fool a big bucks nose if he ends up downwind.

[huntnfish]

Personally, I don't believe in the carbon clothing. I try to shower before I go out but there are a lot of times when I don't have the time to shower and go through that whole routine. In my opinion it doesn't matter what you're wearing. More often than not, if a mature deer is downwind of you, he's going to smell you. I always spray my rubber boots down before I walk into the woods and I've had deer still smell my path in a plowed dirt field that I walked in 4 hours earlier. Its very hard to beat a deer's nose. About the only thing you can do is to use the few things you can control and use them in your favor. The only things I feel I can control is my stand placement in relation to the wind and the path I take to my stand.

[Bear55]

Have you noticed much change since leaving the ol' scent control ways behind?

Hunting has actually improved, not so much because I smell but because I am that much more cautious about where my scent is at all times. Every hunt is carefully planned and I put I lot more thought into thermals and entry/exit routes. There also comes a point where scent control was just taking the fun out of hunting, getting OCD on your scent was just a big hassle.

[Finlander]

huntnfsh +1

[deerminator]

I bought this carbon powder this year as the hunter plugging my new Ghillie suit recommends dipping it in a solution of the powder and water every now and then and letting it drip dry. The bottle says you can use it on your hunting clothes too. I have never owned carbon based clothing but for an $8 bottle of powder, I thought it would give it a try. Plus it darkens the suit a little so I bought it for camo purposes as well. Anyway, I used half the bottle mixing it with 2 1/2 gallons of water and sealed the bucket so I can use it a few more times. So it will cost me $4 a season. Not sure it will help but giving it a shot. People spend much more on scent killer spray!

[PropsterII]

Not going to try to convince any of you one way or the other, but thought I would at least try to set some facts straight. One poster mentioned that previous lawsuits proved that the stuff didn't work. Couldn't be further from the truth. Early on the court found found that while they still had some issues with some of the advertising used, Scentblocker proved that their product eliminated human door to a high degree and was released from the class action lawsuit. They found that Scentblocker used significantly more carbon in their product and could back it up with testing. But even so, after 5 years of that lawsuit going on nobody seems to know or remember that in 2012 the court overturned class action status and then threw out the whole suit against Scentlock saying that they had provided sufficient evidence that even Scentlok adsorbed significant odor enough to support most of their claims. The judge admitted that it appeared to him that the original 4 or 5 guys who brought the suit were in it for the money, as we're the plaintiffs attorneys.

In addition, I see temperatures of 1700-1800 degrees being thrown about regarding reactivation. The fact is that it requires very high heat (800-1100 deg C) to activate carbon in the first place, usually accompanied by steam and oxygen starvation. But depending on the material being adsorbed, the temps required to re-activate can be much less. If AC is used to adsorb industrial or hazardous waste then chemisorption often takes place, and very high temps are required to break the chemical bonds that are created. But when dealing with low level volatile organics like human odor, those are adsorbed with physical adsorption and the temps required to desorb or purge those doors are very low, because the energy required to overcome those physical bonds is low. The 120-150 deg F supped by a household dryer is sufficient. Not 100% of all volatiles are driven off but enough to adsorb plenty more the next time you use it. Bacteria (supposedly 180 deg) has almost nothing to do with it. The fact is that antibacterial fabrics or garments literally do almost nothing to an odor - they don't adsorb, neutralize, trap or contain an existing odor. This includes spraying antibacterial sprays on your clothing, especially on outerwear. It still makes sense to spray all your clothing with a scent eliminator that works by neutralizing odor, because we still are touching all our stuff with unclean hands as we're getting dressed.

So again whether you use these kind of products or not, or believe in them or not, I was just hoping to she'd some light on some of the rumors and incorrect assumptions being made. I sure wish we could always just play the wind, or not ever have it switch on us, or not have that hot doe with a monster in tow lead him past us on the wrong side of the tree. But that's not realistic.

[deerminator]

Well said. I have never owned the clothing and might buy it based on comfort and camo, not the scent killing abilities. But they lost their lawsuit by going a little too far in their advertising claims, not because the clothing does not work to some degree, etc.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Not going to try to convince any of you one way or the other, but thought I would at least try to set some facts straight. One poster mentioned that previous lawsuits proved that the stuff didn't work. Couldn't be further from the truth. Early on the court found found that while they still had some issues with some of the advertising used, Scentblocker proved that their product eliminated human door to a high degree and was released from the class action lawsuit. They found that Scentblocker used significantly more carbon in their product and could back it up with testing. But even so, after 5 years of that lawsuit going on nobody seems to know or remember that in 2012 the court overturned class action status and then threw out the whole suit against Scentlock saying that they had provided sufficient evidence that even Scentlok adsorbed significant odor enough to support most of their claims. The judge admitted that it appeared to him that the original 4 or 5 guys who brought the suit were in it for the money, as we're the plaintiffs attorneys.

