Charcoal Lines Suits

[Old Buck]

I've been using them for several years and I'm convinced they do make a difference for me. I've found I need to reactivate them two to three times more often than the manufacturer recommends. Also they are not 100% effective. I still take many other precautions: shower once or twice a day with unscented soap, use unscented deodorant, wear rubber boots which touch nothing but hunting ground all fall, touch as little vegetation as possible near stand locations, play the wind, hunt high, etc. I also have friends who say the carbon suits don't work at all for them so my current conclusion is they are of some help for some people.

 

[Fishbonker]

Wheres the science? In theory I can see where scent elemination clothing works, but where is the research to back it up? I think scent elimination clothing is another way to try and seperate me from my $$$$$, unless somebody can show me some type of unbiased clinical research my $$$ is gonna stay in my pocket. Is it just the "latest and greatest, gotta have to bag a trophy" pushed on us by somebody out to make a buck? Or sell magazines?

IMHO

The 'Bonker

[This message has been edited by Fishbonker (edited 09-22-2001).]

 

[scout]

For a long time I dismissed the charcoal hype as just that, marketing hype. Why, well it made me feel better about being unwilling to spend the money on one.
If you research the technology behind the method you will be convinced its sound logic. To be totally effective you would have to make it air tight.
There are a half dozen or more makers now and as a result the price has dropped. I picked up a ScentLoc lined shirt and later a head cover. No pants yet, but I've only got $62.00 invested. I figure, Advantage Timber hunting shirt = 30.00 Head cover = 12.00 so the ScentLoc cost me $20.00 I've wasted more on worst things.
I took it bear hunting in late August and found the head cover far to hot to use and even the heavy shirt was to hot.
Some guys stink, some don't. I'm sure that has an effect on the results. As for conclusive evidence that it will do just what the manufacture claims, you will never have it. Grunt on a call and 10 minutes later a big buck comes past. Was it the call? Did he even hear it?
I rarely get busted buy deer (that I know of) so how can you be sure the suit is the reason for not getting winded? It would take a pile of deer over a long period of time to convince a true skeptic. Yet, look at all the hunters that swear by them. Not just the magazine writers (who get them free, and are bias of the most part) nornal guys with no more money than you or I.
On the other hand if you are not on a quest to kill the biggest baddest buck in your area you don't need it. It's better to be lucky than good! I've been lucky! Maybe the ScenLoc will help me become GOOD! The woods will not be safe.

 

[BW]

It seems easy to get drawn into the $$$ vacuum when we are looking for something new or a way around some of the challenges of hunting.

My hunting partner who has no limit on his hunting budget or storage area for every new gimmick bought the expensive suit a couple years ago. He seen no great change in his hunting experience except more prep work, discomfort in warmer weather and short $275. His confidence was not boosted by the suit. And I probably did not help his cause by kidding him when the old does burned him in his ninja suit while I'm out there with gasoline and mothball odors on my clothes having the same great action. I'm sure like anything else it will have a different effect for others.

I think this hunting is as much a mind game as skill at times. Confidence is as much a factor as the toys. I have seen fellow hunters take a turn by just buying a more expensive bow that did not shoot any better than their previous one. I agree different strokes for different folks.

If you find confidence, comfort and enjoy playing with something, then great. It should always be fun.

As for me I'm a cheap skate, and I hate to spend lots of cash on something that may or may not work for me. If I was to get one you would know which one it was by the black residue all over my skin.

Bonker, I'm with you.

[This message has been edited by BW (edited 09-22-2001).]

[This message has been edited by BW (edited 09-22-2001).]

 

[Lee in OH]

I feel that they work. They are not a cure-all though. Other scent-elimination procedures are a must. Bathing with scent elimination soap, wearing clothes washed in scent-free detergent. Not changing into hunting clothes until after arriving and not stopping for gas on the way. The suit is just a part of a good scent control/elimination system. I have been seeing more deer, they have been more relaxed in my presence, and I haven't been busted in some time (even when the wind switches). Just my opinion, but I don't bowhunt without my Scent-Loc.

They are on sale at Natchez until the end of September too. You can get a jacket, pants and hat for like $175.00.
http://www.natchezss.com/

 

[BugleMIn]

I am sold on them. I bought one last year and not only had deer walking downwind of my stand at various distances (where I normally would have been sniffed out) but also have never seen so many coyotes walk right by me.

I think the coyotes are the clue to me they work. I hunted in the same area so not much has changed.

I have friends who swear by the clothing called Contain. In Arizona where it is sometimes to hot to sit in Scentblocker Plus they wear Contain long underwear and t-shirts in their stands. Contain works off some other principle than charcoal. I have the Contain boxers, t-shirt and gloves that I plan on wearing under my Scentblocker Plus suit and scent-lok head piece.

Then again you hear about the guy lighting a cigarette in his stand and shooting the big one. You need every advantage you can afford. Everyday you hunt is alittle different, some days a grunt will work some days it won't. But the wind works everyday...

 

[Guest]

So far I'm hearing exactly what I was thinking. My feeling is: play the wind right and position your tree stand correctly (which is sometimes easier said than done) and hunt! I think taking care of your body and clothes with scent-free products goes a long way.