Proper care for activated carbon suits

[Woods Walker]

Am I hard on them? Hell yeah! This whole industry was founded on an outright LIE..."Forget the wind, and just HUNT!"
 
Soon after that, they then said that you did have to pay attention to the wind, practice scent control, etc. That their product is just another tool in your kit.
 
Then evidence was presented that said that a regular dryer didn't have enough heat to reactivate, and they said "NO, you can reactivate it in a regular dryer".
 
Now an industry representative states that there's a "CERTAIN PERCENTAGE" that in fact DOESN'T reactivate, but he doesn't say how much. What's he hiding? If they are truely the real McCoy, then state your numbers, and shut guys like me up!
 
So yes, you could say that I DON'T TRUST THEM.

[mhouck06]

i'd just talk to people that have put it to the test. all this scientific stuff really does leave questions to be answered.. but most people that ive talked to that own scentlok or scentblocker have not said that it doesnt work.. now most of these guys still pay attention to wind and other factors, but i have yet to talk to someone that owns the clothing that has truely had anything bad to say about it. most of them believe it helps.. take it for what you want, but i'd rather talk to hunters out there just like me who put the products to the test, just like i do for any item used for hunting.. put your trust in a fellow hunter.

[Woods Walker]

That sounds fine, but consider this.........
 
Maybe the fact that they've spent hundreds of hard earned dollars on this product makes them WANT to believe that it works, and I don't blame them. I'd surely want to give it the benefit of the doubt too.
 
But that aside, their observations are just that...observations. For everyone that says, 'Well I had this deer come within 8 yards of me UPWIND and it didn't smell me, so therefore it does work", I can relate the exact same experience and I don't use it.
 
The only real way to tell is to set up a situation where you have the same deer, under the same atmospheric conditions, approach the same hunter located in the same place, both with and without the scent-loc on. Anything else is simply anecdotal evidence. This is probably impossible to do, and so the scent garment industry can and has been saying pretty much anything it wants to on the subject. How can it be proven differently?
 
Knowing what actual percentage of absorbed odors is actually released from the carbon by a regular dryer as stated by an industry rep will be interesting to know. He's already stated that their product has a life span NOT associated with the normal wear and tear that any garment undergoes, but with the very alleged properties of carbon reactivation itself, something that I've always believed since I learned of the dryer issue controversy. Simply put (by THEIR admission, not mine) after so many reactivations, it won't reactivate anymore! But HOW MANY times is this? Knowing this will give the consumer a good idea of how many dryings his garment is good for, and he can divide the cost of the garment by the number of dryings it goes through.
 
 

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: Woods Walker
 
[size="3"]Maybe the fact that they've spent hundreds of hard earned dollars on this product makes them WANT to believe that it works, and I don't blame them. I'd surely want to give it the benefit of the doubt too.[/size]
 

I wish I could show you how much my wife and I earn and how we spend it. The idea that I am slinging money around on fads and then trying to justify my expense is pretty silly.

My first set of carbon clothing was military surplus chem. warfare suit. They were selling for something like $30. I bought it in 1999. It was a little hard to work with but revolutionized the way I hunted. Then 9/11 and made those suits hard to find. I continued to use it until 2004, by then it was totally worn out. I then found a mix and match stet of Scent-Lok pants and a top on the clearance rack at Scheel's. The pair was well under $100. This year past year I lost the top (it blew out of my truck). So I started to look around online and I found another set on sale for cheap (can't remember exactly, like $75-100). I have gotten goves and a head/face cover as Christmas gifts. So in 10 years, I've invested about $200 in carbon activated hunting clothes.

I am convinced that they reduce the scent that we emit. Magic bullet? No, but worth the investment in my book if you shop around.

[Woods Walker]

JPH: You misunderstand me. It's exactly BECAUSE you and many others don't have the money to throw around is why you do want to believe that it works, and why I, for one, want to know what the scent-loc rep himself has to say about it.
 
Let's put it another way....it could be said that because of the scarce money that you have put into it, you have a vested interest in it wanting to be legitimate.
 
Ultimately, it's your money, and your equipment, and you will spend and do with it as you see fit. I just think this is an interesting topic, and quite frankly, I'm a bit surprised that many of my suspicions are being verified, and by the manufacturers themselves to boot!
 
It sure beats talking about the weather, crossbows (which about all that can be said on the topic has been said), or Lord forbid POLITICS! [:D]
 
 

[Woods Walker]

Consider this:
 
Let's say (and this is pure speculation now), that they admit that the reactivation rate is about 95%. That means that everytime it's dried, that 5% of the absorbed odors remain in there, so in theory the cup remains 5% full....each time.
 
After 20 dryings or so, your cup runneth over, so to speak.
 
If you spent $400 on a scent-loc jacket, that means that as far as scent absorbtion goes, it cost you $20.00 each time you hit the "DRY" button.
 
How many times a year do you wash your scent-loc garments?
 
There were some guys that hunted one of the farms my friend owns and they were staying in the old farmhouse with us that serves as our "camp". We have a washer/dryer in there, and these guys were SOOO scent-anal, that they washed and dried their scent-loc TWICE A DAY! After the morning hunt, and then again in the evening. Yet they STILL complained about being "busted" on almost every hunt they did.
 
I wonder why? Maybe it was because their scent-loc garments screamed "NO MORE!" every time it saw a dryer? [:D]

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: Woods Walker
 
[size="3"]Let's put it another way....it could be said that because of the scarce money that you have put into it, you have a vested interest in it wanting to be legitimate.[/size]

I see your point, and I too enjoy the topic, but I see the above from a different angle.

Because money is always tight, I am going to move slowly and be frugal when accepting new technology. I accepted carbon activated clothing only after I experimented with it by way of the cheapest avenue. Even now, I shop around for scratch and dent stuff before I buy.

I suppose that this back and forth is exactly what D&DH wants from it's forum. Anyone who hangs around here know us by our previous posts and can judge our opinions accordingly.

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: Woods Walker

[size="3"]Let's say (and this is pure speculation now), that they admit that the reactivation rate is about 95%. That means that everytime it's dried, that 5% of the absorbed odors remain in there, so in theory the cup remains 5% full....each time.[/size]
 

No, I think you are missing something. We only need to reactivate the carbon that his bound to odor molecules. So if a hunter is careful about his scent control regimen (and follows the above guidelines) he/she may several good years with piece of clothing.

Now I do agree with the folly of adding another $100 to a $300 jacket for Scent-Lok. Even under the best of conditions, your carbon is going to give out before the rest of the clothing. This is exactly why I only buy the thin, outer shell and put it on as a final layer. I have been wearing the same wool sweater into the woods for 10 years but have changed out what goes over it three times.

[CB on the run]

  I read an article within the past several years about a man the hunts slightly differently than most of us.  He covers his body(exposed skin) with ash and charcoal from a prior fire then stalks deer.  His sucess is whether or not he can touch a deer.  According to the article he is often sucessfull so apparently the charcoal ash does reduce air borne human odor molecules.  Obviously he is using 'new' charcoal each time.
 
Charlie Belle

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: CB on the run

  I read an article within the past several years about a man the hunts slightly differently than most of us.  He covers his body(exposed skin) with ash and charcoal from a prior fire then stalks deer.  His sucess is whether or not he can touch a deer.  According to the article he is often sucessfull so apparently the charcoal ash does reduce air borne human odor molecules.  Obviously he is using 'new' charcoal each time.

Charlie Belle

I might actually try that! Not the touching part, but the ash.