Scent Lok Study

[walt4dun]

Does carbon clothing really work? Here is a study that I found to be interesting and informative.

Read the whole article here:
http://www.outdoorscentral.com/artma...icle_169.shtml

Quick Synopsis:

In a Colorado study, dogs found people wearing carbon clothing. I think it is safe to assume a deer can smell about equally as a dog.

Apparently, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, the US military chemical warfare suits, which contain a helluva lot more carbon in them than thinly layered scent lok suits, are considered useless after only 6 washings or 45 days. So basically your carbon suit is worthless after 6 washings.

Plus, to "reactivate" a scent lok suit, it needs to be heated to a temp over 500 degrees. Most home dryers don't get over 200 degrees. The tumbling effect also breaks down the carbon in the fabric even further.

Oh yeah, another biggie, in areas of over 50% humidity and in sweaty conditions (all of SC), the "pores" in the carbon clothing become blocked by the "highly complex, human sweat molecule," making the suit totally saturated before you even walk to your stand.


I guess the suits don't work. Bummer.

[WhitewaterDuck]

My view on it...

I do not know what the correlation b/t dog and deer nose is. Did the dogs find the people while they were up in a tree and did they follow the scent trail to them? I don't care what I'm wearing, if a deer crosses over or is planning on walking on the trail I used to get to the tree, I'm screwed. I view the suit as a way to help out on stagnant days or when an occaisional swirl of the wind could screw you. You still have to play the wind and be as diligent about your set up as you would if you were out there in day old work clothes. I know I've had much more success in fooling deers' noses since I started using the suit. Now for the real BIG part of it all as far as I am concerned. CONFIDENCE! I can catch more fish on a buzz-bait than I can on a carolina rigged worm even if my fishing buddy is reeling in fish left and right on the CR. It ain't that he's so much better at draggign plastic across the bottom. I don't have the confidence in it to be patient with it. Anything that boosts my confidence on a hunt allows me to be still, aware, and patient. To make a short story long, I love the things, and I know they have help me stick more deer. BTW I always buy a new suit each year and add it to the others. On a five day trip, I am using a fresh suit at least every day. This also reduces the number of times I have to wash the suits in a season.

[BigBallin]

You really catch a lot of fish on buzz baits? I use them to find fish and catch em on a super fluke.

[Stripa Swipa]

I wondered when the average joe hunter was going to wise up to farse that is carbon clothing. As long as cover scents have been around, though, maybe never.