Getting Rid of Pack Stink
Equipment
What do you do to get the smell off your pack after packing game out of the woods? I have a Badlands pack that smells like rotting deer even after washing it.
Try dousing it with hydrogen peroxide give it (HP) time to work and then re-wash.
If this fails, fill it with baking soda and button it up, let set a day or two then flush/re-wash. Place outside in sunshine for a day or two to dry and air out.
IF this fails think about a new pack. :^}
Good luck.
Front load, regular soap 1st load, vinegar for the 2nd load. Not too much and I forget what type (we're out) but it's not regular vinegar.
hydrogen peroxide will definitely make the fabric fade, I wouldn't recommend that.
I have cleaned a few bloody carpets with peroxide it turns fabric funny fading Colors for sure have had some luck with methonal without fading though.
Put the meat in a leak proof bag before you pack.
You may have to use an industrial detergent first, then worry about getting that odor and UV brighteners out second.
Vinegar works left a weekend of clothes sealed in plastic trash bag from spring turkey until fall. Tried everything, then vinegar workded
Normally, I use a Sea to Summit dry bag inside the pack...but have been caught in situations without it.
If my pack gets bloody, I hose it down, hand wash with the same Dead Downwind detergent I use on my clothes, take the hose to it again (rinse)and then hang it from a clothesline pole in the backyard to dry.
Wash, douse with scent killer then ozone machine! Shawn
Another vote for dead downwind detergent. It never ceases to amaze me the kind of smells that stuff can get rid of.
I have been there I poured a bag of charcoal in my pack for about a week and re washed it. Smells fine now. Since then I have switched to these for packing game out to camp.
It's great to say "use waterproof bags", but things happen and all it takes is a few pinholes for blood to leak into the pack.
I prefer black heavy duty contractor bags, but even then I'll occasionally get some leakage into my pack.
I've had good luck soaking/sloshing in bathtub with some sort of no-scent hunting laundry soap.
Couple weeks ago I shot a deer and put it in my cooler. I butchered the deer and forgot to clean it.
A week later it was NASTY smelling.
I looked online and found something I hadn't tried.
Using a good dishwasher soap. So I filled up with water and soap ans 24 hours later you can't even smell the nastiness that a week of deer will do.
Might be worth a try.
BTW I was mad that I had never heard of that trick before because it would have saved me a lot of energy in the past! :)
Thanks for the info regarding Hydrogen Peroxide.
I have used it to remove blood and odors followed by baking soda without issue.
I guess I was never concerned or paid attention to/with a faded pack.
My gear usually fades with age, kinda like me. :^}
Atsko Sport Wash works for me. Locally at Dunhams.
Oh, and I also don't put meat inside, mine is made to keep it outside (the bag).
Funny Matte, I used the same bags. Always carry one of those and one Caribou bag to haul a small load out on the kill day, then go back to get the rest later.
This year one of those small holes happened, mostly because of too much meat in the plastic and leaked. Any blood was external and outside the pack.
I'd try a small ozone generator. One of my kids stuck some food under the seat of my truck and it rotted, so I bought this one and it got rid of the stink.
I've have never tried it, but some guys swear by Oxyclean.
Those ozone machines will ruin rubber. I had one in my spare room and left my diaphrams out and had to pretty much toss most of them due to the damage.
Ozone is the reason rubber boots don't last forever.
Soak in baking soda in the bathtub and then let dry in the sun for a couple days.
Yeah, ozone and rubber don't mix. I wouldn't recommend using ozone for any length of time on anything with elastic, it degrades it quite a bit. Non of my packs have elastic or any other rubber in them that I'm aware of though so it shouldn't be a problem.
Put a clothes pin on your nose. No smell left. hehe!
I tried the vinegar and it worked great. Thanks for the suggestions.
Char coal! I use it in all my boots also!
