Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting ozone gizmos...do they work, or are they snake oil?

I see the things advertised, catering to bowhunters, and supposedly you put them just above your deer stand, and the O3 cancels human odors. For a mere $400 or so

Anyone try one, or otherwise seen any reports on effectiveness?

They should come with a free Butt-Out tool�.

If you are spending $400 you are getting taken. I have 3 but I dont take them in the field with me. I use them to deodorize my gear using this.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8933375/1

I have a great recipe for eye of bung roast...

Kent

Note to self......

NEVER eat at Kent's house!!!!!!

One of my hunting buddies swears by the ozonic. I don't know which model he has but it is 2-3 years old. He won't hunt from a stand without it now. He does kill some big bucks every year in WV and Ohio so maybe there is something to it.

From what I can tell, the fan is pretty noisy, it smells like mildew and it would be a pain to lug in and out of the woods and have fresh batteries for it.

Pay attention to the wind and get high enough in a tree and the deer won't smell you

No need for high priced gimmicks when a good shower works as well

Tough for fat old guys to jump from treetop to treetop, you know, without actually walking on the ground.

And I still haven't seen anyone actually sell Fart-Lok underwear. Guess it's vaporwear...

I make Border ghillies with my patented Chit-lok technology... rags and used depends... for the discriminating border hunter that wants to blend into the habitat...

probably not what you were wanting for a treestand though...

tex- you owe me a quarter for saying Fart-Lok. just sayin.

krp
When Border Patrol catches border crossers they should take them out to those dump sites and make them pick up everything bore deporting them. Just saying. Cheers NC

Do they work? Yes

As advertised? NO

Not being contentious here, but have a lot of background in olfactory stuff�.How do they work?

They work by killing the odor in your clothes. Ozone will also purify water. Hospitals use Ozone also.

The problem is that once removed from the container they absorb whatever odors are around. Including any sweat and odors from the body once the clothes are worn.

So yes Ozone works. The problem is that unless you can keep yourself totally enclosed in it, then it is a weak defense at best.

Ozone is a gas. How does it absorb whatever odors are around? Part of the Kinetic Molecular theory is that a gas molecule cannot and will not bond with another gas molecule. Bonding takes place at the atomic, not the molecular level.
I understand ozone oxidizes a great many compounds�and it may be zapping a few odors that way�but it also creates Carbon Dioxide as it oxidizes�an increase in Carbon dioxide is one of the components of a human scent signature.
I obviously don't know how or if it works, I was just hoping somebody did�and I damn sure agree with you that its a weak defense at best.

I bet if I had a $400 gadget I'd swear it worked too

I never said Ozone absorbs anything. I said it kills or another words eliminates odor.

I said once the clothes are removed "they absorb" odor. They being the clothes!

I don't have a $400 gadget. But I know the science behind it and I know it works. However like I said from the beginning it doesn't work as advertised.

Tell me how many systems you have worked on in hospitals and water treatment plants?

Ozone reduces odor in a couple of ways. Chemically the ozone molecule is an oxygen molecule with an extra oxygen (O3 instead of O2) attached which makes it a very strong oxidizing agent that reacts with a number of other molecules. In a nutshell, it eliminates odors by chemically reacting with odiferous compounds and breaking them down into other smaller molecules like carbon dioxide which are odorless. What many people don't consider is that ozone also is used in the health field to kill bacteria. Therefore it can help kill the bacteria from the body that creates the stinky scent molecules in the first place.
Ozone in a closed container can do a good job of eliminating odors. Place a pair of your worst smelling socks in a Tupperware container with ozone pumped in for a few minutes and you'll be convinced of its odor eliminated capability. I have not tried, nor do I want to try, dragging a generator into woods to hunt with. I lug too much crap in with me now. They are way overpriced for what you get and ozone is a lung irritant that may not be healthy to be around for any period of time. As a side note and as mentioned above, carbon dioxide is odorless so it has no impact on deer. Remember that people are big CO2 generators. But insects like mosquitos, ticks, deer flies, etc. have special receptors in their bodies that help them find breathing animals as they emit CO2. I have no idea whether O3 generators attract insects but I could see it as a possibility.

OK�that makes sense�thanks for that explanation.

The science behind it was what I was looking for�...

ingwe that comment was not aimed at you.

As basdjs has pointed out some of the science behind it. There is a lot about it that can be found by googling it. If you really want to take all the time and effort.

The fact is Ozone works and has been used for a long time. But it's use in a hunting application is very limited.

An even better test and one that proved to me it works is a family member owns a body shop. He had a customer bring a car that was stored for a long time in a garage to be restored. It smelled so bad of cat piss. I was working on my motorcycle on the day it was brought into the shop. I commented that we would be hard pressed to get that stench out. My cousin said no problem in a few hours you will not smell any of it. He sealed everything up and stuck a hose hooked up to an Ozone generator into the car. I came back the next day and could not believe the smell was gone.

You have given me an idea�.

I work with Narcotics Detection dogs. Absolutely nothing we have found deters them in the least from finding dope��.