In addition, I see temperatures of 1700-1800 degrees being thrown about regarding reactivation. The fact is that it requires very high heat (800-1100 deg C) to activate carbon in the first place, usually accompanied by steam and oxygen starvation. But depending on the material being adsorbed, the temps required to re-activate can be much less. If AC is used to adsorb industrial or hazardous waste then chemisorption often takes place, and very high temps are required to break the chemical bonds that are created. But when dealing with low level volatile organics like human odor, those are adsorbed with physical adsorption and the temps required to desorb or purge those doors are very low, because the energy required to overcome those physical bonds is low. The 120-150 deg F supped by a household dryer is sufficient. Not 100% of all volatiles are driven off but enough to adsorb plenty more the next time you use it. Bacteria (supposedly 180 deg) has almost nothing to do with it. The fact is that antibacterial fabrics or garments literally do almost nothing to an odor - they don't adsorb, neutralize, trap or contain an existing odor. This includes spraying antibacterial sprays on your clothing, especially on outerwear. It still makes sense to spray all your clothing with a scent eliminator that works by neutralizing odor, because we still are touching all our stuff with unclean hands as we're getting dressed.

So again whether you use these kind of products or not, or believe in them or not, I was just hoping to she'd some light on some of the rumors and incorrect assumptions being made. I sure wish we could always just play the wind, or not ever have it switch on us, or not have that hot doe with a monster in tow lead him past us on the wrong side of the tree. But that's not realistic.

Excellent info!

[sticknstring]

Propster - any affiliation w/ Robinson?

[Bear55]

Propster - any affiliation w/ Robinson?

A fair question.

I will say I am a big fan of their tree spider harnesses. Very comfortable and seriously the easiest tangle free harness I have ever seen.

[96trigger]

I use scentlock. I like it, more for warmth and comfort. Use it more out of confidence than anything. I always like the studies where they try and fool a dogs nose. You know, a dog that is TRAINED to find people. There aren't too many deer trained to find people. However, they do have excellent noses and they will avoid an area, or bail all together if they catch a wiff of human odor. I think the scentlock clothing might help in diminishing the the potency of human scent. Does it eliminate it all together, absolutely not, but maybe, just maybe it weakens my scent enough to make that deer feel comfortable enough to come into bow range. Thats really all I'm looking for, any advantage, no matter how small.

[1eyeReD]

I think the scentlock clothing might help in diminishing the the potency of human scent. Does it eliminate it all together, absolutely not, but maybe, just maybe it weakens my scent enough to make that deer feel comfortable enough to come into bow range. Thats really all I'm looking for, any advantage, no matter how small.

X2

The feeling of having the extra edge or advantage makes me feel better... Not sure if I feel hundreds of dollars better. But I just can't let myself go without it no matter how much I try to tell myself otherwise.

[Mo Gator]

When I fart wearing normal pants, it smells really bad. When I fart wearing my Scentlock pants, I can't hardly smell it... Good enough for me!

[Bear55]

Glad you brought up dogs trigger. Even if they are trained they don't quit match up to a deer. Do a search on olfactory receptors, dogs have around 230 million of them, deer have closer to 300 million of them. Not 100% sure what bears have but its off the charts somewhere compared to deer and dogs. I think they all smell on a level we can't comprehend.

Saying all that I don't think going full or partial scent control is going to hurt anything but I just don't know how much it helps. I practice zero scent control now and still have deer downwind of me not spook, however I think a lot of that depends on the age of the deer. I kind of imagine a sliding scale where the deer either don't care or the reduced scent does bother them as much when they are younger. Then in the middle of the scale you have those middle aged deer that might not care or the lower odor could by you some extra time but they either know something is up or the bust out when the smell you. Then on the far end of the scale you have the fully mature bucks and wise old does who pretty much own you and no amount of scent control will help. Everything else kind of falls on that scale in between.

Also on my "imaginary scale" is a measurement for hunting pressure. A 4 or 5 year old buck on a managed farm down in Iowa with little pressure and no reason to fear humans because he was given a free pass from every hunting season is probably going to react different then an old buck who has survived years on public ground that gets pounded every season. Just my two cents.

[96trigger]

Same goes for deer that see humans on a regular basis as well. They will tolerate a little more human activity than those that only see humans during hunting season. I never get too concerned spooking deer on the way in or out because it's a busy farm, deer are getting chased off fields by tractors and equipment all the time. Most of the time, they hit the woods for about 30 min and then come right back.

[1eyeReD]

Same goes for deer that see humans on a regular basis as well. They will tolerate a little more human activity than those that only see humans during hunting season. I never get too concerned spooking deer on the way in or out because it's a busy farm, deer are getting chased off fields by tractors and equipment all the time. Most of the time, they hit the woods for about 30 min and then come right back.

Yup.. I've personally hunted some public places with equestrian trails. In the early and late part of the day, the deer just wait for the horses to go by and then they cross. I've actually seen smaller bucks and does do this.

[james_walleye]

Save You're $ And Spend $15 On A Can Of Nose Jammer. The Results I've Had Are Amazing.