Scentlok finally Smells !!!! Court Ruling

[bawana bowman]

Who would have ever guessed that the product doesn't work as advertised!!!!   :eek:

It never ceases to amaze me how many hunters buy products because of advertising claims, or because the "Pros" on TV use them.

If I was faced with starvation, and had to choose between two hunters to feed me:

1 being a half naked native which hadn't bathed in a week.
And the other being a chubby little blond chick in scent block clothing, plastered with sponsor logos.

I'd choose the native every time. Best to go with knowledge and experience over cute and hype.
At least I know I'll eat well!

[Brian Krebs]

I have had laughs with some of the scentlok hunters on hunting shows. They do some really good thinking and hunting; but when it comes to the clothing- well they tend to wear the scentlok and then put on the hat they have been wearing for two seasons without washing..
 I don't like any hunting product going down in flames; or any good clothing suppliers suffering for what they thought was the truth.
 In a way; this decision complements the guys that are wearing it and swearing by it for money- because now we know it was their skill- not the clothing that worked for them.

 I wonder what the cost will be now for the stuff?

[Hookeye]

FWIW I figured the stuff to work, but not as well as advertised (after all, it doesn't make one fully sealed from the environment).

I think there too many variables to make claims for or against it, based on samples taken by an individual.

Personal and experimental bias also comes into play.

To run a good field experiment would be tough. Repeat deer, new deer, different pressures and influences, conditioning????.........just too difficult.

Fun to relay experiences, offer what one thinks might have helped/hindered.......but with so much going on (known/unknown) and applying that to an animal that probably has some decision making capability (is not a robot that reacts to a stimulus in preprogrammed 100% repeatable manner)..........it still boils down to an "I think" and not an "I know".

Some people think those phrases mean the same thing, and in casual usage they might be interchangeable........but that kind of stuff doesn't cut it in the courtroom.

My big question then is..........

Did those who brought the suit really fall for the advertising as claimed? Or are they employing a bit of gamesmanship for monetary gain?

[Ken Taylor]

I didn't care whether it worked or not.

I never bought any because I figured I had to draw the line somewhere.

[Hookeye]

Which then is worse?

Stretching the truth to make a buck (possibly still selling a product having worth in the aspects advertised, just to lesser extent)?

Or lying to say one was fooled, playing the legal game for possible $ gain due too some advertising or corporate moron being so foolish to make such definitive ad claims?

[Hookeye]

Makes ya really want to go out and invent something and try to sell it doesn't it?

Even if you are 100% truthful, make a darn good product, that doesn't mean some jerk won't try to take you to court.

[Clint B.]

I don't use Scentlock and I never believed the claims of total scent elimination but they do seem like practical hunting garments. So, what damages would you sue for in this case - emotional distress from spooking a trophy deer away, being attacked by a bear that winded you, being made to look gullible???

I wonder if they'll ever bring a suit against the scent industry, especially doe-in-heat scents. The science behind that stuff is also bogus - but it's not worth sueing anybody.

[Hookeye]

FWIW I have some Scentlok. It's held up very well after many many washings/dryings. I figured it to be gone in scent reduction capability years ago, but the camo pattern is still nice and contrasting. The only issue I have is with the pants, one belt loop has pulled out twice (I sewed it better the last time- still OK).

I paid $99 for the jacket and pants way back in '99 on sale. Still run them today.

They've held up better than other non scent reduction camo I've bought.

So I'd consider it a "deal", even if the stuff is just "regular" clothing now.

Always been a stickler for scent control, won't even let my cousin open a thermos of coffee in my truck.

Sneak in, sneak out of my spots too. Killed deer downwind of me, in stand or on the ground, while wearing Scentlok.

But I also killed deer like that when not wearing it.

Can't say it works.......can't say it doesn't.

BTW, my ball caps are ratty messes due to my washing them often during the hunting season  

[Longbowz]

Originally posted by Ragnarok Forge:
Not to be to mean here, but to sue over false advertising on these items really seems to me to be the dumb sueing over being gullible.  Anyone with any common sense knows that your face is at least partially exposed and your breath is still escaping which means so is your scent.  Throw in that your scent is filtering thru a treated fabric material and some scent is going to escape.  Should the producer and retailer be honest in their advertising, yes they should, should you stupidly believe all their advertising?  No you shouldn't.

Exactly.  I'm sure Scentlok does work to a degree.  I've tried some of their products and some of the sprays out there too.  In my opinion they do help lower your scent which can't hurt.  The suit was after all about their advertizing not their product per say.  I for one never believed any product would completly remove all scent. Was it worth getting sued over?  Who knows.  To  each his own.

[Tom-Wisconsin]

Reminds me of the story of the Emperor's new clothes.  

