Do Carbon Suits Really Work? ABSOLUTELY!
by ScentLok
Sometimes an idea or an invention comes along and radically changes things that have always been considered unchangeable. Such was the case almost twelve years ago when a somewhat frustrated bowhunter had the vision to create a hunting suit using activated carbon to filter human odor. Since that time the idea has morphed into an entire multi-million dollar industry that is dedicated to products that big game hunters are successfully using around the world.
History also shows that these revolutionary ideas are often challenged by �nay-sayers� who claim that such radical change is just not possible. Fortunately due to the scent control products available to hunters today, most of the doubting Thomas�s from the past are now wearing their very own scent elimination suits, because yes, they certainly do work.
I was a �nay-sayer� myself years ago when I walked into a small local sporting goods store in early fall and saw a cluster of deer hunters talking to some guy about a �charcoal� suit that allowed you to get away with whitetails downwind.
I looked at the stuff, grinned and walked on and thought to myself, �What a bunch of baloney.� I had been busted hundreds of times and knew as well as anybody that it was nearly impossible to have deer get downwind and not snort their way out of the county.
No, we all had this window of opportunity in front of our tree stand into the prevailing wind that was the only direction any deer was ever going to come. That area behind me, well, you might as well never look behind you, downwind because nothing and I mean nothing was ever going to approach my stand from downwind except another hunter.
Well, the guy with the carbon suit just happened to be Greg Sesselmann, inventor of the activated carbon technology. Greg was born and raised in Muskegon, Michigan which has a tremendous amount of whitetail deer and whitetail deer hunters. Greg was a five year graduate of Michigan Tech University where he earned a B.S. degree in metallurgy and material science. Greg was a good student with a degree in science and at the same time was a dreamer. The time that was spent in the tree stand like many of us, was the best time to let the mind wander, unwind and probe the creative sides of our brain. Who hasn�t solved the world�s problems, at least in our own minds while sitting in a tree stand or hunting blind.
Greg�s archery skills were limited at best; not knowing then how to tune a bow, didn�t use a trigger release and still shot right handed (he is left eye dominant) all stacked up to a 20-22 yard confidence range. It was and still is all about getting close. The closer you get, the better your chance of eliminating error potentials for a clean and successful kill.
Greg tried all of the powders, soaps, sprays, and cover scents. He would douse himself with baking soda and cover his head with a hood that was sprayed and powdered as well. He had a bit of success and occasionally had deer pass by without being spooked. But he was paying a high price and spent far too much time and money on preparation. That preparation time could mean more time in the stand and less time in the bathroom getting �de-scented�.
As fate would have it, Greg�s career in the automotive product research field had him studying the effects of activated carbon on various filter applications. He learned that activated carbon was being used in many, many industries to filter everything from airborne odors, chemical and environmental cleanup programs and even in the dry cleaning business to filter fluids. As a scientist, Greg dove deep into the molecular level of activated carbon. It was an amazing scientific process that he studied called adsorption. At the molecular level Greg saw that activated carbon was like a sponge that could perform miraculously, even to the point of being given orally to patients who had swallowed poison so that toxins were adsorbed into the carbon and pass safely through the body.
One night as hunting season was upon us, Greg was busy preparing his scent-free concoctions for the following days hunt. He thought if only I could cover my body in some sort of human odor filter��HOLY COW! Greg�s mind raced and his face lit up as he theorized that maybe, just maybe he could incorporate a carbon lining into his hunting suit. As an entrepreneur he envisioned every deer hunter in America as a potential customer for this idea.
At first he realized that as a scientist, he had to prove his theory in the lab before he went too far. A good scientist seeks data that can be challenged and tested. He needs to tests be able to be repeated time after time, correlating results and measuring and testing all aspects of the theory. Lab data of this nature is analytical data. It�s the black and white facts that are the result of repetitious testing and measuring of scientific results.
In addition, field data and personal observations are also necessary especially when developing a product targeted at the general consumer. This type of data is called empirical data. Then the analytical lab results needed to be correlated to copious amounts of field (empirical) results. Finally a minimum adsorption standard could be developed to ensure all products developed would meet or exceed the minimum throughout its life � guaranteeing happy customers. Odor can be readily adsorbed within the microscopic pore structure of activated carbon. Greg studied human odor and found that the human body produces over 300 components that make up human odor. He consulted with the perfume industry to learn more about how human scent reacts and can be modified while creating fragrances. He studied test methods for as a good scientist; you must be able to measure results with the right kind of equipment. He learned about the use of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry which can be used to measure in parts per billion, the presence and type of molecular compounds in controlled situations and test methods.
He also learned that activated carbon has a capacity, like a sponge that when heated at various temperatures could dispel previously adsorbed molecules and open up capacity to adsorb again, and again.
Activated carbon is produced when various types of wood or shells are burned at high temperature. Greg�s theory that a household dryer could be used to take fabrics that were saturated with odors and open enough capacity for continuous adsorption. His testing data showed that carbon did not need to be heated at the extreme high temperature range for adsorbing more odors. The only need to reach the highest temperature ranges approaching 900 degrees was to desorb to 100%, meaning that every last molecule of anything was expelled from the carbon. This is not necessary.
