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Deer Hunting - Do activated-carbon garments really work?
By Team JustNorth :: 713 Views :: 0 Comments :: :: Hunting - General, Hunting - Deer



When Chuck Adam, for instance, talks or writes, I listen and pay attention. I’d be crazy if I didn’t. He is without question a knowledgeable bow hunter and we all stand to learn a lot from an experienced bow hunter like him. Check out what Chuck Adams has said about carbon clothing.


activated-carbon comes in the form of a very fine powder, which is impregnated or weaved into the textile fibers of garments. It also comes in a granular form. Both forms are used in various applications including to purify both water and air. Some of the popular drinking water filters and mechanical air filters on the market use activated-carbon as a filter media. Here lies the rub. Bashers continue to use industrial specs which, as most consumers would be glad, are much more stringent than what carbon clothing users need nor even care about

activated-carbon is an extremely porous material with high ratios of surface area to unit weight. One pound of activated-carbon contains up to 100 acres of surface area!

activated-carbon has a particular affinity to organic materials such as volatile organic compounds or VOC’s. Human odor is composed of different gaseous molecules of VOC’s and other chemicals such as hydrogen sulfides, which are absorbed by activated-carbon.


www.chemvironcarbon.com Here is a company working in the industry using standards they must substantiate to their customers that cleanses the carbon to a degree they will be happy with. How would a company working in the industrial use of carbon look if they said...." While we could obtain a higher degree of regeneration using higher temperatures, we've found some degree of regeneration is obtainable at lower temperatures using less expensive machinery." Doubt their customers would like it too much.
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Unlike a common kitchen sponge, you can’t just leave it on the counter and let it dry out. In order to re-activate activated-carbon, it must undergo a process called Pyrolysis. To fully re-activate saturated activated-carbon, you must heat it to approximately 800 °C or 1,472 °F, in a controlled atmosphere of low oxygen concentration to reduce the possibility of combustion. Nobody selling it nor buying it is expecting "fully re-activated"


Those of you, whom use water filters or air filters in your homes, think about it. Why can’t you just boil your filters in hot water or throw them in the oven or microwave for a few minutes to re-activate the carbon filter media. You can’t; that’s why. You don’t own special multi million-dollar pyrolysis thermal regeneration equipment that produces enough heat to re-activate carbon. Therefore, you have to buy new filters every now and then. POOR analogy. First off, NOT ONE scent clothing manufacturer says to boil, bake, or microwave the clothing. Second, WEARING something is a little different than DRINKING it. Most users buy carbon clothing to WEAR, not to INGEST. And the cleansing needs between the 2 should be different

Re-activating carbon for industrial uses is big business. Type in the words “activated-carbon” in your favorite Internet search engine and you will see what I’m talking about here. In order to fully reactivate the activated-carbon in one of the many scent elimination garments on the market, you might as well just throw the garment in your campfire, because the extreme heat necessary to re-activate the carbon would likely destroy the garment anyway. SAYS IT ALL RIGHT THERE


The military actually uses activated-carbon suits as a kind of chemical protection garment, but they’re a single-use, disposable garment and not intended for multiple washings. Does this surprise anyone? Since when did the government get effecient? Or would even trying to re-use be effecient. I'm sure alot of you have seen those suits and they're not worth re-using. The carbon is like a powder inside the suit so when you wear it, it comes off all over you.

Here is something else you should consider before purchasing one of these products: activated-carbon’s adsorption effectiveness when used in an air filter application becomes greatly reduced when it is wet. So what happens when you sweat during those humid early season bow hunts? That’s right, your clothing gets wet and becomes even less effective. ONCE AGAIN, bad analogy. If you have problems with your sweat glands, or don't bathe regularly, carbon clothing probably isn't for you. As stated numerous times by numerous users, we don't ALWAYS wear it. Would we be wearing a hooded camo parka in 104 degree weather? Ridiculous



All sarcasm aside, I think many successful hunters who wear these special garments fail to recognize that they have been consciously paying closer attention to personal hygiene techniques before every hunt. RIIIIGGGHHHT. Thousands of satisfied hunters, who never bathed before nor harvested deer, now all of a sudden, with there new carbon clothing, have discovered the benefits of personal hygiene

You must understand that none of the success story articles that push these special garments are based on science studies. They are opinions; misinformed ones at that. WE MUST UNDERSTAND. WE MUST UNDERSTAND. Opinions? Are you kidding me? How would this guy know whether my experience in the field was a "misinformed opinion"? Let me understand this. Had several close incounters with deer at close ranges, downwind, in same scenario/location I've been numerous times but that is just a "misinformed opinion". Man, that's rich.


No one, to the best of my knowledge, has contracted a non-biased independent laboratory or university to demonstrate the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of this clothing. Exactly.



As stated earlier: This is just my opinion, but it’s one based on sound science, education and a realistic view of product marketing techniques. And once again, EXACTLY

Now you can form your own opinion. Good Hunting.

Biologist and environmentalist Michael Corrigan is an avid bow hunter and enjoys educating other bow hunters.