[Curveman]

Originally posted by bawana bowman:
Who would have ever guessed that the product doesn't work as advertised!!!!     :eek:  

It never ceases to amaze me how many hunters buy products because of advertising claims, or because the "Pros" on TV use them.

If I was faced with starvation, and had to choose between two hunters to feed me:

1 being a half naked native which hadn't bathed in a week.
And the other being a chubby little blond chick in scent block clothing, plastered with sponsor logos.

I'd choose the native every time. Best to go with knowledge and experience over cute and hype.
At least I know I'll eat well!

I dunno. I kinda like the thought of spending some time with that chubby blond chick and catching up with the half naked native next week. If she's chubby, she probably brought a sandwich anyway!    

I actually tried to remove the Scentlok logo from a jacket I bought years ago as I'm not a great believer but the jacket is too well made not to use and who knows? Maybe it helps a little. I've never believed I could "ignore the wind!"

[wollelybugger]

Does this mean that wearing "Old Spice" won't get me a girl like in the advertisments.

[Jon Stewart]

Just another company that moved its production of a product from the U.S. to Mexico.  They left Michigan about 5 years ago.

[Turkeys Fear Me]

If  "stretching the truth"  is illegal, there are a lot of bowyers, broadhead makers, arrow shaft makers, etc., that are in a heap of a lot of trouble.

We need only look as far as a few websites to realize that "truth in advertising" is very, well...  "subjective."

I've never owned a stitch of Scent Loc clothing, but in my opinion, useless litigation like this will be end of our society.

[mrpenguin]

I have used scent-lok in combination with sprays and such.  I agree with several that have posted that scent-lok with only somewhat reduce your scent, not eliminate it.  Where I hunt in CT, we have a healthy hiking population so if I can get deer to smell something, but not be sure what it is, that is an advantage.  I had that very experience last season.  I had on a full scent-loking outfit with a hat, all sprayed down, and when the spike walk into the wind carrying my scent, he stopped, sniffed, looked around and cautiously continued on.  He smelled something (me) he just wasn't sure what that something was.  IMHO, a good shower, air dried clothes outside, spray, hunting the wind are the only ways around the nose... but you have to do them all!

[Bill Carlsen]

I've had mixed results with the stuff. However, most of the clothing made with it is very high quality and if I can find a good deal on it I don't hesitate  to buy it if I need it. I have also noted that on the outdoor channel, where a couple of the major odor management companies do a lot of advertising and the  hunters always wear the latest and greatest stuff, they still do not hunt stands unless the wind is right. And as successful as Fred Eichler is I do not ever remember him using or even discussing using scent eliminating clothing.

[stick_string]

I never bought the stuff because it sorta felt like cheating to me...

The guy that taught me how to bow hunt (compound) used to smoke in the tree stand and wear his work clothes.  His smoke was his "Windicator" and it always went behind him.  If a deer walked behind him then it blew just as if it were behind me; but if it walked in front of him...he was taking it home....  

As for his sucess rate...well, I have years to catch him.    

[tah-gah-jute]

just find it kind of interesting it took some sheister"lawyer"to figure this out.hmmmmmmmmm.one other thing i never saw scent-lok claim it was supposed to contain intestinal gas!!!!!!

[Longbowz]

Though I do believe products like this do benefit the hunter some I have an elk hunting friend who breaks just about every rule and still manages to do well.

I've watched him climb an alpine fir tree with his ancient self climber that shredded the bark so much it looked like a giant beaver had attacked it.  Once in position he pops open one of the beers he has stashed in the pockets of his jacket.  As each can is emptied he sticks it on a stub of a branch he removed from the tree. Soon the tree he's in starts to look like it's been decorated for Christmas - well sort of.

To my friend though drinking isn't his only vice.  He also chews which means of course he must spit.  Which he does around the tree and since he's now a couple beers into his evening hunt sooner or he later must empty his now full bladder, which he also does all around the tree.

Believe it or not he's one of the most successful hunters I know.  For some weird reason he always seems to pick the right place and time to be in his stand and the elk seem to forgive his small personal transgressions.  

So I guess the moral to this story is for everyone who is fanatical about scent control there's always the guy who breaks every rule and still scores.

[mrpenguin]

Originally posted by Bill Carlsen:
latest stuff, they still do not hunt stands unless the wind is right. And as successful as Fred Eichler is I do not ever remember him using or even discussing using scent eliminating clothing.

You're 100% right... and Fred has used it occasionally.  Most of the time IF he is wearing Scent Blocker or Scent Lok, he is hunting whitetails... but what I love is he'll throw on a gray hooded sweatshirt, camo coat over it, and go after moose, elk, bear, antelope... etc... and all those have the super nose too!