You know where Im going with this�..

Been done already.

If one is spending $400 they are over paying. I got three of them (1 For $50 and 2 of the for $25) I DO NOT take mine into the field with me. I only use mine for deodorizing gear when its not being word/used. Ive loaned them to several people that used them to deodorize smelly cars. They were very pleased with the odor killing ability.

Results?

My buddies dog could not pick up scent on three of the five courses they used. Each course had a set standard. I will have to ask him for more details.

Here is an article I read a few years ago.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/14/scent-killing-machine-sweet-choice-terrorists/

I will talk to my buddy next week to see what more details I can get from the departments testing.

Thanks!

That is useful info. The average druggie, or drug trafficker, is not smart enough to put this to good use, but the bomb guys are�.

ingwe

It all boils down to the same thing, hunting/drugs/bombs. Ozone works just not as advertised. Most want it to be black and white but it is not the case.

Like this stupid comment. I bet if I had a $400 gadget I'd swear it worked too.

There is plenty of proof out there that it works. It may not work as you intend it to. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't work. I don't believe Ozone works at covering your scent by hanging above you in your tree stand. I know for a fact it works to rid clothes of scent. I also know that those same clothes used to hike into your stand are no longer scent free.

Ozone works when you can contain the odor and the ozone to a confined space.

All true�.and a human will never stop exuding scent till he stops breathing�.

I know we tried earlier "scent-free" products on the dogs, Scent Lok clothes, scent killer spray, etc��.there wasn't a thing that made one iota of difference to them. This ozone thingy could have potential. I am currently up to bat ( if the grant is approved�) to do some scent research at the collegiate level. If it comes to pass this would be a good, and useful place to start. Thanks again for the info!

I hope you get the grant. I would also be interested in your research.

For dog work, theres the rub�.Narcotic molecules are very volatile as a rule�so it may not help a lot there, but explosive molecules are very dense and slow moving�.

Would be interesting, to turn on one of the gadgets, walk around, climb a tree stand, and see if a good tracking dog could find you. Do they have similar scent ability to a deer?

Tough to say�I think the ability is pretty much the same but dogs have genetically predetermined olfactory receptors to detect odors connected to survival ( i.e. food and procreation) Deer no doubt do too, but their food doesn't fight or try to get away. The neuroscience of the deer's olfactory sense hasn't been picked apart enough yet, as far as I know�
Anyway, the deer isn't born being able to detect and notice scents attached to prey animals ( Epinephrine, diaminopentane etc) and a dog is.( A human can be considered a prey animal�)
Anyone who has hunted them knows the deer's sense of smell is nothing short of astonishing.

Yep, and I think they understand wind direction, too. At least one old doe I recall, when I was pistol hunting. She saw me through the brush, couldn't decide what I was, circled downwind and instantly busted me when she got directly downwind.

Yep, they understand it perfectly and detect it with their ears.

I would say the dog wouldn't have a problem finding you. The ozone isn't concentrated enough to attach to and eliminate the odor in open air environments.

It would also be interesting to find out exactly what the olfactory capabilities of a deer are�.we pretty much know about the dogs now.

ingwe my buddy showed me a TV show were they used a peanut dog against some ultra high power pressure washer. They set out a few rows of plates (not sure how many but if I remember right 4 or 5) in one row one plate had peanut butter on it. They pressure washed it for a few minutes (again I don't remember how many but I believe at least 2 minutes). Once all the plates where set up they brought out the dog. It went thru the rows and then went back and went right to the plate that had the peanut butter on it. Pretty amazing

Yep. Lowest " Threshold of Detection" on record was from a study at FSU in 2005

Amyl Acetate was detected down to 1.09 parts per trillion.

That was from a giant Schnauzer�a dog not normally noted for its scenting ability. Another dog in the study, a Rottweiler ( also not noted for scenting) was measured down to 1.14ppt.


You can't even wrap your brain around that�.least wise I can't.

You tink they don't?

I don't own one and probly never will but I did use a buddy of mine once. I was sitting in a double bull blind on the edge of a 2acre clover plot. The sind was blowing about 5mph straight from me over the food plot. We actually setup like this on purpose that day just to see if the thing worked. I had 10-15 does and a 3.5 year old buck in the food plot all evening with my scent blowing directly towards them. Had some as close a 10 yds. None of them ever acted like they smelt me. So yes I beleive they work,BUT I don't believe they are near as effective in say a treestand where scent isn't kind of contained. I think they are very effective in a semi closed blind. This is just my experince so take it for what you will. Like I said I'll still probly never own one just due to the price.

A kid at my sons school had a pot cigarrete. The drug dog went down every hall and stopped at this locker. Opening it up they found a pot cig in the jacket, in a plastic bag wrapped up tight. If a dog can smell that , those deer will smell you they walk across your path. In a blind those deer might not have smelled you, or it smelled further than it was or they smelled you and didn't see enough danger to care. The blind seems to help a lot. I will bet A wild animal can smell better than any tame animal too.