In lay terms, the process of desorbing activated carbon can be illustrated by a sponge. If a sponge is in a saturated state it drips out the bottom the same amount of water that is being dripped into it. The same amount coming in as the same amount going out.
Now take that sponge and squeeze it with your hand. All of a sudden, the capacity to absorb water is very high. You can easily use the wet sponge to pick up a puddle of water, until it can no longer hold more water saturating again. The sponge needs to be squeezed in order to open more capacity to soak up the spill again.
That�s the same type of action that occurs when the household dryer �squeezes� out a little more capacity for adsorbing odor. The household dryer temperature of 150 degrees is similar to the sponge example. After the carbon fabric has been squeezed to 150 degrees it can now adsorb more human odor.
Now, back to the sponge. Lets say that you now want to squeeze more water than before from the sponge. You could run it through a wringer and get even more water out of it. But even after a mechanical squeeze, the sponge would still be damp. But despite that, it still would do a fine job picking up more water on the floor. And the sponge would again be ready to soak up more spills. The wringer is an example of heating it to say 400 degrees, but if you tried that with activated carbon garments, the fabric, buttons and zippers would be destroyed.
And to truly totally 100% de-sorb activated carbon it would have to be heated to a temperature of nearly 900 degrees. But guess what? It�s not necessary to de-sorb scent-control fabrics to such high temperatures. Greg�s theory was that the household dryer temperature should have enough desorbing energy to allow human odor compounds to be adsorbed time after time.
Now was the time to collect field data. Greg at the time chose some of the more knowledgeable and experienced hunters he could find to find out how deer would react when downwind in the field. And how would deer react after the suits had become fully saturated with human odor. And finally, how would they react after test garments were sent through a home dryer process.
Well, needless to say, the test garments did work. As a matter of fact they worked so good that many times, deer were literally within arms reach downwind of the stealthiest hunters. But even with the breakthrough in technology the story was just beginning. It took Greg and his partner, George Schrink years of hard work and dedication to expose the scent elimination technology to the legions of hunters, one at a time, face to face, always with an assurance that their product would allow hunters to get closer than ever, undetected if they would carefully follow the basic steps.
And as they say, the rest is history. As for me, I ended up joining the company and ever since I started properly using Scent-Lok, I have never been busted by a whitetail or any other big game animals. It simply does what it says. It works.
Scent-Absorption Background Data
The above graph shows the general effect of both time and temperature on reactivation or de-sorption of activated carbon. The vertical axis measures the temperature of the activation process and the horizontal axis shows the amount of time that carbon is exposed to the corresponding temperature. As you can see for each temperature range, only so much reactivation occurs. The higher the temperature the greater the amount of contaminants desorbed. Likewise, the lower the temperature, the longer it takes to reach the level or percentage of desorption. You can speed desorption by increasing temperature. However, the percentage of desorption can only be increased by increasing temperature.
Our claims
We have never claimed to totally desorb our products because we know that it cannot happen. What we do claim is that with the temperature range of a household dryer, enough desorption, or reactivation occurs to allow human odor to be attracted again into the porous molecular level of the carbon. Our products have been engineered to allow hunters to go undetected and that human odor capacity is available for approximately 40 hours of field use. We also know that the life expectancy of these products will give hunters excellent results for several years, depending on frequency of use and various other factors. We have never claimed to adsorb 100% of human odor. (Even your eyeballs have some odor to them.) What we do know is that amount of odor that is not adsorbed is acceptable to a level of 3 to four times what a whitetail will tolerate before spooking. Our years of data collection and correlation on scent adsorption clearly shows the threshold necessary to overcome the smell receptors of whitetails and other big game animals and thus our products are engineered and tested in the lab to adsorb at this high level even after 20 wash and dry cycles and substantially more before the end of the life of the garment.
We have thoroughly and diligently studied human odor and know that there are over 300 different odors produced by the body. Of that only about half have been positively identified. However all of them are very susceptible to being adsorbed by activated carbon, not cyclodetrins. Cyclodextrin is capable of adsorbing three very specific size molecules that fit into the molecular shape of cyclodextrin. Any molecule that doesn�t fit exactly into three molecular sizes either pass through or bounce off and are not adsorbed. And water displaces odors adsorbed by cyclodextrins meaning rain or perspiration will cause odors to be released in the field under wet conditions.
Field Results
Our products have enormous field experience. Our suits have been challenged by virtually every experience level of hunter from beginner to professional status career hunters. They have been tested on virtually every continent on every type of big game or scent-wary critter. We have such an enormous amount of empirical data that it simply cannot be denied.
We have been duly challenged by engineers, chemists and others similarly and see that once they first do some research and secondly analyze the data �both analytical and empirical and finally field test the products themselves, they become our best supporters and pro-ponents.
Marketing a Scientific Product
We make no apologies for aggressively marketing our products, our brand and our commitment to being the best hunting company in the world. We have a small number of writers and industry professionals that we compensate financially for being part of our product review and development team only. We receive requests and testimonies from hundreds of other dedicated hunters, writers, outfitters and industry leaders who support our products because they have experienced firsthand, the ability to avoid detection not because of any compensation. Many publishers prefer to tone down claims and product mentions to avoid commercializing featured articles, but most if not all have chosen to promote the scent-elimination industry because its has been tested, verified and continues to provide value to hunters who choose to wear and use it properly.