nodog

Hard to say isn't it. I wear two at the same time and didn't spend 1/2 of what they normally go for. They are also good clothing as well and if you can get them for what regular camo goes for... I also hunt with IMHO one of the best hunters in the country and he swears by them. I too have had much better sucsess since wearing them, but I am better now than then.

Todd1700

Okay here is my two cents. These suits absorb odor because of a layer of activated charcoal. Activated charcoal will definately adsorb and hold odor molecules as well as other types of molecules. However, the activated charcoal will pretty rapidly become saturated and here is the problem. They tell you to toss these suits in the dryer to reactivate them. Well thats just horse pucky. Not trying to sound like mr knowitall but I do have a degree in water chemistry and I used to work as a grade III surface water treatment plant operator. We used activated charcoal filters to remove certain chemicals from the water we were treating. Activated charcoal is activated charcoal whether its in a filter, a gas mask or a scentblocker suit. It takes intense heat to cause activated charcoal to release the molecules it's trapped because they are chemically bonded together through adsorption. We are talking temps that would incenerate the cloth portion of the suit. Also there is no such thing as partial reactivation either. You either get activated charcoal hot enough to break the chemical bonds it has formed or you don't. There is no middle ground. It would probably take at least 350 degrees for one hour in an oven to reactivate it. If you think your suit can withstand that then go for it but nothing less will do you any good.

moose1915

i read a study that had simililar results . they study also said that if you're buying them off the shelf, non-vacuum sealed, then they have allready been saturated beyond use . made sense to me. think of the stink clothing in a mall, or any store absorbs even when it's not scent absorbing clothing.................

Firehawk7309

I believe that you must understand the wind regardless of scent blockers or not. I do believe that they can give you an advantage though, say in the case of "swirling wind". I'm sure you already know that there are many variables involved in being busted (I've learned most of them from my stupidity from time to time). Back to the suit though, I purchased a military chemical suit last year that has the same charcoal lined fibers and it seemed to work just fine. I didn't pay an arm and a leg for it ($20-30 tops). I mainly used it when hunting from a ground blind and had plenty of deer and coyotes pass within 10-15 yards. Bottom line, I think results on these will vary according to the hunter you speak to. Best of luck on your choice.

nodog

Well as far as what you have to say i think it is lacking in substance. It is not activated charcoal it is activated carbon. Are all charcoals the same? What kind of charcoal filter did you use?

"Carbon is a chemical element. It comes in different forms: the "lead" in pencils, diamonds, and charcoal are all different forms of carbon. Activated carbon is like charcoal, except that it has a huge number of nooks and crannies and pores. Molecules like those that cause odor wander around these nooks and crannies get stuck. Eventually, all the places that molecules can bind to get filled up, and the carbon has to be reactivated. This is done for scent-lock clothing by heating the clothing in a clothes dryer. The heat from the clothes dryer drives out the molecules from the pores and makes the carbon ready to absorb a new set of molecules.

The surface area in activated charcoal is huge. If you took the all the surface of just seven pounds of activated charcoal and flattened it out, you could blanket the town of Sidney."
by James A. Dix
Title: Associate professor of chemistry, Binghamton University

Department: Chemistry

Research area: Biophysical chemistry; transport through biological membranes; educational technology

Ph.D. school: University of California, Los Angeles
Educational background: NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School; Research Fellow, Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco; Visiting Scientist, Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

There is a lot more to it. What is the temp. of a clothes dryer? And putting an item in an oven is not the same as a dryer. The dryer is constantly moving the oven is not.

I know you were just giving 2 cents worth, but your the one with the degree and I am never to proud to pick a brain like yours when it's free.

Charlie P

What I find interesting is how many of the Pro's not wearing them properly. Then they try and tell you how great they work.

I used one for about four seasons. I had as good results washing my clothes in baking soda and paying attention to the little things.

BowHuntingFool

Deer take scent seriously and so do I!!! I use one, as well as soap, shampoo and spray. JMO.

liquidorange

i would think you clean the carbon better by actually washing the garment. like a pool filter you need to backwash once in awhile.

Todd1700

Sorry but thats the same thing. Carbon just sounds better for marketing purposes. If it was a different type however then you would really be screwed because only activated carbon/charcoal has the odor adsorbing properties needed for these suits.

And I, speaking as a person with knowledge of these materials who isn't trying to sell you a 300 dollar suit, am telling you that a clothes dryer doesn't get nearly hot enough to have any effect on activated charcoal. And the heat actually needed would burn up the cloth portion of the suit. But by all means believe who you like. It's no money out of my pocket.

No it isn't like charcoal it is charcoal. That's like saying H2O is like water. And yes it has a large porous surface area that traps molecules. That's why it works......at first.

And thats why it stops working.

These type suits are not actually new. The military has had them for decades. They call them chemical suits and issue them to troops that could be exposed to certain toxic chemicals and gases which the activated charcoal will adsorb just as readily as it does odor molecules. They use them ONCE however and then throw them away. Now if they could be collected and easily reactivated don't you think they would do it? They repack parachutes don't they.

nodog

Well I still think your blowing some smoke, and I still think they are great clothing and I paid for all of it around 100 bucks. As far as the military example, I wouldn't use that one again. They are known to be very wasteful and they wear them for the prevention of NASTY chemicals, HAZARDOUS waste. You don't do anything with those but dispose of them. They are not trying to stop people from smelling them. Parachutes that are contaminated are disposed of and not repacked.

If anyones interested this has been discussed before and it has some good info pro and con in it.
http://forum.hunting.net/asppg/tm.as...&mpage=2&key=&